Mundie Moms

Friday, November 26, 2010

Book Review- Wondrous Strange

By Lesley Livingston
Published by Harper Teen
Released on December 23rd 2008
Source- Bought
4 stars- I Liked It

Since the dawn of time, the Faerie have taken. . . .

For seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow, faeries are just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery, whose steel-gray eyes mask an equally steely determination to protect her.

Sonny guards the Samhain Gate, which connects the mortal realm with the Faerie's enchanted, dangerous Otherworld. Usually kept shut by order of icy King Auberon, the Gate stands open but once a year.

This year, as the time approaches when the Samhain Gate will swing wide and nightmarish Fae will fight their way into an unsuspecting human world, something different is happening . . . something wondrous and strange. And Kelley's eyes are opening not just to the Faerie that surround her but to the heritage that awaits her.

Now Kelley must navigate deadly Faerie treachery—and her growing feelings for Sonny—in this dazzling page-turner filled with luminous romance.

Wondrous Strange is a richly layered tale of love between faerie and mortal, betrayal between kings and queens, and magic . . . between author and reader (quoted from goodreads).

How did I miss picking up Wondrous Strange when it was first released? I'm shocked this was Lindsey's debut book. Her writing is great, and made for fun, enjoyable read, and I liked that while she used A Midsummer Night's Dream within her story, she still gave the story an engaging, unique spin with her folklore, history, and a cast of great characters from faeries, humans, sirens, kelpies, wolves, changelings and more.

The characters are great, including the secondary characters. There wasn't a character I didn't love, which I know is a little cliche to say. From the Kings and Queens of the Faerie Courts, to the other paranormal characters, I enjoyed reading and getting to know the various characters. The plot twists kept my interest and as soon I finished Wondrous Strange, I immediately picked up it's sequel, Darklight and quickly finished it.

My favorite character is the story's protagonist, Kelley. She's such a realistic, honest, character. She's an aspiring actress in NYC, and will be playing Titana in Midsummer Night's Dream. Thinking faeries aren't real, even when a hot faerie tells her other wise, she still doesn't believe him. Things start to happen that make her second guess what she's believed. The one thing that bugged me the most about Kelly and the story is when she finds out what she is. I had expected her to not be so accepting of it. I felt like the story was missing something for me when the big secret is revealed.

I also really enjoyed both Sonny, the hot changeling who's also a member of the Junas, an elite guard of faeries sent by King Auberon to protect the only remaining faerie gate that faeries enter the mortal world through and Bob, aka Robin Goodfellow, aka Puck. Both of them protect Kelley, but what I liked most about Sonny is he is a fierce faerie killer while at the same time he can be so patient and loving with Kelley.

I loved that the setting for the story and the faerie realm are in NYC's Central Park. The descriptions are vivid, beautiful and it's a place I would definitely want to visit. Wondrous Strange is an enchanting read, with wonderful, dark twists, mixed in with a combination of characters who's rich personalities capture your attention and invite you to get to know them more in the sequel, Darklight.

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