Stolen Away

Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Soon after her 17th birthday, Eloise started seeing Faeries everywhere. Unfortunately, that means they can also see through the glamour that’s been hiding her. She is wanted by Lord Strahan, king of Faery, and she has no idea why. A fierce warrior named Lucas shows up claiming that he is pledged to her, which makes him honor-bound to defend her, but Eloise is unsure whether she should trust him or not. Her best friends Jo and Devin are there to help her every step of the way, and even try to save her when Strahan finally succeeds in kidnapping her. Conveniently enough, Jo has been Touched at some point in her life, so she also has the ability to see the Fae.

Unfortunately, Stolen Away is a pretty generic YA paranormal, made better only by Alyxandra Harvey’s bright sense of humor. Even that, however, cannot compete with the humor in her vampire series, The Drake Chronicles, simply because she failed to create another character that would be nearly as amusing as Lucy. Jo had definite potential, she is stubborn, audacious and very smart, with a big mouth that refuses to close even at the worst of times, but she still doesn’t have Lucy’s warmth and I didn’t really believe her loyalty to Eloise like I believe Lucy’s loyalty to Solange and the rest of the Drakes.

It made sense for Harvey to create two very different couples. Eloise and Lucas, who do everything right, never break the rules and, truthfully, never show that much passion, and Jo and Eldric, both rebels and both full of confidence and fire. I’m quite sure that Eloise and Lucas will have their fans: those who enjoy a steady, non-turbulent romance without too many uncertainties and will-they-won’t-they moments. While I didn’t really feel anything more than mild affection for them, Jo and Eldric had me jumping up and down in my seat and rooting for them wholeheartedly. Another thing I really liked is that there wasn’t even a hint of a love triangle, even though I kept expecting it to rear its ugly head as soon as Devin entered the picture. It’s usually the nerdy best friend that ends up being hurt in these things, but Devin was refreshingly uninterested in either of the girls.


So to conclude, I can always count on Alyxandra Harvey to make me laugh. While Stolen Away certainly isn’t her best work, it’s still a pretty good choice when you just want to relax and have some fun.