Lava Red, Feather Blue takes the Sleeping Beauty tale and tweaks it to involve ancient battles between the fae and humans, along with an LGBTQ cast and a happily ever after that begins with the waking "kiss."

Prince Larkin is forced into an eternal sleep as part of a truce between the humans and the fae on the hidden, magical island of Eidolonia. Lying somewhere in the north Pacific, the island has been kept secret by the native fae. But a destructive battle between the fae Ula Kana and the humans who co-populate the island leads to a peace treaty unlike any other. Larkin will slumber as long as Ula Kana, and if Larkin should wake, the treaty would be void.

Set in modern times, where magic continues to conceal the island from prying satellites, Merrick Highvalley is the descendant of the mighty magician who placed Larkin in his centuries-long slumber. He is also the one who will, accidentally, wake him. Often mixed up with the law and burdened by feeling as if he isn't enough, a mysterious box leads Merrick to wake Larkin, thereby endangering the entire island. In an already tumultuous environment, where the current government wishes to build a highway through the fae territory, the threat of Ula Kana is the last thing any inhabitant of Eidolonia needs.

Lava Red, Feather Blue is a well-paced story about love and honor. Prince Larkin is a rich character dealing with pride, being idolized, and duty. Merrick's character matches Larkins well, and their relationship builds without dragging. Ringle wraps readers up in a world that is vibrant and real. She maintains the fairy tale atmosphere even as cell phones and motor vehicles populate the story. There may be a commentary on our world's current political circus, class structure, and global warming, but they aren't thrown in the reader's face, if they are at all intentional.

With a quest structure like The Hobbit, a touch of Sleeping Beauty, and an authentic queer romance, Lava Red, Feather Blue is a must-read addition to anyone's TBR.

It comes as no surprise to anyone that I'm giving a fantasy book with queer characters a high rating. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, and I had a hard time getting into it at first, but after the first few chapters, I became addicted and will surely be picking up other works by Molly Ringle in the future.

Lava Red Feather Blue is not only a book about fae and witches, but a warning about bigotry. It gives a subtle nod to Pacific Islanders, Turkish, Japanese and a few other cultures. World building is often difficult to write, but Ringle does an excellent job weaving this story together, and I appreciate how she portrays the relationship between Larkin and Merrick gives all of the characters the ending they deserve. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to read this one.

i really loved the concept of this book - a gay, sleeping beauty inspired modern fantasy story centered around a fae prince and a half-human. i still think it's a cool concept, and this book is going to be someone's favorite, that person is just unfortunately not me.

i think potentially the plot should have had a different starting point, the beginning doesn't feel as tense as it should within the context of the overarching plot, and everything just felt kind of... clunky? we learn a lot of things through dialogue, which doesn't seem very natural, and our main character, Merrick, doesn't have a very strong voice of his own. we are told a lot of things about him - he's a perfumer, an uncle, a thrill-seeker, a failed scholar, a sometimes-actor - but we don't really see him stepping up to these roles. the bulk of the story is propelled onward by world-building, but despite this, i never felt a strong sense of place - i understood a lot of the social and political mechanics, but for such a fun and cool setting, but I'm picky about modern fantasy - fantasy is an escapist genre and I don't like when certain aspects of modern, usually American society are included. the beginning heavily features a militaristic police force and there's a lot of "othering" of different species.

Unfortunately this was not for me, but bear in mind its my fault not the book's as its quite hard for me to get into adult books. I really wish i could push through but alas, the writing felt sort of dense and info-dumpy to me. Hopefully others may appreciate the story more than i could.

Urban Fantasy/ LGBTQ Romance/ Fairytale

Lava Red Feather Blue is a feel-good, modern day fairytale filled with quirky magical creatures, all kinds of fae, set on a magical north-Pacific island.

Prince Larkin is accidentally awakened from his 220 year sleep by Merrick, a half-faery, half-human witch. But the spell binding Larkin also kept the evil faery, Ula Kana, at bay. Once Ula Kana is free, she wreaks havoc on the secret island that is home to both humans and faery. Merrick and Larkin form an unusual alliance and travel into the faery lands to restore balance.

I loved the magical island, the mix of cultures, and the whimsical feeling I had through the whole book. Its set in modern times, but feels very much like a fairytale.

It reminds me of a Studio Ghibli film, with a style of story that flows like a pleasant, meandering river. There is plenty of conflict, but it usually resolved in a positive, feel-good way. I enjoyed the quest/ adventure and found it to be a fun lighthearted read.

