Blog Tour: The Treachery of Beautiful Things - Character Interview + Giveaway

I've got a treat for you guys today!  It's my stop on The Treachery of Beautiful Things Blog Tour, and the Faerie Realm's own Jack o' the Forest is here for an interview.  But first, a little about the author and the book:



A lifelong fan of fantasy, romance, and ancient mysteries, Ruth Frances Long studied English Literature, History of Religions, and Celtic Civilization in college and now works in a specialized library of rare and unusual books. She lives in County Wicklow, Ireland. The Treachery of Beautiful Things is her first novel for teens.

Find out more about Ruth Frances Long and her books:

website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Title:  The Treachery of Beautiful Things
Author:  Ruth Frances Long
Series:  n/a
Publisher:  Dial Books
Publication Date:  August 16, 2012
Purchase:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A darkly compelling mix of romance, fairy tale, and suspense from a new voice in teen fiction.

The trees swallowed her brother whole, and Jenny was there to see it. Now seventeen, she revisits the woods where Tom was taken, resolving to say good-bye at last. Instead, she's lured into the trees, where she finds strange and dangerous creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them is Jack, mercurial and magnetic, with secrets of his own. Determined to find her brother, with or without Jack's help, Jenny struggles to navigate a faerie world where stunning beauty masks some of the most treacherous evils, and she's faced with a choice between salvation or sacrifice--and not just her own.

An Interview with Jack

So, Jack, without spoiling anything for those who haven't read your story yet, can you tell us how you came to be a Jack and what exactly a Jack is?

I came to be a Jack because I lost a war, and a love, through many failures—my own and others. To be a Jack is to be a slave, and to be forever cut off from yourself and what you truly are.


You go by many names -- Jack o' the Forest, Jack in Green -- but what name best suits you?  What name would you choose for yourself if given the opportunity?

I am simply Jack. That is, after all, what Jenny calls me.


Your loyalty is questioned time and again throughout this story, but in the end, Jenny seems to trust you.  What do you attribute that to?

Jenny’s heart is so great it gives her the ability to see things in others that they can no longer see in themselves.


Speaking of Jenny, what was your very first impression of her, faerie politics aside?

I noticed her freckles first, a small imperfection which made her so much more real. I saw that she was mortal, a brief flame, but that inwardly she is a fire beyond anything the Realm can kindle. Where she sees imperfection, I see all the wonderful things that make her unique.


In our world, we've heard many a tale spun about Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, as he is also known.  You consider him a friend, even though his loyalty ultimately lies with Oberon.  So, what's he really like?

Ah, the hobgoblin. Let me tell you about Puck and heed my words. You can only trust Puck if you have him tied in a sack, and even then he’ll lie to get you to let him out. But he means well, and would do good if he could. He’s the closest thing I have to a friend.


What's your favorite thing about the Faerie Realm?  Least favorite?

The Realm is my home, the place that made me. I cannot help but love it. To deny its beauty is to deny breathing. My least favorite thing is the way it corrupts good intentions and twists them until they decay into something dark and terrible. That, and its Queen.


Describe a typical day for a Jack.

I wake with a hole inside me, part of myself gone forever, as if I am trying to remember something I have lost. Throughout the day, as I guard the Edge, it seems that I might grasp this lost thing, but the course of a day never changes. As the sun goes down and night draws in, I know I will lose it again.


If you had it to do all over again, which would you choose:  to go back to your life before you were a Jack, or are you happy with how your story ended?

As long as I can be near Jenny, I’ll be happy. To go back might mean losing her, or succumbing to the decay at the heart of the Realm. I couldn’t do that. Some things are best forgotten.

____________

Awww!!! That Jack is just a big ole softy at the core, at least when it comes to his Jenny.

Be sure to check out my review of The Treachery of Beautiful Things and enter below to win your own copy!  The Treachery of Beautiful Things releases next week on August 16th.

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Labels: blog tour, character interview, faeries, giveaways, penguin, ruth frances long, the treachery of beautiful things

Review: The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long

Title:  The Treachery of Beautiful Things
Author:  Ruth Frances Long
Series:  n/a
Publisher:  Dial Books
Publication Date:  August 16, 2012
Source:  galley from publisher
Purchase:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A darkly compelling mix of romance, fairy tale, and suspense from a new voice in teen fiction.

The trees swallowed her brother whole, and Jenny was there to see it. Now seventeen, she revisits the woods where Tom was taken, resolving to say good-bye at last. Instead, she's lured into the trees, where she finds strange and dangerous creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them is Jack, mercurial and magnetic, with secrets of his own. Determined to find her brother, with or without Jack's help, Jenny struggles to navigate a faerie world where stunning beauty masks some of the most treacherous evils, and she's faced with a choice between salvation or sacrifice--and not just her own.

One of the things I loved best about The Treachery of Beautiful Things was that it kept to the more traditional faerie lore  -- think more A Midsummer Night’s Dream and less Wings.  And several favorites from the Shakespearian comedy appear in the novel, as well, making it feel as if I was visiting old friends.  I love faerie stories and was glad to see that this particular tale was a return to the faerie world I’ve always known and loved, steeped in rich folklore and magical creatures.

