Review: The Stolen Bairn

The gorgeous cover and enticing title bespeaks the thoroughly engaging nature of this fantasy faerie tale from newcomer Katrina Macdonald Roe. Drawing on Scottish legends and folktales, Katrina has woven a completely absorbing narrative that begs to be read from the very first page and that astounding opening.

To claim that I was single-handedly responsible for the extinction of the faeries, as some have said, is wildly unfair.

Firstly, everybody knew that faery sightings had become increasingly rare long before I met one and nobody did a thing about it.

Secondly, nobody seems to remember how troublesome the creatures really were.

Given my total passion for the Emily Wilde series and all things fae, this book had already won me before I started reading.

But then the nights I spent with Katie Skea and the strange tale of her young life really sold me. The voice of this novel is absolutely pitch perfect and befits the themes and setting so beautifully that it is just pure joy to read.

Katie was stolen by the Fae Folk as a babe, but is bravely won back by her courageous and creative mother. Together they have forged a life side by side, just the two of them, until the intervention of a marriage and a new family. Katie gains a loving stepfather, and - something she has always wanted - a sister.
But magick has long memories often as does the faerie world and Katie finds herself being drawn back to the world of which she has no actual memories. After an awful accident to her new sister, Katie finds herself in a household disrupted by the enchantment of the young son of that family and, with great intuition and her own heritage, she has big decisions to make.

Will she be the one to save the boy and both families? or will she be the destroyer? And what of the dwindling Folk and their troubles? This is a magical fantasy adventure that astute middle grade readers will find thoroughly beguiling.

With our winter break appearing and the weather turning chilly and rainy of late, I can think of nothing better than curling up in a warm comfy spot with this book, hot chocolate and snacks alongside and disappearing entirely into the mists of Skye to follow Katie into the world of the Hidden Folk.

Oh! and while the cover is beautiful - don't expect the Fae to be likewise!-their glamour is all too deceiving! It's just an utterly bewitching read for able readers either middle grade or lower secondary.

Title: The Stolen Bairn
Author: Katrina Macdonald Roe
Publisher: Affirm Press , $17.99
Publication Date: May 2026
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781764256773
For ages: 10+
Type: Middle Grade Fiction