The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen; First Edition edition (September 27, 2011)
Buy the Book: Amazon
Our Interview with Kiki Hamilton

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…

This book is set back in England in the time of Queen Vic and Prince Leo and all of them. It's about a girl named Tiki, who is a pickpocket. She is daring and pretty, and smart, and best of all, she isn't afraid to stand up for the ones she loves. I liked that the book was set in Britain because it always seems as though books about British people are the best. I also really liked that the book was centered around thieves, because I always like the thieves and villains. They always seem to have the better weapons, plans, and sometimes they even switch sides and it makes the book a whole lot more dramatic and interesting. The romance in this book was kinda gradual, not just see each other, love at first sight, and then they kiss... and kiss... and kiss. As you can probably tell, I'm not into that kind of thing, and a lot of the people I know don't either. Anyway, I liked how the characters actually got to know each other before they fell in love. I do like it when the characters are meant for each other, and it's love at first sight, but that usually ends up being too much love and not enough action or other stuff. I think it was cool how the author wrote the book with a lot of action, like once they're at a Masked Ball, and then they're in the streets of London picking pockets the next day. Of course I can't write a review about a normal book for once, normal books are boring... what's not normal about this book? This book has faeries in it! And the faeries want to take over the earth.

The only bad thing about this book is that there is mild cussing, just one word repeated throughout the book, but it still kinda messes up the book in my opinion. I don't like how some authors write a perfectly clean book, then feel the need to add some cuss words into it. If it weren't for that I'd say even kids could read this, because there isn't anything else that's really bad or wrong.

The best good character in the book was probably Tiki, because she is a really good pickpocket, she is very independent, but at the same time she is caring and responsible. She is really good with kids and teaches them their letters and how to read because she had some education before she was forced to live on the streets, which, I think is the sweetest thing ever. After her it's probably Fiona and Prince Leopold tied for second. Fiona is really kind, and she sews and she's just a really likeable character. Leo is funny, flirty, and rich. The perfect guy of the story, even if he is a bit clueless and stubborn at times. The best evil person was a faerie named Larkin. She was the most evil thing ever but she was really cool. She liked to hurt people. I don't find that cool, but I liked how she was really good at fighting and stuff.

The bad characters of the book that I didn't like were Larkin, again, [I'm kind of bipolar about her] just because of what she did to people. She just ran around stabbing innocent people, and she took Clara, one of the kids that stayed with Tiki. I also didn't like Larkin's friend Marcus, another faerie, who kissed Tiki. Tiki gets back at him at the end of the book though. *Evil laugh* There wasn't really anybody else that was really not a good character.

Overall, this book is going in my towering pile of favorites, because it is a really good, well written, almost perfectly clean book.

Content:

• Sexual Content:  Mild
• Profanity:  Mild
• Violence:  Moderate

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