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The Treachery of Beautiful Things Ruth Long Books

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The Treachery of Beautiful Things Ruth Long Books

I saw this book mentioned on several people's TBR lists, so I added it to mine. I award this book 3.5 stars.

The Treachery of Beautiful Things (which by the way, I think the title is one of the strongest points of the book-- love it!) by Ruth Frances Long is about Jenny, a girl who has lost her older brother, Tom, a long seven years ago, when the woods ate him. No one believes her, and after many psychiatrists, she has just stopped talking about it. Then one day, she hears Tom play his flute and follows it into the woods, where she has dreaded to set foot in for so long. She meets Jack, a mysterious Guardian, and Puck, his small friend, and she undertakes a very dangerous journey to save her long lost brother.

There are some really wonderful things about this book. The writing is very beautiful and I can imagine this Faery like land. Jenny is a likeable heroine, and Jack is fun love interest. I really loved the ending, which caused me to round this up to 4 stars.

That said, I had some major issues with this book as well. The middle drags a lot as we are waiting for things to happen. There are a lack of plot twists, and a large amount of time is spent on watching Jenny bumble around the forest. While beautifully described, I had to sometimes push forward to get to the end.

That said, I think that Long has promise as a writer, and I think she can only improve from here on out.


Tags : Amazon.com: The Treachery of Beautiful Things (9780803735804): Ruth Long: Books,Ruth Long,The Treachery of Beautiful Things,Dial Books,0803735804,FBA-|320386,Fantasy - General,Romance - General,Fairies;Fiction.,Fantasy.,Kings, queens, rulers, etc.;Fiction.,Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Fairies,Family - Siblings,Fantasy,Fantasy & Magic,Fiction,Juvenile Fiction Family Siblings,Juvenile Fiction Fantasy & Magic,Juvenile Fiction Love & Romance,Kings, queens, rulers, etc.,Love & Romance,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family Siblings,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Fantasy General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General

The Treachery of Beautiful Things Ruth Long Books Reviews

When I look for a good book, I look for something that transports me from my world into the story. I want to get lost and whether the story is pretty or not, I want to feel like I'm a way from my world and in another. While reading The Treachery of Beautiful Things not only did I get fully immersed in another world, but I was reminded of the fairy tales I read as a child that weren't always so pretty, that had bad things happen in them to teach lessons and punish and sometimes just because. As I read, I remembered those old stories and was enchanted by fairy tales once again. These were the fairies I grew up with, not the ones that have been created by some of my favorite authors. These are the ones to be frightened of at night and when you walk in the woods alone.

Jenny and Tom, sister and brother are walking home from his flute lesson when Tom is literally snatched by the trees in Branley Copse when he was just fourteen and she was ten. It haunts her for years through countless psychiatrists and pills they try to convince her she didn't see what she saw. And her mother and father silently blame her, she thinks, wishing it were her instead of him. But, after she graduates from boarding school, she faces her fears and thinking she hears Tom playing his flute, she ventures into the woods. At once, she finds herself not in Branley Copse, but in a different world, the fairy world though she doesn't know it yet, and she learns the lesson of the treachery of beautiful things.

Such a befitting title. It conveys so many meanings. Jenny is caught up in a war between Titania and Oberon between Mab and Titania between the Oak King and Oberon between the Wild and the Tame, between the Fae and Human. It's a timeless war fought for centuries and the winners never seem to change. Jenny meets Puck who goes by many names and Jack, who also goes by many names, one very surprising to me. Jack guards the edge between the two worlds and it is his job to escort Jenny back to the edge to her world. But she wants to stay to find Tom. And Jack can't escort her at night. He has other duties at night. So misadventures begin and Jenny learns that she can't trust anyone. Jack does give her a few rules like don't eat anything except fruit or water so she won't become Fae. She remembers these rules and a few others as the story goes on to keep herself safe.

I found it a little hard to get into the rhythm of the writing but after a few chapters I began to fall right into the story. Jenny is smart and after an encounter with "beautiful things" that leaves her hurt, she is mistrusting of anyone and anything. She does find herself in need of rescuing a few times, but she's also the rescuer of more than one thing in the forest. She is the antithesis of all that is wrong in this Fairyland. Jack is described as mercurial and I'll agree to that, though there are reasons for it and I was just waiting for the full truth to be revealed.

Puck is Puck. He's a trickster, not to be trusted, sometimes to be trusted. a friend, a betrayer. He's just Puck, but how can you not like Puck? He was there when it counted the most and that's what mattered. Jenny knew not to trust him yet she did anyway because who else could she trust?

