Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by http://bibliophile-bestiary.blogspot.com:
After reading The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, you really have to be open to a new take on faeries from a different authors viewpoint. This takes a lot of what you thought you knew about them and changes it. The book was dynamically written. You really relate with Kelley, she is a great character. All types of faerie lore is brought in and thrown into the story. One downfall, it was kind of short both in length of the book and in timeline that everything happened. But I did love all the off shoot stories that it had. A must read for lovers of faerie tales! 4 1/2 out of 5 stars!
After reading The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, you really have to be open to a new take on faeries from a different authors viewpoint. This takes a lot of what you thought you knew about them and changes it. The book was dynamically written. You really relate with Kelley, she is a great character. All types of faerie lore is brought in and thrown into the story. One downfall, it was kind of short both in length of the book and in timeline that everything happened. But I did love all the off shoot stories that it had. A must read for lovers of faerie tales! 4 1/2 out of 5 stars!
Reviewed by http://bibliophile-bestiary.blogspot.com:
After reading The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, you really have to be open to a new take on faeries from a different authors viewpoint. This takes a lot of what you thought you knew about them and changes it. The book was dynamically written. You really relate with Kelley, she is a great character. All types of faerie lore is brought in and thrown into the story. One downfall, it was kind of short both in length of the book and in timeline that everything happened. But I did love all the off shoot stories that it had. A must read for lovers of faerie tales! 4 1/2 out of 5 stars!
After reading The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, you really have to be open to a new take on faeries from a different authors viewpoint. This takes a lot of what you thought you knew about them and changes it. The book was dynamically written. You really relate with Kelley, she is a great character. All types of faerie lore is brought in and thrown into the story. One downfall, it was kind of short both in length of the book and in timeline that everything happened. But I did love all the off shoot stories that it had. A must read for lovers of faerie tales! 4 1/2 out of 5 stars!
Enjoyed the characters and the plot.
Lesley Livingston's first installment in the series really captured my attention. Granted, the plot wasn't overly complicated and was a bit predictable, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Kelley, a young actress living in New York City, gets her big break when the actress playing Titania gets injured and can't do on. Once Kelley steps into the role of Titania, the parallels between her own life and the characters in the play start to develop. She meets Sonny, a changeling stolen from the cradle and raised in the realm of the fae. Together, they embark on a quest to find Kelley's true identity and save the human realm from the Wild Hunt. Livingston's story is well-written and highly entertaining. It is a great first installment and definitely has me interested in the next book, Darklight.
Reviewed by The Story Siren for TeensReadToo.com
I loved it, I LOVED it. I love it so much I want to marry it. If you are a fan of faerie books, you'll want to read this one. If you've tried faerie books before, but didn't like them, you'll want to read this. If you aren't a fan of faerie books, you'll still want to read it. It's that good.
Incredible characters, incredible writing, incredible plot. It was really just so fantastic, it's hard to find the words to describe it. I never in a million years would have guessed this was a debut novel. The key to my heart is great characters and storyline, and this book had it all and then some. Even the minor characters stood out to me, and they were fascinating. Like Chloe - she is a siren, has a very minor role, and yet she is very memorable. As well as a few other characters..... but I don't want to give all the goods away.
Completely original plot! I figured a few things out, but other things I was oblivious to until they were revealed. I've read other faerie books about the faerie "royalty" - if you've read Melissa Marr you know what I'm talking about here. Not that I'd even compare this book to Marr's because they are at totally two different ends of the spectrum. And I don't mean that in the quality of writing, because they are both fabulous writers. Did I just write fabulous...don't you just love the plethora of "f" adj.!? Do you think I'm subconsciously doing it because of the whole faerie thing... freaking fantastic fascinating fabulous faeries! I promise I did NOT do that on purpose!
Great writers write what they know.... what movie is that from? Never Been Kissed! I think that statement definitely has some truth to it. Kelley is an actress (a struggling actress to be more specific). The theater scenes within the novel were marvelous (notice no `f' here!) so I wasn't surprised to learn that the lovely Lesley Livingston herself is at home on the stage. I wonder if she knows any faeries personally?
I think the thing I loved most about WONDROUS STRANGE was Kelley. She is an exceptional female protagonist. I was instantly drawn to her character. She's honest, she imperfect, and she doesn't pull the Bella card. When a cute guy tells her that faeries are real, she reacts like a normal person and laughs in his face. LOVED IT.
