*Review* : The Faerie Ring - Kiki Hamilton

The Faerie Ring - Kiki Hamilton

Series : #1 The Faerie Ring

Released : 27th September 2011

Publisher : Tor Teen

Format : Hardback

Source : Author

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)|Book Depository

Overall rating

 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................

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…

 .................................... My Thoughs  ....................................

In Short

- Although I don't like historical books I found that it was an advantage to The Faerie Ring that it was in the past

- All the characters were very easy to like

- The main character, Tiki, was someone I connected with straight away

- I finished this book with a smile on my face

In Long

When I was asked to be part of The Faerie Ring UK Book Tour I was so excited! I have had my eye on this book for a while. I have to admit that I was first drawn to it by the cover, which is gorgeous and really suits the story. When I read the blurb I was pleased to discover that it not only looked good but judging from the blurb, it also sounded good!

Let me just mention that I am not a big fan of historical books, I like knowing about historical things but not from books. Therefore I was a bit unsure of this side of The Faerie Ring. Luckily it was the sort of book which is in the past but not all about the past, Kiki didn’t focus too much on the history factor but instead of the characters and storyline. The fact that the book is written in the past is always addressed but in a subtle way, not in a way where the book almost becomes a history lesson. This therefore didn’t spoil the book for me but in fact added to it.

Kiki is a great author and this is apparent from very early on in the book. She quickly made me feel connected to the main character, Tiki. I really enjoyed getting to know Tiki and loved how Kiki went back in time so I could learn about Tiki’s past. The other characters were all unique and added to the storyline in their own way. Rieker, another main character, was a character who I became to have a ‘soft side’ for. Although some of his actions kept me guessing what they meant.

A little thing which I did pick up through this book (I may be being a bit picky) is that sometimes things were repeated on the next page. For example when explaining Tiki’s hard past it was often repeated/referred to later on when explaining something else, I felt I could have ignored this if it was a one off but it happened throughout the book.

The storyline is one which intrigued me throughout the book and I was always excited about picking this up and reading it again. I do think that is more credit to Kiki’s writing than the actual twists in this book, which I felt were lacking a little. I wasn’t really ever left guessing and when something was revealed I often felt a bit confused as to what it actual meant to the storyline and characters. Because of this at the end I wasn’t really in a ‘rush’ to find out how things had ended.

Final Thoughts

The Faerie Ring was a nice surprising read for me. I really enjoyed ‘meeting’ all the characters in this book and felt Kiki really did a great job with making all the characters easy to like. The storyline was an imagination one and although it never truly ‘gripped’ me I finished this book with a smile on my face.

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