Details:
This review encompasses all three books from the Wondrous Strange trilogy - Wondrous Strange, Darklight and Tempestuous.
Edition: Kindle
Price: $5.69 - $6.64 on Amazon
Challenges: Women Authors, Where Are You Reading? , Paranormal Reading Challenge (March/Fairies)
★★★★★★★★★☆
I’m a proud, card-carrying member of the fairy book haters club. There’s just something about their cold, androgynous persona that, when coupled with a “romance” story (as they always are), sets off my Skeeze-o-Meter (patent pending). Before Wondrous Strange, I’d managed to make it all the way through only one book with fairies as main characters, and even then I needed a bottle of Lysol to clean the vomit and e-herpes off my Kindle.
But, being the martini glass-half-full kind of girl I am, I'm overjoyed to say that Lesley Livingston's Wondrous Strange series was both strangely wondrous and enjoyable – even for someone who would love nothing more than to lure Tinkerbell into a bug zapper.
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Let me get the plot summary out of the way. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. If you can’t get past some completely absurdity, you’re not going to like this book. And, hey, YOU are the one reading a review on a book about fairies, so don’t look so innocent there!
The story centers on Kelley Winslow, a 17 year old who has moved to New York City to pursue her acting career. She works as a stagehand (I think this is how she makes money) and is an understudy for an off off-Broadway Shakespeare production company. She lives in – from what I can tell – a two-bedroom apartment somewhere near Central Park with her roommate, Tyff. Unbeknownst to Kelley (isn’t that the way it always goes?) Kelley is a fairy – and not just your average run-of-the-mill fairy. Nope. She’s the daughter of Aeberon, the Fairy King of Winter.
One night, Kelley is rehearsing her lines in the park when a chance encounter with a hansom stranger (you were expecting an ugly one?) and a kelpie trigger events that not only lead to Kelley learning her true identity, but set forth a chain of events that will forever change the fairy and mortal kingdoms forever.
I couldn’t really write that without sarcasm because – come on – it is a little outlandish. Okay, a lot outlandish. But, still, the book did such a great job of minimizing the “unbelievable” details (a 17-year-old girl supporting herself as an actress in New York City) that it didn’t detract away from the enjoyable “strange” (the main character being a fairy princess).
Here’s what I loved:
Wondrous Strange (the entire trilogy) was a totally cute, fun and fast-paced read. From the start of book one to the end of book three, the action didn’t stop. Not for a minute did I ever get bored and, aside from a few of the “gushy” romance bits in the third book, I didn’t even find myself wanting to skim paragraphs.
I was surprised – at least a little bit. I’m one of those people who will obsessively guess at the ending (or the plot twists), and, while there were a few I got at first, I was pleasantly surprised there were ones that I didn’t. There was a complexity to the relationships between the fairy folk that I didn't expected.
The “relationship” between Kelley and Sonny was hella cute. Yes, I said it. HELLA cute. I’m not a big romance person and, while I’m okay with it being in a book, when it starts dominating the pages, I start feeling a little queasy. Weirdly enough, the book wasn’t light on the Googley Eyes. There were plenty of references to the two lovebirds, but it was so light and fun that I didn’t feel like tearing my eyes out.
All of the characters were likable. I adored Kelley (I kept forgetting she was only 17, she was so mature). I loved Sonny (he's so sweet). Seriously, I just wanted to go out for pizza and beers with all of the characters. I’m pretty sure we would all be BFFs (and I totally wish I had a fictitious single friend I could set up with Fennrys). Even the “bad guys” weren’t all that bad. I’m not entirely sure why I found this as such a positive thing – maybe I’m getting soft in my old age – but I really liked reading a book where I didn’t have to waste energy hating someone. The plot was written in such a way that it didn’t need an outright villain to make it work. Why can’t we all just get along? Blah blah blah.
The ending was perfect. It was happy, but not too "riding off into the sunset"-ish, and there were surprises up until the final pages. I was nervous going into this knowing that the series was finished. I have a deal with finality. When I finish a book, I find myself asking "what happens next?" and needing a sequel. Livingston did an excellent job of wrapping up her story that, while I would've gladly continued to read on about the lives of Kelley and Sonny, I felt satisfied stopping where the books ended.
What I loved less:
The references to Shakespeare were a little bit of a stretch. At several points in the books, scenes from Shakespeare’s plays were inserted into the text. They weren’t very long and I’m sure they had some sort of reference to the plot (aside from the obvious reference to characters), but either the references were loose enough or I am that ignorant when it comes to Shakespeare (more likely the case) that they just didn’t seem to fit right.
The gushy “will they or won’t they” between Kelley and Sonny in the third book got to be a little tedious. While there were always forces keeping Kelley and Sonny apart throughout the entire series, the third book seemed to dedicate more time to discussing it when, at that point, pretty much the only thing holding them apart was themselves.
Overall, I just have to say I thought this was an excellent book to read for fun. It actually reminded me a lot of the Enchanted, Inc. series by Shanna Swendson.
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