Review - Tempestuous (Wondrous Strange, Book 3) by Lesley Livingston (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Size: 368 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: December 21, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0061740060
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd and final book in Wondrous Strange Trilogy
Source: Borrowed from library
Rating: 3/5 stars

This was the third, and final, book in the Wondrous Strange series.  I am going to be honest and said that this hasn't been my favorite series, I always really think I am going to like the books and then I read them and feel like, eh whatever.  I ended up feeling similar with this book.  It tied everything up nicely but I had a lot of trouble engaging with the characters and the story and felt strangely ambivalent to it all.

This book picks up where the second one left off.  The theater has burned down and Kelley has chased Sonny away by telling him she doesn't love him or want him around.  Kelley wants to keep the fact that Sonny is carrying around Green magic a secret, even from him.  But someone is taking out the Lost Ones and seems to have it out for the Hunter and Kelley needs to figure out who.  She also has to deal with the loss of the theater and the new play the group is trying to put on despite the loss of their venue.  Meanwhile Sonny seeks sanctuary with some of the Lost Ones and learns some disturbing secrets.

The book moves at a good clip and has some good twists and turns.  Sonny and Kelley are on again, off again as in previous books.  All of the different pieces of the story are nicely tied up.  So overall the book was technically fine.

I always think I love this series and then when I read the next book in it, I am always a bit disappointed.  I don't really like any of the characters, I have trouble finding them engaging or interesting.  I always feel like the chemistry between Sonny and Kelley just isn't there.  The writing style is a bit too simplistic to me and I never feel like I am really able to picture the surroundings or really feel drawn into the story.  The author tries to tie in Kelley's acting with all of her faerie involvement, and she kind of does in the beginning...but then the theater stuff is dropped as the faerie action ramps up.

Overall I think if you liked the previous books in the series then you will really love this book.  I wasn't a huge fan of the previous books and this book was similar; it finishes the story well enough but I had some trouble staying engaged in it and really caring about what the characters did.  In the future I probably won't pick up any more series by Livingston there is just something about her writing style that doesn't click with me.  I have a similar problem with Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series.  I personally would recommend Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series over this one if you are interested in a YA series featuring faeries.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 100+ Reading Challenge

 

Darklight (Wondrous Strange, Book 2) by Lesley Livingston (3/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Wondrous Strange series. There are supposed to be three books total in this series. I liked this book a bit better than the first one; but it still wasn't anything extraordinary. You definitely need to read the first book, Wondrous Strange, to follow what happens in this book.

Kelley is trying to get on with her life as an actress in New York. Sonny is off in fairyland eliminating the Hunt one by one. They miss each other horribly. Kelley feels a need to take a walk through Central Park and is mugged by a man there. Ends up the man is a Leprechaun and he is after Kelley with a vengeance. In an attempt to save herself and Fennrys (one of the Janus guard) from a brutal attack, Kelley pulls them into fairyland. Once in Fairyland she faces a hoard of fairy politics and other fairy problems; one of which is Sonny himself.

There were some good things about this book. You get to learn more about the fairy world and meet a few more crazy fairy creatures. There is a lot of action and also a lot of romance between Kelley and Sonny. The story holds a couple interesting surprises for the readers and is relatively well put together. It is a quick read and an easy read.

There were also a lot of things that bothered me about the story. Sonny is kind of a jerk to Kelley, and she is kind of a jerk back. Still they are forever in love, and I still haven't figured out why. The strongest character in this book was Fennrys, then halfway through the story he disappears, only to reappear at the end. Most of the side characters are a far sight more interesting than Kelley and Sonny, and it is kind of a bummer that the story focuses on them. There are a lot of fight scenes but, as in the first book, they are missing something. None of the fight scenes seem to have the sense of urgency or action to them that you would expect. In general the story itself doesn't have much urgency. In fact I was hard-pressed to figure out why these evil Leprechauns were taking center stage in this story to begin with.

Overall, I got through the book and it was okay. It just left a lot to be desired in the areas of characterization, plot development, and action scenes. I was hoping this series would get better after the first book, but it hasn't. So, I guess, if you liked the first book a lot then you will like this one because they are similar in style. I will probably read the last book in the trilogy for some closure, but after that I don't think I will be picking up anymore of Livingston's books. If you are interested in book with a similar subject but stellar character development I would check out Holly Black's Modern Fairy Tale.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston (3/5 stars)

This was the first book in the Wondrous Strange series by Lesley Livingston. The second book "Darklight" is supposed to be released December of 2009. Supposedly there are going to be three books in this series.

Kelley has moved to New York city to pursue her acting dreams. She is employeed as an understudy in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and when the actress playing Queen Titania breaks her ankle; Kelley is suddenly thrust into a lead role. This is just what she had always dreamed of. Then one night she goes to Central Park to practice her lines and stumbles into a young man named Sonny. He is mysterious and appears near her a number of times after that. That same fateful night she rescues a horse from a pond, the horse follows her home and proceeds to live in her bathtub. What she doesn't know right away is that the horse is a kelpie and Sonny is a part of the Unseelie King's elite guard, the Janus. From here on out things get stranger and stranger; she needs to figure out how Sonny is involved and how she herself is involved before she is hunted down.

I will state right out that I am getting a bit burned out on these "girl is a part of fairy but doesn't know she is" books. I thought everything about this book was okay, but none of it blew me away. I didn't really like any of the characters that much, the plot was pretty predictable, and the book was only kind of engaging. It was a quick read, and I liked it okay. I just think I have read too many of these types of books lately and this one really didn't stand out from any of the others.

Sonny fits the stereotype of a conflicted assassin-type perfectly; down to his unexplainable love of Kelley. Things happen much as you would expect them to happen. There were more action scenes than I expected, and they were done okay but they lacked energy and didn't really pull me into the fight. When I finished this book, I was kind of like, "Oh, well that's done. What should I read next?" It didn't really make a lasting impression on me.

I recently read "Lament" by Maggie Stiefvater and I actually liked that book better than this one. Although this book had a lot more well-developed fairy world and you meet a broader variety of fairy folk than you do in "Lament". I liked the writing style of "Lament" better. The writing style of this book was very straight-forward and easy. Which is okay, it made it a fast read. I would compare the level of this writing to Melissa Marr's "Wicked Lovely" series. Although I did enjoy the characters in this book more than the characters in "Wicked Lovely".

You could also compare this book to Aprilynne Pike's "Wings"; which I liked better than this book because I thought Pike dealt with fairies in a more interesting way. You could also compare this book to Holly Black's "Modern Fairy Tale" series; but I absolutely think that Holly Black's series blows all of the aforementioned ones out of the water.

So in summary, if you liked "Wicked Lovely", "Wings", "Lament", or "Tithe" I think you will probably like this book too. I would recommend "Wings", "Lament" and "A Modern Fairy Tale" over this book. I think it is similar to the "Wicked Lovely" series in writing quality. Will I read the next one in the series? Probably. I really love books about the fairy realms and there aren't a ton of them out there. So, yeah I will pick up "Darklight", but I will probably get it from the library.