My Rating : 3🌟
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Kindle/ Netgalley/ April2020
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Thank you ao much Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.
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This book follows our main character Wyatt, who gets pushed into a land with fairy tale lores and him figuring out how ro not start a war with the Dragon if he wants to save Heaven and Earth.
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First, I love the characters that were introduced in the book. Wyatt is young but curious, determined and quite shy, yet brings the wrath of a war. The contrast is really amazing to read about. Second, I really loved all the scenes between Wyatt and his unexpected travel friend Mr.overgrown wolf! I know this book is a part of a series, but there were too many open ended plot points and I am not sure how to deal with that wrt the story.
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I would have loved to know more about his relationship with his dad or read more about the new fairy tale lore world he is thrown into. The writing was quite good, but the pacing and the development of the story could have been done in a different way. I am really curious to know what happens with the Fae princess and the Dragon and who finishes the 'quest' first!
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Overall, it was a solid middle grade fantasy with dragons, fairies, and what not, really good writing and great character potentials.

This was a fun read and I loved the world building in it. Although it is meant to be a series, I would love to see a bit more stuff resolved. In addition, I found the book a tad bit confusing in a couple of instances, but it was an overall nice read and I would be interested in reading more in this series to see how things play out.

There are very few books in my life that I have been unable to finish, but this is one. Probably the first in about 10 years. The writing lacked clarity, the character interactions were strange, although some of the notions of the characters were really interesting. The plot lacks anything that really drives it (as far as I made it - 47%) and the similies used are reaching and honestly downright strange, which creates a jarring sense to reading the novel and upsets any sort of world creation that the author has managed to put together. The concept is interesting, but the writing and plot just do not drive the novel at all.

3 out of 5 Stars

Cut to the Chase
Wyatt's father has disappeared, leaving only a mysterious note (“One day you will understand). It’s a great hook and a fun beginning. The main character is a teenager from our world who’s somehow transported to this other world, and that’s where the mystery begins. That said, the rest of the book didn’t live up to premise. A lot of things are left unresolved, which is fine if it’s a planned series, but was still fairly frustrating considering where we started. Many of the characters (Wyatt in particular) are easy to relate to and well-developed, there was also a fair bit of action (our heroes getting attacked, etc.) but overall, I felt a little disappointed.

In Greater Detail
Wyatt a lonely thirteen-year-old boy who’s trapped in the middle of nowhere… in a foreign world. Thus, the narrator has the reader’s general expectations about what the world ought to look l ike.

He meets Marrock, who is a wolf (who talks and helps protect him). There’s an element of danger right away: there are storms that are dangerous, eventually trees that are also potentially malicious). Wyatt rides the wolf to safety and they eventually meet Lex, a winged beast who tells Wyatt about a quest he must complete in order to find the Fae Princess (there’s not a lot of explanation about why this is suddenly the quest, just characters, followed by a quest).

There’s also a background threat of war and plenty of solo adventures for Wyatt throughout the book (for example, Wyatt must go to the forest alone, where he then meeds Dryads, and eventually gets some powers).

There’s everything from a dragon a wizard, with a lot of small quests throughout.

This book was slightly disappointing even though there was quite a bit of action. I just felt like none of the larger questions were resolved, and it was a lot of somewhat standard going from one location to another, performing quests without anyone ever stopping to ask why. Perhaps I’m just grumpy or have read too much fantasy recently, but this one was, while entertaining, slightly disappointing after an interesting start.

Wow!
I didnt expect to like this as much as I did. I was hooked from the start. I loved the world building and the characters are unique and engaging.
Love, love, loved this!
I'm looking forward to reading more in this series and from this author!

Enjoyed the intrigue, emotional resonance and world-building. Evocative with lots of gloomy ambience. This series is off to a good start.

Castle of Fountains - By Douglas A.L. Smith

I’ve always loved ‘through the looking glass’ stories. From Lewis Carroll’s Alice, C.S Lewis’s Narnia, with its many different protagonists. And don’t forget about Dorothy and Toto. I know, how could you? The thing all these stories have in common is a magnificent fanciful world filled with magic and intrigue, wonderous beasts, fantastical companions, and there’s always a villain that needs to be defeated.
Douglas A.L. Smith does not disappoint on any of these counts. I found his characters engaging and well written, and he keeps the story moving from page one until the end. But it’s not the end. This is book one of a series, and there are still mysteries to solve. What’s the significance of his Father’s note? What happened to the Fae Princess? There are others I could name, but they would be spoilers, and I can’t do that to you. But don't get me wrong, these are not mistakes or cliffhangers, but well-crafted story elements left dangling on purpose; and I'm impressed by that. I’m sure he’ll wrap it all up splendidly in the remaining books. He certainly has the imagination for it.
Trust me when I say you will enjoy this book. I’m sitting on my hands waiting for book two…

This was such an amazing concept for a fantasy novel, I was hooked on it from the beginning to the end. I liked the characters and the world that was built. Im looking forward to seeing where this is going.