By: Kiki Hamilton
ARC Provied By Jen @ I Read Banned Books Tours
b&n // amazon
Published Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Tor Teen
Book Format: Hardback; pp 352
Age Demographic: Young Adult
Debut novelist Kiki Hamilton takes readers from the gritty slums and glittering ballrooms of Victorian London to the beguiling but menacing Otherworld of the Fey in this spellbinding tale of romance, suspense, and danger.
The year is 1871, and Tiki has been making a home for herself and her family of orphans in a deserted hideaway adjoining Charing Cross Station in central London. Their only means of survival is by picking pockets. One December night, Tiki steals a ring, and sets off a chain of events that could lead to all-out war with the Fey. For the ring belongs to Queen Victoria, and it binds the rulers of England and the realm of Faerie to peace. With the ring missing, a rebel group of faeries hopes to break the treaty with dark magic and blood—Tiki’s blood.
Unbeknownst to Tiki, she is being watched—and protected—by Rieker, a fellow thief who suspects she is involved in the disappearance of the ring. Rieker has secrets of his own, and Tiki is not all that she appears to be. Her very existence haunts Prince Leopold, the Queen’s son, who is driven to know more about the mysterious mark that encircles her wrist.
Prince, pauper, and thief—all must work together to secure the treaty.
*Summary taken from Goodreads.
The Faerie Ring is a fantasy set against the late 18oo's backdrop of Victorian London, involving a Prince, a theif, and a pauper who are basically supposed to secure a treaty. But, this treaty isn't just any kind - it's a treaty meant to keep the peace between the Fey and the Royals. When the ring is stolen, however, it becomes a different story and disasterous things such as war, could come to pass if it's not returned to Queen Victoria.
Hamilton did a magnificent job of combining some of my favorite elements into a novel consisting of fantasy lore, magical realms, dangerous adventure, historical elements, memorable characters, and romance all into one fast paced intriguing, well developed novel. I love that the historical aspects of The Faerie Ring were spot on and that it carried over into the dialouge between the character's. There were just so many exciting details about The Faerie Ring that I found to be amazing and very much captivating.
I fell in love with the magical realms and the world building that Hamilton successfully pulled off so flawlessly. Her attention to detail and historical accuracy, set the tone for The Faerie Ring early on and was able to keep me captivated with her unique turn of phrase, beautiful imagery, and clever plot twists. It's not hard to lose yourself in this spectacular novel filled with two world's colliding - one magical, while the other is completely unforgiving in its lesson's on survival.
One of them, belonged to the character's. Tiki, is such a wonderful, likeable, and very relatable character. She was strong, indepenent, a bit fiesty, and came with mystery and intrigue all her very own. She possessed such a compassionate quality about her, with regards to her self-made rag-tag little family that she'd somehow created for herself. The lengths that she went to, in order to ensure that Clara was safe and had gotten the medical attention that she so desperately needed, was endearing and pulled at my heart strings in so many ways.
I also enjoyed the fact that there was so much more to Reiker and that Tiki, in time, got to see that for herself in getting to know him throughout all the action and adventure. It was enjoyable to witness their verbal sparring and to see how protective he was of her. Their budding romance, was sweet and irresistable as well and I found myself rooting for these two consistently throughout the novel.
Vastly suspenseful and filled with dark enthralling mystery and magical peril, The Faerie Ring will keep you up all night until the last page is turned. This is easily a five star novel. The Faerie Ring is an epic adventure that you will not want to miss out on.
