Personally I like the third installment in the Wicked Lovely series much more than the second book. I adored the first book, the second book I didn't really like much at all. Though I was pleased when with barely finishing the first chapter I loved the third book. 

 

The writing was better and the characters were much more interesting and engaging. Even Niall, whom I hated in the second book was much more likeable in this installment. Settling into his role as the Dark King he was actually very creepy. I did feel the plot got a little repetitive in parts, Ash loves human Seth, Seth loves Ash the Summer Queen. Ash is torn between love for Seth and duty to Keenan Summer King. Keenan wants Ash but is also in love with Donia the new Winter Queen. Donia loves Keenan but won't do anything about it. And on and on in this circle of Ash trying to push Keenan and Donia together. Seth will do whatever it takes to stay with Ash and Keenan just can't make up his annoying mind. 

 

While it did get very samey and annoying, at certain points throughout the novel the emotional impact of all these characters trying to figure out who they loved and where they stood was quite moving. At the same time of course, faerie court politics are of course coming into play making things all the more complex. 

 

Also in this installment we see more of Queen Sorcha and evil Bananach (who was rather frightening) and see a little more of the surprising friendship developing between Seth and Niall. And of course Seth being a mortal and boy in love makes a monumentally stupid decision towards the end. But it turned out to be quite a good plot twist.

 

And of course the world building and faerie lore is just breathtaking. Took me a while to get through this but I'm so much more impressed with this book and now once again really looking forward to the next one. 

tl;dr |✭✭✩✩✩| This book. Sigh. I decided to read it because it went back to Seth and Aislinn, and I so enjoyed their story in the first book. But I hated this book. I really didn't like it at all, and I so wanted to. 

Description Basically: Seth is learning his mortality is a real issue when it comes to dating the now- Faerie version of Aislinn. And he knows if he doesn't figure something out, he's going to lose out to Keenan. Since Aislinn is becoming more and more drawn to Keenan (re: wanting to jump his bones), Seth has decided its time to find a way to become Faerie himself. 

Sigh.  This book. 

That is how I felt about this entire book. I ended up skimming through the rest of the book. I loved Seth, ok. So I hoped that this one following him would be better. But it wasn't Aislinn was frustrating, naive, and dull. She lost any and all fight that she had in the first book. And sure, Seth is willing to do anything for her. But that means he has to go introduce us to some new characters... and that is the queen of all queens of Faery. I don't even remember her name, I couldn't stand her. 

So. We meet Queeny, and she is... weird. Ugh. I don't like her character. She ends up claiming to have a "motherly" relationship to Seth, but it comes off as WAY more creepy and with her description of familial, it makes it seem incestuous. Even though we know Seth isn't her son, the way she talks about him and then acts with him is just creepy and gross. Ugh. It honestly made me angry/sick/ready to give up the book. At this point, I'd all but given up on this series. This book, and Ink Exchange, had the same problem as the first book. The first 100 pages are so slow and dull and hard to get through, but I felt like this story didn't get any better after those first 100 pages. I would not recommend continuing this series to anyone, unless you actually liked this book. Unlike me. 

I choose to do a review of the entire Wicked Lovely series under INK because it is my favourite. I am obsessed with this book, its world, its prose, and its characters. Characters that come alive on the page and make you want to know them at a personal level. I am going to try and be as unspoily as possible because I want someone to read this and enjoy every twist and turn, every tear, every laughter as much as I did. What I loved about these books is the characters, as a writer myself I am very character driven, and Melissa delivers some of the most real and amazing characters i have ever read. They are not one dimensional, good or evil, they all have flaws and fears. A character who is the hero in one book could be the villain in another. No one is black and white which even in a fantastical world about faeries makes it believable. 

The series in its entirety is:

Wicked Lovely

Ink Exchange

Fragile Eternity

Radiant Shadows

Darkest Mercy

The Desert Tales Manga and Novel

and many short stories in the Anthology Faerie tales and Nightmares 

Better than the second one, with more emotion. Still not loving it, but improved.

Melissa Marr has done it again. Just when I think this series can't get any better, it does. And now I understand so much more of what Marr was talking about at the book signing on Sunday, as well--particularly with regards to the choices some of the characters make in Fragile Eternity. I'm going to do my best to minimize spoilers in this review, so bear with me as I try to get my points across!It's funny, because I actually don't like some of the things that are happening in this story, yet it makes complete sense given what we know about all the characters. But the way events unfolded leaves the story at a point where you just have to find out what happens next--at least, I feel that way, at any rate. And again, I don't know what it is about these books, but I get so swept up into them that when I come to the end, it's almost always a shock to me, even though it's obvious there aren't many pages left.Niall's "new" side as the Dark King is certainly interesting, and now I can't quite decide how I feel about him--all the sudden his dark side is more prominent. Sorcha, the High Queen, proves to be a very interesting character, as well. Also intriguing are some familial relationships that are revealed in Fragile Eternity. Again, it's obvious that what makes this series so strong is Marr's ability to write strong, well-developed characters. Not to mention the fact that her Faerie realm is really fascinating. But certain events would not come to be if it weren't for the way certain characters simply were and would act. And let's just say that things are starting to heat up a bit between all the Faerie courts! I really hate the fact that I'm going to have a long wait for the fourth book!