Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Target Audience: Teens/Young Adults
Genre: Faerie/Paranormal Romance


I found this along with Rules of Attraction in Waterstones metrocentre and had to buy it because it's one of those books that i've meaning to read for ages but could never find a copy, so when i saw it, i grabbed it. BUT...i didn't expect to fall in love with it as much as i did, it is fantastic!


Kelley Winslow is 17-years-old and chasing a dream to become an actress in New York City. Originally an understudy for the role of Titania she finds herself promoted when the original actress hurts herself. Feeling a connection to central park, she decides to practice her lines there where she meets Sonny who, though she doesn't know it yet, is a Janus guard, a changeling who is charged with guarding the gate between faerie and the mortal realm along with 12 others. Events soon take a turn and Kelley and Sonny find themselves involved in events that could literally end in the death of thousands of people and have the diffcult task of stopping it from happening.


There were so many things about this novel that i could rave about because it was simply awesome. The plot was addictive and fast paced and i found myself turning the pages extremelly quickly in order to find out what happened next. Try as i might, i couldn't see the way the plot was going to take and i was left surprised by how things turned out, which is good, i hate it when stories are predictable. Every twist made me gasp and i loved the path the story took, especially that final cliffhanger twist that allowed for a sequel.


The characters themselves were brilliant, Sonny and Kelley were by far my favourites, and their romance was beautiful, realistic yet innocent and sparkling (loved the shakesperean refrences). Bob was awesome too, i thought his characterisation was fantastic and he provided a bit of needed humour to the plot. With regards to other characters, the other shining star was the Kelpie. Yes, it doesn't speak and he just stands still for most of the novel, but i couldn't help but fall in love with it. Such a sweet thing :-)


I've given this full marks for everything, it has a brilliant plot, wonderful characters and the romance sparkles while allowing for some heart-stopping action and a novel that simply fizzes with magic!