Wicked Lovely (YA)

Marr, Melissa. 2007. Wicked Lovely. HarperCollins. 328 pages.

"Four ball, side pocket." Aislinn pushed the cue forward with a short, quick thrust; the ball dropped into the pocket with a satisfying clack.

Aislinn is special, but she'd rather be ordinary. She's grown up seeing fairies. (As has her Grams.) She'd give anything to not be able to see these mischievous to menacing fairies. It means living life carefully. Following three important rules: don't stare at invisible fairies, don't speak to invisible fairies, don't ever attract their attention. By the end of the book, how many rules do you think Aislinn has broken?

Not that it's her fault. Aislinn seems rather destined to have this adventure. It all starts when the Summer King (a fairy), Keenan, begins dreaming about Aislinn. The game has begun, and poor Aislinn doesn't stand a chance. Keenan senses that she is the one. The mortal girl who will become his queen. (Hereby joining him in immortality.) Whether she wants him or no, she's about to become immortal. And she has three choices: becoming a mindless summer girl--a mindless, easy girl, or accepting the challenge and trying to become Keenan's queen: if she succeeds, she becomes queen; if she fails, well, you don't want to know how awful that can be. Just ask Donia. She's the last girl who tried to become queen. Now she's helplessly in love with the Summer King, but in the service of the Winter Queen, the Summer King's mother, the evil Beira. But when you're Aislinn, all of these so-called choices mean heartbreak. Because she wants to be mortal. She wants nothing to do with faeries. She wants only to have a normal life, to be with her best friend, Seth. He's the guy that she is dreaming of. He's the guy that makes her life worth living. Keenan? Don't even think about it. Seth's the one. The guy that understands and accepts her.

I enjoyed this one. It was fun. It was dark in places, but it wasn't too dark.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews