Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Release Date: Available Now from HarperTeen

Source: Personal Collection

Synopsis:

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

Seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow always thought faeries were just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery. He's a changeling—a mortal taken as an infant and raised among Faerie—and within short order he's turned Kelley's heart inside out and her life upside down.

For Kelley's beloved Central Park isn't just a park—it's a gateway between her ordinary city and the Faerie's dangerous, bewitching Otherworld. Now Kelley's eyes are opening not just to the Faerie that surround her, but to the heritage that awaits her . . . a destiny both wondrous and strange.

I'm reading Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr at the moment in preparation for Radiant Shadows, so it got me thinking about other books of faerie that I've read recently. This is another of my winter reads that I'm just getting around to reviewing. I had seen this book about a million times in the bookstore, but just never chose to pick it up. Then I was offered the sequel, Darklight, to review (still haven't worked my way to it yet), so I picked up the first one, because I wanted to know what they heck was going on. This is a great read, and I can't believe it took me so very long to finally read it.

I think I was afraid the book was going to be too Shakespeare heavy, but it wasn't at all. The Shakespearean stuff is blended really well with the rest of the story, but not in an overpowering way. There were a lot of really original elements to this book, which gets harder and harder to do as the faerie book market becomes more saturated. I love to read something original and this one realy fit the bill.

Kelly is fantastic and I'm a little in love with Sonny Flannery. He's one of the dreamier faerie dudes out there. The real star of the show, at least for me, is Lucky the kelpie. I decided immediately that I need my very own kelpie to feed Lucky Charms to. What an adorable faerie beastie.

I absolutely recommend this book, and I'm hoping I can work my way to Darklight soon. There are just too many books and not nearly enough time. I feel like I'm always playing catch up, but oh well, it's a great problem to have. At least I don't have a giant supernatural horse in my tub, right?