Merrick and Larkin were great main characters and their dynamic and romance was really fun.

I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a fun urban fantasy/romance with a bit of adventure.

The formatting of the ARC was really weird, and there were no capitalizations, so I put it down. Nothing against the story, characters, or writing, I just had a hard time reading it so I didn't finish it.

"Lava Red Feather Blue" is centered around a prince named Larkin who has been asleep for a long time due to a spell that was cast to create a truce between the humans and fae on an island called Eidolonia. Merrick - a witch - accidentally finds Larkin and wakes him up, and in doing so, the spell breaks, which results in Ula Kana (a fae who wishes to get humans out of Eidolonia) returning. Over the course of the story, Merrick and Larkin learn more about the magic on their island and work together to try and bring peace and harmony to everyone that lives there.

I loved watching the two main characters grow closer together as they began to work together, and I felt like the plot reminded me slightly of "Sleeping Beauty," but with its own unique twist. Overall, I thought that it was a very enjoyable read, and I would definitely recommend it to fellow fantasy readers.

This is an enchanting, charming and well-crafted tale that starts out as a humorous romp and ends up speaking to larger ideas of love’s role in society. Molly Ringle recasts Sleeping Beauty with two men in the leading roles – a dutiful prince who’s been under a terrible sleeping curse for more than two hundred years, and the feckless modern perfumer who awakens him. (Extra points to Ringle for perfumery, a profession I’ve never come across before in a fantasy novel.) Changing the leads to men leaches the story of some of its weird, gendered layers, as does the fact that the act of awakening the sleeping beauty – Prince Larkin – is accomplished via an accidental touch with a magical artifact, rather than through a nonconsensual kiss. Who says fairy tale retellings can’t rise above the limitations of their source material?

Prince Larkin is an impressive individual – tall, fiery-haired, and of course handsome. He can mount a horse mid-stride and fight with “swords, knives, pistols and bows.” Unfortunately, these skills prove entirely useless in the modern world, where people have traded horses for cars and pistols for online trolling. Enter Merrick Highvalley, aforementioned feckless perfumer, who by age 29 has mastered the arts of mixing heavenly potions and pissing off the authorities. He’s in the midst of one such hijink when he manages to rouse Larkin from an ensorcelled sleep, unfortunately simultaneously awakening the human realm’s oldest and most implacable adversary, the fairy Ula Kana. What ensues is a desperate two-man quest to save the kingdom and, so to speak, put the genie back in its lamp; the genie here being the murderous Kana.

But their journey takes turns they don’t expect, which is obviously the most fun part of it all. They went their way from kingdom to kingdom, alternately unmoored by the feelings of passion, anger and grief that represent the different fairy kingdoms. Their affection blossoms even as their certainty withers, which is both good and bad from the perspective of facing a final boss. There is a moment – almost at the end – when Larkin saves the day with both good speechifying and a gesture in favor of a joint future. What if the fae and the humans share their island in greater faith? Frankly, I’m skeptical of these declarations in favor of unity; too often they serve a dominant group at the expense of others. And despite Ula Kana’s tendency towards murder and mayhem, her familiar but honestly legitimate complaint goes unanswered: “The humans, here and around the globe, pushed us off our land, set up iron and noise, cut down our forests, fouled our waters, refused to honor or even notice us…”

I am unenthused, as well, when fantasy stories too closely code their imaginary conflicts as real-world problems, but the above quote excepted, Ringle largely manages to steer clear of this kind of cheap appropriation; this emotional resonance-by-proxy. I almost cried once or twice, and this story earned it. Besides, I’ll forgive an author a lot for showing us a world in which two dudes make out at the end and one of their dads refers to the kiss as “the proudest day of my life.”

This is a fantasy story that manages to take the best things about the genre – its uncynical appreciation for capital-letters heroism and unfathomable mysteries – while shucking some of the bad – tired European exceptionalism, unimaginative heteronormativity – out the window. And, it’s sweet, and it’s funny.

Before jumping into this review, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for providing me with an E-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lava Red Feather Blue is a unique fantasy novel that has an interesting twist to the Sleeping Beauty narrative. The story mainly focuses on the two male leads. Larkin, the young prince forced into an eternal sleep to keep the antagonist from harming his people. In the modern time period, Merrick, a half-human/half-fae accidentally wakes him up and undoing an ancient spell that ties Larkin to the villain in his deep slumber.

