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emerygirl's review against another edition
3.0
First off, this is not a sequel to Impossible. They don't have anything to do with each other, except they are both about fairies/magic and are written by Nancy Werlin. While I liked Impossible better, this was a good read. I liked the friendship between the two girls.
tmm80's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the beginning, the middle almost lost me, but the end was good.
kraley's review against another edition
1.0
Extraordinarily painful. Arrrggghhh. I kind of liked Werlin's previous foray into Faery. I liked the clever twist on Scarborough Faire, so I was willing to give this one a shot. I have an aversion to not finishing books, but this was so painful at times that I was very close to not finishing it. For the raters who gave this five stars, all I can say is that there are A LOT of other better books out there and they ought to branch out. The conversations were stilted and poorly written. The author must have had a thing with super-controlling, mean men because she really likes writing them. The Ryland character was just so cartoonish. The actual premise for the book didn't have a lot of promise either, so it was just weak all around. I am not sure if I can give Werlin another read. Maybe in a few years when she's matured a bit as a writer. The current offering was garbage.
captkaty's review against another edition
2.0
Liked it a lot more than Impossible. I kind of hate faeries, but the whole thing was an interesting conceit.
lisawreading's review against another edition
4.0
Now this is what a young adult novel should be! What a treat, to have a well-developed storyline with original characters, all contained within a book that is a single volume, and not the dreaded "first in a series". "Extraordinary," by Nancy Werlin, is a contemporary tale of teen friendship and love, spiced with fairy intrigue and with a surprising note of Jewish history thrown into the mix as well. Main character Phoebe is a descendant of the wealthy and powerful Rothschilds. As she befriends the mysterious Mallory, Phoebe's life changes in many ways until, after four years, the girls are inseparable. But Mallory and her brother Ryland have their own agenda, and Phoebe's world will be turned upside down. Along the way, Phoebe must try to puzzle out what makes a person special -- extraordinary. This is a well written, fast moving story, quite hard to put down. As in Werlin's previous novel, "Impossible", the mix of modern teen drama and fairy tale is enchanting.
postitsandpens's review against another edition
2.0
Oof. What to say? There was a lot I didn't enjoy about this book, and I might possibly be a bit generous with the 2 stars tbh, but we'll go with this rating because the final few chapters at least kept me engaged. Admittedly, I skimmed a lot of this book towards the middle - I was exhausted by the teenage girl drama, found the argument between Mallory and Phoebe ridiculous and stupid (and not serious enough at all considering why it was done), and the relationship between Phoebe and Ryland was horrible to read about. Admittedly, it's meant to be, as he's manipulating her, but that in and of itself was an issue. Knowing full well the entire time you're reading that Phoebe was being played didn't make for much tension or suspense. The writing was also really choppy, which made it hard to hold my attention. I absolutely loved the first book in this series, but this one? Not so much. Let's hope book three goes better!
bookishblond's review against another edition
3.0
The cover art was way better than the story inside, if that tells you anything.
calypsogilstrap's review against another edition
3.0
Too slow for my liking but it did like that this was based on Wicked and also that there was a historical aspect.
bookgirl4ever's review against another edition
2.0
Phoebe befriends the pitiful new girl in school, Mallory, who we know from the start has been sent from the faerie kingdom for some mission that has to do with Phoebe. Mallory enjoys her friendship with Phoebe and the faerie queen doesn't trust Mallory to carry through with their plans. So the faerie queen sends Mallory's mean brother, Ryland to do the job.
Of course later on we find the mission must be to find a Rothschild descendant who has a particular characteristic, but there is a reference earlier in the book that Phoebe's mean friend could have been the one, which doesn't make sense in the end.
I had a difficulat time with this book. It just seemed to drag on and then when I though it finally getting good (the last 30ish pages) the story lost it's momentum and the ending was anticlimatic. Maybe I'm just the target audience for fairy fiction. This novel is more appropriate for younger audiences than some of the other popular urban fantasy. For 8th grade on up.
Of course later on we find the mission must be to find a Rothschild descendant who has a particular characteristic, but there is a reference earlier in the book that Phoebe's mean friend could have been the one, which doesn't make sense in the end.
I had a difficulat time with this book. It just seemed to drag on and then when I though it finally getting good (the last 30ish pages) the story lost it's momentum and the ending was anticlimatic. Maybe I'm just the target audience for fairy fiction. This novel is more appropriate for younger audiences than some of the other popular urban fantasy. For 8th grade on up.
readwithpassion's review against another edition
3.0
I always enjoy reading Werlin's novels because they are a bit peculiar (in a good way). Phoebe notices Mallory, an odd girl, in school. Mallory agrees to be Phoebe's friend, as long as Phoebe promises not to have any other friends. What Phoebe doesn't know is that Mallory is a faerie, sent by the faerie queen to Earth to glamour Phoebe.