Review: Wicked Lovely (Audiobook)

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries. Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens. Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries. Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer. Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention. But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires. Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything. Faerie intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning 21 st century faery tale.

My Rating:
My Review:
The ability to see faeries stands between Aislinn and a normal life. Aislinn finds herself constantly on guard lest she give herself away to the faeries. She fears the consequences of them discovering her talent. Things get complicated, however, when the King of the Summer Faeries, Keenan, openly pursues her. He doesn't know that she can tell who he really is. Keenan has been looking for centuries for his summer queen. Only finding her can end the horrible curse put on him by his mother, which prevents him from his true power. Keenan believes that he has found his queen is Aislinn but if he's wrong, she'll pay a horrible price just like Donia, his previous choice for summer queen.
On the story... I've seen mixed reviews on this book and I completely understand why. It simply doesn't follow any of the norms and trends within YA which leads to some surprising twists and turns. If you like the signature YA elements, you might not find this one a go. Like love triangles? Nope, you won't find that here. I don't want to ruin it for anyone because I found the deviations from expectations to be one of the draws to this book. I found myself intrigued once a realized the true conflict and couldn't really imagine how things would work out.
The second half of the book was definitely more interesting than the first half. I especially loved the last few chapters. I just couldn't stop listening. Aislinn had a little too much internal dialog for my tastes, but that may just be a YA thing. I really enjoyed Aislinn's reaction to Keenan (I can't tell you...), it was really refreshing. This is one you'll likely have to read for yourself to see if it is a fit. I previously read Ms. Marr's Graveminder and loved it! This one seems completely different in style from her other works.
On the narrator... I enjoyed Ms. Bresnahn quite a bit, though her voice made the characters seem much older than they were. I could easily tell the different characters even though there were many different point of views for this one.
Overall... I enjoyed the story because it managed to get me excited about the rest of the series. This is a good read if you are tired of the formulaic story lines that can be found in most YA. Everything happens at the end, but it is worth getting. I would finish this series on audio.