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 hasnt 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? ( )

The cover art was way better than the story inside, if that tells you anything. ( )

Liked most of the story, but not the comparison between the Jews and the faeries. ( )

Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin is a fantasy novel that resembles her earlier work, Impossible, just with more mythological creatures attached. Phoebe and Mallory are best friends in high school, but the appearance of Mallory's older brother, Ryland, starts to change things. Phoebe feels an unnatural attraction towards Ryland, and he slowly gets inside her head, managing to manipulate her thoughts without her even knowing it. Eventually though, the truth gets out, and it's revealed that Mallory and Ryland are not who they appear to be. They've come to Phoebe to collect a family debt, and they're not going to leave until they get it. All they need to do is prove that Phoebe is ordinary, but this proves to be more of a challenge than they expect, and they're left to question whether Phoebe is, in fact, truly extraordinary. ( )

Good solid YA girl friendship-fairy tale mashup. Rather abrupt ending. Great characters and folklore. Will read this author again. ( )