Genuinely, the blur did capture my interest when I request this book a year ago, that being said, it took me a while to actually finish reading it. The thing was, the book is just right in the middle. It has so much potential for me to be this really fascinating plot, however, it failed to really hook me in as well.

Lava Red Feather Blue just stands in the middle ground, where it could've shown more to be captivating, and not quite there yet in terms of world-building. Often times, I wished the author placed in more details on certain elements in the world she built, rather than telling the readers this or that especially with how it is a country where faes and humans sort of co-exist. There was a lot going on, and I had been irked by some parts where the narration glossed over how things work, especially considering that the book goes between the use of magic and a system of governance between fae/human laws in the first half of the book.

I'm rounding it off that this story is a 2.5 stars for me. The start of the novel really drawn me to read it, but the pacing, as I go further slowed down a lot that it took me way longer to actually finish the book, but I still feel that there's room for improvement in the story.

On the whole, I enjoyed this. I thought it was a sweet story with several important themes and moral quandaries to consider. I very much liked both Larkin and Merrick (as well as Merrick's family). There was admirable representation and little angst about any of it, letting human/fae relations stand allegorically in place of some important human/human biases. It worked and was a pleasure to read.

I did think the whole thing too long and the Hero's Quest plotting a little too apparent. There is a certain plodding, first we do this, then we do this next thing, and then we do the next thing, each progressively harder, etc.

I did read a per-publication ARC, which means the book hadn't had it's final edit. So, I can't speak to editing. All in all, however, I'd be more than happy read more of Ringle's writing.

I didn't enjoy this one. I just wasn't drawn in by the plot and found that I had no desire to finish it.

"Lava Red Feather Blue" was absolutely enchanting.
I'm so glad I got the chance to read and review this wonderfully magical, bittersweet and lovely book. It was the perfect read to end and to start the new year.
The plot is fairly straightforward: in an enchanted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean a half-human, half-fea witch that has a penchant for trouble and a prince that gets woken up from a centuries-long sleep by said troublemaker embark on a journey to save their lives and the lives of the humans they love.
I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting myself into when I started reading this book but I definitely was not expecting to fall head-over-heels in love with the characters, the magical, and sometimes scary, setting and atmosphere, the lovely writing.
I adored both Merrick and Larkin: their feelings and emotions, their doubts and grief and insecurities, their heartstopping, adventurous and perilous journey into fairyland... plus one of the loveliest romances I have ever had the pleasure of reading about.
I also adored all of the side characters and the wonderful (gender, sexual, cultural) diversity of this enchanting island. It also raises some very thoughtful topics, especially related to the coexistence between different peoples from very different backgrounds, without making it a difficult book to read.
I'm definitely going to re-read this sooner rather than later but for now I cannot recommend it enough. Buy it, read it.

3.5/5

*I received a free digital copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way effects my review*

Red Lava Feather Blue is full of magic, romance, adventure, and great representation (gay, lesbian, non binary)! The best part? Being LBGT+ isn’t an issue in this book. No one hates or bullies anyone for it. It’s perfectly normal and I wish reality was like that.

This story follows both Merrick and Larkin as they discover each other, both sides of their world (the human world and then the Fae’s world) and a very dangerous adventure they may not survive. It all started when Merrick was searching through his family’s possessions (more so those of the long ago deceased) for something to help cure his father’s illness. However, he ended up discovering a portal and accidentally woke up Prince Larkin (the very one who has been asleep for over two hundred years). Now they have to work together to put an old evil back to rest, and maybe, possibly, end up falling in love along the way.

Did you know magic is monitored and somewhat illegal? And that Merrick has a rare power that the government doesn’t want him to use unless it helps them? And that Merrick still uses magic whenever he can because he is a bit of a rebel, but is mostly just reckless? You will learn all about their government’s take on magic and what charms and other magical items/spells are banned from use when you read this book! Merrick’s recklessness and his desire to save his father lead to one heck of an adventure, and it’s the whole reason he finds someone to love romantically. As for Prince Larkin, well he has his fears, and maybe a desire to run away. He stays though since he wants to see if they can save the island before he leaves it for good.

This was certainly an interesting story and I enjoyed the reading experience, however this book ended up being a bit too slow for my liking. Almost the entire first half of the book is a steady crawl of introductions, planning, and reminiscing. Then we reach the adventure portion of the book, which also somehow seems so slow? The descriptions are long and lyrical, taking multiple pages to explain one night. It was all very enchanting, but it left me feeling impatient. Except for the ending actually, which I felt was rushed.

