Wondrous Strange

Kelley is your average seventeen year old. Well, with the exception that she graduated high school early, dropped out of her theater program, and moved to NYC to try to make it as an actress...at the age of seventeen. Oh, did I mention that she's not quite human? No? Well, I suppose I should have.

In Wondrous Strange, Kelley has just been promoted from backstage-lackey/understudy to the lead role of Queen Titania when the lead breaks her ankle. In a moment, Kelley's world changes...little does she know it's about to get stranger. Practicing her lines in Central Park one evening, she is approached by a handsome stranger, who gives her a beautiful flower and then vanishes before she can even say thank you. Meet Sonny Flannery, a changeling show more who is part of the Unseelie Court's Janus Guard, a group of thirteen slated to protect the mortal realm from faeries attempting to escape into their world. Sonny knows that something is different about Kelley...something he can't quite figure out. When Kelley attempts to rescue a drowning horse in Central Park and then is stunned to find it in her bathtub at home...well...I bet you can imagine that things only get crazier from there.

I really enjoyed Livingston's writing. She introduced a compelling story and beautifully wove in elements of Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream. It was really beautiful. This was such a compelling book--the kind the pulls you in and then knocks you out of your reverie only when you've finished. Reading the last page was like being pulled out of another world. Kelley is a strong female lead. I enjoyed her a bit more than many of the other slightly clueless females who have dominated YA fantasy lately. While she may have accepted the truth of her heritage a bit more easily than one would expect, I felt like she was willing to take the reigns of her own destiny and work with it. The romantic story between Kelley and Sonny is beautiful (quick to develop but beautifully real regardless), but I can't wait to read the other books in the story to watch it develop (hopefully!). show less

When I received this to review, I thought, ah yes, yet another teenage girl finds out she is a faerie princess and must come to terms with this other life in addition to defeating someone who Knows The Truth and is Out To Get Her. With all the teenage girls discovering their hidden faerie roots, it's a surprise that there are any normal girls left. (They're all off becoming vampires, probably.) Even more of a surprise, I ended up really liking this book. Kelley is attempting to make her stage career and gets a lucky break playing Titania in a small production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Meanwhile, in Central Park, human changelings guard the only gate between our world (Manhattan, of course) and Faerie to make sure no dangerous show more creatures get through. These two come together when Kelley and Sonny, one of the changelings, have a quasi-romantic introduction by the lake; after he leaves, Kelley sees what she thinks is a horse drowning in the lake and rescues it. Then it somehow appears at her balcony and decides to live in her bathtub (turns out it's a kelpie), and all hell breaks loose. Turns out Kelley is the daughter of Auberon, kidnapped as a baby, and when he shows up it turns out that Auberon isn't very nice. There's also a side-plot involving the Wild Hunt. Kelley is feisty and deals with all this craziness with aplomb, and her romance with Sonny comes about nicely. There are a lot of plot twists that strain credibility, but overall, this one is a winner in the faerie princess subgenre. show less

Normally I shy away from books about faeries. They’re the least favorite of the paranormal beings that I like to read about. I’m not sure why but I’m just not interested in them. Yet when I finished Wondrous Strange, suddenly my interest in faeries has skyrocketed all because of this single book.

What can I say, except that I absolutely LOVED this book. Everything about it was so fantastic! I loved the characters, the whole story, and the references to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It might help if the reader is familiar with the play in the first place, but a simple read through in wikipedia might help to those not wanting to read any Shakespeare.

I’d have to say Kelley is a wonderful character to read. She might seem meek and show more mild in the beginning but when Sonny comes around to annoy her Kelley gets all riled up and shows her angry side. It was absolutely fun to read, she does have a certain spark and some chemistry between herself and Sonny. I like them both as characters. I also liked Auberon. Yes, he wasn’t the most nicest person and was a backstabbing bastage, but there was an aura of suave and calm collected coolness that just emanated from him whenever he came around. You just couldn’t help but feel some sort of attraction to him despite his aloof behavior. One can also not forget Lucky, even though it was a horse, it was still a wonderful silent sidekick. Bob was also unforgettable, who even though he was mischievous, he was an excellent supporting character too.

