Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Review: The Faerie Ring - Kiki Hamilton

The Faerie Ring
by Kiki Hamilton
Young Adult
Read From: June 16, 2012 - June 17, 2012













Review
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Cover Blurb: Love the title’s font, love the colors, love the glowing ring. But I do wish you could see the girl in the background just a little bit better, because that’s the only indication - visually - that this takes place in a historical setting.

What I Liked: Rieker; I liked him. He could have come across as creepy, but he didn’t. I felt that he genuinely cared about Tiki and the other orphans. I loved the time period, of course, and I liked the sense of peril and mystery.


What I Disliked: Tiki’s name. Why, in the name of reason, could the Author not just call her by her full name: Tara? It’s the same amount of syllables, and not annoying. Tiki is annoying. I barely made it through this book simply because of the protagonist’s name, and that’s not good. Out of all the nicknames the Author could have chosen, she chose Tiki . . . I want to read the book’s sequel, but I’m not sure I can do Tiki’s name for a while. I also got tired of Tiki jumping to all of these conclusions about Rieker - and then acting irrationally upon them. She doesn’t even once consider that maybe the villains are manipulating her; she just jumps up and does something stupid. The romantic relationship between her and Rieker felt rushed, especially since Tiki was so hell-bent on not trusting him. Tiki can also magically read Gaelic, though the book gives no indication of where she learned to read it, and if it’s meant to be a strange ability she has, the book doesn’t indicate that it is a strange ability. She can just do it.


Believability: First off, the break-in into Buckingham Palace. It seemed far-fetched, and the Author didn’t once convince me that just maybe it could happen. Tiki attending the ball was a bit more believable because it’s indicated that Tiki has had a somewhat aristocratic upbringing. Many of the characters also ignored social conduct - the princes especially, and they would be the least likely to ignore social protocol, and other people definitely wouldn’t ignore social protocol around them. Tiki wouldn’t be calling Prince Leopold “Leo.” I don’t care if the Prince told her to; it wouldn’t happen. Other than those aspects, the Author’s depiction of street life was realistic.


Writing Style: It wasn’t the greatest. The dialogue was not authentic, and the whole tone clearly shouted “modern author.” Nothing particularly bad stands out; there was just nothing terribly remarkable about the writing.


Content: Other than a demented faerie boy chasing after Tiki, and wanting to use her, nothing. The Author doesn’t even say in what manner the faerie wants to use Tiki, though the Reader can come to conclusions well on their own.


Conclusion: The end is exciting enough, and the Author leaves enough questions hanging to have plenty of material for the sequel. I got tired of Tiki jumping to so many conclusions about Rieker, which dragged the ending out far longer than was necessary, and overall there was just something unsatisfying about the whole story. I’m not entirely certain what it is, but I got a sense of slight disappointment when I finished.


Recommended Audience: Historical-fantasy fans and romance fans. It’s definitely a girl read, and young teens could definitely read it.


Others in This Series:
1)The Faerie Ring
2)The Torn Wing
3)The Seven Year King

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