Aside from that, the biggest portion of this book belongs to the characters and romance. Both of which I never really connected to. In all honesty, I felt disconnected from the story and was thus unable to fully invest myself in it. That isn’t to say either are bad, though. In fact, the author handled certain situations very well. Prince Larkin also had relatively realistic reactions to all the new technology he was presented with upon waking. A lot of other reviews I read complimented the characters and their likability.

If you are a fan of fantasy, romance, and LGBT+ rep, you should check this book out!

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book.

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to put this down for the time being due to the formatting of the eARC. I have never commented on the lack of edits before when it comes to ARCs, however, the lack of editing in this book is very distracting and therefore effecting my reading experience.

I’ll definitely be adding “Lava Red, Feather Blue” to my TBR to purchase at a later date because everything about this novel appeals to me; fantasy, fae, queer rep, even the cover is gorgeous and I’d love the chance to read this again once I get to appreciate it more in its finished format.

3.5 stars! objectively this was a fairly solid fantasy book with good writing and a great atmosphere (especially once they crossed over into fae land)

i liked the concept of Larkin being a prince from the 1700s, but there were a lot of instances of really info-dumpy chapters where readers are just told what happened to Larkin and how things have changed since then, and it took a while for any real action to happen. then, in the second half of this book, SO much happens to the point where the ending felt very anticlimactic and almost rushed to me.

i enjoyed the characters, especially Larkin, and i thought they were likable main characters, but i didn't end up feeling super attached to them or the romance. i didn't dislike the romance but it didn't feel super believable to me? maybe it's just me, but it felt like their "feelings" for each other kind of came out of nowhere and it was more of a "we might die so i think i love you" situation. i liked the use of they/them pronouns with a side character, though, and that was a nice surprise to see in a fantasy book!

The ARC for this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank You.

I knew since I saw the synopsis of this book that I would like it, and guess what? Yep, I liked it very much indeed.
On this story we follow the adventures of the prince Larkin who was enchanted to lain in a magical sleep since 1799, being accidentally woke up by Merrick Highvalley a modern day witch, but with that he also releases Ula Kana a fairy that wants to destroy the humanity that lives on the island of Eidolonia.
With the trade between the fairy world and the humans broken, Merrick and Larkin had to make an alliance to stop Ula Kana and restore harmony to their island.

I love fantasy and romance books. That's why this was perfect for me. The fairy world was beautiful and magical! I love when authors create worlds that blow my mind while I try to imagine every piece of thing that they put on the pages of their books. Here as I said is beautiful and magical but also mysterious and dangerous that you can’t trust anything or anyone, because fairies are dangerous and curious and they want to enchant you to do whatever they want.

The characters of this book are perfect, being imperfect. They make mistakes, they take risks and suffer but that’s what makes them more human, more real for me. The interaction between Larkin and Merrick is wonderful, a prince who wants to escape and has to survive on the modern day, a witch that wants to be someone and saves his world, the perfect combo to have beautiful, light and funny dialogues between them, and obviously drama, fights and misunderstandings.


The adventures were amazing! And the romance! Aah ~ I really liked it. Merrick and Larkin are imperfect, they make mistakes and obviously they did it here, they said good and wrong words to each other but they accepted their mistakes and asked for forgiveness. In the end they discovered each other perfectly. I just want to add here that I wanted a little more romance, but it’s ok.

Now I want to read more books from the author.

Lava Red Feather Blue is a magical fantasy tale about Merrick Highvalley, a modern day witch, experiments with charms and accidentally wakes Prince Larkin, who has been in a magical sleep since 1799. Breaking the spell releases the faery Ula Kana, and Merrick and Larkin myst stop her from eradicating humans from the island of Eidolonia.

This book is by Molly Ringle, and I absolutely loved All The Better Part of Me, so I had already preordered Lava Red Feather Blue. However, when I spotted it on netgalley I jumped at the chance to read it early. So when it comes out I will have three copies, the netgalley ebook, the actual ebook, and a paperback version to look pretty on my shelf with all my other favourite books. I have zero regrets about this. This book literally ticks all my boxes. I mean, a bumbling demifae messing in magic beyond his comprehension meets a sexy ancient prince with a sword. What's not to love? I have to admit that a lot of my notes for this review are just squeeing or heart emojis because I loved it so much, so hopefully I can form a coherent review out of them that expresses just how much I adore this book.

