Book Review of "Wondrous Strange" by Lesley Livingston

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Title: Wondrous Strange (Wondrous Strange #1)
Author: Lesley Livingston
Classification: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Source: Public Library

Overall Grade: 

B - / C +

Would I read it again? 

No.

Would I recommend it to others? 

Maybe. 

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Summary:

17 year-old Kelley Winslow doesn’t believe in Faeries. Not unless they’re the kind that you find in a theatre, spouting Shakespeare—the kind that Kelley so desperately wishes she could be: onstage, under lights, with a pair of sparkly wings strapped to her shoulders. But as the understudy in a two-bit, hopelessly off-off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, wishing is probably the closest she’s going to get to becoming a Faerie Queen. At least, that’s what she thinks... In this fun, urban fantasy, Kelley's off-stage life suddenly becomes as complicated as one of Shakespeare’s plot twists when a nighttime trip to Central Park holds more than meets the mortal eye.

(Summary from Goodreads page). 

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My Thoughts:

Wondrous Strange is the second book about faeries that I've read in the last month. (I read Wings by Aprilynn Pike too... here's the book review).  I have to admit that this book pulled me in right from the beginning.  I loved the fusion of Kelley's theatre-life and her independent nature combined with the story of Sonny as a Janus warrior, a guard of the gateway between the land of Faerie and the mortal realm, fittingly located in NYC's Central Park.

Another unique trait about Wondrous Strange that I enjoyed very much was the inclusion of lines, quotes and characters from Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream.  I felt that Livingston did very well to draw on the Bard's talents without relying too heavily on it: it was the perfect mix of borrowed and new.

I also really like Sonny's character.  He seemed more normal than other male love interests in recent YA lit that I've read.  For example, he caught himself thinking about Kelley during inappropriate times and he frets over what to wear one day, wanting to pick out something that she will like on him.  This was extremely cute and endearing and I greatly enjoyed seeing his character develop in the novel.

However, there are several problems I had with the book.  Firstly, the cast of characters, especially in reference to Sonny's other Janus teammates, grew too long, too fast.  I started to try and memorize all the characters' names and standout personality traits as Livingston described, thinking they would be important later on in the book.  But these minor characters were only mentioned once more and I had already forgotten all about them by that time.

Secondly, I'm a big fan of nicknames in love stories.  Like Dimitri's "Roza" in the Vampire Academy series, Puck's "princess" in The Iron King, and more. I think it's nice if done right and generally helps the reader figure out the character who does the name-calling.

Having said that, I had a big problem with Sonny's nickname for Kelley: "firecracker." Yes, the nickname fit in the beginning of the book when he mostly used it in his head and was referring to the odd aura surrounded the redhead heroine (nice tie-in, huh?).  But when things between these two got more intimate, I found myself cringing as Sonny cups Kelley's face in his hands (HOLY CRAP, can we please get another romantic gesture in the mix once in awhile?!) and whispers passionately, "My firecracker." It was trite and stupid and... strangely enough, embarrassing as a reader to find a perfectly good love scene smashed to smithereens by poor verbiage.

Going along with this same feeling, I also found myself wondering how, all-of-the-sudden, Sonny and Kelley were in love.  It's not that I didn't see it coming, and it's not that I'm against instant love situations when it's done well.  It just seemed a bit predictable and unexciting to be worth my suspended belief that these two could really and truly be in love after the time they've spent together.

All in all, the story and the characters had potential, the setting was exciting and innovative, and Livingston's writing was well-executed... for the most part.  If you can look past my list of grievances mentioned above to get to the real heart of the story, I'm sure you'll enjoy this book.  I'm just not sure it's really worth it with the landslide of faery novels that are out today.
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Overall Grade: 

B - / C +

Would I read it again? 

No.

Would I recommend it to others? 

Maybe.

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