Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely, #1)

by Melissa Marr and Alyssa Bresnahan

Alyssa Bresnahan (Narrator) and Melissa Marr (Narrator)

The clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in this cool, urban 21st century faery tale. Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries. Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world, and would blind her if they knew of her Sight. 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 and 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! Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working any more, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

• ISBN10: 0061688126
• ISBN13: 9780061688126
• Publish Date: 29 April 2008 (first published 1 June 2007)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Audiobook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I genuinely like Melissa Marr's writing. Although her stories are littered with clichés, she always chooses the noble way out. I appreciate that, originality is harder and harder to find these days. Her stories or just gripping enough to keep the reader curious, without feeding to obsession. Her characters are relatable enough, although they are not deep. This was a fun, fluffy read.

[nannah]

I almost want to shelve this as "horror". It's not a typical horror book in that there aren't jump scares, there aren't obviously hideous monsters or gore, and there isn't any psychological thriller elements. What's horrific about this book, however, is how the book handles consent.

Book Content Warnings:
sexual assault

So this book is supposedly about a 17-year-old girl named Aislinn, who grew up with the Sight--that is, she can see fairies. And for some reason, fairies are stalking her. But . . . really, this book is more like a cheap soap opera where she loves pierced dude, but other dude wants her to love him, and his ex still loves him, and maybe he'll try to find someone to tempt the pierced dude away from her, but his evil mom doesn't want any of this to happen and ?? I expected this to be a "real" fairy book, and I get some cheap high school drama (emphasis on the cheap)?

What makes this book even more cheap is that the villain, the Winter Queen, is laughable. She's not intimidating; she's just annoying. She goes around making threats, calling everyone "darling", but never really does anything to prevent what she obviously doesn't want to happen. Usually villains are pretty proactive, keeping the MC from fulfilling their goals, but this villain just strides around making icicles and petty threats.

I'll get to the consent issues, but first I need to talk about Aislinn, the MC. The character I'm supposed to cheer for, feel for, etc. She's another one of those characters who just makes stupid decisions so the plot can move forward. I lost count of the number of times I had to put the book down to roll my eyes.

Example #1: Aislinn doesn't like the Summer King. At all. Doesn't want anything to do with him. BUT. Thinks it's an ok idea to meet him at a carnival alone in the name of "finding out what he wants from her," drinks fairy wine, and dances with him. It's just so transparent? Written to get to the next plot point, obviously. At this part, I really didn't want to read on.

Example #2: The Summer King finds out who Aislinn's "Grams" is, and that he pretty much killed Aislinn's mother (and Grams's daughter). Ok. So then Aislinn and the Summer King just decide to leave Grams's house, without thinking of taking Grams to a safe place or placing guards in front of the house, even though they know how much fairies gossip? So of course, Grams gets hurt. Because the story needs Aislinn to be motivated. It's a weak-assed attempt at creating tension in like half a page.

Most of this is because of the writing failing, I understand . . . especially since the writing fails for other characters too, like when characters had extremely awkward dialogue because what they said was information purely for the audience. It was obvious these characters already knew the information they were spewing (such as the Winter Queen telling someone the rules of the plot, etc.).

One more thing before I get to my main complaint: usually endings are packed full of tension and move fast to keep readers transfixed. But oh no, not this book's ending. Tension drops. Near the very end before what's supposed to be the climax, Aislinn and the Summer King decide to make a social call and chat with Aislinn's boyfriend, who even makes some rice. To quote Aislinn's inner dialogue, "WTF"?

Okay. Here we are: consent.

I could tell things were going to be rocky when Aislinn was sexually assaulted in order to meet a fairy. This introduction could have happened so many other ways, but this author chose to go this direction, which is just lazy and unappealing writing.

The plot turns out to be the Summer King trying to woo Aislinn (pretty much against her will), and more than halfway through, the dude hadn't even thought about whether or not he'd actually be good for her (he states constantly how good she'd be for him though)! And then one of his advisors basically say make her say yes even if the method is unpalatable. All of this is gross and lazy.

