Rating: 
Summary: Young Adult Read to Satisfy the Adult
Review: I think I was told this was a young adult book, but I am in love with the Fae so I had to give it a try. I LOVE it. I am definitely going to look for other work from this author. The book moved at a nice steady pace and for only 200 something pages, you were not left needing more detail. Everything was nicely filled in. Now as an adult, this ended WAY to fast. I would have like to seen more of that happily ever after story with the elf Aelvarim (sp) and the human Piper. Either way, if you are looking for a nice quick read, I would go fir it. Or even if you are looking for your child to read, go for it. Nice story.
Rating:
Summary: Happy reading on a Sunday afternoon
Review: I was looking for a nice, short, cheerful book to read in one sitting. I read the reviews for Eccentric Circles, and decided that it sounded about right. I went out and bought it within 15 minutes. I finished the book about an hour ago, and it was exactly what I had expected: a quick, yet enjoyable read.Piper Pied has just inherited a Victorian cottage from her deceased Great-Grandmother. She isn't looking forward to cleaning up the endless piles of books that take over every room, but it might provide some inspiration for her writing. However, to Piper's great surprise, she wakes up one morning to find a breathtakingly handsome young elf called Aelvarim sitting at her kitchen table. He tells her that her grandmother didn't really die of old age, but that she was murdered. Piper must find the murderer, and fix the story that her grandmother started writing before she died. Meanwhile, Fairy and the real world are pulling apart, and rifts begin to appear; anything that touches them ceases to exist. Piper is running out of time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially the humor and Piper's eccentric family. I only gave it 4 stars, however, because I felt that the characters weren't as developed as they could have been, and that the relationship between Piper and Aelvarim didn't seem as emotional as it did physical. If you like fantasy novels with deep underlying meanings, complex plots, and believable characters, then this is not the book for you. But if you prefer a light read with humor, romance, and fairies thrown in the mix, then you will love this book as much as I did. All in all I thought it was a worthwhile read, and I will be coming back to it time and time again, whenever the mood strikes me.
Rating:
Summary: A Delightful Read
Review: I've been going through a craving for light-weight fantasy lately and this book fit the bill. The premise of the dark eating the link between the realms of fanstasy of the mundane world was a little lame, but the characters were so enjoyable that I'd love to see another book from Lickiss. If you've been reading Diane Duane's Young Wizards series to get your Harry Potter fix, try this book. Piper is a heroine to root for, the idea of knowing where you want to go and walking out the back door to fantasyland is sweet. I'd love to see the back story of the Grandmother's adventures in the realm before she died and left Piper the house....
Rating: 
Summary: Cute
Review: Lickiss has created a fun story of the interaction between the fairy and human worlds. Piper, an aspiring writer, inherits her great-grandmother's house. As she moves in, she discovers that she not only inherited a dusty book-cluttered home, but what seems to be a portal between the fairy and human worlds. The characters that she meets in that new world first persuade her to believe in fairy and then help her solve the mystery of her grandmother's death. Overall, this is a fun story with some very amusing parts (what would you do if an exceedingly handsome elf showed up one morning at your breakfast table?!) But while the story is fun, it does not hold together well. Characters slip in and out of the story, leaving one confused as to who in the story is important. Similarily, elements such as the main character's affinity for writing seem important but are not really developed. I also found myself wanting a better explaination of how stories written in the human world affect the fairy world. It was a great idea, but not pursued as far as it should have been. Nevertheless, it is a cute book and its short length makes it a great choice for a fun evenings read.
Rating:
Summary: a day at the beach read
Review: nice light reading but nothing special
Rating: 
Summary: very good
Review: Piper is a pretty normal person (except for her name - Piper Pied) she wants to be an author. But then she enharits her grandmothers house, and things start getting wierd. First she wakes up to an elf, sitting calmly at the kitchen table, who tells her that her Grandmother was murdered and that if they dont find her grandmothers unfinished story everything could go wrong. At first Piper thinks hes an escaped lunatic, but starts to belive him after he takes her through the kitchen door, into another world. This world is having serious problems, like being eaten by black holes, which are spreading very quickly. Piper goes back to her own world in denial. Until at her knew job she sees her boss putting magazines into one of those holes with out noticing, so the search is on, Piper knows she has to find the story, before its too late, and both world are sucked into oblivion This is a great book, I recomended it to all my friends and they loved it! I hope Rebecca Lickiss writes more books! Sorry if I spelled any words wrong
Rating:
Summary: A bautiful adult fairytale
Review: Piper Pied considers herself to be the only normal person in her eccentric family, but that does not stop her from choking up at her grandmother's funeral. Since Piper shoveled the first payload of dirt on the grave, she inherits a Victorian house sitting on a secluded plot. Working part-time Piper feels she has the right atmosphere and the amount of time to write stories. On her first morning in her new home, she finds a strange man in her kitchen. He introduces himself as Aelvarim, an elf. He explains that her house sits on the corner between the worlds of man and fairy. He also insists someone killed her grandmother and apparently stole the manuscript she was working on before her murder. To insure the tale has a "happily ever after" ending, Aelvarim insists they must recover the book. At first Piper figures the stud muffin in her kitchen is another harmless lunatic until she steps into the land of the fairy. Now her adventures are just beginning with two realms at stake. ECCENTRIC CIRCLE is a fun to read urban fantasy novel populated with creatures out of myths, legends, and a few humans. Piper is a strong person who does everything she is capable of doing to make things right for both orbs. Rebecca Lickiss is a witty storyteller who uses humor to lighten a serious plot. Hopefully readers will see more adventures of Piper and company in both planes, but especially on the other side of the vortex. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Eminently enjoyable!
