Darkest Mercy (Wicked Lovely #5) by Melissa Marr

Genre: romance & fantasy
Series and Book #: Wicked Lovely #5
Pages: 327
Synopsis:

Send the messengers for the Faery Courts. This is the end.

The Summer King is missing; the Dark Court is bleeding; and a stranger walks the streets of Huntsdale, his presence signifying the deaths of powerful fey.

Aislinn tends to the Summer Court, searching for her absent king and yearning for Seth. Torn between his new queen and his old love, Keenan works from afar to strengthen his court against the coming war. Donia longs for fiery passion even as she coolly readies the Winter Court for battle. And Seth, sworn brother of the Dark King and heir to the High Queen, is about to make a mistake that count cost his life.

Love, despair, and betrayal ignite the Faery Courts, and in the final conflict, some will win…and some will lose everything.

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Finally, finally, finally I've been able to read the final Wicked Lovely book! As much as I'd obsessed over it since February, I hadn't been given an opportunity to read it until now. It was such a kaleidoscope of love and loyalty, choices and deaths, and twists that were heart-wrenching and tear-jerking.

I haven't read the previous book, Radiant Shadows, since last year and I had mostly forgotten what had happened in some aspects. Melissa did a wonderful job of filling in the gaps by explaining little things about the prequels. She was also wonderful in developing her characters. During the fight against Bananach, you really are rooting for all the regents and their courts. And when people died (not saying who) I really felt for them, which you don't get to often in books.

What I loved about this finish is that Melissa tied up every loose end and answered every question. She also gave us peeks inside each court and from each perspective, although the Shadow Court wasn't really featured in this book (which I thought was disappointing since I was in love with Devlin and Ani) but you saw glimpses of the Winter, Summer, and Dark courts, and there were thoughts from Aislinn, Donia, Keenan, Niall, and other miscellaneous but important faeries. I thought it brought the story together so you weren't left wondering what was happening elsewhere.

Overall, this was a perfect conclusion to what is one of my all-time favorite series. Melissa's characters really stick to you and you can't help but love them no matter how idiotic they can be. She also added so many different twists in the story that left me speechless. Seriously, if you've been holding off reading this book, don't because it's absolutely amazing.

The Cover: You know what I found interesting? It's the exact opposite of the first cover. On the first one, it was Aislinn holding a frozen flower and on this cover it's Donia holding a flower filled with sunlight. Clever, very clever indeed.

Release: Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr

The Summer King is missing; the Dark Court is bleeding; and a stranger walks the streets of Huntsdale, his presence signifying the deaths of powerful fey.

Aislinn tends to the Summer Court, searching for her absent king and yearning for Seth. Torn between his new queen and his old love, Keenan works from afar to strengthen his court against the coming war. Donia longs for fiery passion even as she coolly readies the Winter Court for battle. And Seth, sworn brother of the Dark King and heir to the High Queen, is about to make a mistake that could cost his life.

Love, despair, and betrayal ignite the Faery Courts, and in the final conflict, some will win . . . and some will lose everything.

The thrilling conclusion to Melissa Marr's New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series will leave readers breathless.
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Ach! Do you know what day it is? IT'S THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!! (Well, besides the other happiest times). Darkest Mercy is released today! The FINAL book in the Wicked Lovely series, one of the most beautiful, tragic, and dark series I have ever read! This lovely series features faeries and their courts and their conflicts, with Marr focusing on a different character in each book. I've been waiting for this book, forever. Can't wait to read!

Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely Series #4) by Melissa Marr

Synopsis: Hunger for nourishment. Hunger for touch. Hunger to belong. Half-human and half-faery, Ani is driven by her hungers. Those same appetites also attract powerful enemies and uncertain allies, including Devlin. he was created as an assassin and is brother to the faeries' coolly logical High Queen and to her chaotic twin, the embodiment of War. Devlin wants to keep Ani safe from his sisters, knowing that if he fails, he will be the instrument of Ani's death. Ani isn't one to be guarded while others fight battles for her, though. She has the courage to protect herself and the ability to alter Devlin's plants--and his life. The two are drawn together, each with reason to fear the other and to fear for one another. But as they grown closer, a larger threat imperils the whole of Faerie. Will saving the faery realm mean losing each other?

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I devoured this book. Of the four currently out, I thought Marr did a wonderful job of making this one stand out the most. It was unique in the sense that she didn't stick with the lighter side of faerie. She went into the darker area, focusing more on Gabriel's Hounds and the High Queen's Bloodied Hands. And both sides are so different, yet the same. And she translated that into Ani (Gabriel's Hounds) and Devlin (the High Queen's Bloodied Hands).

Ani was a remarkable character who loves Irial, the former Dark King, and her court. She's attached to her older sister, Tish, and playful with her brother Rabbit. She's annoyed with her father, because he won't let her fight like she wants to. She wants to make him proud but feels she can't because he won't let her. She is a perfect character for the role that she unknowingly has to play in the coming faerie war. She was witty, funny, smart, and passionate.

