Dragonfly Maid by D D Croix

9780990814672

287 Pages
Publisher: Skylark Media
Release Date: March 25, 2020

Fiction, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Jane is a servant in Queen Victoria’s castle. She has no family and is lucky to hold a position. She is a thief and a jealous streak a mile long. When she touches a person, she has visions. Coached by Mrs. Crossley, she learns how to guide the visions to determine if they are past, present or future.

There is an underground group of servants working together to protect the Queen. They are called the Fayte Guardians. Using her visions, Jane works to undercover the killer all the while questioning whether she is doing the right thing or not.

The story was slow to start and honestly, I started it three times before I got caught up in the intrigue. The characters are developed and is written in the first-person point of view by Jane. This is the first book in the Queen’s Fayte series. If you enjoy mystical books about faeries and magic, you will like this one.

The cover is so stunning and beautiful i can`t even, and the blurb seemed interesting but the main character fell flat to me. She was just boring? It took a while before anything happend and it was a okay but sometimes confusing build up. But after we get to know her powers it just was boring...? The main character was here and there and lots of things happend, but the character were just boring -some of the side characters were interesting but we didn`t see them much.

This was a great book and I highly recommend reading it. Thank you to net galley for allowing me to read this book.

i really enjoyed reading this, this was a great start to a series. The characters were great and I really loved getting to know them.

Dragonfly Maid

Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for giving me an ebook copy in exchange of an honest review 😊

First things first: It was really the synopsis that got me so interested in this book, so imagine my joy when I was granted an eARC! It has been a long overdue read, but I was really glad that it prevented me from falling into a reading slump!

The setting of the story, a time of kings and queens, is something that I’m really such a sucker for. Just throw in those royalties and I’m really putty in your hands 😂 However, it was the element of magic that really stole the show! Imagine having some of the castle staff having beyond ordinary talents in order to safeguard the queen?

The author’s imagery was so good! It was like I could clearly see and feel what was happening in the book. A fact that I’m so thrilled about 🤩 It was like a movie was playing on my mind as I read and that for me deserves so much praise 👏🏻

That ending really left me wanting more! I would be diving in to the next book soon 😍😍😍 A very solid 4 stars 🌟

I Received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review:
I could barely finish this. The main character struck me as empty and the storyline was kind of skewed.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This in no way influences my opinion of the book.

"My mind groped for a reasonable explanation of what I'd seen, but there was none. Had the world always contained such magic?"

Overall, I enjoyed this! I found the pacing difficult to get into, as I found that everything was happening rather quickly. The beginning was intriguing and pulled me in, but I found that there were a lot of info-dumps. I think that this also contributed to what felt like under-developed characters and world-building.

I enjoyed reading from Jane's perspective, but I couldn't understand the rushed feeling of the romance or the plot in general. I wish that this was longer, so that the author could really flesh out the side characters and the plot more. Everything felt like it was moving too quickly for me - I wanted more detail, rather than skipping ahead to more action. Since it was moving quickly, the ending scenes felt a little anticlimactic, convenient, and wrapped up too neatly. On the other hand, I enjoyed the author's writing style and the use of imagery - this had a dream-like quality to it and I loved that!

"These past few weeks, as my visions became clearer and more intense, the subtle yearning to peer into a past that didn't belong to me, that desire to borrow a few fleeting moments of comfort, now clawed at me with ferocious hunger."

All-in-all, this was a fun read and I found the premise rather interesting. I like that our main character was so self-aware too - it made things feel unique! I'm interested in seeing what may be down the road for her!

A unique setting for a fairy-tale retelling. Jane is a servant girl in Victorian England with a special gift set. She soon finds out that what makes her different makes her special and that magic in not unusual if you know where to look.

I personally didn’t have an easy time getting into this one. The writing style was a bit tedious and the characters not well flushed out or likable. I gave up pretty quickly. However, for as far as I got through it, it was a clean read.

I received this ebook free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

​I really enjoyed the imagery and dialogue in this book. Jane, the main character, has visions, and she is the person asked to help the queen.

I enjoyed Jane a lot, and I found her relationship with the dragonflies to be an interesting fantasy kind of twist. She is afraid and unsure of her own powers and abilities, and she has to bravely find herself in the truth of the circumstances she's brought in.

The book gives the readers lots of twists and unexpected situations and characters. It is a fantasy delight that sounds very familiar and sometimes brings you back into the real world. All the Misters and Misses brought me back at times.

​I love the cover, which was what made me want to read the book.

I give this four out of five stars.

Dragonfly Maid by D. D. Croix. ISBN-13: 978-0990814672. 285 pages. Fine Skylark Media (March 14, 2020).

The ebook has some formatting issues, there were some spaces between one line and the other even if not needed and there were sentences that were repeated.
The historical fantasy setting was a nice idea. The pacing was a bit slow at times but it went better towards the end. What I did‘t like is that the action revolves around lack of exchange of information (people not telling things to each other) and misunderstandings, it‘s something that irritates me in books.
Overall, it ended up being a nice read but I don‘t think it piqued my interest enough to read the sequel when it‘s released.

This book resembles a whimsical alternate reality of magic in Victorian England. I thought it was well-written, with a plot that seemed taken right out of a dream. I think that the pacing was a bit too slow and the major conflict scene ended up being a little anticlimactic and resolved too easily. However, I liked the set-up for the next book! As a reader primarily interested in romance, I'm eager to see how Mr. Wyck and Jane grow closer/spend more time together in the second book...