"You were born to belong to me." (p.224)

This Summer King is also a character who needed to see a fairy sexually assaulted in front of him to realize it was wrong. How messed up is that, storytelling-wise? Because as a reader, all of this is shown in detail. Yuck.

But then Aislinn's boyfriend actually talks about consent. About how if Aislinn took something, if she was drunk or high, that she CANNOT CONSENT, which is SUPER IMPORTANT, especially in a YA book. Which goes against what's happening in the book, so I'm really confused?

In the end, Aislinn eventually becomes the Summer Queen, even if she doesn't love her King and even if she still stays with her boyfriend. Which means . . . the Summer King's harassment worked. Which means it's ok to not listen to a girl saying "no" to a guy's advancements.

I just don't get this book's conflicting messages and I don't feel comfortable with it.

[tweetybugshouse]

I really loved this book, I not really ever found a fairy book that i did not like. I think the best part about this one is it vastly different in the way the faries are portrayed and how the fairy courts work. A different take in that these are not tinkerbell fairies. I also like how Ash stands up for what she wants and does not become some fasiry plaything. I really want to see where the story goes in book two.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Wicked Lovely is a compelling romance woven into faerie lore.  Aislinn has spent her whole life cursed with the ability to see faeries, but she believed that if she ignored them, they would ignore her, and she would be safe.  Now, however, she has attracted the attention of the Summer King—and he will not stop pursuing her until she agrees to be his.  Beyond the fact that Aislinn hates fairies, she has another problem: she is already in love with a mortal.

Thus Marr sets up a complicated love knot—but it not simply a triangle.  Other players have stakes in this game, and it is not always clear who is fighting for love, who is fighting for power, or who is dreaming of a chance at both.  Readers will have to read a long way into the novel before they can make a good guess at how this might all come untangled, and before they can hope that anyone might have a chance of being happy at all.  Wicked Lovely incorporates the darkness of its faerie source material wonderfully, creating a story that is seductive but always dangerous, always uncertain.

Aislinn is the perfect protagonist for this type of tale, strong enough to take the faeries head-on at their own game, vulnerable enough one never knows if she will finally be drawn in by their charms, or their threats.  Some readers might find her a little dependent, as she does a lot of running back to her love interest, but I think this is partially a device to fulfill the romantic plot elements.  Seth is created as the ultimate swoon-worthy protector, always ready with a patient ear and open arms.  A lot of readers will fall in love with him just as Aislinn does.  Although I occasionally found him a little too wonderful, a little unrealistic, I was rooting for him all the way.  And for readers who do not find Seth to be their type, Marr presents the Summer King: golden, moody, laughing, unsure, a volatile mix of emotions guaranteed to keep characters and readers alike on their toes.

Wicked Lovely does have a few flaws, the standout being the writing.  The perspective shifts around unexpectedly, switching abruptly from character to character, and frequently inserting first-person thoughts into what is otherwise a third-person chapter.  There are also some awkwardly worded sentences and occasional instances of bad grammar.  At times, I felt as if I were reading an ARC that still needed a round of copyediting, instead of a finished copy.  Ultimately, however, the plot is absorbing enough that even poor wording could not draw me out of it.

Wicked Lovely is the perfect read for those who want a swoon-worthy romance featuring complex characters and a bit of magic.  I enjoyed reading it as a standalone, though it is a tad open-ended and, of course, is the first in a series.  Aislinn and her friends end up in a good place, however, with just enough closure that readers will be satisfied and just enough ambiguity that readers can either pursue the series, or imagine their own endings for the characters.  Recommended for fans of The Iron King and The Treachery of Beautiful Things.

Content Note: Drugs, sexual content, minor swearing

[neddieb]

I can't say that I am a fan of this book. I like the fact that the story is quite different from other Fey books i've read. However, the story is quite choppy and I really don't understand what the freak is going on half the time. This book is really confusing. I definately need one of those high school cliff notes to understand this story. Im a grown adult and am having a hard time making sense of what I am reading! Thank goodness for wikipedia!

