Danielle Orsino

4 Horsemen Publications

Jenn Kotick

Vol 1

Locked out of Heaven : Birth of the Fae

Chiara Vitale Zelaia

LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN was an immense surprise, and a real treat for someone who loves vast world building as much as I do. The story explores the origin of the fae, starting after the Fall of Lucifer, in a time when the fae were still angels. Abandoned by their Creator, locked out of heaven for reasons unbeknownst to them, and with their wings slowly decaying, a group of angels renounce their angelic lineage and split into two factions: the Court of Light, led by Queen Aurora, and the Court of Dark, led by King Jarvok. We follow the story of these two factions across centuries, as new species are born and during their first interactions with humans. Queen Aurora and King Jarvok have different ideas when it comes to governing their kin, but the one thing they can agree on is this: worship is power, and they are determined to hold on to it. How much trouble will this create? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out!

Knowing the series’s name is literally Birth of the Fae, I was expecting to read some sort of fae origin story, but was completely taken by surprise by the biblical elements featured. The author did a fantastic job adapting these aspects to her world building, which elevated her world to truly epic levels. I admit that it was a lot of information to take in, especially at the start of the book, where the world building prevailed on characters and the pacing felt a little slow, but the concept is really interesting and the story becomes more engaging as you progress. What made it even better is that the author didn’t limit her characters into a simple good versus evil story. In fact, both the Court of Dark and the Court of Light have their fair share of both within them, which not only made for interesting politics, but it made the characters much more complex and interesting. 

Aurora was a fantastic protagonist. I loved her resilience and her ability to adapt in order to lead her people, and I loved the girl power she and her friends brought to the story. However, my favorite moments were those in the Court of Dark. Not only did I absolutely love King Jarvok’s complex and tormented character, but I adored the camaraderie in his court (and Lieutenant Zion, who was my brand of cheeky and flirty). Unfortunately, the majority of the story focuses on the Court of Light, which means many of the interesting elements of the Court of Dark were only mentioned, but not fully explored. I hope to see more of that in the following books!

Thank you to the author for gifting me a copy. All opinions are my own.

Locked out of Heaven : Birth of the Fae Vol 1

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