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  • Desert Tales (Wicked Lovely (Paperback))
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
126 global ratings
5 star
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4 star
17%
3 star
5%
2 star
2%
1 star
2%
Desert Tales (Wicked Lovely (Paperback))

Desert Tales (Wicked Lovely (Paperback))

byMelissa Marr
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Top positive review

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SHUSHurSHUSHER
4.0 out of 5 starsNeeding a Wicked Lovely fix?? Well, Winter Girl Rika is here!
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2013
I absolutely LOVED this series and to have a Novella come out later on to tell us about one of the Winter Girl's story? Phenomenal! Melissa did a wonderful job on keeping us linked with some of the other characters from the series. She paints a great picture for us to see exactly what Rika, main female character, is like. You get pulled into the scenes and emotions right along with the characters in the story. There is a rift in the Desert Fae and watching Rika get interested in a "human boy" is becoming a person priority for another Fae. Sionnach, the Desert Fae Alpha. What he does, how he does it and all that happens in between it happening AND after, is quite a ride to enjoy!

3 things bummed me out on this book. 1 - It was extremely short! 2 - kinda pricey for being so short! $8.06 for 275 pages?? 3 - The ending was kind of rushed.

But overall an excellent novella to add to the series. I would really love to see a few more come out as well. Are you reading this Melissa? (Or one of your helpers?) :-)

I do recommend this read. Even though this says it's a stand alone book, I truly believe that it's not. There are too many things that come up and characters that you will wonder about. Reasons for why things are the way they are and so on. These things can get you confused if you haven't read the other books in the series. However, I really don't think you'd mind doing that. Because, now I actually have to go back and re-read the whole series again. Why? Because this story brought back so many memories of what the series was like and reminded me of how much I loved it! So I am going to go back and get lost in Wicked Lovely "land" again. LOL Happy Reading whether you decide to read it as a Stand Alone or as part of the series!
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4 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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Livre Grumpus
3.0 out of 5 starsJust okay
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2013
I really, really loved the Wicked Lovely series and for some reason was hoping that this was a return to that world with a continuation of the story and it's characters. Yes, previous characters do make cameos and serve as plot devices, but otherwise we're dealing with a mostly new set of characters who are...uninteresting and dull and painfully predictable. I really hope the author doesn't return to the desert fey because, honestly, who cares?

The book in a nutshell: Sad girl sees boy. Sad girl stalks boy and falls in love. Boy is in trouble so sad girl saves him. Boy falls in love with sad girl. Sad girl magically saves the day from imagined threat that doesn't really exist based on anger and distrust. The end. Oh and sad girl is a fey (previous Winter Girl) and boy is a mortal. Queue the QQ!
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4 people found this helpful

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From the United States

SHUSHurSHUSHER
4.0 out of 5 stars Needing a Wicked Lovely fix?? Well, Winter Girl Rika is here!
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2013
Verified Purchase
I absolutely LOVED this series and to have a Novella come out later on to tell us about one of the Winter Girl's story? Phenomenal! Melissa did a wonderful job on keeping us linked with some of the other characters from the series. She paints a great picture for us to see exactly what Rika, main female character, is like. You get pulled into the scenes and emotions right along with the characters in the story. There is a rift in the Desert Fae and watching Rika get interested in a "human boy" is becoming a person priority for another Fae. Sionnach, the Desert Fae Alpha. What he does, how he does it and all that happens in between it happening AND after, is quite a ride to enjoy!

3 things bummed me out on this book. 1 - It was extremely short! 2 - kinda pricey for being so short! $8.06 for 275 pages?? 3 - The ending was kind of rushed.

