Lesley D. Livingston

Wondrous Strange starts out...oddly. Like a nightmare. Well technically speaking it starts out like a play's script, but the actual start of the novel begins like a nightmare. All I really saw was 'THE WILD HUNT' and suddenly I was so interested. I love The Wild Hunt--the mythology, stories based around, whatever have you. So for me that was an insta-bonus point.

I've heard remarks that this is very similar to Tithe, which I have not read. I'm not sure why...just haven't. Which might be for the best. I wanted to enjoy this book on its own merits after all.

And I did enjoy it--I enjoyed Kelley's sparking anger, Sonny's oddly innocent bravery, Maddox's protectiveness, Puck's malicious playfulness and the casual cruelty that only those with lots of power over someone can inflict so easily.

Sure some of the twists were predictable, but that's not a bad thing since its fun watching the characters all sort of go 'How did THAT happen?'. And this really is a sort of 'Who's Who' of Celtic mythology. You name it and it does appear. Which was fun for me because I got to flex my way out of use Celtic lore skills.

The pace is set pretty quick, with the timeline being roughly nine days long and once things are set into motion they don't stop. Character development is sparse for the most part, with only the major revelations spurring any true growth. It would be kind of hard not to grow as a person honestly after some of what is said.

Truly my favorite character was Puck. Say what you will--the man knows how to have a good lark.… (més)