The Sidhe, the Queen's court, is as cold and unfeeling as Titania. The first we see of her is when she is trying to track the Piper, who we believe might be Tom, who has run away from her. He's to be the blood tithe in a few days time and they need to find him. When the tracker is unable to locate him, she gives him a head start then sends her hounds after him. The Sidhe courtiers, with Titania behind them, follow with glee as the hounds tear him to shreds.

This is a long story, almost four hundred pages, but any shorter and it would feel rushed. It has beautiful, lush imagery and dark adventure. The woods are alive and something is always watching them be it day or night as Jenny, Jack and Puck travel to find Tom. It's a great story and again, you'll get lost in the telling of it. There are creatures from all over the fairy lore, Kobolds, Nixies, Sprites, Goblins, Elves, Foletti, and Leczis. There's even a dragon.

It made for a beautiful fairy tale and one I won't soon forget. It isn't typical, it isn't a retelling as far as I know, but it was sure worth the reading. It was a savory read, not one I rushed through. I took three days to read it instead of one and I enjoyed each and every word. Definitely going on the special shelf.

Great for any lover of fairy tales, just not the sweet lovable fairies. This was a clean read though the protagonist is older, just graduated I think any YA lover of fantasy would enjoy it.

Heather
Wow! I was definitely curious and hesitant to read this book. I'm an adult and after seeing the grade 7 suggested reading, I was expecting something more elementary. Wrong! Don't hesitate on this one. She doesn't dumb down vocabulary; great words for young adults to add to their own vocabulary. It's still a YA book. I'm actually excited to read it again because there were so many hints about destiny and symbolism along the way.

When I first started reading I was suprised to see a modern small town society. The mood shifts to fairytale when she enters the realm of the farie. Think mysterious and dangerous creatures, a seemingly hopeless romance, and an evil king & queen, bundled with a dangerous quest and oaths that must be fullfilled. Once there, she is surrounded in beauty and terror.

I wasn't sure how I felt about the book to begin; I finished Cruel Beauty by Rosamond Hodge- which is darker than this book- and needed another fix. With The Tretchery of Beautiful Things, I seemed to have another hook that pulled me in deeper or another question I needed answered with each chapter. Although some moments had predetiable outcomes and an ending I suspected, I was suprised by the journey. How everything would come together was well done. It's tradgic, romantic, heroic, happy. I was pleasantly suprised!

This is NO disney fantasy. The creatures here are mischievous, selfish, and dangerous; loyalty is given but betrayed just as easily. Jenny must decide who she can trust on the quest to save her brother. Will Jack, the Forest Guardian, help her or use her to gain his own freedom? Can she trust a brother she hasn't seen in 7 years whose under the Queens spell? As the forest senses her mortality, will it seek to kill her?

Our heroine, Jenny, is full of love and kindness, and great compassion- something the forest doesn't understand. Our hero, Jack, is at odds with the reality of what he believes he is, his honor bound duty, and his impending fate...not to mention Jenny's destiny.

Think the darkness of some of the Brothers Grimm stories. It is not a bleak story or terribly scary. The creatures there do desire her blood or her soul. She is held captive by a someone who allows awful creatures to suck her blood at night. No curse words if memory serves me correctly. The romance is well done; only kisses and expressions of desires to keep each other safe. She doesn't get along very well with her mom, but not a whole lot is mentioned about parents.
I saw this book mentioned on several people's TBR lists, so I added it to mine. I award this book 3.5 stars.

The Treachery of Beautiful Things (which by the way, I think the title is one of the strongest points of the book-- love it!) by Ruth Frances Long is about Jenny, a girl who has lost her older brother, Tom, a long seven years ago, when the woods ate him. No one believes her, and after many psychiatrists, she has just stopped talking about it. Then one day, she hears Tom play his flute and follows it into the woods, where she has dreaded to set foot in for so long. She meets Jack, a mysterious Guardian, and Puck, his small friend, and she undertakes a very dangerous journey to save her long lost brother.

There are some really wonderful things about this book. The writing is very beautiful and I can imagine this Faery like land. Jenny is a likeable heroine, and Jack is fun love interest. I really loved the ending, which caused me to round this up to 4 stars.

That said, I had some major issues with this book as well. The middle drags a lot as we are waiting for things to happen. There are a lack of plot twists, and a large amount of time is spent on watching Jenny bumble around the forest. While beautifully described, I had to sometimes push forward to get to the end.

That said, I think that Long has promise as a writer, and I think she can only improve from here on out.