Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin

Extraordinary
Author: Nancy Werlin
Publisher: Dial Books (an imprint of Penguin Group)
Published: 9/7/2010
Edition: Hardcover
* Purchased on my own.

Summary from GoodReads: 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?

My Thoughts: 

I confess, I love stories that involve faeries as something other than frou-frou creatures and Extraordinary does just that. The story begins with a fourteen year old Phoebe Rothschild befriending Mallory Tolliver--a fae girl sent to influence Phoebe by the faerie queen--and there was a shoe reference that I could not help but grin about--because yes, I regret to admit that I had a shoe obsession. Anyways! From there, we time skip ahead four years at which point in time, Mallory reveals to Phoebe that her (Mallory's) 'brother' Ryland will be coming to live with them and then things really get interesting. As their previous attempt to control Phoebe failed, Ryland is brought in to twist her around his finger and convince her to do what they believe must be done to restore the faerie race to its former glory. Why Phoebe? Because Mayer Rothschild made a deal with the faerie queen several generations ago in which he would gain five extraordinary sons in exchange for one ordinary daughter of his line--to be picked at a later date. Unfortunately, the fae are running out of power and because of this, they're dying and well, running out of time. Thus, they really need to find the ordinary Rothschild girl immediately. 

This was, a pretty speedy read--although yes, it's 390 pages of reading--and no, it's not a romance (at least I personally wouldn't mark it as such). This is the story of a girl who lives in such an extraordinary world that she feels quite ordinary and people tend to play upon that--which only makes her feel even less extraordinary. However, as the story progresses she learns--and mentions--that no one wants to admit to being ordinary and that love can often make one feel extraordinary. Personally, I feel that this is an extremely valid point--and that I can tell you this without ruining the story for you--and although the ending wasn't quite what I had expected, it wasn't precisely a bad ending either. It was simply an ending. 

Overall Rating:  ★★★★