Book Review: When Libby Met the Fairies and Her Whole Life Went Fae by Kirsten Mortensen

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2011

Biologist Libby Samson wants only one thing: to rebuild her life after an ugly divorce.
So she quits her job and buys an organic farm.
Then, one evening, a two-foot tall man stands up out of the shadows and greets her by name.
It’s hard enough for Libby to come to terms with the fact that “little folk” exist.
But when word of Libby’s experience leaks out onto the Internet, her peaceful farm soon swarms with kooky strangers. The media shows up. Her annoying sister shows up. And her horrified boyfriend thinks she should be on meds.
Libby finds one person she can confide in: Dean, her solitary (but sexy) next-door neighbor.
But what if trusting Dean is a huge mistake?

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Review

This was a well-constructed book. I felt like the characters were well-drawn and mostly realistic while some of them felt a bit cartoonish (Gina, Libby’s sister).

Things I liked about the book:

1. The premise. Libby, a biologist, wants to be an organic farmer. She is a nice woman who just wants to have a quiet life in the country after she goes through a divorce and is laid off.

2. Maizey and Dean. Maizey is the niece, Dean is the sexy neighbor. Maizey’s kind of a breath of fresh air, exuberant. Dean is a quiet beta-type hero who has a heart of gold under a slightly crusty exterior. His dog, Bo, is awesome.

3. The fairies. I think there should have been more in the book about the fairies, not about people who attempt to capitalize on Libby’s experience with them. They were an interesting little group.

Things I didn’t like about the book:

1. Libby displays passive aggressive behaviors. Instead of dealing with her problems, she hides from them.

2. She allows people to walk all over her on her own turf and almost allows these people to steal her dream of organic farming. I could not stand Gina. She was pushy, belittling, and then made it seem like Libby was in the wrong. I hate bullies. I wanted to jump into my Kindle and punch her in the face. However, I also don’t like in books when people don’t stand up for themselves.

3. I also didn’t like her boyfriend, Paul (selfish jerk). I thought she stayed with him entirely too long (a great example of rationalizing her problems and hiding from them).

I realize some people may think some of the good things are bad and vice versa. It’s worth a quick read, but it’s not a book I will re-read. I’d recommend this for people who like “train wrecks.” You know, that TV show or movie that you are watching and can’t stop because you know it’s going to be bad. I have a difficult time with that sort of thing and usually just walk away if I can tell it’s going to be painful.

Overall, it’s a good book, pretty enjoyable to read.

Sensuality: references to sex and some kissing, not descriptive, safe for younger teens, though they probably won’t be very interested.

Rating: 3 stars