Review: The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long - Farah

Title: The Treachery of Beautiful Things

Author: Ruth Frances Long 

Publication date: August 16th, 2012

Publisher: Dial Books

Genre(s): Young Adult (Fantasy, Paranormal)

Challenges: A-Z, Debut

Source: NetGalley
Format: Digital ARC

Pages: 384

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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.

The Treachery of Beautiful Things started of as a very interesting book. I started it with no expectations what so ever, and I wasn't even sure I was going to enjoy it. The main protagonist, Jenny, had a brother who was swollen by a tree seven years ago. Jenny's brother, Tom, can no longer be found anywhere. No one believe Jenny, when she told them that Tom was swollen by a tree. She was only ten, and they thought she was making it all up. Jenny went to psychiatrists and doctors, and nothing helped. People told her she was hallucinating, and imagining things, but she was sure about what she saw.  One day, she walks by the same forest, and hears her brother's flute playing. She can notice her brother's playing anywhere, and she was sure it was him. She ran into the forest, until she was lost. Lost into the realm.

It was very interesting to find out that Jenny got sucked into the magical world. Ruth Frances Long was really good at describing the magical world, because I really found myself smiling at her beautiful descriptions. It felt like I was reading a fairytale. Which wasn't boring, but very magical. When Jane is there, she meets Jack. Jack o' the Forest. Jack is determined to send her back to her help, and gets his friends to take care of her. Things happen, nasty things, and that's when the story starts evolving. Jenny is a very strong character, and that made me like her a lot. Though sometimes she got a bit reckless, not caring about whatever would happen to her just to find her brother. The romance between Jenny and Jack was simple. It didn't feel heavy, and I guess I liked it that way. While reading, some details in the book were confusing to understand. At that point, through the middle of the book, the Realm started to become confusing for me to imagine. At first it was very mystical, but then I guess there was too much detail. Sometimes, something that would have been described in one paragraph, took one page. That had me skimming through the lines, and just wanting to read the dialogue. I guess that's when the book started to bore me a bit. It took too much time for things to get to the point, and that made me kind of frustrated as well. Into the ending of the book, I really liked it! It did get more interesting, and I hoped it was interesting through all the book. 

Overall, it was a good book to read. I wasn't disappointed or shocked, because it was fine. It wasn't entirely boring or entirely interesting either. Though I did close the book with a smile on my face, because I though the ending was just too adorable! It wasn't what I was expecting at all, and I guess that made me like the book a bit more. I would recommend this to all young adult paranormal readers. A different intake in paranormal creatures.