Five

Maor series Book 1

Young Adult - Paranormal
322 Pages
Reviewed on 12/17/2014
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Caroline Greyling is a mother of two, student and full time Executive in a prominent South African Telecommunications company. She is a Bachelor of commerce Honours graduate from the Rand Afrikaans University and completed the Novel writing course at the South African Writers College with distinction. She lives in Johannesburg with her husband and two daughters and spends her time reading, writing, playing piano, doing arts and crafts and studying.
Caroline is a great fan of fiction, especially young adult and romance, and writes in her personal time for enjoyment. Five is her debut novel.

To contact Caroline, send an email to caroline@carolinegreyling.com

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Five is Book One of the Maor Series, a young adult contemporary fantasy written by Caroline Greyling. Shaylee is your typical 16-year-old who has plenty of hopes and dreams. She’s into dancing, has written a story that’s been published in a magazine, and she loves her life in Johannesburg, even if her parents are quite a bit stricter than those of her friends. They've been even more careful about her lately as her 17th birthday gets closer and seem to be taking her to the doctor for the tiniest complaint. When they hear that the nightmares Shaylee was plagued with as a child have returned, her parents unexpectedly make arrangements to ship her back to England to stay with her Nan. Shaylee’s infuriated by the short notice they give her as the dance performance she and her friend Luke had worked so hard on is about to happen, but her parents are committed to their decision, and Shaylee must say goodbye to everything she knows and has grown up with.

Caroline Greyling’s Five, Maor Series, Book One, is a marvelous and well-plotted young adult fantasy. Her characters are finely drawn and very believable, and the mythological premise for the story is beautifully handled. Shaylee is a compelling character whose life has suddenly been taken over by forces she’s totally ignorant of, and it’s hard not to feel involved in her plight. Much of the story takes place in Aylburton in the Forest of Dean, and the descriptions of the woods and natural surroundings are magnificent, lush and luxuriant, evoking a traditional fairy tale atmosphere for this fantasy story. Each chapter is headed with an emotion and five descriptors, which are from Shaylee’s little journal, Five, and she saves them for use in her writing. I found myself looking forward to each perceptive and insightful set. Five is an original and thought-provoking fantasy infused with fairytale and mythological elements. It’s also an inspired coming of age tale, and it’s most highly recommended.

Stephen Fisher

Five by Caroline Greyling is the first book of the Maor series. The story centers around Shaylee, who just before turning 17 wakes from a horrifying dream with a mysterious butterfly tattoo on her belly. Her parents whisk her away from South Africa against her wishes, and send her to her home town in England, where she is told by her grandmother that she is a fairy princess. She is thrust into a world she never knew existed. When she arrives in England, her Nan tells Shaylee of her arranged marriage, her bodyguard to protect her from werewolves, vampires and humans, and that she is the One. What ever that means. She just can’t understand why all of these secrets were kept from her throughout her whole life. She finds out the hard way that danger is all around when the actions of her rebellious nature have dire consequences. Shaylee’s largest dilemma is struggling with her emotions towards her attractions to Kael, and Tristan, her bodyguard, and her fiancé whom she was bound to as an infant.

Caroline Greyling tells this story from Shaylee’s point of view, as if she is writing everything down in her diary, which just happens to be called Five. What I immediately found fresh and intriguing was how each chapter begins. A word of emotion followed by how she perceives them with each of her five senses. Five is a marvelously written story about the Maor, or the slow, declining race of Faeries. As they blend in with humanity, they are complete with a social infrastructure. This is a wonderful, modern day tale of magic, wonder, trials, tribulations and coming of age romance. “Five!”

Cheryl E. Rodriguez

Caroline Greyling writes an exceptional story in Five. Shaylee Greene is pretty much your run of the mill high school student. She is young, vibrant, somewhat introverted, yet has big dreams for her life. Unfortunately, her dreams are not the aspirations of her overprotective parents. Adding to her adolescent turmoil is a recurring nightmare, a vivid dream that seems to be growing in frequency and intensity. Releasing her emotions through writing, Shaylee keeps a journal. Using the five senses, she creatively describes her particular feeling or emotion. On the eve of her seventeenth birthday, her dream occurs, causing her severe abdominal pain and an unusual marking across her stomach. Her parents freak! Consequently, for her protection, Shaylee is sent to England to stay with her grandmother. Her ordinary world suddenly turns paranormal. Upon her arrival, Shaylee is ushered to the “Circle” and informed that she is a “royal custodian” of the earth. To ensure her safety and the legacy of the Maor, Shaylee must marry her “blood promise.” Torn between her betrothed and her bodyguard, her desires and the will of the Maor, the real and unreal, Shaylee finds herself in a mystical, brutal fight for her life.

Caroline Greyling writes a fresh, supernatural fantasy in her novel, Five. Penning a dynamic opening sequence, you are thrust into the paranormal. Filled with powerful action and intense emotion, the words build upon each other, sucking you into the story like a vacuum. This narrative has a very innovative approach to the reader’s sensory perception. Creatively using the five senses, each chapter begins by describing a feeling or emotion. Moreover, there is an unexpected slant within this imaginative plot. It is not your typical tale of vampires, weres and fairies known within the fantasy genre. The characters are contemporary and real, while being portrayed in a mystical and unreal world. As she faces danger and death, the heroine is both brave and foolhardy at times. Her internal turmoil collides with her conflicting love interest, revealing her perplexing innocence. As a reader, you sense her struggle into adulthood as her character arcs. Full of wonder, the setting is awe-inspiring - castles, abbeys and grand estates, lush greenery, lavish scents, rainbows of colorful flowers, and nurturing woodlands. Greyling accelerates the action, causing the reader to sprint toward the tumultuous climax, then daggers you with the descending action. Impaled, you feel the pulsating of the action as it crests and crashes, bringing the story to an unresolved, brutal, yet promising ‘this is not the end’ conclusion.