Devlin was awesome. No word better could describe him. At first, he was pompous and proud and loved the way faerie's flinched whenever he drew knew. Being the Faerie Queen's Assassin isn't all it's cracked up to be, I suppose. But Ani to him is different. He reminds him of someone he knows, and with the help of his friend-in-Faerie Rae, he recognizes her and feels strangely attracted to her. Once the High Queen grants him permission to go into the human realm, he protects Ani instead of who he was meant to protect, who is Seth. And then the battles rage on, Devlin and Ani come closer together, and then they realize what's missing and return to save all of Faerie. That is until the next book, Darkest Mercy, which I can not wait for!

Over all, I loved this book. It was action-packed, witty, and it gave me a whole new look at Faerie. Albeit, the darker, more murderous side. Marr has created a unique tale that has stuck with me since I picked it up. Ani was a wonderful character, and I was happy where Marr placed her in the end. I loved the growth of Devlin in this story, and how he went from hating his feelings, to relishing them. It didn't focus on what other courts were doing, but instead gave the nitty-gritty on the other courts feelings of the impending war and their side of it. The best...so far!

The Cover: [I realized that I didn't have any comments on the covers, which are amazing! Well, some. But anyway, I will start commenting on the covers from now on.] I thought this cover was OK, but you didn't really get the tattoos lining her arm until the end. My vision of Ani doesn't look like the model, but I thought the lettering was beautiful. I love how they change the vines every cover to make the personality stand out more, and I thought this cover matched the books personality perfectly.

Fragile Eternity (Wicked Lovely Series #3) by Melissa Marr

Synopsis: Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone--but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he'd ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen. Aislinn never expected to rule the very creatures who'd always terrified her--but that was before Keenan. He stole her mortality to make her a monarch, and now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she'd ever imagined.

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Alright, I have to admit, and I'm sorry, but...this had to be the slowest and worst of the four books out. It started out OK, with Seth trying to gain votes to travel into Faerie and ask Sorcha (the High Queen) to turn him into a faerie so he could be with Aislinn forever, but once he got into Faerie, it dragged on. Marr flipped to Sorcha's point of view and Aislinn's, like she has in other books. Sorcha's point of view was dull until she developed emotions towards Seth and started feeling. Aislinn's point of view was bugging me, though. She was wondering whether she should give up on Seth after he disappeared or go with Keenan, who was luring her to him ever so slightly. And her final decision had be glowering at the book and refusing to pick it up until I had to know how it ended.

Seth is an amazing character who looks at everything so differently than others. He loves Aislinn to the utmost extreme and does everything he can to be with her, including traveling to Faerie to become a faerie himself. He doesn't care that she is a Faerie Queen and is immortal, also that she's destined to be with Keenan because he is her immortal king and partner forever. Don't you think that would put a damper on the situation? No! Not to Seth, that is. He travels to Faerie, approaches the Faerie Queen, and asks her to turn him into a faerie. And he waits. For Aislinn. But what does she do?

In this book, Aislinn is indecisive. Of course, she has to deal with her own immortality, Seth's mortality, and Keenan's intrigues, but she could at least have faith in Seth. When he leaves, she spirals into uncertainty and can't think straight without thinking of Seth and where in Faerie he could be. Keenan talks to her, tempting her to turn away from all hope of Seth returning, and to join him fully to restore their kingdom. Okay, Aislinn, you go ahead and do that while Seth is turning in his mortality for you. The least she could do was have faith, but Aislinn wasn't my favorite part of the book. That was Sorcha.

Sorcha is the oldest character besides Bananach (her evil sister). She's the Queen of Reason, the High Queen, Logic, Truth, Light and the Unchanging Queen. That is until Seth comes to her, asking for immortality to be with his Summer Queen girlfriend. Sorcha has heard of Aislinn and ponders his question. Finally, she gives him his immortality, taking part of his mortality in exchange. That changes her. She starts to feel emotions and feelings. Mostly towards Seth. I loved Sorcha's transformation throughout the book and she became on of my favored characters in the books. That is besides Bananach and Donia. Who were, by far, my favorite characters.

The next couple of books in the series are mostly leading up to the big battle between the courts that is sure to happen. You learn from each courts point of view the impact that Keenan's choosing Aislinn has made.  Bananach is the major villain in these books and is insane/crazy/totally creepy. Which is why I like her. Not saying that I am insane/crazy/totally creepy. She's out for blood and war and will do anything to provoke it. But the other courts know Bananach and her cravings and choose to ignore her presence. But what they can't ignore is her promotions. And those are saying that war is coming. This is why I finished the book and moved on to the next one and am highly anticipating the last book, coming out February 2011, as I've said before.

Overall, I thought Fragile Eternity was the slowest one of them all, mostly building suspense between courts for the next two books. Seth was amazing; Aislinn was bothersome; Keenan was unrelenting; Sorcha was one of my favorites and I loved how she changed; and Bananach was by far the greatest character of Faerie. To me. Marr has created another good tale in Faerie, although I have to say that her others were better.

Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely Series #2) by Melissa Marr

Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow. Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life. The tattoo does bring changes--not the kind Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to ressist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils....

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This book doesn't focus on Aislinn and Keenan like in Wicked Lovely (see my reveiw), but instead focuses on Leslie, one of Aislinn's friends, and Irial, the Dark King. It also focuses on Niall, one of Keenan's guards from the Summer Court. I suggest reading it and not skipping ahead to the next book, Fragile Eternity. They make many references to events that happened in Ink Exchange.

Leslie is a likable character who's having lots of problems. Her family life is crumbling, her mom abandoning Leslie and her older brother with their father. Her father turns into an alcoholic, her brother a drug addict. Leslie is forced to be the responsible one in her family, working hard and trying not to reveal any of it to her friends. Then her brother ditches her in a time of need, and she breaks. All the while her friendship with Aislinn is slowly degrading as Aislinn moves away to keep the faerie world away from Leslie and her other friends. She has a crush on Niall, Keenan's guard, and feels like he's untouchable because Aislinn keeps him away, making all the more irresistable to her. She has no idea that he is a faerie.

Niall has been apart of the Summer Court for awhile, but he is originally Dark Court, craving feelings and emotions. Leslie is a craving to him, and he wants to keep her safe, thinking she's different than other humans, knowing about her life at home and wanting to help her. But he remembers his life in the Dark Court and why he left, and keeps away from her, not wanting to destroy her the way he destroyed others.

Iriall needs to feed his court. It's hard to control the court of darkness, when they need human and faerie emotions to survive. He needs a donor to give their feelings to the Dark Court. When Bananch (a strong and powerful Dark Court faerie) threatens to bring war, Irial feels the need more. When he finds Leslie, he knows she's the one. That is what the tattoo is, a vine connecting Irial to Leslie, feeding Leslie's emotions into Irial who feeds his court. But Leslie starts to worry and think about what she's doing, more than how wonderful Irial makes her feel.

Marr has made another captivating tale, this one darker than the last. The Dark Court is so much different than the Summer Court; they have different problems, different needs. Leslie, although being friends with Aislinn, is so much different than her and her point of veiw on everything is clouded by her brothers betrayl. She thinks that Irial is a way out, a way to make the dark feelings leave her. Marr makes it action packed, but by the middle of the book, is slows. It picks up again, and the ending left me in shock. Niall doesn't pop in much, but when he does, he tells his story of the Dark Court, his relationship with Irial and his hatred for the world he left behind. You get small glimpses of the Summer Court, but mostly you see how the Summer Court is affecting the other three courts around it.

If you enjoy/like/love Ink Exchange, and want to know more about Leslie after the books finish, Marr has been so kind as to write the beautiful Stopping Time, Part 1 and Part 2, the sequels to Ink Exchange.



Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely Series #1) by Melissa Marr

Synopsis: Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries. Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries. Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention. Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. When the rules that have kept Aislinn safe from them stop working, everything is suddenly on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

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Even though this book was published in 2007, I really want to blog about it because Darkest Mercy, the last book in the series, comes out February 22, 2011. This is one of my all-time favorite series. It has the perfect mix of darkness, love and loyalty. It kept me reading the entire time, and had me looking around myself more than usual.

When the books starts out, you can tell that Aislinn is terrably afraid of faeries. She grown up with the idea that they are horrible monsters never to be trusted, and she believes that. Of course, when she meets Keenan, everything spins wildly out of control and as the book goes on, you can tell she's trying to decide herself wheter or not faeries are all bad. As she tries to pick up the pieces of her encounter with faeries, she's also trying to protect her grandmother and Seth, her best friend. But Seth, being adorble as he is, knows that something's up and eventually is thrown into the world with Aislinn.

Keenan isn't one of my most favorite characters, and as the book went on, I screamed a lot, wondering how Keenan could be so insensitive and cruel to his best friend, Donia. But I understood his predicament in a way. He was bound by his mother, after she killed his father and he was trying to get revenge. Which is never good, but I couldn't blame him. Especially when I met his mother in the written word. Ugh.

Donia was, by far, my favorite character in the entire book and I thought that she was strong, independant and loyal to the law binding her. Even with Beria's (Keenan's mother) threats, she remained strong and didn't flinch.

Overall, I loved this book. Marr spun a beautiful tale that mixes darkness, loyalty and love into one delicious batter. Aislinn was sweet and strong; Keenan was infuriatingly persistant but sweet; Seth was ah-mazing; and Donia was stong but soft when it came to Keenan. Marr had just the right amount of creepy-cool to keep me staying up all night staring around myself, huddled down in blankets. The climax at the end left me breathless, although I reread it mostly because I thought it went too fast. Amazing. I would suggest this if you're in a darker mood, but also want a good romance.