And I must mention Sonny. Ah... Sonny.. Mom, can I have one? Yeah, that's really all I'm going to say about him, because if I tell you, they you're going to want him, too, and you can't have him because he's mine. No really, I'm not going to tell you how incredibly cute he is, and how he kicks major faerie butt, because he's all about protecting the mortal world from the mean faeries.. And yet, he can still rescue the damsel in distress even if she is mean to him and laughs in his face.
I simply cannot say enough good things about this novel. I highly recommend you grab a copy of this book. It would make an awesome Christmas present! And I'm even more thrilled to mention that this novel is the beginning of a trilogy!
I loved it, I LOVED it. I love it so much I want to marry it. If you are a fan of faerie books, you'll want to read this one. If you've tried faerie books before, but didn't like them, you'll want to read this. If you aren't a fan of faerie books, you'll still want to read it. It's that good.
Incredible characters, incredible writing, incredible plot. It was really just so fantastic, it's hard to find the words to describe it. I never in a million years would have guessed this was a debut novel. The key to my heart is great characters and storyline, and this book had it all and then some. Even the minor characters stood out to me, and they were fascinating. Like Chloe - she is a siren, has a very minor role, and yet she is very memorable. As well as a few other characters..... but I don't want to give all the goods away.
Completely original plot! I figured a few things out, but other things I was oblivious to until they were revealed. I've read other faerie books about the faerie "royalty" - if you've read Melissa Marr you know what I'm talking about here. Not that I'd even compare this book to Marr's because they are at totally two different ends of the spectrum. And I don't mean that in the quality of writing, because they are both fabulous writers. Did I just write fabulous...don't you just love the plethora of "f" adj.!? Do you think I'm subconsciously doing it because of the whole faerie thing... freaking fantastic fascinating fabulous faeries! I promise I did NOT do that on purpose!
Great writers write what they know.... what movie is that from? Never Been Kissed! I think that statement definitely has some truth to it. Kelley is an actress (a struggling actress to be more specific). The theater scenes within the novel were marvelous (notice no `f' here!) so I wasn't surprised to learn that the lovely Lesley Livingston herself is at home on the stage. I wonder if she knows any faeries personally?
I think the thing I loved most about WONDROUS STRANGE was Kelley. She is an exceptional female protagonist. I was instantly drawn to her character. She's honest, she imperfect, and she doesn't pull the Bella card. When a cute guy tells her that faeries are real, she reacts like a normal person and laughs in his face. LOVED IT.
And I must mention Sonny. Ah... Sonny.. Mom, can I have one? Yeah, that's really all I'm going to say about him, because if I tell you, they you're going to want him, too, and you can't have him because he's mine. No really, I'm not going to tell you how incredibly cute he is, and how he kicks major faerie butt, because he's all about protecting the mortal world from the mean faeries.. And yet, he can still rescue the damsel in distress even if she is mean to him and laughs in his face.
I simply cannot say enough good things about this novel. I highly recommend you grab a copy of this book. It would make an awesome Christmas present! And I'm even more thrilled to mention that this novel is the beginning of a trilogy!
This was the first book in the Wondrous Strange series by Lesley Livingston. The second book "Darklight" is supposed to be released December of 2009. Supposedly there are going to be three books in this series.
Kelley has moved to New York city to pursue her acting dreams. She is employeed as an understudy in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and when the actress playing Queen Titania breaks her ankle; Kelley is suddenly thrust into a lead role. This is just what she had always dreamed of. Then one night she goes to Central Park to practice her lines and stumbles into a young man named Sonny. He is mysterious and appears near her a number of times after that. That same fateful night she rescues a horse from a pond, the horse follows her home and proceeds to live in her bathtub. What she doesn't know right away is that the horse is a kelpie and Sonny is a part of the Unseelie King's elite guard, the Janus. From here on out things get stranger and stranger; she needs to figure out how Sonny is involved and how she herself is involved before she is hunted down.
I will state right out that I am getting a bit burned out on these "girl is a part of fairy but doesn't know she is" books. I thought everything about this book was okay, but none of it blew me away. I didn't really like any of the characters that much, the plot was pretty predictable, and the book was only kind of engaging. It was a quick read, and I liked it okay. I just think I have read too many of these types of books lately and this one really didn't stand out from any of the others.