The story is also a great read, I liked the idea of Sonny and his gang being tasked with protecting the gate so the Otherworld faeries don’t come in to create mischief or run amok. When things do run amok, the descriptions of what was happening, of bad trickster faeries creating chaos all over the city was just an eye opening read. I just had to keep going I could not stop reading unless I absolutely had to. There were plenty of twists and turns throughout the novel and it provides for much of the excitement. Overall it provided some real interesting and fun reading.

I am definitely grabbing the second book of this series! I can’t want to see what happens! there’s so much Kelley has to look forward to (and has a lot to learn!) I’m so glad I picked this book up. I give it full credit for getting me back into the world of faeries and fully enjoying it. I definitely recommend this to other YA readers and those that love anything to do with faeries and A Midsummer Night’s Dream! show less

Reviewed by The Story Siren for TeensReadToo.com

I loved it, I LOVED it. I love it so much I want to marry it. If you are a fan of faerie books, you'll want to read this one. If you've tried faerie books before, but didn't like them, you'll want to read this. If you aren't a fan of faerie books, you'll still want to read it. It's that good.

Incredible characters, incredible writing, incredible plot. It was really just so fantastic, it's hard to find the words to describe it. I never in a million years would have guessed this was a debut novel. The key to my heart is great characters and storyline, and this book had it all and then some. Even the minor characters stood out to me, and they were fascinating. Like Chloe - she is a siren, has show more a very minor role, and yet she is very memorable. As well as a few other characters..... but I don't want to give all the goods away.

Completely original plot! I figured a few things out, but other things I was oblivious to until they were revealed. I've read other faerie books about the faerie "royalty" - if you've read Melissa Marr you know what I'm talking about here. Not that I'd even compare this book to Marr's because they are at totally two different ends of the spectrum. And I don't mean that in the quality of writing, because they are both fabulous writers. Did I just write fabulous...don't you just love the plethora of "f" adj.!? Do you think I'm subconsciously doing it because of the whole faerie thing... freaking fantastic fascinating fabulous faeries! I promise I did NOT do that on purpose!

Great writers write what they know.... what movie is that from? Never Been Kissed! I think that statement definitely has some truth to it. Kelley is an actress (a struggling actress to be more specific). The theater scenes within the novel were marvelous (notice no `f' here!) so I wasn't surprised to learn that the lovely Lesley Livingston herself is at home on the stage. I wonder if she knows any faeries personally?

I think the thing I loved most about WONDROUS STRANGE was Kelley. She is an exceptional female protagonist. I was instantly drawn to her character. She's honest, she imperfect, and she doesn't pull the Bella card. When a cute guy tells her that faeries are real, she reacts like a normal person and laughs in his face. LOVED IT.

And I must mention Sonny. Ah... Sonny.. Mom, can I have one? Yeah, that's really all I'm going to say about him, because if I tell you, they you're going to want him, too, and you can't have him because he's mine. No really, I'm not going to tell you how incredibly cute he is, and how he kicks major faerie butt, because he's all about protecting the mortal world from the mean faeries.. And yet, he can still rescue the damsel in distress even if she is mean to him and laughs in his face.

I simply cannot say enough good things about this novel. I highly recommend you grab a copy of this book. It would make an awesome Christmas present! And I'm even more thrilled to mention that this novel is the beginning of a trilogy! show less

