Wicked Lovely

[onlyfiction]

Wicked Lovely
By: Melissa Marr
Release Date: April 29, 2008 (First published June 12, 2007)
Publisher: HarperCollinss
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Series: Wicked Lovely(#1)
Summary: Rule #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. 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.

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.




Review: Aislinn has been hiding a secret her whole life: She can see fairies, and has resisted attracting their attention for as long as she can remember. Unlike popular belief, fairies are capable of mischief, torture, cruelty, and harm. Despite Aislinn’s best efforts, she found herself stalked by two fairies, Keenan and the Summer King, who had been seeking the lost Queen for decades. Donna, the Winter Girl and ex-lover of Keenan, who always suffered from Keenan’s betrayal. What chance did Aislinn have of being the Summer Queen Keenan was looking for? Which would she choose, a life as a fairy or a mortal life beside her love interest, Seth?

Let’s start with the positives. Marr’s fairy mythology concept intrigued me and I liked the ideas behind it. Although this book isn’t great by any means, her apparent grasp of fae lore and the interesting concept of Summer and Winter Courts makes it worth reading. My favorite parts of the book were the prologue and the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I appreciate detailed research.

Why did it not work for me? It’s definitely the writing. This book seemed overly simplistic in its sentence structure, but I found the narration itself to be confusing. It was difficult to follow the flow of the sentences within the paragraphs. I didn't feel emotionally attached to any of the characters as well. Aislinn was annoying in the book but got better by the end. Seth was presented as good but had many sexual encounters, and Keenan was uninteresting.

The long-suffering Donia is the only character that holds my interest. It filled the relationship between her and Keenan with conflict and raw emotion, and it is the bright spot in the story for me. Donia’s strength and resilience in the face of adversity make her an interesting protagonist. I root for her and hoping for a happy ending. Her story arc is the most intriguing part of the narrative for me.

The first book of the Wicked Lovely series has potential, but the author had put little effort into making the most of them. In this book, the author shows she did not plan well before beginning the series. The characters are flat, and the world building is weak. As a result, the story lacks depth and does not draw me in.

This series is not something I would discourage anyone from reading. For me, Wicked Lovely didn’t work.