[4] The story follows main protagonist, Aislinn, who is attempting to navigate through adolescent life alongside a constant struggle with her life-long ability to see faeries and fey-kind.

Marr also comments in interviews and author bios how, due to growing up believing in magical and mythical creatures and ideas, her books are strongly influenced by folklore and fairytales.

[8] Reviews for the novel have been mostly positive, having received praise and acclaim from several notable names, including Publishers Weekly, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.

Annette Klause spoke highly of the work in The Washington Post, praising the "fully realized" world and the romance,[11] while other reviewers, such as Charles de Lint, highlight both the tight plotting and the characterization.

[12] Nevertheless, there is some concern with the character of the Winter Queen: Klause found her to "a little too over the top to be totally threatening",[11] while de Lint simply describes her as "a bit of a stock villain".

[12] The novel is described as being aimed at the Young Adult market, and some reviews chose to emphasize this, noting that the sexual tension and the "underlying darkness" ensure that Wicked Lovely is primarily appropriate for the over 12's.

[13][14] Book reviewer Matt Berman with Common Sense Media comments that, although it begins to tackle some mature themes that arise within young adult fiction, its "strong, fluid, and respectful characters are an asset" as they face both supernatural and adolescent issues, and is rated for ages 13+.

In 2011 it was announced that Wicked Lovely had been optioned by Universal[20] Mary Harron had been attached as the director and Caroline Thompson was named to write the screenplay, but the movie was abandoned and put into turnaround that same year.