But overall an excellent novella to add to the series. I would really love to see a few more come out as well. Are you reading this Melissa? (Or one of your helpers?) :-)

I do recommend this read. Even though this says it's a stand alone book, I truly believe that it's not. There are too many things that come up and characters that you will wonder about. Reasons for why things are the way they are and so on. These things can get you confused if you haven't read the other books in the series. However, I really don't think you'd mind doing that. Because, now I actually have to go back and re-read the whole series again. Why? Because this story brought back so many memories of what the series was like and reminded me of how much I loved it! So I am going to go back and get lost in Wicked Lovely "land" again. LOL Happy Reading whether you decide to read it as a Stand Alone or as part of the series!
4 people found this helpful
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Donna Pepin
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
I purchased this after reading a recommendation by Charles de Lint one of my favorite authors and I wasn't disappointed. I loved the desert setting, the story was great and the ending felt realistic for the story.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2017
Verified Purchase
Beautiful book series
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Dark Faerie Tales
4.0 out of 5 stars With cute romance, great drama, and an intriguing plot this is sure to be a hit for both fans of the Wicked Lovely series...
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2015
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: With cute romance, great drama, and an intriguing plot this is sure to be a hit for both fans of the Wicked Lovely series and those that are new to the series like me.

Opening Sentence: Trusting Keenan had been the mistake that informed Rika’s entire life, a mistake that had cost her both her humanity and her happiness.

The Review:

Rika was a lovely, sweet mortal girl that fell in love with the wrong person and it cost her everything. The Summer King tricked her and made her believe that he loved her, but in all reality he was just looking to break a terrible curse that was laid upon him by the winter queen. Rika took a test to see if she was the mortal girl that could break the curse, but she failed and was left as the snow queen for years until someone else took her burden. Eventually she was released from being the snow queen, but she was still a fey. To get away from all the politics of the two courts and finally feel warmth again she takes off to live a solitary life in the desert.

The desert fae mostly stick to themselves and Rika has had no problem staying away from most of her kind. The only fae she would consider to be a friend is the sly fox faerie named Sionnach, He is currently the Alpha of the desert faeries and one of the only faeries Rika has learned to trust. For years Rika has been content with her life, but she has recently taken an interest in a mortal boy named Jayce. He is an artist and Rika finds herself falling in love with him, even though she has never even talked to him. Then she gets a visit from the dreaded Summer King demanding she swear fealty to him and to get all of the desert faeries to do so as well. Soon Rika is thrown into a world she thought she left behind. But if she wants to protect the mortal boy she has come to care for she will have to come out of her shell and fight to protect not only him but the desert faeries as well.

Rika is a very interesting character and her story was pretty heart breaking. She has spent years trying to recover from the life she lived, and the heart break she felt when the Summer King rejected her. She is a shy, reserved person, and opening herself up to others is really hard for her. For the most part she has completely avoided all relationships because she is so afraid of getting hurt again. It was interesting to watch her story unfold and to see her finally become the person she was always meant to be. I loved watching her grow as a character and learn that there is a lot more to life then she originally thought. She was a very easy character to connect with and I enjoyed reading her story.

Jayce is a cute guy that was a little too easy going for my tastes. He is the artistry type and when I imagine him in my head he kind of looks like a hippy. He loves to draw, rock climb, and spend time with his friends. Upon meeting Rika he fell for her way faster then I liked, but their relationship was still sweet. He treats Rika well and in many ways he forces her to break out of her shell, but I just didn’t really feel the chemistry between them. Jayce was a nice enough guy, I just thought he was a little boring.

Sionnach was a much more interesting character. He is a fox faerie so being sly is a big part of his nature. Like most faeries he is very good looking and at first you think he is kind of a jerk, but as the story developed I completely fell in love with him. He has spent years caring about Rika, but he knew she was in no way ready to be with someone like him. So in many ways he tricked her into starting a relationship with Jayce because he knew that would make her happy. The fact that he was willing to let her be with someone else even though he cared about her was very swoon worthy to me. Of course he isn’t perfect and the way he does things isn’t always the best. But deep down he is a good guy and I loved him!

