Portraits of a Faerie Queen

3 1/2 Stars. I ended up enjoying this more than I expected. I’m not the biggest fan of YA books, but I love urban fantasy. I also liked that the supernatural creatures, in this book, were fae. While I love vamps and shifter books, I was actually just wishing that there were more books in the world of faerie. This book had a few bumps, but overall it was an enjoyable YA urban fantasy read.

Jocelyn is a 17 year-old artist that has gotten mixed up in the faerie court. To save her mother from a coma, she must produce paintings for the Queen. But the court is in a bit of upheaval and Jocelyn isn’t sure she will live long enough to finish the paintings. When people she cares about start getting sucked into the world of faeries, Jocelyn must do everything she can to protect those she loves.

This book starts out and Jocelyn is one of few humans that already know the fae exist. In some ways I liked that the main storyline started right away. No slow discovery and disbelief in the fae that we have to read about. So while I kind of like that concept, it also left us open for a bit of info dumping. Things have to be told more quickly instead of us slowly figuring it out along with Jocelyn. On the other hand, it was almost like LaRoi was consciences about info dumps so other things I thought actually weren’t explained enough. My whole point is, while I liked the attempt of the story just starting right off, I think it might have been better starting more at the beginning.

When it came to the characters, I thought they were all well written. I liked the different types of fae and of course the main character of Jocelyn. However, this leads me to my biggest issue with the whole book. The characters are just not well enough described. This includes everyone, even the humans. Rina is a POC, and I didn’t even realize it to almost the end of the book. When it came to the fae, I was able to picture them in my mind because of all the urban fantasy books I have read. But newer readers might not know what a Red Cap is supposed to look like or other lesser known fae. Settings and places like the court were fine, but this book really needed more character descriptive words.

Okay let me get to the good parts. This was a very quick read in that it was exciting and flowed well. This had a good mix of action and court intrigue, and even a little romance. Jocelyn and Rina’s romance was very PG, but sweet. I was happy LaRoi was able to give them quiet moments to connect with each other. She was also clear to make this a new, developing relationship with no insta-love, which I appreciate.

There is a book 2 coming out this month, I definitely enjoyed this enough that I will read the next installment. From what I can tell, it looks like the next book might not be YA, so I might even enjoy it more. If you are a YA urban fantasy fan, I think you will enjoy this. It had a few issues, but it was entertaining and I’m happy I read it.