Monday, June 11, 2012

Review: Wicked Lovely (Audiobook)



Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Series: Wicked Lovely #1
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance
Length: 10 Hours and 9 minutes
Narrator: Alyssa Bresnahan
Source: eLibrary
Author's Website | Twitter | Facebook
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | Audio | B&N | Book Depo

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 21 st century faery tale.

My Rating:

My Review:

The ability to see faeries stands between Aislinn and a normal life.  Aislinn finds herself constantly on guard lest she give herself away to the faeries.  She fears the consequences of them discovering her talent.  Things get complicated, however, when the King of the Summer Faeries, Keenan, openly pursues her.  He doesn't know that she can tell who he really is.  Keenan has been looking for centuries for his summer queen.  Only finding her can end the horrible curse put on him by his mother, which prevents him from his true power.  Keenan believes that he has found his queen is Aislinn but if he's wrong, she'll pay a horrible price just like Donia, his previous choice for summer queen.

On the story...
I've seen mixed reviews on this book and I completely understand why.  It simply doesn't follow any of the norms and trends within YA which leads to some surprising twists and turns.  If you like the signature YA elements, you might not find this one a go.  Like love triangles? Nope, you won't find that here.  I don't want to ruin it for anyone because I found the deviations from expectations to be one of the draws to this book.  I found myself intrigued once a realized the true conflict and couldn't really imagine how things would work out.  

The second half of the book was definitely more interesting than the first half.  I especially loved the last few chapters.  I just couldn't stop listening. Aislinn had a little too much internal dialogue for my tastes, but that may just be a YA thing.  I really enjoyed Aislinn's reaction to Keenan (I can't tell you...), it was really refreshing.  This is one you'll likely have to read for yourself to see if it is a fit.  I previously read Ms. Marr's Graveminder and loved it!  This one seems completely different in style from her other works.

On the narrator...
I enjoyed Ms. Bresnahn quite a bit, though her voice made the characters seem much older than they were.  I could easily tell the different characters even though there were many different point of views for this one.

Overall...
I enjoyed the story because it managed to get me excited about the rest of the series.  This is a good read if you are tired of the formulaic story lines that can be found in most YA.  Everything happens at the end, but it is worth getting.  I would finish this series on audio.
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19 comments:

  1. I'm glad you finally explored Wicked Lovely. It's one of my all-time favs!

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  2. Oh I have this one on audiobook! Glad to know that it is a good story and good narration :)

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  3. i think i might like it b/c it's so different. i think i have it on my shelf somewhere :)

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  4. I've been curious about this series for a long time now, but like you said, I've read some mixed reviews. But I like how the deviations worked for the story. That means the author gave us something new.

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    1. Definitely. I enjoyed it and loved the deviations. I admit that they caught me off guard though. I was so surprised and shocked but it isn't like this is a shocking book. It's almost as if I've been trained to expect certain things.

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  5. Oh my gosh! This sounds cute! I'm adding this to my wish list!
    Thanks!

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  6. Great review.
    I wonder if I would dig this one.
    I like that it breaks the mold.

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    1. It's my favorite thing about it. I can't help but wonder what's next. Can't wait.

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  7. Just the synopsis of this one sounds fascinating. But I really might have to give this one a go since it does not follow the same YA themes most others do. I like deviation and trying different things withing genres I like.

    Now I want to know what happened to the previous wife and why Keenan's own mother cursed him, how she cursed him, and why he thinks Aileen is the answer to it all. Great review...I'll have to pin this one.

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    1. It's so complicated. The previous girl isn't a wife but she wanted to be and that's how she got in the whole mess. Lol. That's all I can say. You should definitely give it a try. Plus the covers are cool :)

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  8. I liked it and at the same time...there was something I could not pyt my finger on

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    1. I agree, but I definitely feel like it was better than so many. I have hope for the rest of the series as well. I'm even excited.

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  9. A book that veers away from the formula! Awesome! I'm adding this one to my list. I'll probably listen to it on audio as you did. I need to get back to listening to books while at work! :-)

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  10. Glad I'm not the only one reading/listening to audiobooks. I have this one as a regular book and just havent gotten around to it. Maybe soon I'll give it a go!

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