I think I’ve wrote and then rewrote this review about a hundred times now! And I know it’s going to come across one way, and that’s just how it’s going to have to be, because I simply cannot write it any other way. So here is goes... fangirly-ness and all. I hope you last through it.I loved it, I LOVED it. I love it so much I want to marry it. If you are a fan of faerie books, you’ll want to read this one. If you’ve tried faerie books before, but didn’t like them, you’ll want to read this. If you aren’t a fan of faerie books, you’ll still want to read it. It’s that good. Incredible characters, incredible writing, incredible plot. It was really just so fricking fantastic, it’s hard to find the words to describe show more it. I never in a million years would have guessed this was a debut novel. The key to my heart is great characters and story line, and this book had it all and then some. Even the minor characters stood out to me, and they were fascinating. Like Chloe, she is a siren, a very minor role and yet she is very memorable. As well as a few other characters..... but I don’t want to give all the goods away. Completely original plot! I figured a few things out, but other things I was oblivious to, until they were revealed. I’ve read other faerie books about the faerie “royalty” if you’ve read Melissa Marr you know what I’m talking about here. Not that I’d even compare this book to Marr’s because they are at totally two different ends of the spectrum. And I don’t mean that in the quality of writing, because they are both fabulous writers. Did I just write fabulous... don’t you just love the plethora of “f” adj.!? Do you think I’m subconsciously doing it because of the whole faerie thing... freaking fantastic fascinating fabulous faeries! I promise I did NOT do that on purpose!Great writers write what they know.... what movie is that from? Never Been Kissed! I think that statement definitely has some truth to it. Kelley is an actress. (a struggling actress to be more specific) The theater scenes within the novel were marvelous (notice no ‘f’ here!) so I wasn’t surprised to learn that the lovely Lesley Livingston herself is at home on the stage. I wonder if she knows any faeries personally?I think the thing I loved most about this novel was Kelley. She is an exceptional female protagonist. I was instantly drawn to her character. She’s honest, she imperfect, and she doesn’t pull the Bella card. When a cute guy tells her that faeries are real. She reacts like a normal person and laughs in his face. LOVED IT.And I must mention Sonny. Ah... Sonny.. Mom can I have one? Yeah that’s really all I’m going to say about him, because if I tell you, they you’re going to want him too, and you can’t have him because he’s mine. No really, I’m not going to tell you how incredibly cute he is, and how he kicks major faerie ass, because he’s all protecting the mortal world from the mean faeries.. And yet, he can still rescue the damsel in distress even if she is mean to hin and laughs in his face. I simply cannot say enough good things about this novel. I highly recommend you grab a copy of this book. It would make an awesome Christmas present! And I’m even more thrilled to mention that this novel is the beginning of a trilogy! show less

Wondrous Strange starts out...oddly. Like a nightmare. Well technically speaking it starts out like a play's script, but the actual start of the novel begins like a nightmare. All I really saw was 'THE WILD HUNT' and suddenly I was so interested. I love The Wild Hunt--the mythology, stories based around, whatever have you. So for me that was an insta-bonus point.

I've heard remarks that this is very similar to Tithe, which I have not read. I'm not sure why...just haven't. Which might be for the best. I wanted to enjoy this book on its own merits after all.

And I did enjoy it--I enjoyed Kelley's sparking anger, Sonny's oddly innocent bravery, Maddox's protectiveness, Puck's malicious playfulness and the casual cruelty that only those with show more lots of power over someone can inflict so easily.

Sure some of the twists were predictable, but that's not a bad thing since its fun watching the characters all sort of go 'How did THAT happen?'. And this really is a sort of 'Who's Who' of Celtic mythology. You name it and it does appear. Which was fun for me because I got to flex my way out of use Celtic lore skills.

The pace is set pretty quick, with the timeline being roughly nine days long and once things are set into motion they don't stop. Character development is sparse for the most part, with only the major revelations spurring any true growth. It would be kind of hard not to grow as a person honestly after some of what is said.

Truly my favorite character was Puck. Say what you will--the man knows how to have a good lark. show less

Wondrous Strange was a magical mix of fun and adventure. With every faerie story I’ve read, it’s either been strictly intense or dolled up, but I love that Lesley Livingston found a happy medium.

Kelley is probably one of my favorite literary characters of all time. She’s snarky, sarcastic and strong, and she doesn’t let the sudden intrusion of powerful faeries into her life get her down. Her stubborn but highly entertaining attitude stayed in check throughout the entire novel, and I loved every minute of it. Her interaction and budding romance with Sonny, a human who guards the faerie Samhain Gate, was hilarious and refreshing - a definite role reversal to the usual “guy is laid back, girl is serious and determined” show more cliché.

I love that I felt so educated afterwards! Prior to reading this book, besides seeing an episode of Suite Life Of Zack And Cody, I knew absolutely nothing about A Midsummer’s Night Dream. I learned enough about the play to actually interest me in finding out more about it. And despite my lack of knowledge on the play, it was adapted wonderfully into the rest of the story, making Kelley’s self-discoveries and adventures a bit more relatable and a lot more ironic.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wondrous Strange. I’m a not huge fan of faerie books, but when they’re informative yet enthralling such as this one, I can’t help but be drawn in! Mixing magic, romance, some intense action scenes and a lovable kelpie that lives in Kelley’s bathtub, it’s a fun thrill-ride. I definitely recommend! show less