Bookish Review: Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely is a YA novel by Melissa Marr that was much lauded by the major trade reviewers when it came out. Focusing on Aislinn, a teen gifted with the Sight (the ability to see faeries and other fey folk), the book is about fear, courage, love, and sacrifice. Aislinn has spent her entire life pretending she can't see the fey and what they do. To do anything else would be risking blindness, torment, or death. So she must force herself to ignore winged and fanged creatures that roam among us and play tricks on humans. Luckily, she can take refuge at her friend Seth's. Seth lives within steel walls, and steel is poison to the fey. She feels safe there, though the temptation to make Seth more than a friend is intense. Her life is difficult, but good...until she notices that she has captured the attention of two faeries, who will not leave her alone. It turns out that one of these faeries, Keenan, is the Summer King, and he wants to make Aislinn his queen--whether she wants it or not.

The book has sweet, tender moments, but also has a dark side, with themes of violence and sex, what to do when none of the choices available to you are what you want, showing courage in a dangerous situation, and love. The good reviews were well-recieved, and in preparation for the release of the sequel, Fragile Eternity, HarperTeen made the full text of the book available online for free. You can learn more and see the book trailer at the book site. Click on "About the Books" and then the "Browse Inside" link under Wicked Lovely to start reading.