THE MELODY OF THREE starts off with a murder and continues at a breakneck pace through the remainder of the book, with daring escapes, horrible discoveries, sudden revelations, betrayals and reunions. There are a host of fascinating characters here, each with their own personality and motivations, each just a bit fey, even the humans. Each character has something driving them, some fierce motivation behind their actions, but the full importance of their goals isn’t quite revealed until the end, and sometimes not even then. Each character has flaws, personality quirks, and all the little details that make them full-fledged people and not just tropes or puppets in author S.D. Reeves’s hands – it’s easy to get interested and invested in what happens to them.
The scenery and the descriptions are the best part of the novel, vivid and immersive, directly drawing the reader into the world and letting us feel the danger of a ship in stormy waters or the difficulty of finding a path through the chaos of a London crowd. Reeves has a real gift with imagery, and the short, quick part-sentences that regularly punctuate the book add to the sense of urgency and action. What’s actually going on unravels itself slowly and naturally as the book continues, but it can be easy to get lost in event after event, especially near the beginning of the book, and be confused about the larger picture. Switching back and forth between multiple perspectives gives a wider view of what’s going on, but not necessarily a clearer view. Usually backstory and too much explanation can be tedious and wear down a book, but in this case a bit more information about, for example, the organization Rein works for, or the reasons men and elves went to war, or why Rein did what he did to Sofia, or what fairykind have been up to, might be useful in figuring out what’s actually going on and getting a clearer view of the tale. This feels like a first book in a series, though – it certainly ends with enough meat for a sequel – and perhaps things will be revealed more clearly in the following book or books. What we have, however, is certainly intriguing enough and lively enough to keep the reader interested and entertained, and also engaged enough to want to know what’s going to happen next.
Vivid scenery and quirky characters populate THE MELODY OF THREE, worlds divided among humans, fairies, and elves, but the story is so packed with action and event that it can take a bit of time to piece together what’s actually going on.
~Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader