Song of the Dryad by Natalia Leigh

Song of the Dryad by Natalia Leigh is a YA Fantasy story of a girl whose mother is missing and it’s up to her to find the missing pieces and save the whimsical realm from total destruction.

“Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Barclay is still haunted by an encounter she had eight years ago – a run-in with a fairy beast that had eyes like witchlight and a taste for flesh. Charlotte has avoided the Greenwood ever since, pretending fairies don’t exist and choosing instead to focus her energies on graduating from high school and perfecting her audition piece for the Bellini Institute. However, everything changes when her mom goes missing, kidnapped by the fairies that haunt the forest behind Charlotte’s home.

When Charlotte’s search for her mom leads her into the fairy realm, she discovers that she hails from a line of Shrine Keepers – humans tasked with maintaining ancient fairy shrines. Charlotte’s family has failed their duties to the fae, and now she has no choice but to strike a deal with the dryad, an ancient and powerful tree nymph responsible for her mom’s disappearance. But the dryad only gives her a month to complete her task: retrieve five stolen fairy stones and return them to the ancient fairy shrine. If she doesn’t return the stones in time, the dryad has threatened to imprison another of Charlotte’s loved ones.

Charlotte dives into a world as magical as it is deadly, coming face-to-face with fairy creatures that never get mentioned in the story books – including the creature that haunts her dreams. She must embrace her task and conquer her fears, or else she’ll never see her mom again.”

This book was so whimsical and a solid Fantasy story.

We follow a high school girl who loses her mother to a forest realm that holds her hostage until she is able to return the power to its former glory. My favorite parts to the book was the use of all the various types of fairies and magical creatures that she meets throughout her journey.

And, there’s a hint of a cute romance. The connection between Art and Charlotte just brings a soft smile to my face, and their mini adventures bring a more innocent side to this world.

But this book isn’t just about the magic. There are a few darker pieces to the story that help to balance this book into a solid, read. There is a slight trigger warning for suicide if this is a topic that you are a little more sensitive to. But overall, I think it brought a more realistic tone to the novel.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. If you are familiar with this author, you may know a bit more of her lifestyle through her YouTube videos on all things writing. And after watching her for awhile now, I can tell that her passions are woven into her writing.

You will find topics such as witches, crystals, and veganism in this book, and it was really fun to be able to point them out as I read along. It was such a fun read, and from what I hear, there may be more to the story that we are able to explore in the future!

Published: October 2018

Publisher: Enchanted Ink Publishing

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Pages: 290

How I Read It: Hardcover from Library

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