[nitzan_schwarz]

You can find this review and more on Afterwords

Wicked Lovely is one of those novels I need to re-read ASAP and continue with the series, because I read this one back in 2012, and has owned it for years before that, and while I remember really enjoying this dark fairy-tale I don't remember enough to be able to move on to book two without the re-read.

It's interesting how strongly I remember liking it, when I had an extremely hard time getting into it at first. I started this book three times before finally moving past chapter three. There was just... something there that wasn't clicking at first. This book is lucky that back then I was far more stubborn about leaving books unfinished, because had it happened today I would've never went back to it. Three strikes and you're out and all that jazz. But, that wasn't the case, and I did go back to it. And then scratched my head wondering why on earth did I have so much trouble with it to begin with?

The world Marr creates in Wicked Lovely was breathtaking and beautiful... despite the ugliness of it, if that makes any sense. It's unique and extraordinary. When I think of that looming re-read (I am going to do that sometime in 2018), the thing I am most excited about is re-familiarizing myself with this world.

And in that world exists Aislinn. No idea if I'm pronouncing that one correctly. Aislinn is a normal teenage girl with slightly... unusual... worries. And by "unusual", I mean of the supernatural verity. Specifically, faeries. Even more specifically; seeing faeries. That's not supposed to happen. Honestly, I don't remember much of this character, and my old review speaks of the fact nothing of her really caught my attention since I just said: "I liked her". That doesn't mean I didn't like her, only that I really need that re-read if I want to recall anything about this main character lol.

Seth is Ash's best friend and the only one she feels safe around. Boy, did I adore this guy. He is sweet, caring and protective. And he does all that while looking like a badass in piercings (which are not really my thing, but when a nice guy wears them I'm okay with it haha).

Donia is The Winter Girl, and parts of the story are told of her POV. She is one of the faeries stalking Ash and I remember really liking her and loving watching the story through her eyes.

Keenan is the other fairy stalking Ash, and this is one character I was just kind of... meh about. I didn't hate him, but then I didn't like him. Like Donia, parts of the story are told from his POV.

Now, the main romance in the novel is between Ash and Seth. And it is one sexy romance! I was honestly so happy both with the fact that there wasn't really a love triangle AND that Seth is the romantic interest because this book made me believe he and Ash belong together! And afraid to read the next books because what if Marr does something to my babies???

Another relationship explored in the book is the one between Keenan and Donia. That was intriguing and still full of possibilities...

All of these things accumulate to the ending, which was a mixed bag for me. Some things were darn right underwhelming, considering all the hype the story builds around them. And some things were extremely shocking and subverted any expectation I had! And that makes me very curious to read the next books, even if it seems otherwise considering the 5 years hiatus I put this series on...

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Original Review:
To Read This Review and Others Go to My Blog Drugs Called Books!

Before Reading
This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for what must be years, and I kid you not. My edition had been published in 2008, so from around then. I opened the book the first time the week I bought it, and stopped reading around chapter three. I then picked it up at a later time only to close it again at—wait for it—the first page. And that happened a third time, as well, and by that time I decided to stop completely—something obviously wasn't working.
But I hate leaving things (or rather books) open like this, and I got tired of this book sitting on my bookshelf, taunting me, laughing at my face, challenging me to finish it, whispering remarks at my inability to.
And so, I picked it up again – vowing to finish it once and for all, or die trying. Sounds over dramatic? Well, I'm nothing if not dramatic.
Now, after reading the whole thing, I can't say I understand what made me stop before. This is a pretty great story, and I can only blame sheer stupidity for ever stopping it…

The Plot
Ash had seen faeries all her life – not the sweet little Tinker Bells of our innocent movies, but vicious, cruel, horribly beautiful and beautifully horrible creatures. Faeries she had tried, and mostly succeeded, to avoid all of her life, by following three simple rules: Don't stare at invisible faeries, don't speak to invisible faeries, and most important – never attract their attention.
But suddenly, the rules stop working and all bets are off. Faeries are stalking her wherever she goes, and Ash is no longer content with ignoring them and hoping they'd go away; she wants answers, wants to know what suddenly changed, and to do so she enlists the power of her best friend, the only man capable of stirring her heart and the only person she ever feels safe with; Seth. But is she putting him in danger while doing so?..