The imagery used to describe the Faerie Realm is phenomenal, if not surreal.  Ruth Frances Long depicts a world untouched by human technology, full of wonder and magic and unimaginable beauty.  But our heroine Jenny soon finds out that the treachery of the Faerie Realm lies in the simplistic nature of things, for nothing is ever as it seems.  The more she travels the Realm with Jack and Puck, the more she comes to realize this truth.

Jenny’s story is a bit sad.  On her way home from a music lesson with her brother, the trees reached out and stole him from her.  Of course, anyone she tells this story to deems her crazy or fanciful.  Seven years later, as Jenny is preparing to go off to college, she goes to the forest that took her brother so long ago in hopes of making peace with his disappearance and saying a final goodbye to the brother she loved so much.  Turns out, the forest wants her, too.

Once in the Faerie Realm, Jenny’s only objective is to retrieve Tom and return home.  She is determined and intelligent but by no means is she any match for the Realm and its inhabitants, especially once they know she’s there and what her future holds.  Jack and Puck try to keep her safe and repeatedly try to coax her into leaving the forest for good, but Jenny refuses to leave without Tom.

And so Jenny spends much of her time traipsing through the forest with her companions, oblivious to what’s right in front of her.  She’s a damsel in near-constant distress, but it doesn’t grate on my nerves like it might in other novels.  After all, she is in a magical world with no powers of her own to speak of.  Plus, her rescuer is Jack o’ the Forest and his character left me with no complaints.  He was complex and difficult to decipher…the yin to her yang, so to speak.  Their romance in the novel isn’t all touchy-feely, and it isn’t really the focus of the story until the end, but it was still beautiful and, I don’t know…fulfilling?  You know how some love stories leave you feeling like it was just a romance of convenience, not like the characters were really meant to fall in love, just that they did so for the sake of advancing the plot?  Yeah, the romance in Treachery isn’t like that at all.  It’s well-developed over the course of the novel, with neither party realizing it was happening or at least denying it to themselves or anyone who risked mentioning it.  It wasn’t cute or sweet, it was simply lovely.

I loved all of the characters in this book, even the ones I wasn’t supposed to, including the fierce Oberon and the creepy Mab.  But my favorite was probably Wayland.  He was but a bit player, though his part nearly cemented the future for Jack.  I always enjoy the character who foresees the future, giving you vague details but then won’t tell you what they mean.  And then of course he gives Jack a gift that could kill him as soon as help him.  It’s good to have a guy like that on your side, rather than working against you.

The Treachery of Beautiful Things is a lesson in love, loyalty and trust.  It's a charming story told amidst unsettling things, but it's one of the better faerie tales I've read.  It's also a stand-alone, which means that you're not committing to yet another series if you're smart and decide to give it a try.

My favorite quote:

"Every game has its Jacks," she said, the sadness of it pulling down the elation of sudden understanding.  "The thing that acts as a wild card.  It can't be counted on or predicted.  A weapon, even.  But he's in other places, too, isn't he?  And do you know what else a Jack is, Puck?...I do." - p. 325 of galley

And I posted this teaser a couple of weeks ago:

"She was talking to a tree.  Just talking to a tree.  Totally normal.  People probably did it every day here.  They're only trees.  She fought an insane urge to laugh."  -- p. 181 of galley

Rating: 

Be sure to check out my stop tomorrow on The Treachery of Beautiful Things Blog Tour, too.  I'm interviewing Jack, plus you'll have a chance to win your own copy of this fantastic novel!

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Labels: faeries, penguin, reviews, ruth frances long, the treachery of beautiful things

Teaser Tuesday #15: The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


This week's teaser comes from the following book:

Title:  The Treachery of Beautiful Things
Author:  Ruth Frances Long
Series:  n/a
Publisher:  Dial Books
Publication Date:  August 16, 2012
Source:  galley from publisher
Purchase:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A darkly compelling mix of romance, fairy tale, and suspense from a new voice in teen fiction.

The trees swallowed her brother whole, and Jenny was there to see it. Now seventeen, she revisits the woods where Tom was taken, resolving to say good-bye at last. Instead, she's lured into the trees, where she finds strange and dangerous creatures who seem to consider her the threat. Among them is Jack, mercurial and magnetic, with secrets of his own. Determined to find her brother, with or without Jack's help, Jenny struggles to navigate a faerie world where stunning beauty masks some of the most treacherous evils, and she's faced with a choice between salvation or sacrifice--and not just her own.

My teaser:

"She was talking to a tree.  Just talking to a tree.  Totally normal.  People probably did it every day here.  They're only trees.  She fought an insane urge to laugh."  -- p. 181 of galley

I've barely started this book, but while I was searching for a good teaser, I totally got sucked in and read on past the page I had up on the screen of my Nook.  So, as soon as I'm done here, I'm going to get right back to it.  Love the cover.  Love stories about faeries.  And I saw the name Puck while I was skimming!  Eeeek!

What book has you all giddy with the teasing this week?

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Labels: faeries, penguin, ruth frances long, teaser tuesday, the treachery of beautiful things