Rebel - R J Anderson

Rebel is the second book in the faerie series by Canadian author, R. J. Anderson. It was released on 7th January 2010 and is 304 pages long. Although it is part of a series, Rebel's main characters are different to those in the first book, Knife.

Plot

Knowing that the oak tree and her faerie friends and family are in serious danger, Linden decides that she has to do something to help. The Faerie Queen knows just how desperate things are and as a dying wish, she gives Linden half of her magic, having complete trust in her.

Knife, from the first book is now married to Paul and live in the house opposite the oak tree. Setting off on her great adventure, Linden begins at the house. There, she finds Paul's teenage cousin Timothy, who has been suspended from school and has no where else to go. Timothy feels like Knife doesn't want him there as she always seems to be hiding things. What he doesn't know, is that she is helping to protect her former friends and family of the tree.

Feeling pretty low, Timothy decides to run away to London but Linden finds a hiding place in his backpack and tags along. The adventure begins once Timothy finds Linden and they start their hunt for other faeries to help out the tree folk. Not only do they find male faeries but also ones who steal creativity from humans. There are some other faeries which only seem to be myths but if they are real, they might just be able to save everyone.

What I thought
As much as I loved Knife, Rebel was superior in so many ways. The story itself is a lot bigger and way more exciting. Rather than just keeping to the oak tree, house and garden, Rebel ventures out into different cities as well as countryside in Wales. The way that these different places were introduced paved some solid foundations for a diverse range of cultures and folklore. You would think that the large mix of different kinds of faeries and places would be quite confusing but everything is explained extremely well so I didn't get confused at any point.

There is a lot going on throughout the entire story and I loved that everything about it was really exciting. The changes in setting are quick to happen and although I would have liked a little more time in each place, I understand that the book would have maybe been too long and drawn out this way.

Linden was a much more believable heroine than Knife. Even though she wants her help the other faeries, she gets scared because she doesn't know anything other than the life she is so used to. Linden is really shy and innocent to begin with and has a hard time dealing with being all alone with Timothy in human form. For someone who has never met a male, let alone a human before, she coped quite well. There were quite a few times where she didn't really understand what was happening and made some silly mistakes in the human world which made me laugh most of the time.

The music/ creativity aspect of faeries has been done many times before, especially when they want to steal talents from humans. This is the first faerie story that I have read where the faeries start to get really nasty and violent when it comes to getting what they want. This part of the story was very interesting to read and it didn't feel repetitive or done before at any point.

Throughout, Rebel has a lot to do with good vs. evil. The bad guys definitely have enough motive for what they are doing and the way that Anderson describes the other faeries is truly amazing. I really felt how evil and mean they were and that they were only out to get what would benefit them. The good guys were so virtuous and courageous that I couldn't help but keep my fingers crossed for a complete happy ending.

The ending was the only part of Rebel that I was disappointed with. Although the main issues were written extremely well, I still don't know what happened between Linden, Timothy and Rob. It was clear in Knife that she and Paul ended up together but not this time. I know the third book, Arrow will be released at some point but I think it will follow in tradition and focus on a different character. I would have really liked to have known what happened in each aspect of the story, especially this one.

A great faerie story for all ages. Highly recommended as you don't really need to have read the previous book.