Saturday, January 7, 2012

All's Fair in Vanities War by Elizabeth Marx

      
All's Fair in Vanities War (The
Seer's Seven Deadly Fairy Tales #1)
by Elizabeth Marx
Summary from Goodreads:

"Keleigh Flaherty is born a Devas.

At one her mother is certain she is a Celtic ExtraOrdinary being of light, and leaves the protection of the Order to conceal her.

By three Keleigh speaks fluent Gaelic, and whispers start.

At five she makes one playmate fly, and another one dies.

By seven Keleigh reads her mother’s fear in her reflection.

At nine she is brainwashed, her ExtraOrdinary powers exiled.

By eleven Keleigh convinces herself she’s just an Ordinary girl.

At fourteen she witnesses her parents’ death by beasts that only exist in fairy tales.

By fifteen the Order shrouds Keleigh in Salem, she is given a sacrificed Seer, and Locke Cavanagh detests her.

At sixteen her mother contacts her through a magic mirror and insists Keleigh find a forgotten relic by the next blue moon.

Now Locke is her only hope for locating the artifact, but he knows the key to its discovery is in Keleigh embracing her ExtraOrdinary gifts, because they will need their combined abilities to battle the ShiningOnes over something so powerful.

And if they fail . . . Keleigh will never see seventeen."

Rating:

All’s Fair in Vanities War is beautifully created mystical world were magic is a common thing and almost everyone has special powers, except for humans that is. So if you turn someone’s skin green and give them horns, they won’t scream and go hysterical asking what’s happening to them. And they won’t sue you as long as you put them back to normal.

I’m not really a big mystery fan so I admit that I was a little impatient with the occurring events. It has also proven to be a challenge for me because I was completely unfamiliar with the culture this book has presented. The lore as well was another thing I wasn’t aware of so there were a lot of things I didn’t understand, thank goodness for the Internet! And thankfully Marx’s characters gave a brief history or a clue here and there about what they were talking about.

Speaking of characters, I’d have to say Keleigh didn’t strike as an outstanding protagonist at first. I guess I get the idea because she’s still on the verge of discovering herself and her past seem to haunt her at times. Poor kid. Also she tends to try to blend in and in spite of the she-stands-out-no-matter-what sort she kind of lacked showing personality. Well at least until she begins to find out what she’s capable of.

Locke on the other hand, was presented in a mix of personalities. At first he was all loyal and loving, then bitter and begrudging and then another whole lot of personality when he comes back home from college. I was really confused about who he really is and I totally get why Keleigh was reluctant about her feelings for him.

I absolutely love Madi and the Seer, Wiz as well. They make really striking supporting characters and I think they played their parts really well. Go Madi!

Moving on, I think the plot of this story is commendable. Despite it being completely foreign to me, it is also what I think made me hold on and keep reading. I really wanted to see how it would turn out. All the mystery and waiting was worth it when I got to the climax. Talk about an adventure! It was like watching National Treasure sort of movie with magical creatures. So awesome!

The ending still left me with a lot of questions but I am coaxing myself to wait until the next book comes out. *Be patient, Janus. Be patient.*

I’d like to thank Elizabeth Marx for the copy of All’s Fair in Vanities War and letting me have the honor to read and review her book.