95. Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr...

Title: Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely #4)
Author: Melissa Marr
ISBN-13: 9780061659225
Hardcover: 340 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

FTC Disclosure: My copy of Radiant Shadows came from the library. I am an affiliate at IndieBound, The Book Depository, and Amazon, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

drey's thoughts:
This next installment in Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series deals with consequences. For Sorcha, the Unchanging Queen who tied a mortal to her world by making him faery. For Devlin, the High Queen's Bloodied Hands, who kept secrets from his Queen. For Ani, one of those secrets, whose maturing has drawn the attention of War.

A tale of changes--even for the Unchanging Queen, chaos erupting, Faerie unbalanced. And through it all, Devlin tries to do his best to protect Faerie, Ani, and Seth, even if it may not comply with his High Queen's wishes. When it all winds down, Faerie is behind the Veil, and there is a new court to balance the Unchanging Queen's influence.

Radiant Shadows is my favorite Wicked Lovely so far!

drey's rating: 3.5/5 Very Good

Challenges: 100+, Pub, Support Your Local Library

88. Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr...

Title: Fragile Eternity (Wicked Lovely #3)
Author: Melissa Marr
ISBN-13: 9780061214714
Hardcover: 389 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2009
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

FTC Disclosure: Fragile Eternity came for a visit from my local library. I am an affiliate at IndieBound, The Book Depository, and Amazon, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

drey's thoughts:
Ah, Seth. Aislinn finally confess her feelings for him, just as she takes Keenan's test for Summer Queen. And passes. So now he has the girl, but he has to share her with the entire Summer Court. Which probably doesn't rankle as much as the fact that Keenan is King of said court. Tired of feeling left out, knowing that Keenan's just waiting for Seth's mortality to take its toll, Seth decides to take matters into his own hands and goes looking for the only faery who can give him what he wants most--to be immortal, so he can stay with Aislinn forever.

While he's gone, however, the balance between Keenan, Aislinn, and Donia starts to fray. And what Seth is most afraid of--losing Aislinn--might well happen because he's not there for her.

This third book in Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series focuses more on the complicated knots around Seth and Aislinn, Aislinn and Keenan, Keenan and Donia, and Niall and the other three regents. And all around them, Bananach weaves her web for war and discord. Radiant Shadows is up on the "reading" block, but only after I'm done with a few others that're waiting for review. So many books, so little time!

drey's rating: 3.5/5 Very Good

Challenges: 100+, Support Your Local Library

82. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr...

Title: Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely #2)
Author: Melissa Marr
ISBN-13: 9780061214684
Hardcover: 325 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2008
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

FTC Disclosure: My copy of Ink Exchange visited from my local library. I am an affiliate at IndieBound, The Book Depository, and Amazon, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

drey's thoughts:
Ink Exchange continues Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series, focusing on one of Aislinn's best friends, Leslie.

Leslie has been through quite a lot, since her mother died. Her father's absent or drunk, her brother's a drug dealer who forgets that big brothers are supposed to protect their little sisters. Not being able to do anything about either of them, Leslie plans. And waits for the day she can leave them both behind, for good.

In between the planning and the waiting and the finishing-up-school, Leslie gets a tattoo, as a symbol of the changes she wants--and needs--to make in her life. Unbeknownst to her, however, the pattern she picks out will tie her to the Dark Fae. More specifically, to Irial, their King. Oh, the tangled webs we weave when we're trying our utmost to protect those we love. If only Aislinn trusted Leslie, like she trusted Seth, with the existence of faerie all around them. Then maybe Leslie wouldn't have gotten entangled with the fae at all. But she does. And in doing so, irrevocably changes her own life, as well as Irial's.

I'm really liking this series. Ink Exchange is darker than Wicked Lovely, but while there's angst, there's also a lot of strength in how the characters react to their situations.

The next two books are now on my library hold list.

drey's rating: 3.5/5 Very Good

Challenges: 100+, Support Your Local Library

79. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr...

Title: Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely #1)
Author: Melissa Marr
ISBN-13: 9780061214677
Hardcover: 328 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2008
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

FTC Disclosure: My copy of Wicked Lovely finally got read after patiently waiting--both on the library hold list and on my bookshelf. I am an affiliate for IndieBound, The Book Depository, and Amazon, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

drey's thoughts:
I read Alyson Noel's Evermore and Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely back to back. They were both library books that needed to be returned soon-ish, and I was tired of picking up books I wanted to read, but returning them before I got the chance to. Anyway. I picked up Wicked Lovely because I thought the cover was totally cool, and because I'd hard a lot of good things about Melissa Marr. And, I have to say, it didn't disappoint.

Aislinn is a rare young woman--she can see faeries. And her grandmother has cautioned her to not let them know, so she's spent her life ignoring the fae all around--whether glamored or invisible. But one day, ignoring the fae is no longer possible--they are actively seeking her out. Well, one of them is, anyway.

Keenan is the Summer King, bound at birth by none other than his mother, the Wicked Witch of the West. Er, sorry--the Winter Queen. (I had visions of Tilda Swinton as Beria while I was reading.) Anyway. Keenan has spent 900 years seeking out his Summer Queen, and every mortal who fails the test of the Winter Queen's staff is bound to winter, doomed to live with the cold until the next candidate fails the test and supplants her. The current Winter Girl, Donia, still loves Keenan, and is conflicted between hoping for release from winter's grasp and losing Keenan, and watching him lose power the longer winter holds the earth in its grasp.

So. There's a plot--wicked mother reveling in her ill-gotten power trying to stop her son from achieving his potential. There's a triangle--actually, there are two, as Aislinn also has a beau. There's drama--will she consent to the test and help the Summer King? Will Donia help Aislinn and Keenan or bow to the Winter Queen? There's angst--this is a YA novel, after all. And all of it's wrapped up nicely in a tale of faeries, mortals, and choices. The best part of Wicked Lovely? Aislinn is not whiny. She can be melodramatic, conflicted, and confused, but she is never whiny. She is good, though, and that colors her decisions.

Wicked Lovely is a darn good read for fans of the YA paranormal genre. I've got Ink Exchange waiting its turn (hopefully patiently!)...

drey's rating: 3.5/5 Very Good

Challenges: 100+, Support Your Local Library