Review of Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Pages: 328

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pub. Date: May 31, 2007

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. Aislinn...moreRule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries. Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the 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. His 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; everything.  Faery intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning twenty-first-century faery tale."

Aislinn appears to be a normal teenage girl; however, she sees faeries.  Faeries walk around our world, but they are invisible to most humans unless they have the Sight.  The hardest part of having the Sight is the fact that Aislinn has to pretend that she doesn't see the faeries and must simply ignore them.  This becomes incredibly hard once a particular faerie King, Keenan, starts following her.  He has been searching for a queen for years and is convinced that Aislinn could be the one.  If she is, she would have to pass the test and give up her mortality.  If the test doesn't go well, she would end up as a Winter Girl and spend her days cold and miserable, like Keenan's former prospect, Donia.  To make matters worse, Beira, the evil Winter Queen as well as Keenan's mom, is plotting against Keenan and his possible new queen.  Lovers of urban fantasy will enjoy this captivating first installment in the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr. 

Marr's writing style is compelling and I found myself flipping the pages quickly in anticipation.  I liked her take on faeries and I also liked her portrayal of the protagonist, Aislinn.  She wasn't too helpless and was a believable.  Readers can really feel for her predicament.  Her interaction with her best friend and love interest, Seth, was also appealing.  I really liked how their relationship developed (they were friends first); however, at times I felt like Seth was too good to be true.  Personally, I wouldn't say Seth was swoon worthy, because he has a bunch of tattoos and piercings, which are definitely not my style, but he was an extremely good guy nonetheless.  

I can see why this series is so popular, but it was a bit too edgy for me as well as my classroom library.  I thought it was entertaining, but to be honest, I will probably not read the other books in the series.  I give this book three out of four stars though, because the writing is entertaining and the premise is captivating.  Like I said, It's just not for me, but lovers of urban fantasy and the fae myth will really enjoy this dark fantasy.

 *Buy Wicked Lovely 

*Read the first seven chapters

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