The Halfling by H.D. Gordon (The Aria Fae Series #1)
Urban Fantasy
Released: February 2, 2016
Self Published

Reviewed by Mandi

Aria Fae is half fae, half human, but has lived in the fae world all of her seventeen years. She worked with the Peace Brokers, helping to maintain peace amount both races. She is very familiar with the human world, but after she is shunned from the fae world when her mother dies, Aria finds herself banished to the human world and all by herself. She starts as a senior in high school and just tries to fit in. Being half fae, she has some super powers. She can jump really high, and she is a slight empath – plus training as a Peace Broker, she has very good fighting skills.

Aria gets a job at a local flower shop so she can afford her crappy apartment and she also gets a best friend by the name of Samantha Shy. Samantha is all human, but eventually comes to learn of Aria’s fae blood. Samantha’s mother has died and the two of them start to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death. There is a new drug in the city called, Black Magic, which all leads to one big crime lord that twists around with the death of Samantha’s mother. With the encouragement of Samantha, Aria starts to become a vigilante. She wears a mask and goes jumping off into the dark night, stopping crime all the while getting clues about the new drug in town.

And let’s not forget boys. Aria has a very mysterious, hot neighbor named Thomas who is a man of few words, but I think will play a bigger part in future books. And we have the hottie and super rich Caleb Cross, whose dad is a well-known businessman in town. There isn’t any romance in this book, but I think it’s being set up for something in future books.

I really enjoyed this world and Aria. It’s a geeky urban fantasy. Aria is only seventeen, but to me she came across a bit older – but still awkward – after she uses her superpowers a bit to get up on a roof:

“I…uh….I didn’t know anyone was up here,” I said, needing to fill the silence that hung between us. I turned back around, ready to hop back down the fire escape.

“Woah,” he said, standing up, his muscled body drawing my eyes despite my resistance. “There’s a door. Stairs,” he added.

I flashed a sheepish smile, trying not to think about how the sound of his deep voice made my insides twist pleasantly. “Right,” I said. “Doors are cool.”

Aria is a fun heroine – she’s witty and tough and I adored Aria’s friendship with Samantha. They go from strangers to truly best friends by the end of the book. It’s a very positive female friendship. While Aria is out using her superpowers to fight crime, Samantha hangs back and uses her super-tech skills as support. I like that Caleb and Thomas circle around on the outskirts and the author doesn’t rush anything with them. She gives us some subtle hints and clues about them but for the most part they are still a mystery.

There a few things that made me scratch my head. Aria is half fae and has trained most of her life to keep peace between the human and fae race – but – I wasn’t sure how that plays out in the human world. I don’t think humans are aware of supernaturals, so where do the Peace Brokers come into play? Plus, I would think Aria would be able to detect a supernatural pretty quick in the human world, but one kind of takes her by surprise, and I figured she would have been much more prepared for that possibility due to her previous training. I also would have liked to know more about the fae world and why she was banished. I kind of feel the fae world comes into play at the end and it was more of an easy way out. The fae world isn’t explained well in this one.

But with all that being said, I enjoyed Aria and Samantha. Book two comes out  next month and I’m looking forward to it.

Grade: B

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