Book Review: Elfin, by Quinn Loftis

             As always, feel free to let me know what you think in the comments section.

             And it’s another paranormal romance! What drop-dead gorgeous supernatural creature will fall in love with a normal high school girl this week? Surprise! It’s an elf! That makes the tally one elf, one fallen angel, one werewolf, one demon, and Lancelot. Sooner or later, we’re going to start getting repeats. I’m surprised I haven’t run across a sexy vampire yet. This week’s book is Elfin, by Quinn Loftis—a romance with a strong, engaging plot full of unexpected twists and turns.

Red wine+white dress= recipe for disaster. Am I the only one who sees this?

            Our main character, Cassie, is a normal high school girl. Her father’s a president of finance in an oil company, but when his secretary goes on leave he requires his eighteen year old daughter to come in and do some filling for him, because apparently there are no interns, less senior employees, or other secretaries around to do the work. Of course, since the company is secretly owned by elves, they might very well have strict labor rules in place. As the last one in the office, Cassie glimpses some elves sitting around the table for what appears to be a board meeting. But as exiting as the world of fiscal management and the energy industry is, it’s nothing compared to the sexy elf (every single elf in this story is insanely sexy) who’s casually eavesdropping outside.

            His name is Trik. He’s the right hand man of the Dark Elf King, professional assassin and spy. This is all the spying he does in the book, unless stalking human girls counts as spying. Also, he only kills one person, and that’s neither for money or political reasons, so he’s not much of an assassin either. Despite what we’re told is a long history of assassin-ness and spy-ness, he’s never killed a child or raped anyone, so by the moral code of fantasy novels, he’s actually not a bad person. He’s actually kind of a pussy, which we can tell from the way he gushes over Cassie. You get the feeling that he’s trying to act a lot more badass than he really is. It’s cute.

            Anyway, he and Cassie meet and it turns out she’s his Chosen—his mystical soul mate, selected by fate, and neither of them have a real choice in the matter. Only Cassie’s purity can save him from giving into darkness completely. Problem is, Cassie’s not sure if she really wants to be bound to Trik for the rest of her life, since he’s kind of  a possessive asshole who has no clue how to treat women. Meanwhile, the Dark Elf King has devised a plot to destroy humanity by creating a new drug that induces impulsive behavior, promiscuity, and aggression. Think of alcohol, but as addictive as crack. This is an excellent plan to destroy humanity, by the way. When Cassie gets word of this, she gives Trik an ultimatum: quit your job or I’m leaving you.

            I won’t spoil the ending, but there were quite a few great twists and turns in there that are worth reading. My main issue with this story was Cassie’s character, who doesn’t really seem to have a personality. Her gothy BFF Elora has a lot more attitude and confidence—I’d love to see what would have happened if she’d been Trik’s girl. Cassie struggles with Trik’s character on a number of occasions, but never asks herself if it’s fair that she’s basically been forced into this relationship. Many YA novels struggle with this problem of strong supporting characters and weak protagonists (save Divergent, in which all the characters suck).

           

             Her two traits are virginity (which isn’t actually a character trait, as I explain here and here) and overreacting to minor issues—for example, upon being told Trik was dancing (well, she kissed him, but all Cassie is told is that they danced together) with an ex-girlfriend at a club, she wonders how “the same guy who had held her and kissed her so passionately had been in the arms of another hours later.” They’re his arms. You do not own them. It’s dancing. Not sex, not kissing, not flirting. If you’re worried about it, talk to him and ask him what happened. Don’t curl up and cry. Jeez, it might all be a misunderstanding. Of course, Trik is too afraid to talk to her for a month (further supporting my theory that he’s a pussy). Both these characters could use advice from a professional. Communication therapy—is that so hard?

            Also, the descriptive paragraphs at the beginning could have used some editing. You do not need to spend three sentences on the first page describing a pair of boots. You just don’t. All the elves are described as beautiful, godly, perfect, I get it. What kind of message does this send to teenage girls? The only acceptable male is one that looks perfect? And even though I thought Trik and Cassie’s relationship was kind of cute, I did not need it rammed down my throat every two pages that they belong together. Seriously. I get it already.

            Highs: Supporting characters. Elora, Lisa, and the Light Elves all have unique voices and character traits. I get that Cassie’s supposed to be just normal, but normal teenagers have hobbies and ambitions. Also, she’s a senior in high school from a fairly successful family, yet college applications aren’t mentioned at all That’s a major plot hole right there. Humor. There’s a couple scenes where Trik worries that Cassie’s underage and he doesn’t kiss her until he’s sure she’s legal. Keep in mind, he was born when most human girls married at age twelve, but this badass dark assassin respects the law more than most real human teenagers do. Jeez. Elora also provides well needed comic relief, as she continually makes jokes about Trik’s ‘quiver’.

            Lows: Description. When we’re not getting three sentences about a pair of boots, we see this forest—“It was picture perfect. She was sure she had never seen anything so breathtaking.” Whatever happened to ‘For a moment, Cassie couldn’t breath’? Blocky paragraphs. Some paragraphs are nine sentences long, and quite a few of them are about Cassie and Trik making out. The make-out paragraphs are neither sexy nor interesting, and I found myself skimming most of them. We get it. He’s hot.

            All in all, Elfin’s got a clear plot that kept me reading. Unfortunately, the main character didn’t really grab me like I’d hoped. As YA paranormal, I’ll give it four stars out of five. As a novel, three and a half.

--Liz Ellor, O43

You can purchase Elfin here