Review: Piper Pied Dickerson comes from an eccentric family, but she doesn't know half of it. When her grandmother dies, Piper inherits a house with a strange feature: it is a connection point between our reality and Faerie. When a strikingly handsome elf named Aelvarim shows up, and informs Piper that Grandma Dickerson was murdered, Piper's life goes from upside-down to inside-out! As reality unravels in both worlds, it's up to Piper to find the murderer, straighten reality, and sort out her feelings for Aelvarim. This is no small task! This is an eminently enjoyable book! The characters are odd, but in a believable sense, giving this book a solid foot in reality, even as it flies off into the ether of fantasy. I liked the way that the author handles the narrative, keeping me reading when I should be turning off the light. Bravo! This is a great book, one well worth your reading time!
Rating:
Summary: Cute fantasy story
Review: Rebecca Lickiss's debut novel has charm, wit, and an underlying cuteness, and near the end displays an unusual intensity and strength. It's not clear why many reviewers seem to expect this to be an earth-shattering fantasy, when that is clearly not what Lickiss is aiming for. Unpublished writer Piper Pied's grandmother has just died, and Piper finds that the house has been left to the first person to throw dirt on the coffin -- her. She settles down into her new sanctum, only to be disturbed when a decidedly attractive elf appears in her kitchen. Aelvarim turns out to be an old friend of Piper's grandmother. He then introduces her to the world of Fairy through one of the house's doors, where tiny sprites flit around and pull her hair, a woman-hating wizard growls, and a cheerful dwarf digs up "stuff" in a mine. But all is not lightness and air. Aelvarim is unswerving in his belief that Grandmother was murdered, and soon Piper begins to believe it as well. Upon learning that Fairy and its inhabitants can be altered by fiction from the human world, Piper begins the search for a book that was never finished -- and her grandmother's murderer. Lickiss seems to be aware that few elements of her book are truly new -- in fact, in places she spoofs the conventions of fantasy and magic. At one point, Malraux the dwarf explains a few things about the dark and high elves ("If you ask me, the elves over the water are nothing but a bunch of snobs"), and about the conventional mindset for a wizard. When Aelvarim describes how fiction alters Fairy, he ends it off by praising a certain person for his muscular, handsome physique: "Thank goodness for Tolkien." That and a joke about "feminine matrices" add an element of humor into the plot that help buoy it up. One of the biggest difficulties is that the cast of characters is quite small, and the number of Fairy denizens is even smaller. It makes the possibilities for the murderer quite limited; though Lickiss is clearly at home in small casts, in future books with a "murder mystery" theme she may want to expand the cast slightly. Hints are also dropped about the murderer throughout the plot, with the result that I could guess who it was relatively soon. (And I'm not very good at solving murder mysteries) On the other hand, it's refreshing to read a fantasy where the romance element doesn't become too overwhelming; there is nothing headier than a few intense kisses. Piper is a pretty good heroine; at times she seems a little too restrained around the Fairy inhabitants, but is a pretty normal young woman with no exceptional qualities. She is also an unpublished writer, which may endear her to aspiring writers. Aelvarim is a charming character, though I preferred the scenes where his alienness rather than attractiveness is emphasized. He has a childlike enthusiasm and naivete which shows up in such scenes as when he marvels at a shopping mall or tries to use Piper's toaster. Malraux the dwarf is a fun character, with a mischievous sense of humor; the pixies are not really too important to the plot. "Eccentric Circles" is a good first novel, and a good light book for those who like a sweet, often charming read.
Rating:
Summary: Great Feel-Good read
Review: Right now we all feel the need to unwind and Eccentric Circles is the perfect company to unwind with. If the general gloom and stress have been getting you down, brew yourself a cup of hot chocolate and sit in your comfy chair with Eccentric circles. A few hours in the company of Piper, her delightfully loony family and her elf-friend Aelvarim will make you feel like you just had a vacation. So indulge. It contains no calories, no artificial ingredients and though some of us regret the great lack of elf nudity, it does make the book rather wholesome. Probably good for you, actually.
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