Lesley D. Livingston

Kelly is a 17 year old understudy given her big break when the woman playing Titania in an-off broadway production of a Midsummer Night’s Dream is injured. The world of Faerie becomes all too real for her soon after she saves a drowning horse in Central Park and captures the attention of Sonny Flannery, a human changeling guarding the gates between Faerie and Earth.

The combination of magical elements from Celtic lore, the excitement of the theatre and the feisty cast of characters show more ensnared my attention from the start, and left me gasping for a sequel at the end. I liked how the story switched from Kelly’s point of view to Sonny’s and the surprises that unfolded at the end. I did not see those coming. The supporting characters all had their distinct personalities and were memorable. Thinking about the horse in the bathtub chomping on lucky charms still makes me smile! I LOVED this book show less

I’ll have to look out for the next book in this series. It’s been a while since I read a decent fantasy dealing with the fae. I read through this one so quickly and it was so addictively entertaining. I wasn’t fond of the ending but only because it left me wanting more, as so many of the books in a series do. I can’t wait to see the rest of Kelley’s story.

Review posted here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/10/book-review-tempestuous-wondrous.htm...

Tempestuous is the final book in the Wondrous Strange trilogy. And boy did Livingston leave this series with a punch. After the devastation of losing the theatre because Sonny lost it when he thought she was dead, Kelley is distraught over what she had to do; break Sonny’s heart. Kelley is slowly growing into her power and trying to find out who wants Sonny’s. But things go downhill show more when someone is out killing the Lost Fae, Fae who fit in either the Otherworld or the mortal world. And worse, it could be Janus Guards who are getting the order and killing the innocent Fae. Not to mention the order could be coming from whoever poisoned and is trying to kill Kelley’s father, Auberon.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved that Livingston actually separated Kelley and Sonny for a bit. That way, they learned more about themselves before they could save one another. Kelley gets into her power more and seems to have grown more. And despite her beliefs, Sonny doesn’t go off the deep end. I liked that Sonny grew to like the Lost Fae. He was taught to hate them as well, but found out they were only defending themselves against him and the other guards. But besides our great main characters, the side characters were incredible. We got some new ones that we find have a connection to some of the Janus Guards. We also get more of our favorites; Bob, Tyff, and my favorite character, Fennyrs. I am praying that Livingston makes another series for him. He played a big role in this book and we find he isn’t the heartless smartass we have come to love, that he actually has feelings for Kelley too.

Livingston did such an amazing job incorporating Shakespeare in this book. All the questions we had from the first book were answered and still left me wanting more. The plot was great and this book was complete, but each character needs a story. Like I said, I hope Livingston doesn’t leave this world, there is still so much more to know. Sonny’s and Kelley’s story ended great, but what Livingston has created is complex enough to keep going for a while.

Also need to mention the ending in general. In a word; EPIC! We got everything we wanted and more. The twists and turns were incredible and two specifically had my mouth dropping to the floor. Again, Livingston’s writing is soooo complex. Instead of creating our main characters and a few side characters that you might not remember, the whole world she has made is so rich and memorable. You fall in love with all these characters and I can assure you that if you love Fenn, you will love him even more in the end.

Overall, this book tied up well. Everyone has grown in such a short period of time. We learn much about our great characters and we find new ones that are worth loving. This is such a great ending to a great trilogy. I can’t rave enough about the characters and the room for growth they all possess. If you are looking for a great YA series, I highly recommend this to you. Thank you Livingston and please come back to this world, it begs for more. show less

Review posted here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-darklight-wondrous-stran...

It has been a half a year for out Faerie (and not so faerie) friends in New York. After suffering through the devastation of the Wild Hunt, Kelley wants her boyfriend, Sonny, back. Sonny, unfortunately, has a duty to fulfill. He is now a fighter for King Auberon, Kelley’s father. Because of a mistake made in Wondrous Strange (book 1), he can’t come back unless he kills the remaining show more Hunters of the Wild Hunt started by Kelley’s mother, Queen Mabh. So while Kelley is missing Sonny, she thinks she will have some success in seeing him in Central Park. Central Park is where the gate between the mortal world and the Fae world has cracked and things are beginning to creep through the cracks. Unfortunately for Kelley, none of them are Sonny.

I really enjoyed this book. Although I don’t think I liked it quite as much as Wondrous Strange. I love Kelley, but she had a knack for getting herself into trouble. Her going back to the park and getting attacked in the middle of the night made me want to punch her. She has the Janus Guard, but she never took them with her when she ventured into the park where she was always being hunted and that made me want to punch her sometimes. But I love that she is getting into her Fae power which helps her. Whenever we have characters just discovering who they are, they are always apprehensive about working with their powers. They are usually frightened of the fact that they aren’t human. But Kelley grew up fast and learned about her powers. I like that Livingston did that.

I loved all the characters in this. I am a huge Puck (aka Bob) fan. He oozes plenty of personality. Actually, dare I say, he reminds me a bit of Myrnin from the Morganville Vampires series. But my favorite character was Fennrys Wolf. He is not quite Sonny’s friend, but he is also a guard who grew up in a court, the Spring court. Sonny doesn’t like seeing him around Kelley, but knows he is best to look out after her while he is working for Auberon. I loved Fenn, He cracked me up and he was hot. As the story progresses though, I have the feeling Fennrys is up to something. I don’t want to give out my suspicions, but something was off when Fenn returns later in the book after a strange hiatus. I can’t wait for more of his story.

I liked the plots in the book. The one plot we really finish is the fight with the greenmen though. The others definitely have more to them, but we weren’t given much of those yet. There is a terrible secret about Sonny and what he really is. We also find out that the Greenmen aren’t the only ones they should be afraid of. Kelley’s friend and roommate Tyffanwy (aka Tyff) knows something that she took drastic steps to not tell Kelley and I have a feeling it has something to do with Tyff’s supposedly good friend, Titania, may have her own agenda. Problem is, we don’t find out what it is. There is also the issue with Kelley’s dad being sick and the fact that he may have been poisoned since the Fae don’t really get sick. But again, not much was revealed here.

This was a great book. As I said before, I mainly started this series because of the covers. Shallow, I know, but come on, they are gorgeous. Redheads always get great covers. Am I the only that noticed that or is it just me? As much as I enjoyed the book, the ending made me want to scream. It wasn’t bad or anything just made me insanely sad. The next book, Tempestuous, is the last in the series. So I am hoping all the doubts brought up in this book will be brought to light. There is obviously plenty of betrayal, but again, we will have to see where it will lead. But this book was full of magic and amazing characters, both good and bad. This book was just about raising suspicions and so I believe Tempestuous will pack a big punch considering all that was left unsaid (and said) in Darklight. show less