The world Marr creates in Wicked Lovely is quite breathtaking and beautiful, despite the ugliness of it, if you can understand what I mean. It's unique, and quite extraordinary. I enjoyed very much reading about it, and the plot, which was different from things I read before, was engaging and fast paced.

The Characters
Aislinn – is the main character of this story, a normal teenage girl with slightly unusual worries; faeries. I was surprised that I liked her, mostly because lately a lot of female main characters of popular books annoyed the heck out of me. I can't exactly pinpoint what I liked, but I did. I don't think there was one time she annoyed me throughout the entire story, though I can't say she's in my top 10.
Seth – Ash's best friend and slightly more than that, the only person she feels safe around. Seth is quite incredible; he is sweet, caring, protective and plainly awesome. I honestly adored him. Piercings really ain't my thing, so in my imagination he has none, but I still love him. In my edition there's an interview with Marr, and in it she says some people say he's too perfect, and I loved her answer that we see him through Ash's eyes, and often we see the radiating parts of those we love, and none the bad.
Donia – The Winter Girl. She is one of the faeries stalking Ash and full parts of this story are from her POV. She's a really good character, as well, and I loved watching the story through her eyes.
Keenan – is the other Fairy stalking Ash, the one who marks her. He's actually a Fairy King looking to make Ash his Fairy Queen. I didn't like or hate him. He was okay. Don't know; nothing special to me.Parts of the story are in his POV.

The Romance
~Fans myself~ is it just me, or did it suddenly turn hot when Ash and Seth were in the same room together? Wow. They are one sexy couple! Though I'm not sure if it's appropriate to say so about a Young Adult book?...
Oh, thank god there wasn't a love triangle! This may present itself as having two love interests, but I never felt Seth's place as Ash's love was ever threatened, and I strongly believe Ash and Seth belong together. May they stay together!
The relationship between Keenan and Donia was also intriguing, and I think there are many possibilities in that area still.

The Ending
Is unique. Mostly because you'd expect Ash would find a way not to change, and remain human, but it doesn't happen. I felt the showdown with the Winter Queen was a bit anti climactic, you know? I mean, throughout the book they talk about how frightening and powerful she is, but then it takes five minutes to beat her?...

In Conclusion
God only knows why I stopped reading this before. This was an excellent read, and I do get what all the hype about it is. What I'm worried about now is the next books, mostly because I felt this worked well as a standalone. I will read the next one before judging, but I pray I'll like it as much as I did this book. Great story, fantastic setting, good characters and a unique world – worth a read!


To Read This Review and Others Go to My Blog Drugs Called Books!

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This book was interesting. Faeries, magic, evil, power, what more could you want?

Well, it was alright, but it was also dark. I’m not that fond of dark stories. So I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I would have liked. It made me feel anxious. In a bad way. I also found I wasn’t that interested in the whole story line.

Other than that. It was well written and interesting (If you like stories about the fey). I don’t really know what else to say. Mainly because I skimmed the last half of the book due to being bored and feeling way to anxious to actually get stuck in to the story.

The world created by Marr was an interesting one, but also a safe one. Most of the faeries were pretty annoying. Which I guess was the point.

There are five books in this series but to be honest I won’t read any of the others. It’s not a feel good book or world I guess.

If you like faeries though this will be your cup of tea!

Miss J
x

[inlibrisveritas]

As with so many other young adult paranormal books I expected it to be on the shallow end but it really wasn't. I really like the change in pace with the use of the Fae court, it's fairly original in storyline. I was a little surprised with the level of sexual content at first though, not entirely use to that in "young adult" novels. Rating aside it is an interesting storyline with a likable and strong female lead. I was also pleased with the way that it ended, a little surprised at the lack of a cliff hanger since series typically thrive on them but I'm kind of glad she didn't add one because I have enough to read at the moment without feeling like I'm missing out on something. Some parts were a little see through in the plot but it didn't really detract from the interest level. I did find it a bit stereotypical that with the type of the school she was in that her and her friends were the typical "bad" girls. Overall really good book though and I look forward to reading the next one.

