Review: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Buy It Now: on Amazon.com

Description: Rule #3: Don’t stare at invisible faeries.

Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don’t speak to invisible faeries.

Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don’t ever attract their attention.

But it’s too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

Faerie intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr’s stunning 21st century faery tale. (from Harper Collins)

The Fangirl’s Review: A

I have a weakness for modern faery stories, that deal with the intrigues of the faery courts and the mortals who become entangled in their webs, and Wicked Lovely delivers.

Aislinn, a mortal girl with the Sight, the ability to see faeries, finds herself the object of a particularly powerful faery’s interest. And unfortunately, there is nothing Ash wants more than to not see faeries; she wants to go to college, date her friend Seth, and be a normal girl. But when Keenan, the Summer King, chooses her, being a normal girl isn’t in the cards anymore. She must choose between being the Summer Queen and death, because once a faery chooses a mortal, there is no going back.

Marr writes a story that is immediately engrossing; the first chapter introduces faeries through Ash’s eyes, and for her, faeries are not lovely and alluring. They are terrifying, sadistic creatures who like to harass the mortals who cannot see them, and they do even more horrible things to the weaker faeries. Ash can see all of this, but she cannot for one second allow the faeries to know that she sees them, and so the reader is drawn into her fear and anxiety, which makes for a much more interesting story for me. If the girl had just fallen into the handsome faery king’s arms and then faced the court intrigue, there wouldn’t be as much conflict within the story itself. By making Ash resistant to the very idea of being a faery, much less becoming the consort of Keenan, Marr has set up the future books in this series for a great deal more character and relationship development.

I love that Marr has made her faeries dangerous, too. While there are some who are good-hearted, many, especially those of the Dark and Winter Courts, are downright evil. Beira, the Winter Queen, is deliciously creepy and functions very well as this book’s villain. Other faeries, namely Keenan and Donia, the Winter Girl and Keenan’s former lover, are very nicely fleshed out and are very sympathetic, believable characters. Ash is a likable protagonist, and it is very easy to sympathize with her fear and anxiety. The only character who seems a bit flat to me is Seth, Ash’s mortal friend. He’s almost too perfect, beautiful in a Goth sort of way, independent at a young age, incredibly loving and supportive of Ash. He’s very likable, but at the same time, I found myself wishing for some flaws just to round him out a bit.

My only complaint about Wicked Lovely is that the ending felt very rushed. So many conflicts are resolved in a rather short span of pages, and I had to skip back a page or two to find out exactly what happened to so-and-so once or twice. But other than that, this is a beautifully written, complex story. I’m going to have to run out and buy the next book in the series, Ink Exchange, as soon as I can.

Other Reviews:

• Jane at DearAuthor.com (A-)
• Dusted (very positive)
• CheriePie (7/10)
• The Book Smugglers (joint review; 8/10)