REBEL by R.J. Anderson

No ordinary fairy tale…

Linden is a feisty faery with a lot on her mind. She her fellow faeries are under threat: their magic is fading, and if they do not act fast, they will die…

When Linden meets Timothy, a human staying in the house opposite her Oak, she knows he can help. Together they embark on a dangerous journey to seek more magic and discover that there is more to fear from other faeries than they could ever have imagined.

After reading KNIFE earlier this year, my daughter and I had been looking forward to reading this book. So, when she went on school holidays, we decided to read a couple of chapters each day until we got to the end. Today, we reached the end. As glad as we were to get to the end of Linden's and Timothy's fantastical adventure, now we're both sad that it's over. :(

Linden is a young faery who's been charged with heading out into the human world to find others of her kind in hopes of helping the Oakenfolk regain their magic, before the Oak and everyone in it perish. Timothy is a teenage boy who's been kicked out of school and is now staying with Paul and Peri. But he feels like a burden and is sure that neither one of them want him there, so he takes off.

Of course, he doesn't know that a tiny faery is inside his rucksack and is hoping to hitch a ride into the human city to find help. As it turns out, instead of finding other faeries, other faeries find them. And they're not entirely friendly. Actually, after venturing into a place called Sanctuary, Timothy almost has his music stolen from him by one of them--he plays the guitar. With Linden's help, they get away, and meet a male faery called Rob. He tells them that the Empress will surely know that they're in London and will hunt them down, to force them into servitude (like she has to every other faery) or punish them.

These events send Linden and Timothy on a journey across the country, to some unseen islands off the coast of Wales. Along the way they face one dangerous and harsh situation after another--ranging from having no money or food to eat, to being attacked. Their adventure is hard, long, and at the end of it they're thanked by being captured by the Empress. But like a true adventure story, the action and surprises don't end there.

Rebel is as beautifully written and charming as Knife was. It was a lovely story of friendship, rebellion, and features two very determined teens willing to do whatever it takes to not only help each other, but also save a race that is close to extinction. There are a lot of memorable moments in this story, and all of them are vivid and wondrous. Also, the strong friendship between Timothy and Linden reminded me of how Paul and Knife first got along when they met.

And speaking of Paul and Knife (or is that Peri?) I loved meeting up with them again and finding out what became of them after Knife made her very serious choice at the end of the first book.

With ARROW just around the corner, I can't wait to see who the heroine and hero in that one will be... But I do know that both my daughter and I enjoyed and loved this book as much as we did the first one. :)

Review from my 9-year-old daughter:

Rebel is an awesome book. It has an extremely dangerous and exciting adventure. There are some new faeries that made it a lot more interesting. Linden is a kind and bold faerie. Timothy is a nice friend to the Oakenfolk.

R.J Anderson wrote a very cool sequel to Knife. When my Mum read Rebel we LOVED every bit of the book--from the pretty cover, to the amazing storyline. There is adventure on every page. I just loved this book!

Here's a picture I drew of Linden.

*Cassie*

Rebel, March 2010, ISBN 9781408307373, Paperback - B Format