Review – The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Long (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Speak
Release Date: August 1, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0142426067
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

“A darkly compelling mix of romance, fairytale, and suspense from a new voice in teen fiction

The trees swallowed her brother whole, and Jenny was there to see it. Now seventeen, she revisits the woods where Tom was taken, resolving to say good-bye at last. Instead, she’s lured into the trees, where she finds strange and dangerous creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them is Jack, mercurial and magnetic, with secrets of his own. Determined to find her brother, with or without Jack’s help, Jenny struggles to navigate a faerie world where stunning beauty masks some of the most treacherous evils, and she’s faced with a choice between salvation or sacrifice–and not just her own.”

I have had this book on my “to be read” pile for a long time and was excited to finally read it. I have always love the cover of this book and was been drawn to the synopsis. This ended up being an okay read; I like a lot of the story elements but thought the writing could have flowed better.

This book is a young adult book about the faerie that inhabit the woods near Jenny’s house. Although these woods and creatures at first seem to be beautiful and wondrous, Jenny quickly finds that they hide danger and cruelty beneath their fair skin. Jenny must fight through these evil beings to find and save her brother.

I am a huge fan of dark faerie themed books like this. I loved some of the interesting fae in here and enjoyed the dark overtone to the story. However I had some trouble engaging with both the story and the characters. The story just didn’t flow well and I really struggled to stay interested.

The above being said I did really enjoy the last quarter of the book; things picked up pace and I was much more into the story. However, this didn’t quite make up for the fact that I had to struggle through the beginning portions.

Overall this was an okay book about dark faerie and a sister striving to rescue her brother from their clutches. There is some action and adventure in here and also some romance. I enjoyed the fae creatures and their world, but struggled with the writing. The story just didn’t flow that well and I really had to work to get through this book. There are much better YA books out there about dark fae; make sure to check out the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa if you are interested in this topic and haven’t read it.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– Paranormal Reading Challenge
– YA Reading Challenge