Extraordinary

Extraordinaryby Nancy Werlin

Phoebe finds herself drawn to Mallory, the strange and secretive new kid in school, and the two girls become as close as sisters . . . until Mallory's magnetic older brother, Ryland, shows up during their junior year. Ryland has an immediate, exciting hold on Phoebe, but a dangerous hold, for she begins to question her feelings about her best friend and, worse, about herself. Soon she'll discover the shocking truth about Ryland and Mallory: that these two are visitors from the faerie realm who have come to collect on an age-old debt. Generations ago, the faerie queen promised Pheobe's ancestor five extraordinary sons in exchange for the sacrifice of one ordinary female heir. But in hundreds of years there hasn't been a single ordinary girl in the family, and now the faeries are dying. Could Phoebe be the first ordinary one? Could she save the faeries, or is she special enough to save herself? (goodreads.com)

There was something that called to me when I received an email about Extraordinary. I can't put my finger on it and the summary isn't what did it. Maybe the title font? The cover? I just felt like I needed to read this book. Sadly it took me a while between receiving it and reading it. That trickled over into a lag between finishing it and writing this review. I just don't seem to have any time this month. October has been brutal to the point that my friends and I have renamed it Sucktober. ;) I have one major weekend coming up and that should be the end of the extra work stress and lack of free time for a while.I hope.But back to the book, because if you wanted to read about my every day life you'd be reading my other blog. ;)I loved Mallory. I think I read the entire book as fast as I did because I was drawn to Mallory from the first instant she appears on the page.  Phoebe was ok as a main character and I didn't like Ryland at all, but I loved Mallory.I loved the alternating chapters with Faerie Queen conversations. I felt that added a sense of mystery and intrigue to the story that would not have been there without them.Even though the story is simple and there aren't any big surprises you can't already figure out, I still felt there was an air of thriller-y goodness to the story. You know the Other Shoe Will Drop, you just don't know when. I kept reading drawn to the story and drawn to the plot even though I figured I knew how it will end.I think a lot of what I was drawn to was the author's writing style and I am totally going to be adding Impossible, her first book, to my reading list. There was something comforting about reading this book, like I was reading a book from a favourite author maybe? A book that I didn't have to think much about but still enjoyed from cover to cover anyhow. It was just what I needed during a rough month and a poor reading month.I'm going to be interested in what my blog friends think of this book as well. I'm watching your blogs for reviews!Thanks to Penguin Group Canada for the book! I was not disappointed!