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I will say I mostly enjoyed this book though the copy I had had some formatting issues and repeated sentences in some parts. That kind of threw me off and so I was not able to fully get into the story. The cover is awesome though and that is another point in its favor.

Despite the issues though, I liked reading about Jane and her visions and her dragonfly friend (I liked the dragonfly's way of communicating, very entertaining). I do wish she wasn't so timid but she did get better by the end. It was cool to learn about the Fayte Guardians and their duty to protect the Queen. Jane does a decent job of that, despite just barely learning about her role as one of the Fayte Guardians.

So, my takeaway is that it is a fun book.

Ahhh...love me some paranormal historical fiction and it is hard to find, especially good, well written, paranormal historical fiction. This was a joy to read! Loved the pacing...the story did not lag, nor did it get hung up on descriptions as so many authors who write about this time period do. The characters were engaging and I wanted to know more about them. Really enjoyed this and look forward to the next installment.

I could not put this book down it was very good and kept me engaged the whole time. I am definitely going to get the next book and will try and find more by this author.

The e-book to this had some formatting issues that made reading it difficult. There were sentences that were repeated (I think due to the formatting). This is nothing against the book itself, as this is a review copy.

D.D. Croix makes you care about the characters and makes you rather invested in what happens to them. The characters all have their own voices and are complex. Jane can be too trusting at times, but overall, I enjoyed reading from her perspective.

The world feels real, and Victorian England has always interested me.

That being said, I don’t feel like the action in the book takes place until I had gotten about 60% into the book. Once the pace of the book picked up though I felt like it progressed nicely. I plan on reading more books in this series.

I want to thank Net Galley for allowing me to review this book!

Dragonfly Maid is an engrossing historical fantasy book, that takes place at Queen Victoria’s time. The main character, Jane is a maid at the Queen, and she has magical power, which helps her to protect the queen. Thanks to her ability she has visions, and she can see the Queen in danger and fight on her side.
I liked reading this novel not just because the fantasy genre is my favorite and I like reading historical books too about that period, but as well as it was an immersive story with magic, mystery and secret.

Thank you for NetGalley and for the publisher for the free copy.

Anfangs wusste ich noch nicht wirklich, was hier auf mich zukommt. Es war eines der ersten Fantasy-Bücher mit historischem Setting. Und was soll ich sagen: ich war positiv überrascht.
Es hat etwas gedauert, bis ich in die Geschichte von Jane gefunden habe, aber sobald ich einmal drinnen war, konnte ich nicht mehr aufhören und musste mit Jane gemeinsam herausfinden, was hier eigentlich passiert.

Es ist eine gelungene Mischung aus Fantasy, aber auch etwas Krimi - denn es geht ja schließlich um die Queen, welche in Gefahr steckt und man nicht weiß, wer wie was wo.
Gemeinsam mit Jane erfährt man dann aber von einem Geheimbund, einer weiteren Welt, weiteren Wesen, und Magie. Und ich fand es wunderbar, das alles mit Jane zu erkunden.

Jane ist ein tolles Mädchen, anfangs unsicher und einsam, wird sie zum Ende der Geschichte mutiger, bekommt Freunde und eine Gemeinschaft und ev. auch die erste, große Liebe, oder etwas nicht, Mr. Wyck?

Ich freu mich auf jeden Fall auf mehr, und muss unbedingt wissen, wie es mit Jane und ihren Freunden weitergeht.

****

In the beginning I had not yet quite an idea what was about to come. It was one of the first fantasy-books with a historical setting. But what can I say: it was amazing.
It did take a bit of time until I was fully into the story, but once that happened, I couldn't stop reading anymore. I had to find out, together with Jane, what the hell was going on.

It is a great balance of fantasy but also a little bit of crime - I mean, it is the queen who's in danger and nobody knows how why who. And I had to find out.
Together with Jane I got to know that there is a secret society, a different world, different beings and much more such as magic. I was mesmerized and had to read on.

Jane is an amazing young woman: yes, in the beginning she was insecure, shy, lonley, but as the story went on she developed amazingly and became a strong woman with friends and she might have found her first crash, isn't that right Mr. Wyck?

I really can't wait for the next one in the series and find out what's next for Jane and her friends.

Dragonfly Maid is a historical fantasy mystery that takes place in the household of Queen Victoria. It's described as dark fantasy and had a bit of a gothic feel to it. Jane is a household maid, inducted into a secret order of Fayte Guardians. The Fayte Guardians have been given magical powers from the Lady of the Fayte in order to protect the queen. Jane has visions that allow her to see that the queen is in danger, but she must work with the other Guardians to figure out who wants to hurt the queen and why.

There is an evil power at work and the Lady of the Fayte hasn't been seen for decades. When the Guardians gather it seems a little like a cult with robes hiding their faces and a secret scrying pool. There were definitely some creepy moments. Overall, this was well written, but not to my taste.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and have reviewed it freely.

Let me begin by saying I went into this book with low expectations. The time period it is set in doesn’t seem that interesting to me. But the author found a way to drag me in. The characters were interesting, and witty. The main character was relatively relate-able for a maid in the victorian era. She has alot of the same desires as the average person. There is magic, mystery, secrets, a masquerade, and a mystery man. All of it was well written. Even most of the side characters were interesting. I can’t wait to see where Jane and her friends end up next, and what discovery’s await them.

Amazon-still waiting on approval for review.