Melyssa Malinowski (Children's Literature)
Whatever you know about fairies is shrouded in mysteries, in half truths and whispers. Aislinn knows a little more, only because she can see them. Taught her whole life to keep her head down and not attract attention, at age 17, things are not going so well. The Summer King, Keenan, has taken an interest in Aislinn and once that happens, there are few choices. You will become a fairy, but whether you become a summer girl or a winter girl remains to be seen. There is also a small chance that you can become the Summer Queen, eternally bonded to Keenan. As Aislinn comes to understand more and more about the fey courts and how they work, she learns that she is most likely the summer queen, but is she willing to give up the mortal grandmother she loves, the mortal boy she adores and any chance at normalcy she has in order to save the world? Breathtaking and heartbreaking, Wicked Lovely, is an amazing literary experience. Any fan of fantasy will love this gorgeous glimpse into the world of urban fairy tales. 2007, HarperTeen/HarperCollins, $16.99. Ages 14 up.

Cassandra Fugal (Childrens Book and Play Review, November/December 2007 (Vol. 28, No. 2))
All her life Aislinn has followed the rules: "Don't stare at invisible faeries," "Don't speak to invisible faeries," and "Don't ever attract their attention." These rules ensure that the faeries will never learn that she has the "Sight": the rare ability that allows a mortal to see the horrible but beautiful faeries that invisibly live around humans. But something went wrong and Aislinn is being followed by two faeries, the Summer King, named Keenan, and the Winter Girl. The attention of royal faeries does not bode well for Aislinn, especially as she learns that Keenan wants to make her his Summer Queen and he cannot take "no" for the answer. She is left with two choices: either become a Summer Girl (a brainless groupie) or attempt to become the Summer Queen by grasping the staff of the Winter Queen, Keenan's mother. If she fails the staff will turn her into another Winter Girl who is bound by cold; if she wins she will become the Summer Queen. No matter what she chooses, Keenan's attention will change her into one of the fey. Melissa Marr creates a fascinating faery world that is not separate from our own but invisibly intertwined. Aislinn is a strong character who uses all her resources to make an impossible situation work to her advantage. Keenan is a complex faery who is strong, passionate, and extremely vulnerable in his determination to free himself from his mother's wintry grasp. However, Aislinn's and Keenan's struggle for power and control over each other and over the Winter Queen seems to depend more upon sexual dominance than true power, at least until Aislinn turns that on its head. What ultimately gives Aislinn's character strength and power is her rejection of Keenan (despite her overwhelming sexual attraction to him) in favor of love and friendship that helped her retain her humanity despite losing her mortality. Rating: Outstanding. Reading Level: Young adult. Category: Fantasy fiction. 2007, Harper Collins, 328 p., $17.98. © 2002, Brigham Young University.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2007 (Vol. 75, No. 10))
This steamy faery story reads like a torrid girl's fantasy and will produce some swoons. Aislinn's spent her life terrified of the faeries ("fey") all around her, invisible to other humans. They smack and trip each other, leer and wound; to remain safe, she can't let them know she sees. Her only safe space is inside the funky train-car home of sexy friend Seth. Fey can't enter because steel hurts them—or does it? The old rules are changing. Two faeries stalk Aislinn, paying unprecedented and disturbing personal attention. Readers know early that Aislinn's destined to become a faerie monarch and rule as Summer Queen beside Keenan, the Summer King, whom readers may find obnoxious or dreamy. Marr's consistent labeling of the situation as a "game" doesn't match the dire possibilities: The earth will freeze if Aislinn isn't Summer Queen, but she wants to live a regular life, including college, cell phones and tattoos. Meanwhile, it's Keenan's job to woo Aislinn, but his old love (currently the lonely holder of winter's chill) may die if he's successful. Overlong wish-fulfillment, but enjoyably sultry. 2007, HarperTeen, 336p, $16.99. Category: Fantasy. Ages 13 up. © 2007 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cindy Welch (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, July 2007 (Vol. 60, No. 11))
In a realistic city where most people are blind to the fey as they work their small and medium-sized mischiefs, Aislinn can see them all, but she’s been taught from a young age to give the impression she’s as faery-blind as the rest of the human race. This gets more difficult when Keenan, faery’s Summer King, attempts to get to know her, following her around and even temporarily enrolling in her high school. He is in search of a queen who will help him wrest the power of the seasons from his mother (the Winter Queen), but each earlier potential mate has failed the Winter Queen’s trial, and the last girl who attempted and failed it is fated to warn off any future prospects. With Keenan’s mind set on Aislinn, the deal is all but done and, rather than avoid her fate, she can only hope to make a deal that will help him defeat his mother while she gets to keep a budding relationship with mortal Seth. Literary quotes about fairies, from the likes of W. B. Yeats and Andrew Lang, open each chapter and hint at the action to come, but this is ultimately a modern-day fairy tale, wherein the girl saves herself and the dénouement involves a negotiated partnership rather than an exchange of wedding rings. There’s a mature sensibility about the prose and the characters that speaks very effectively to older teens who can appreciate its restrained tone. This offers the human-faery interaction and urban fantasy feel of Holly Black’s Tithe (BCCB 1/03) with a more benign view of its imagined world, and many fantasy readers will find themselves happily at home here. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2007, HarperTeen, 336p.; Reviewed from galleys, $17.89 and $16.99. Grades 9-12.

Lynne Farrell Stover (VOYA, June 2007 (Vol. 30, No. 2))
Seventeen-year-old Aislinn, a Catholic schoolgirl, sees faeries. This "gift" is a true torment because although they are beautiful beings, it turns out that faeries are frivolous, self-centered, and vicious. Aislinn has learned from her grandmother not to interact with these fey folk, but this warning is quickly disregarded when Keenan, the glorious faerie Summer King, singles her out to be the next Summer Queen. What follows is a game of seduction and betrayal as Keenan's mother, the odious Winter Queen, works overtime to keep her son from "the one" who could help him bring order from the existing chaos in the various faerie royal courts and stop the creeping cold weather, which goes on longer every year. Complicating the matter of Aislinn's assuming her role of Summer Queen is the fact that she is in love with the amazingly tolerant and protective human, Seth. This story, about two hundred pages too long, is thin of plot, shallow of character, illogical in setting, and contrived in conclusion. The modern references-faeries using cell phones and a potential lover displaying a clean STD report-are inconsistent with the attempted supernatural plot elements. Aislinn's struggle to define her own destiny might appeal to angst-ridden teenage girls; however, they will more likely identify with the tragic minor character Donia than the obtuse Aislinn. VOYA CODES: 2Q 2P J S (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2007, HarperTeen, 336p., $16.99 and PLB $17.89. Ages 12 to 18.