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!”

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.