The Fairies of Sadieville by Alex Bledsoe

• Author: Alex Bledsoe
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: April 10, 2018

Wow. What a way to end a series. The Fairies of Sadieville is the final novel in the Tufa series by Alex Bledsoe. The series as a whole focuses on the mysterious Tufa people in Cloud County, which is located in Appalachia in Tennessee. Those who know anything about the Tufa know at least one thing: They have perfect teeth. Other than that, they are a mystery. But now, we get to explore a bit of their past.

plot

Justin Johnson’s MA advisor has just died. Justin was on track to receive a Master’s in English with a focus in studying folk music. Unfortunately, the head of the English department doesn’t think his thesis topic is up to snuff. Doc Adams was a highly respected man, and his loss is tragic. However, the head of the English department feels that as an advisor, he was letting Justin slide on by. Long story short, he needs to start over from scratch.

While helping to organize Doc’s very messy office, Veronica Lopez–Justin’s girlfriend–finds a 16mm film case called “The Fairies of Sadieville” with a note from Doc: “This is real.” Sadieville is practically nonexistent. How does a town just disappear without a trace? That’s what Justin decides will be his new topic of study. After getting approval, he and Veronica set forth to try and discover the secrets of Sadieville and why it was destroyed in the first place. They make their way over to Needsville, the only town in Cloud County that appears on a map. Although Veronica did look at an old map of Tennessee that one of the geography professors had and saw what looked like a town smudged off near Needsville.

Over in Cloud County, it turns out that most of them have also never heard of Sadieville. Except one woman: Miss Azure. Or Professor Azure if you will. Once she tells the Tufa First Daughters of Sadieville, the message spreads like wildfire. And soon, a deep longing for a home the Tufa have forgotten about returns. Will discovering Sadieville be the key to finding the original home of the Tufa?

style

There’s a lot going on. But it all works seamlessly. The story structure has a story-in-a-story feel. Specifically, we take this path: Time A > Time B > Time C > Time B > Time A–with A being in the present, B being in the past, and C being in the very distant past, back to when even the people before the Tufa were still in the land.

I liked that. I like the idea of ending with the origin. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin does it, and it worked there. It very much works here as well. Throughout all of the Tufa novels, we’ve only caught glimpses here and there of their past. Now, we finally see the full picture.

The book moves at a very fast pace. It has a fairytale quality to the writing mixed with a bit of modern-day fantasy. To give a bit of an analogy, it’s like a watercolor painting. We still get some detail, but a lot of the lines and edges are blurred and blend together. The fast pace, for the most part, works. However, there were times when I felt things were moving a bit too quickly. I would have loved for the book to be a bit longer if only so that it could have slowed down every once in a while.

characters & setting

The characters are great. Diverse, strong, and well-rounded. Our two protagonists, Justin and Veronica are an interracial couple (Justin is black; Veronica’s family is from Puerto Rico, although she herself was born in Mississippi). C.C., the owner of a cafe in Needsville, is gay. His fiancé is in New York performing on stage.

This book is all about deception and appearances. Things aren’t always what they seem. Veronica frequently does tarot card reading for herself–even getting her own thesis advisor to do one for her in the beginning of the novel. The cards often make one thing clearer but more things fuzzy. At one point, we see the actual town of Sadieville as we see the filming of “The Fairies of Sadieville”. It’s nothing to write home about. Small mining community. But the scenery is beyond amazing. Mountains, woods…everything about it screams beauty. And that’s why the director wants to film an Appalachian Romeo and Juliet moving picture there in Sadieville. We learn that some people aren’t as morally upright as they appear to be.

Or going even further back, we meet the original Tufa who first arrived in Appalachia. A young man, The Drummer, ends up falling for a young woman, Dahni, who is in line to become the leader of her people. As you might have guessed, their respective peoples do not want them near each other. This is the shortest section of the book, but it was one of the most powerful. The fairytale/folktale aspect of the novel really shines in this part.

overall

I don’t want to give away too much because this is the final Tufa novel. But I do have a confession: This was only my third one. I do think it could be read as a standalone. There are a few nods at the previous books, but they are not truly essential to the plot of this book. I would personally say that you could read this by itself. However, it’s probably good to have read at least one of the previous books, just so that you can understand a bit of the references.

I flew through this book. It put on a glamour. It looks unassuming, but be warned: Once it has you, it will trap you. Like you’re under a spell or something. This book is pure magic.

[I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]