Stacey Marie Brown: Savage Lands

In the first in a series Stacey Marie Brown takes readers to the war between Humans and Fae:

The Barrier between Earth and the Otherworld fell and the Fae Wars began. The Fae one, but there are some Human only strong holds, normally led by the rich and one of these is in Budapest. The battle for dominance between the Fae and Human Elite is about to reach a breaking point. Brexley has grown up privileged, but it has not been without struggles and hardships in her life. Now the ward of General Markos, she is forced to train to become a fearsome warrior against the Fae but she is also a political pawn. One night Brexley make a decision that will change everything, she is captured and thrown into The House a Death, a prison where no one leaves alive. Brex must learn to survive the worst of the human and Fae criminals and him, Warwick, the most brutal and feared man in the prison, The winner of the Pit Games.

When I read the premise of this book, I was like yup, that sounds like something that I want to read. I’m surprised that I have not seen anything about this book before, it was recommended for me on my Libby app. This book had a lot of things I enjoy in the fantasy genre; fast paced, darker elements (I mean it is a prison and there is a pit for fighting to the death), a FMC that knows how to fight, a mystery to solve, and some twist, that might not be original, but interesting nonetheless.

 At the beginning I really liked Brex as a character. Her recklessness, her fighting abilities and cocky attitude but I felt when she went to prison, she lost all of that. I understand that ending up in a prison that no one leaves would change anyone, but it is like she forgot her backbone and ability to fight completely. For quite a bit of time she becomes a completely different character. Once again I get it she is trying to figure out her place in the prison but to not stand up for herself at all especially towards people who do not have her training was just a weird way to take her character. She was all badass, even just before entering the prison by fighting some Fae but as soon as she descended this was all gone. I will say that Brex did not lose her brain though, she was smart with some of her choices, like her name and who she sat with

I’m extremely curious as to what Brex powers are going to turn out to be. I have some ideas but won’t know more till late in the series I think. The one thing that is lacking in the book is the powers of the Fae and Demons that are in Prison. It appears the shifters still have some powers but not their full strength. So we didn’t get to really see what "people" could do. The fights were straight fist fights with barely any powers. This is what happened in prison, powers were limited or taken away altogether. I think it would have been interesting (and probably darker) if Brown had decided not to strip every one of their powers. I want to see what a Demon can do, what the Fae can do in this world.

I like that Brown did not have this turn into a spicy book and I think it could have gone either way, but I liked that Brown just kept it at tension and it will be interesting to see how it plays out especially with how this book ended.

This was a great start to series and I'm happy that there are already quite a few books released for me to read. I think if you want a fast paced read, where Humans and Fae are pitted against each other then this is one to check out.

Enjoy!!!

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