Wicked Lovely

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wicked Lovely is a Young Adult Urban Fantasy novel by author Melissa Marr. It was published by HarperTeen, a division of HarperCollins, in June 2007. The novel has also been released in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany (under the title of Gegen das Sommerlicht) and in Spain (under the title of "Encanto fatal"). Wicked Lovely was originally written as a short story, ("The Sleeping Girl"), before the author decided to expand on her work in order to further develop the characters.[1] She completed the novel over a period of four months, and submitted it to an agent in January, 2006. By early March of that year it had been accepted for publication.[2]

The summary from the publisher states:

“ In a world unseen by mortals, the forces of Summer and Winter are at war. Two Faery Courts have been seeking the Summer Queen for more than nine centuries--one to restore the power of Summer and the other to banish it in this gritty modern Faery tale. ”

[edit] Reception

Reviews for the novel have been very positive. Annette Klause in The Washington Post spoke highly of the work, praising the "fully realized" world and the romance,[3] while other reviewers, such as Charles de Lint, highlight both the tight plotting and the characterization.[4] Nevertheless, there is some concern with the character of the Winter Queen: Klause found her to "a little too over the top to be totally threatening",[3] while de Lint simply describes her as "a bit of a stock villain".[4] The novel is described as being aimed at the Young Adult market, and some reviews chose to emphasize this, noting that the sexual tension and the "underlying darkness" ensure that Wicked Lovely is primarily appropriate for the over 12's.[5][6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Glogowski, Taylor. "Get a read on otherworldly writings: Melissa Marr", St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-30. 
  2. ^ Marr, Melisa. Frequently Asked Questions. Melissa Marr (Official Site). Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
  3. ^ a b Klause, Annette. "The Faery Queen", The Washington Post, June 24, 2007. 
  4. ^ a b de Lint, Charles (2007). "Books to Look For". Fantasy and Science Fiction 113 (1): p. 30. 
  5. ^ Hoult, Lisa. "Kid's Books", Taranaki Daily News, February 23, 2008. 
  6. ^ Melgaard, Tricia (2007). "Wicked Lovely". School Library Journal 53 (12).