Ruth Long (1)

"But now the holly wears the crown. And the May Queen comes. Will you abide her thorns to hear her voice?"

what a wonderfully dark fairytale. I loved this dark story about a Jenny and a Jack and a boy, Tom, who stumbled into a forest that ate him whole.

7 years later, that same forest swallowed Jenny and now she's fighting for her life in a world she could never even imagine. Where names and kisses, whispers and drinks - all are dangers. Where friendship is only as solid as the promises you've show more already made.

And even a stone can save the world. The story completely sucked me in and I loved it all. I was sad when I got to the last page, knowing there was no more Jack and Jenny, Puck and fae to love. show less

"He dreams of it, dreams of a future. Few creatures in the Realm are so cursed as to live in hope. Poor Jack o' the Forest, Jack in Green. He only longs to be free."

First things first: the most enthusiastic and awed applause for the setting, because the world was absolutely a dream come true for me. I hadn't read genuine, nonsensical, fairy-tale fantasy in years and was on the hunt for the past few months, and finally. FINALLY, I FOUND IT. Fairy courts, illusions, tree spirits, names of show more creatures I can't pronounce. A spectacular mix of beauty, the wicked, and playful viciousness. Queen of the Realm. Seriously stunning.

The format leaned into this and I was so grateful it did - while plenty of creatures were just set-pieces, the events started to line up, something like Alice in Wonderland...one trial after another, each highlighting a new challenge and a new creature. The travels through the Realm were genuinely gorgeous and surprising at every turn.

Not to mention the prose itself. Perfect balance of description and action that was pretty, evocative, and dreamy.

So I was very quickly and eagerly invested in the world, but I wish that came a little easier for the characters. I didn't dislike any of them even a little bit, but sometimes I felt like I was fighting for a clear image of their personality and stakes, leaving the tension feeling heartless and the turns feeling cold.

The book is stuffed with twists, and the majority of these are in people's motivations and alliances - explained mostly in dialogue. That's definitely fascinating and quite a balancing act in writing, but most of the time, it didn't feel all that rewarding to me. Sometimes I wasn't sure where we had even started with the character so I couldn't keep track of all the paths they were taking. It wasn't even a problem of tell-not-show - the second half of the book is brimming with sacrifices and drama that would surely have tugged on my heart if I'd known simpler things about these characters and their relationships beforehand. Like, okay, was I...not supposed to trust Puck?

Tom is the simplest version of this. I know that Jenny's motivations since the start relied on getting Tom back, but I had no idea who Tom was besides a musician (and, later, an exposition-bot). I understood Jenny's love and yet had none for myself. Similar situation with Jack (who luckily I cared for because he had POV chapters). I think that they can make all the dramatic sacrifices and declarations of love that they want, but if I don't know if they get each other's jokes or have something in common then I'm not likely to buy their romance as completely. I felt like I was left behind somewhere between their awkward alliance and their heartfelt quest for each other, invested and enjoying their romance, but not to the degree that it was demanding.

That problem unfortunately extended to Jack's alliances with Titania and Oberon. I was told practically in every chapter that Jack was turning on SOMEONE, but I had no idea how and sometimes didn't even know why. Eventually I felt that the crux of the drama was holding on to nothing, which was unfortunately icy and while I got and thoroughly loved the scene-to-scene tension, I wasn't too stressed about the outcome.

To come back around...from what I understood of the motivations and situation, they were very creative and fascinating. Jack's identity was not at all what I expected and I loved it all the more for it. The book used its set-pieces to make some really awesome, stunning scenes with straight-up Hollywood effects with words alone. I wasn't ever bored even if emotionally, I faded away rather than became more invested as it went on.

So in summary - while it didn't set a convincing or charming enough foundation for its cast before trying to yank at my heart, it was a solid adventure with an incredibly lush world that I was continuously excited to keep exploring. show less

I got halfway through and I just could not make myself finish this, so I skimmed the rest. Years ago, Jenny's brother (a gifted musician) disappeared into the woods. Jenny has lived in fear of the woods ever since, but at last is determined to conquer her fears and steps foot in them once more. No sooner does she do so than she is swept up into the inexplicable world of the Fey. Her only guide is Jack, but he disappears at night because he turns into the Greenman, uuuuugh so obvious and so show more Jenny does not know if she can trust him. Meanwhile, Jack is torn between his sworn oath to Oberon and his hope that Titania will give back his heart. Lots of magical stuff happens in the wood and inevitably Jenny will turn into the May Queen and free her brother Tom from being the next Tam Lin (again, SO OBVIOUS) and free Jack. I did like the clever way this happens, actually--in the final confrontation Titania turns Jack into his tree form in order to make Jenny let go of him, as in the classic Tam Lin ballad. She does not let go, even though his briars prick her, making her bleed. And then Puck calls upon the forest fae to declare their loyalty--and they do, to the Oak (aka the tree Jack has turned into) and to the queen who has spilled blood upon him. So Titania's own actions lead to her defeat, which I thought was quite nicely done.

Overall, I just wasn't impressed by this. There's enough power and weight and history in the sidhe tales this draws on that Jenny and Jack's romance felt small and unimportant compared to it. And unfortunately, Long's writing is just not up to the epic task this story sets for her. I'd rather reread Pamela Dean, Susan Cooper, or Jane Yolen, who've done far more interesting and intense work with these tales. show less

A fairy tale, vividly told and painfully sweet.

The Treachery of Beautiful Things took a few chapters to suck me in but once it did I was hooked. I attribute this to the very descriptive writing style. While it paints the scene so well, I personally have a bad habit of getting inpatient sand wanting to skim ahead to juicer parts. So depending on the readers tastes that definitely could work for or against the story.

Jenny is a young girl about to start college, but she returns to a forested show more area in her home town where she witnessed her brother get abducted by the trees and a Greenman seven years earlier. After years of ridicule from claiming the trees kidnapped her brother and lots of therapy she has come back to say goodbye and let go of her brother Tom.

Tom had been a young musical prodigy. The night he was taken he was playing his flute for her as they walked home through the woods. She hears this same melody being played today in the woods and dashes off into the trees swearing to herself it must be him.

So her adventure begins when she finds herself in the Realm of the fae and meets Jack o’ the Forest and Puck!
Honestly, I didn’t expect the story that I got. I was pleasantly surprised when the points of view went back and forth from Jenny and Jack. I love reading from different view points. I felt Jack was brought to life wonderfully, fighting an impossible internal battle, he was a perfect tragic character, that I couldn’t help loving. Now, Jenny could have used a bit more fleshing out in the character development and progression department but ultimately both characters captured my concern and interest.

My favorite part about The Treachery of Beautiful Things was that it ended up being a love story but completely without being a romance! I adore how the author was able to pull that off. I can’t stand overly sappy YA romance, with instant love, and oodles of teenage hormonal angst. This had none of that for me. The relationship was built and slowly strengthened the entire book, until it was something you could really believe meant something to both of them.

It was action, adventure, heartache, discovery, mystery, dark fairytale, and love story all rolled into one nice quick read! show less