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

About a year and a half ago, I picked up a copy of Wicked Lovely because it was recommended by one of the girls who work at my local bookstore. She reads a lot of the same type of books that I like and enjoy and most of the time her recommendations are always pretty amazing. So, why wouldn't I trust her with this one, right?

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful, I love the girl with frozen fingers holding a pretty flower with ice crystals all over it. It seemed to signify the overall feel of what the book might encompass. The blueish-purple tint seemed to draw me in, so I took a chance on this not really knowing what I was getting myself into. Even the font of on the cover, was pretty. I kind of like how there were what seemed like vines and leaves sort of coming off the words in the title and it was even that way on the spine.

The extra's, were just an added bonus. Seriously, the playlist that was included was awesome and provided a new reading experience for me, along with the author's reading list, six intriguingly different facts about her that sort of gave you a glimpse into who she is (since this was her debut novel), and a couple of other things including a glimpse of the next book in the series, Ink Exchange.

So, why then, did it take a year and a half to read this book? It's simple, really. The pacing of this book was a bit slow for me and it stagnated in some parts, plus I found it hard to connect with the main character in the series, Aislynn. I liked her, don't get me wrong, but it just seemed hard to identify with her at times. Though, in the end, I was pleased with how she was strong enough to be able to save herself, knew exactly what she wanted, and made the decision that this is how it would be.

Of course, the more that I read, I found myself becoming interested or drawn to other characters such as, Seth who was amazingly loyal and would risk anything for Aislynn, Donia who I sympathized with as far as her love and loyalty to Keenan goes, the Winter Queen who was that villian that you were supposed to hate and I ended up loving because she was so very well developed and written as far as her purpose for being there, and Niall Keenan's sort of advisor and sometimes confidante.

The imagery and prose in which this book was written, introduced me to another world that was completely original and magnificently beautiful. For that, I can be grateful even if it was a hard book for me to get through. It wasn't until around the last 70+ pages or so, that I found myself fully immersed and finally absorbed into the story. I think, maybe I was afraid that it was going to be your basic cookie-cutter standard love story triangle where Aislynn would bow to Keenan and be at his side choosing him over Seth and both Seth and Donia would be literally and figuratively left out in the cold. I'm very pleased to see that the novel didn't turn out like that at all and that Aislynn, after searching herself and realizing exactly what she had to do (that there really wasn't any other choice for her), would end up making the best decision that would fuel a little hope for all of them in general.

I didn't want to be team anything as far as this series goes, because I wanted to be able to enjoy all of the character's for whatever reasons or flaws they may have. But, I can't help but be inspired by and drawn to Donia, as I felt like she was the most realistic, relatable character in the book aside from Seth. I was truly able to feel with and for her, at the same time. Her sadness was my sadness, her burden was my own, and it was easy to see how she could arrive at the decisions she made.

There were good things about this book definitely and of course, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy stories involving faeries and otherworldly realms. I have to say that I did find myself enjoying the melding of the modern expectations and the clash of the ancient rules that seemed to be in constant conflict of one another a great deal. With that being said, there were also a couple of drawbacks when reading the book for me personally.

What I am saying, is read it for yourself and figure out how you feel about it, where you stand as far as certain aspects and elements of the book goes for yourself. I certainly can't speak for anyone else, but at the end of the day when it's all said and done, I did enjoy the book. It just took me a really long time to get to that point. Much longer than I would have liked, honestly. So, for that reason I struggle with how to rate this book.

There were more good qualities that I felt the book possessed than drawbacks and I did enjoy Melissa Marr's unique writing style, beautiful prose and imagery the book presented, so I can be okay with giving it a three star rating easily.

I will be reading and reviewing the next book in the series, so obviously there is something about this world that has me intrigued to find out what happens next.

[liz089]

I did like the concept, but the story itself just wasn't.. well, how do I say that. I think they could have got more out of it, and sometimes it just was way to cliche.