I love this kind of fantasy story. There's quite a lot of exposition near the beginning of the book to explain the world but it's so worth it. Everything is just so magical. And the fae realm is enchanting. I particularly loved the woodstriders!

I also love all the characters. Merrick is a great protaganist. He's a bit of a trouble maker, but not on purpose. I have to admit I got jealous of his endo witch abilities, he has some handy tricks up his sleeve. Larkin is great as well. Every conversation between him I was just like 'aaaaaaa' because I love them both, and there's so much emotion and tension between them. And the side characters are great as well. There's a nonbinary character, Cassidy, who I really liked. They were like a voice of reason to counter Merrick's occasional bad decisions. Also, there's a giant pet rabbit, and Elemi, who is an utter delight of a person.

There's sacrifice and heroism, a quest, romantic and sexual tension, magic, and plenty of danger and excitement. Every glimpse of the romance is just wonderful, and I couldn't put the book down. This book tore out my heart and stomped on it several times, which is exactly the kind of thing I look for in a book. I just love it so much. I'm looking forward to rereading it multiple times in the future.

Lava Red, Feather Blue is a fantasy novel with witches, fae, royalty, and a lovely gay/MLM romance. I'm not a huge fantasy reader, but this one was really enjoyable for me to read. The world-building was intriguing and descriptive but not overwhelming.

On the island of Eidolonia, there has always been some degree of contention between fae and humans, as well as those who are both. Magic in the human realm is regulated or even prohibited, and humans venturing into the fae realm is rare and often dangerous. When Larkin, a prince of the 18th century, is forcibly put into an indefinite sleep by a witch named Rosamund Highvalley, as part of a deal with the fae so the destructive and human-hating Ula Kana would also be put into a sleep. Fast forward to this century, and Merrick Highvalley encounters old charms and artifacts and accidentally reawakens Prince Larkin: unleashing utter chaos on the island once again.

The story revolves around Merrick and Larkin's quest to strike another deal with the fae, defeat Ula Kana, protect Merrick's family and the island's inhabitants, and bring peace to the land. Although far from an easy journey, along the way the two find love and understand its many meanings.

Since I'm a sucker for romance, Merrick and Larkin's growing relationship and their chemistry was my favourite aspect of the novel. I also loved the casual inclusion of LGBTQ+ folks in this universe, where same-gender love and being neither male nor female is normal. Because while there is conflict, it is not brought on by homophobia or transphobia and this is so refreshing. Aspects like Cassidy, Merrick's sibling, using they/them pronouns (and being presumably nonbinary) being a casual fact was really nice to read.

This was a fantastic book that I feel super lucky to have read before its release. Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book!
Though I tend not to read much fantasy anymore, I really enjoyed this book - more than I expected to! I mean, who doesn’t love a quest? I liked that Larkin and Merrick were imperfect people that made mistakes (mondo mistakes!) they then had to go fix, and I enjoyed the long-view aspect of the story that stretched over centuries. The world building was enough to give the reader a pretty clear idea of what things were like without becoming bogged down in a lot of little details and long histories that can sometimes make fantasy exhausting. This book reminded me of a lot of the fantasy I read when I was younger and it does sort of have a younger feel to it, in my opinion, even though the characters are adults. There was a good balance of humor, action, romance, and serious, though part of me would have liked to hear more about the villain’s motives. While the book brings up real and valid concerns about what humans have done to the world and the fae as reasons for Ula Kana’s rage and actions, it doesn’t really “fix” the problems driving her actions, sort of kicking the can down the road. Overall it was a fun read with engaging characters and a well-paced plot. I’d be interested in reading more by Ringle!

I am so happy that I found this beautiful book on Netgalley. When I first read the blurb for the book, I really was intrigued by it. It only took me a couple of pages to fall in love with this story. I loved each of the characters especially Merrick and Larkin.

This is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty but so much more than that. I loved how Molly took the original story and used it at the beginning of this one and then how she broke off from it. Also, her take on the original was so great. Larkin is forced into being put into a magical sleep as one side of a truce between the humans and the fae of the island Eidolonia. He is awoken over two-hundred years later by Merrick by accident and the adventure continues from there.

Lava Red Feather Blue blended many of my favorite things fairy tales, fae stories, slow-burn romances, stories with strong familial bonds, and wonderful writing. I fell in love with it instantly and did not want to stop reading it at all. It was a wonderful story and I cannot wait to pick up more books written by Molly Ringle.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC of this lovely book. All opinions are my own.* I will be getting a copy of this book as soon as it is available.