The Faerie Ring 
by Kiki Hamilton

Published September 27th 2011
352 Pages

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…

Why I Picked It Up: The cover caught my eye on some blogs. I have really been into fairy stories lately.

Why You Should Read It: Not that much about faeries but a tale of an orphan pick-pocketer.

Tiki lost her parents young and ran away from her Aunt and Uncle's home. She lives with four other orphans, Shamus, Toots, Fiona, and Clara. They survive by stealing food and pick pocketing. Tiki also has another thief friend named Rieker that helps her out of some of her thieving jams. While Tiki is out one night she hops on the back of a carriage that ends up taking her to the palace. Tiki goes in without even realizing it at first to steal food. After she grabs some food she goes to hide in a library. While she is there, Prince Leo comes in and leaves a ring. Tiki grabs it to sell for money. Clara is really sick and desperately needs care that they can't afford.

The beginning was super slow. The middle was too. This book took me forever to get through. I didn't like any of the orphans. They all bugged me. I didn't even get into Tiki's character. The only person in the book I actually liked was Reiker. He was interesting and actually had quite a back story. Although I still don't understand why it took him so long to come out with it. He still annoyed me too even though he was my favorite.

The ring itself has fire in the stone and an inscription that means, For the sake of peace, we agree. The idea around the ring was not fully developed enough for me. It holds a faerie truce and for some reason if the royals don't have it protected the truce is over. The book also barely has any faeries. Halfway in Tiki grabs someone and realizes they have wings. I swear in my mind for a second I thought, what are they an angel?! That is how much I forgot this book was even about faeries. Toward the end there are two evil faeries hunting Tiki to get the ring back. Apparently they want the truce over but I can't even remember why.

The ring was aggravating. Tiki steals it, then puts it back, and then wants to steal it again. It was also rather easy for her to continually steal it and put it back. She just attends a party at the palace and puts it back. While under disguise the prince tells her how she could get the money for it. But then Clara is taken hostage so Tiki wants to just hand over the ring to the faeries. She also has a faerie mark on her wrist and is connected to them but never believes it herself. I just didn't enjoy this. I probably just had too of high expectations of a very adventurous faerie story. But it was a slow story of an orphan girl stealing a ring over and over.

"Just like a kitten pretending to be a lion," he said. "Except I don't think your claws are sharp enough to hurt anyone, little kitten."

"One minute sweet and nice, like a lovable little kitten, the next she'd give you a pop in the jaw if you say the wrong thing."

 Rating: 2/5 Faerie Rings!