Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long

Goodreads Blurb

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.

So when you read the synopsis, what's the first thing that pops into your mind? If you're an Iron Fey fan like me, the THE IRON FEY.  And it does sound like it, doesn't it? A lost brother, manipulative fey, fey who consider her a threat, a fey love interest who may or may not be helping her...yeah,. the Iron Fey definitely popped into my head. I was worried that I would be comparing this to my absolute favorite series, and while I did, Treachery is completely different, I'm glad to say! It had it's own story that had no relation, so no worries to any giant fans like me!

The world-building. Was. Amazing. Ruth Frances Long wrote Treachery beautifully and the descriptions were...surreal. The title, I can safely say, fits this book to the core. There were so many stunning creatures and fey, but all of them dangerous in their own way. It was wonderful to discover all these fey lurking in the book, waiting to be discovered and waiting for their secrets to be revealed. I mean, all fey readers, we know how dangerous it can be, and just how beautiful it can be. And Treachery is no exception. But the difference is that, instead of simply Oberon, Titania, and Mab ruling over courts, we're introduced to the May Queen, Jacks, and so much more faery lore then I know, which was wonderful since I was starting to predict a lot of happenings in faery books.

Character wise, I was a little iffy with Jenny. She was so...naive to the world and honestly, you can't blame her. She was thrust into this world, but like I said, I'm a giant faery fan so I always think that everyone should know the dangers of the world, but obviously they don't. So while giant faery fans may find Jenny irritating a bit, she'll get better later as she slowly learns the cautions. To any non-giant fan, you'll love Jenny from page 1! She's stubborn in that good way, she's passionate, kind, smart, all those things you love in a good character! Jenny was a lovable heroine who would rarely give up, unless she was completely crushed (I'm thinking of a certain time here...)

JACK. JACK. JACK. I LOVE JACK. but then, I love most love interests, hee hee. But Jack was just so sweet! He never realized how in love he was with Jenny and when he did...the things he said...it almost made me cry, it was so sweet! He was always thinking how he didn't deserve anything, to be recognized, to be known, and I just wanted to SQUASH HIM IN A HUG. He was so sacrificial and he was willing to give up more than everything just for Jenny. Thank God she didn't take that lightly!

The romance was as sweet as Jack! Jenny and Jack sitting in a tree...or rather, Jenny and Jack running from the trees. Somehow, along this quest, Jack got his queen (metaphorically...) and Jenny fell in love and...well, did she get her HEA? Maybe. But the romance wasn't insta-love, which was the one thing I wanted to say about it!

The plot was as amazing as the rest of the book! While it started out a little slow in the beginning (besides that prologue. Wow!) it quickly sped up so that eventually you'd be flipping through the pages, frantically wondering what would happen next. As the plot unfolded, you could feel the tension thickening until the ending where it basically...exploded, for lack of a better word! The ending was just wow. Let's just say nothing was thrown in just for the sake of it.

The Treachery of Beautiful Things will capture your interest from page 1 and string you along throughout the book. It's as devious and manipulative as the fey themselves and it may sound familiar, but Treachery  is original and fresh, a definite twist on fey lore. This is definitely one to buy if you're a fan of faeries or fantasy! 

Pages: 384

Series: Stand alone

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

Publisher: Dial

Release Date: August 16, 2012

Rating: 4.5--->5