Desert Tales was a cute, quick story with romance, faerie politics and adventure. This is a companion novel to the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr and I personally have not read that series yet. But I in no way felt lost or confused while reading Desert Tales, it stood on its own perfectly fine. Since I haven’t read the series I can’t really tell you if it spoils anything from the previous books, but nothing stood out to me as a spoiler. I can tell you that after reading this I am very interested in reading the Wicked Lovely series, but it is five books so we will see if I ever get a chance to read it since my TBR pile is huge. I thought that the world Marr created was very captivating and the whole political drama between the faeries was fascinating. The romance was sweet, but certain relationships felt a little rushed to me. The plot was very intriguing and there were a few twists that I wasn’t expecting. Overall, I found this book to be really enjoyable, and I would highly recommend it to both fans of the series and those that are new to the series like me.

Notable Scene:

Jayce reached out and traced her cheek with his fingertips. “I’m alone with the girl I like who happens to be even cooler than I already thought. It’s very okay.” He leaned closer and kissed her. He’d known she was different, but he couldn’t have guessed she was this unusual. He was kissing a faery. The thought made him pull back and grin at her. “This is awesome.”

FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Desert Tales. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
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AprilMarie4u
4.0 out of 5 stars This is a YA PNR/UF part of a series (spin-off).
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2013
The Story

This book is about Rika (a Winter Girl before Donia), Sionnach (the desert alpha & a fox faery), and Jayce (human male). Some scenes with Keenan & Donia, but no other characters from the series make an appearance in the book.

The majority of the book is about Rika healing emotionally and finally accepting who & what she now is. Sionnach nudges Rika along that path while Jayce is the motivation that gets her going onto that path.

I understood the reasoning behind Sionnach machinations, but some of it was still depressing - especially in the reread. If you like Melissa Marr books for the angst then you will love this part of the story.

The book does end with a few things left up in the air, but not any cliffhangers. I think the author left it open for she could extend the story if she wanted to &/or plans to.

The Characters

Sionnach is what really made this a good book. He is clever, witty, mysterious, & just sooo damn sexy. I loved the parts where we got to see his point of view, just wish there were more scenes with it.

Jayce was a little boring. I never really felt like I got to know him either. I get that he is the laid back go with the flow type of guy, but it made for a flat character.

Rika was a little different to read about. I have mix emotions about her character. At times her melancholy self-absorbed thoughts were a little annoying. The only explanation I can think of to why it's taken her so long to heal is because faery emotions are a little different than humans. Also, I don't know how long she was a Winter Girl for (can't remember if it's mentioned in the series).

The Series

Not recommended to read without having read the series first. If you read this without having read the series there will be a few things that you won't understand.

Overall

I liked it enough to reread all the scenes with Sionnach in it, but didn't love it enough to reread the whole book.

*****

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. I won this back in September, but it took me awhile to get in the mood for the angst I know Marr tends to write. My review is on the before published version, paperback, uncorrected proof, not for sale edition.

All reviews are always my honest thoughts &/or opinions.
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Mel Thomas
4.0 out of 5 stars Desert Tales: A Wicked Lovely Novel By Melissa Marr
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2013
It's been a long time since I've read the Wicked Lovely series and after reading the companion novel, Desert Tales, I'm itching for another re-read.

It was so nice to revisit one of my all-time favorite young adult worlds and I seriously lurved former Winter Girl, turned desert dweller, Rika. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her come into her own with the "help" of a friend.

Thank you, Ms. Marr, for listening to your fans and taking this former Manga book, adding to it, and turning it into a companion novel.
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Alyssa
4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the others, but still a good read
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2013
I am a huge Wicked Lovely fan. I found this book to be entertaining, but the writing was not as strong as the other books. Too much recapping about previous books. Storyline not as strong as the main books. But overall a good, quick read.
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Vero
4.0 out of 5 stars Should've bout it used
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2016
My girlfriend loved her gift. The only thing I got it new but it didn't look NEW looked a little used I wouldn't mind if I didn't pay for a new price.
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From other countries

Bethan
4.0 out of 5 stars great
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
Great if you like her other stories in this collection
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