Aimee

I really wanted to like this one. The premise on the book jacket really grabbed me and went in with some high expectations. I was a little disappointed at first, and then found myself not feeling anything as I read. No sympathy for Phoebe, the fairies, Mallory.

Even though I didn't particularly care for this book, I still liked the premise. I just wish it had been written a little better. I was hoping that Phoebe would have been stronger, like everyone had been saying she was. There were two big things I didn't really like. One was Ryland. The character was fine, but I was hoping he would have to actually work to seduce Phoebe instead of having this huge instantaneous obsession that Phoebe fell under. What I wanted to see, since she was strong and extraordinary like her ancestors, that she would have resisted the fairy glamor. At least to a degree.

The second thing I didn't like, the ending felt too anticlimactic. I was waiting for a final battle or some big event after the build up of the novel. Instead, it felt like such a let down. The last sacrifice of the book, I found myself rolling my eyes at my book. It felt too simple for such a huge deal that the plot was leading towards.

Now let me list the things I did like. I liked how at the beginning of the chapters, we have the "Conversations with the Faerie Queen". We don't get enough information to spoil the novel, but we do get enough to get an idea of what kind of trouble that Phoebe and her family are in.

I liked the fairy land/world. I was really interested in this aspect of the novel. It was what kept me reading instead of putting down the book and seeing if the bookstore would let me have my money back for it instead. But the fairy world wasn't enough to make this book anywhere close to the title, Extraordinary. It fell short for me.