Saturday, November 26, 2011

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!

                                            

21 comments:

  1. I honestly thank you for your honest review. I to thought the cover striking but I'm glad I read your review first.If I can't connect with the characters in some positive way I can't get into the book. :)
    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I received this book for review from the publisher and am yet to read it.. I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it! From what you said it really doesn't look appealing! I am definitely going to have to read it and find out for myself LOL Thanks for an honest review, hun! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I read a bunch of reviews that agreed with me that it was slow but then I read a bunch that loved the book. So you never know, you can give it a try but it just wasn't for me. Not very exciting but hopefully you can get through it. I'm actually usually a pretty easily pleased reader. Most books I read get a 4 and I finish within a couple of days but this took me an entire month!

    ReplyDelete
  4. My eye was caught by the cover also, I will think long and hard before buying it. Thanks for your candid review.

    Judy

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Molly Gibson-Mee Thanks! I always try to give an honest review. Thanks for stopping by too.

    @Judy I got this one from the library so I recommend maybe going that route when you are unsure how much you will like it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you so much for this honest review. I've been hearing a lot about The Faerie Ring, and I admit I wanted to read it mostly because the cover looks absolutely beautiful. But your review points out some frustrating details that I'm not sure will let me enjoy the book either. I think I'll still give it a shot just because of curiosity, but as interesting as the concepts seem, the characters and the plot sound a little under-developed for me.

    Thanks for this review!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for sharing your review. I recently received this one and perhaps it will not be on the top of the TBR LOL

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have yet to read this and I too wanted to read it because the cover caught my eye. I'm not a fan of books that take forever to get going. I'll still probably read it but just not sure when. Thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Munnaza Same! I admit the cover of a book does affect a lot of what I read. At least when it comes to a new author. There were some frustrating parts but give it a shot and maybe you will enjoy it! Thanks for commenting!

    @Denise Z LOL Yeah I wouldn't put it at the top but do give it a try sometime. You can always do like me and just read a chapter a night forever until it is done ;-) I almost stopped but so many people wanted to know my thoughts that I suffered through.

    @Nichole@The More the Merrier Thanks for commenting. I also hate a slow beginning which is why this probably wasn't for me. But always give it a shot because you never know!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great review,I put this book to my reading list

    ReplyDelete
  11. I enjoyed reading your honest review...its one of those where the cover looks better than the actual story lol

    ReplyDelete
  12. I really like the premise of this book and have recently received it. I am afraid that because I have waited so long to get it that I will be disappointed. Thank you for sharing your opinion today.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great review, this is a book I've been wanting to read..must make sure it is on my list.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ah, your review made me smile! Those frustrations are ones I often encounter in the books I read. Some people are graced with the ability to just ignore those things but, alas, I am not!

    Great honest review you've got there. =)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you so much for your honest review!! The cover is beautiful and caught my eye, but I wasn't quite sure by the book description if I really should spend my money on it or not. Now I am so grateful after reading several reviews, including yours, that I did not. I hate to buy a book and regret the purchase!
    Thank you for taking the time to post this. I appreciate the review SO much!

    Gena Robertson
    robertsongena@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. @Silvy Hope you enjoy it! :-)

    @Angela Yeah the cover is gorgeous! But the book wasn't for me.

    @Denise Z Since you already have it you have free reign to give it a try. A bit slow but you can just take your time.

    @Cricket Hope you enjoy it!

    @Rea I have a few frustrations I just can't get through. The characters just didn't work for me but others might enjoy them. Reiker was cool though.

    @Unknown Sure Gena! I try to be honest. This wasn't for me but you can always give it a try from a library.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Had been wanting to read this book, but after reading your review and seeing the comments that have been left, I'm not so anxious. May read it after all, but definitely won't be doing everything I can to get it! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah everyone is different so you can always give it a try sometime. Just not for me. But happy reading and thanks so much for stopping by!

      Delete
  18. I am all into Fey books and I've been wondering about this book. I appreciate your thoughts. I might stay away from this one.
    Jeannette
    www.walkingonbookshelves.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love faerie books as well. I would recommend the Faeriewalker series by Jenna Black and the Need series by Carrie Jones. Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  19. This is disappointing. I, too, had seen this book all over and want to read it just because of the fantastic cover, but I'm really not into slow books, and especially if the characters aren't that fantastic. Shucks. I think I'm gonna skip it now.

    Brynna

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for visiting and commenting! I read and love every single comment!