Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely, written by Melissa Marr, is Book 1 in a Young Adult series by the same name.  It starred Aislinn, a normal teenager...who just so happened to see faeries, much to her chagrin.

Aided by Seth, her buddy-turned-boyfriend, Aislinn strives to figure out why faeries are suddenly paying attention to her.  Eavesdropping on faeries who believed themselves invisible, Aislinn discovers that the gorgeous guy following her around is the Summer King, Keenan, who believes Aislinn to be his missing Queen.  An unexpected friendship with Donia, the Winter Girl and also the last woman who tested to be the Summer Queen, enables Aislinn to understand that her mortality was surrendered when Keenan chose her.  And this would have worked out fine if it weren't for Beira, Keenan's mother, the Winter Queen.  Beira actively working to prevent Keenan from testing Aislinn actually helped convince Keenan and Donia that Aislinn was the Queen.

This was a cute story and the first one that I read on my new Kobo.  One of my good friends is an avid reader of Melissa Marr's work, which is one of the reasons why I chose this story.  I found Aislinn to be a great character and easy to relate to - even her relationship with Seth was delayed because she didn't want to be another notch on his bedpost.  This book did hint at sex between Seth and Aislinn, but it was a decision that wasn't taken lightly by either parties.  I found Aislinn to be a fair person who didn't let her prejudices against the faeries prevent her from helping them, despite the fact that she was totally screwed over by them.  She was also strong enough to demand the right to live her life as she sees fit.

I loved Seth.  He was patient with Aislinn as she discovered the potential between them.  He was also strong, and self-assured, enough to love Aislinn in her new role as Queen.  Keenan was annoying, whiny, and too pushy at first.  He did end up growing on me, but I still thought of him as a little pathetic; however I'm definitely happy with the way the book ended.  It was a happily ever after for everyone involved, I thought.

I also liked Ms. Marr's take on faeries and how they live in the modern world, but that they're invisible.  It makes it interesting to think that they live among us, only unseen.  It was also interesting to see how the author separated the courts into Summer, Winter, Dark and High Courts. I'm hoping that the next books will show the differences between the courts and how they interact.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series: Ink Exchange.