Review: Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey

  Title: Stolen Away                    Pages: 288
  Author: Alyxandra Harvey        Source: Netgalley
  Publisher: Walker Childrens     Published: January 17, 2012
  Series: N/A                               Purchase: Amazon

For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won't comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds.

The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife. . . Eloise's aunt Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Now Eloise must become the rescuer. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, she must forge alliances with other Fae, including a gorgeous protector named Lucas, and Strahan's mysterious son, Eldric-who may or may not betray them.

I don't typically like or read books about faeries, so when Stolen Away caught my attention, I was surprised. However, I was disappointed with a lukewarm story that left me wishing I'd picked something else up instead.

Eloise and Jo were great characters. I liked having the two different perspectives between them and seeing how they both reacted to the same event, but I was often wondering why there were two different perspectives. It seemed unnecessary and like a tactic to make the story longer at times.

That being said, they were really good characters. They complemented each other in a great way. Jo was a strong, kick-ass girl and Eloise more started off pretending to be, as a defense mechanism, but I felt she grew into the role a lot.

I felt Devin wasn't that important to the story. He seemed like a filler character, just to provide occasionally "witty banter" and that was it. I also felt that having both girls fall in love was a bit much. One romance seemed more important to the story, though, but I won't say which one as it is a spoiler for the ending.

The plot was probably my favorite part, as it seemed pretty unique for a faerie novel. I liked how everything played out and loved the action bits.

Overall, I didn't like Stolen Away as much as I wanted to, but despite some flaws, I did end up on the liking side, rather than the disliking side. I probably wouldn't recommend this one, however.

Pass or Read? I would pass, unless you're a hardcore faerie lover.

Cover thoughts: I really like it, it's pretty and I love that the model has bright red lipstick, like Eloise wears.

Want to read someone else's opinion? Here are two positive reviews: A Dream of Books and I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read. Or, link your own positive review in the comments!