Sonny fits the stereotype of a conflicted assassin-type perfectly; down to his unexplainable love of Kelley. Things happen much as you would expect them to happen. There were more action scenes than I expected, and they were done okay but they lacked energy and didn't really pull me into the fight. When I finished this book, I was kind of like, "Oh, well that's done. What should I read next?" It didn't really make a lasting impression on me.
I recently read "Lament" by Maggie Stiefvater and I actually liked that book better than this one. Although this book had a lot more well-developed fairy world and you meet a broader variety of fairy folk than you do in "Lament". I liked the writing style of "Lament" better. The writing style of this book was very straight-forward and easy. Which is okay, it made it a fast read. I would compare the level of this writing to Melissa Marr's "Wicked Lovely" series. Although I did enjoy the characters in this book more than the characters in "Wicked Lovely".
You could also compare this book to Aprilynne Pike's "Wings"; which I liked better than this book because I thought Pike dealt with fairies in a more interesting way. You could also compare this book to Holly Black's "Modern Fairy Tale" series; but I absolutely think that Holly Black's series blows all of the aforementioned ones out of the water.
So in summary, if you liked "Wicked Lovely", "Wings", "Lament", or "Tithe" I think you will probably like this book too. I would recommend "Wings", "Lament" and "A Modern Fairy Tale" over this book. I think it is similar to the "Wicked Lovely" series in writing quality. Will I read the next one in the series? Probably. I really love books about the fairy realms and there aren't a ton of them out there. So, yeah I will pick up "Darklight", but I will probably get it from the library.
Kelley has moved to New York city to pursue her acting dreams. She is employeed as an understudy in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and when the actress playing Queen Titania breaks her ankle; Kelley is suddenly thrust into a lead role. This is just what she had always dreamed of. Then one night she goes to Central Park to practice her lines and stumbles into a young man named Sonny. He is mysterious and appears near her a number of times after that. That same fateful night she rescues a horse from a pond, the horse follows her home and proceeds to live in her bathtub. What she doesn't know right away is that the horse is a kelpie and Sonny is a part of the Unseelie King's elite guard, the Janus. From here on out things get stranger and stranger; she needs to figure out how Sonny is involved and how she herself is involved before she is hunted down.
I will state right out that I am getting a bit burned out on these "girl is a part of fairy but doesn't know she is" books. I thought everything about this book was okay, but none of it blew me away. I didn't really like any of the characters that much, the plot was pretty predictable, and the book was only kind of engaging. It was a quick read, and I liked it okay. I just think I have read too many of these types of books lately and this one really didn't stand out from any of the others.
Sonny fits the stereotype of a conflicted assassin-type perfectly; down to his unexplainable love of Kelley. Things happen much as you would expect them to happen. There were more action scenes than I expected, and they were done okay but they lacked energy and didn't really pull me into the fight. When I finished this book, I was kind of like, "Oh, well that's done. What should I read next?" It didn't really make a lasting impression on me.
I recently read "Lament" by Maggie Stiefvater and I actually liked that book better than this one. Although this book had a lot more well-developed fairy world and you meet a broader variety of fairy folk than you do in "Lament". I liked the writing style of "Lament" better. The writing style of this book was very straight-forward and easy. Which is okay, it made it a fast read. I would compare the level of this writing to Melissa Marr's "Wicked Lovely" series. Although I did enjoy the characters in this book more than the characters in "Wicked Lovely".
You could also compare this book to Aprilynne Pike's "Wings"; which I liked better than this book because I thought Pike dealt with fairies in a more interesting way. You could also compare this book to Holly Black's "Modern Fairy Tale" series; but I absolutely think that Holly Black's series blows all of the aforementioned ones out of the water.
So in summary, if you liked "Wicked Lovely", "Wings", "Lament", or "Tithe" I think you will probably like this book too. I would recommend "Wings", "Lament" and "A Modern Fairy Tale" over this book. I think it is similar to the "Wicked Lovely" series in writing quality. Will I read the next one in the series? Probably. I really love books about the fairy realms and there aren't a ton of them out there. So, yeah I will pick up "Darklight", but I will probably get it from the library.
This was terrific. I really liked Sonny and Kelley - what a wonderful pair. Kelley and Sonny must fight both the Queen and King of the Faeries in order to protect the mortals from the Wild Hunt. A truly unique take on this fairy tale. Can't wait to see where book two takes Sonny and Kelley.
