*Gizmos Book Reviews* The Last Changeling (Faerie Revolutions #1) by Chelsea Pitcher

**I received this book for free from Flux via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

*Synopsis*

A Kingdom at War . . .

Elora, the young princess of the Dark Faeries, plans to overthrow her tyrannical mother, the Dark Queen, and bring equality to faeriekind. All she has to do is convince her mother’s loathed enemy, the Bright Queen, to join her cause. But the Bright Queen demands an offering first: a human boy who is a “young leader of men.” 

A Dark Princess In Disguise . . .

To steal a mortal, Elora must become a mortal—at least, by all appearances. And infiltrating a high school is surprisingly easy. When Elora meets Taylor, the seventeen-year-old who’s plotting to overthrow a ruthless bully, she thinks she’s found her offering . . . until she starts to fall in love.

*My Thoughts*

The Last Changeling is told in an alternating first-person point of view. The main characters are Elora, a princess of the Dark Realm of Fairie, and Taylor Alder a boy who has lost his only brother to a freak accident, and is now estranged from his parents. As the blurb indicates, Elora comes to the mortal realm searching for a way to end the centuries old war between the Dark and Light Fae and to overthrow her own mother.

Assuming the identity of Lora Belfry, Elora knows that in order to gain the Bright Queen's assistance, she needs to solve a riddle by finding the one mortal who fits what SHE needs. By attempting to fit into the mortal realm, Lora comes face to face with Taylor who has been struggling against self-loathing and blame since his brother died.

Taylor, not unlike Elora, faces difficulties with not just trying to get by, but worrying about how he can stand up to brazen idiots who are nothing more than thugs. His connection to Elora is fun, and not insta-lust which I abhor so much. I would say that the romance is meek in comparison to what is offered in contemporary stories. I would also say that Taylor is perhaps the more appealing character.  

The Last Changeling, for the most part, is an interesting story but with some minor problems. The world building is barely there, and the characters mostly fall flat except for Taylor. Elora's flashbacks are an important part of the story and you need to pay attention closely because it fills in a whole lot of blanks including how the Fae were created and hints on Elora's mission. But, not all of them, including Elora's own existence, and why Naeve hates her so much. I dare say that the last 20 percent was the most interesting and action filled of the entire novel.

But, I do have my complaints. In my opinion, Pitcher probably should written a contemporary novel focusing on her version of what social justice means to her and what she expects in order to get to that point. I understand her feeling that "Equality doesn't work if it's only for some people." I understand that part more than people realize. Probably more than her characters experience.

But, I didn't go into The Last Changeling expecting to be PREACHED at for a large chunk of the story or feel like I was reading an after school special. I expected to focus on the relationship between Elora and Taylor and her mission. I expected to learn more about Faerie and the Bright Queen. Perhaps I will read the sequel, perhaps I'll wait until I read various reviews first.

Author - Chelsea Pitcher
Title - The Last Changeling
Series - Faerie Revolutions # 1
Published by Flux
Released: November 8, 2014
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Format: E-Book 360 pages