Books for Lolitas: Wicked Lovely

I loved fairy tales as a child, and still love them today. As much as I dreamed about being a Disney Princess when I grew up, however, the books that fascinated me were quite a bit darker. I won't say I didn't love to strap hot pink wings on my back and run around throwing glitter at my brother, but I had at least a basic knowledge that some fairies weren't friendly and wouldn't be at all fun to meet. So even though it's nothing at all like the fairy tale stories I've reviewed so far, I feel it's only right to include one of my favorite books (series, really) in with all the others.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

This story is about faeries, but it centers around a human girl that has the ability to see them and the cursed king of the Summer Court that tries to woo her. But it's far from the typical girl/supernatural boy love story. Aislinn wants nothing to do with him or the magical creatures he rules. Because these things are flipping dangerous. Far more dangerous than vampires covered in my little pony flocking. (Don't hate, you can't deny what those special effects looked like.) Aislinn only wants them all to disappear so she can spend time with the human boy she really wants. Unfortunately for her, the curse the Summer King is under makes what she wants impossible and she has to figure out a way to make a new path for herself, one that isn't either of the choices he offers her.

This. Book. Is. Amazing.

I'm tempted to stop there, because I really could go on and on for days about the series. The description I wrote above doesn't even go into the relationship between the Summer King and the Winter Girl, or the Dark Court characters that play much bigger roles in the second book (which I love even more, despite the fact that it's ten times darker than I'll normally read) or the awesomeness that is the human boy or how the Winter Queen could beat out any Disney Villain or any of the other millions of reasons why this is a book absolutely everyone should read. Yes, it does get dark, things are creepy and there are no happy princesses in the story anywhere. But even so, it's a story about choices and finding the best ones when you aren't really sure what they might be - things that anyone and everyone should be familiar with. And, you know. Awesome deadly faeries.

The first book is one I would recommend to all readers. The second is better, but does deal with some very heavy topics and is more for a more mentally mature audience, though it is still a teen marketed book. Others in the series fall within the range of the first two, but unlike those don't really make sense as stand alone stories. (And the newest only just came out. Hello book store!)