Fragile Eternity-- Melissa Marr

So Fragile Eternity is the sequel to Wicked Lovely... and touches on some of the themes in Ink Exchange, which was more like a sidestep in this series.

And, just like Wicked Lovely, I liked it, but didn't love it. (You can read all about what I thought of Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange here.)

While Wicked Lovely was told from Aislinn's perspective, Fragile Eternity is told mostly from her partner Seth's. I feel like Melissa Marr did a good job of making the story interesting; readers can get reinvested in a series if a new perspective brings it back to life. In Fragile Eternity we learn about Aislynn's physical longing to be with the Summer King, Keenan, the way the Summer Queen should. We also learn how hard it is for Seth to watch his girlfriend literally glow whenever she is around Keenan. This is partially why Seth takes on the dangerous quest to find Sorcha, the high queen, and beg her to make him Fairy. But when Seth takes that journey, he shifts the fabric of the universe, and nothing will ever be the same. Although it doesn't clearly state this at the end of the book, the reader is left feeling that another book is in the works, because there isn't a clear resolution at the end.

So there you have it. Not a very inspired blog post, I'm afraid, but then again, I wasn't super inspired by this book either...

Recommended for fans of urban fantasy, especially girls.

Impossible-- Nancy Werlin

I am always looking for books that have a little bit of magic to take me out of my normal day-to-day. I don't mean actual magic, not hocus-pocus stuff, Harry Potter stuff, or witchie stuff. I mean the magic that transports you from your couch to the time and place in which a really good story takes place. Impossible, by Nancy Werlin, is one of those magical books.

We've all heard that folk song right? You know, the one Simon and Garfunkel made popular...

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme..."

This novel is based on that folksong... mostly. Lucy Scarborough is the foster daughter of Soledad and Leo. Her mother, Miranda, is an insane bag lady who wanders the streets singing snippets of the Scarborough Fair song. When Lucy turns 17, Miranda starts pursuing Lucy in earnest; she has an important message for her and will get through to her no matter what. The women in Lucy's family are cursed, and have been for generations. They must accomplish three nonsensical tasks as laid out in the Scarborough Fair song, and will go insane at 18 if they do not succeed. Luckily, Lucy has what the other women in her family did not: very supportive foster parents and Zach, a boy who loves her unendingly. This story is a little bit fairytale, a little bit romance, and very engaging.

I would recommend this book to teens who like retellings of fairy tales, fantasy, fairy-lore, and romance.

Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange-- Melissa Marr

Ahhh, urban fantasy. There is more and more to choose from these days!

Wicked Lovely is a modern version of an old tale. You know, that old tale about a fairy king finding a mortal to be his queen etc etc. Holly Black wrote a version of this story in her novel Tithe a few years ago. Anyway, just like most retold folk and fairy tales, the story isn't new and usually there are many other retellings. The author just needs to make sure their version isn't too similar to everything else... or to the original story. In Wicked Lovely, Aislinn is one of the rare humans gifted with The Sight, aka she can see fairies. When the summer king claims her for his own, she has to make choices and sacrifices to preserve the existence of both the fairy and human races. Although the story was paced well and held my interest throughout, I kept feeling like I was reading a slightly tamed-down version of Tithe. I know there are many, many differences between these two books, but as a reader, I felt that I shouldn't be quite so reminded of Black's novel.

Ink Exchange, in my opinion, was better. I didn't *love* it, but I did hold my interest, and teens who are into urban fantasy and fairy stories will like it. The story felt fresher. Leslie, who was a minor character in Wicked Lovely, comes from a terribly broken home. Her father is an alcoholic, her brother is a drug dealer and abuses her, and she has to work as a waitress to bring in enough money to pay the household bills. Wanting something for herself, Leslie decides to get a tattoo. Little did she know that the tattoo artist is a halfling, and he tattooed her with an ink made of fairy blood, fairy tears, and shadows. Leslie is now intimately connected with the leader of the Dark Court, who is the enemy of her friend Aislinn (main character of Wicked Lovely), and has to fight for her autonomy once again.

Both books have strong female protagonists, and don't treat right and wrong like dichotomies. I like that Marr writes the "evil" characters in a multi-dimensional way. Also, there is a gritty edge to the books that adds to the overall ambiance.

I would recommend these books to teen girls (boys may like them too if they can get past the female protagonist thing) who like urban fantasy and/or books like: Charles de Lint's The Blue Girl, any Holly Black, Herbie Brennan's fairy books, O.R. Melling's The Summer King, any Francesca Lia Block, and Will Shetterly's Elsewhere and Nevernever.

P.S. Don't you just *love* the book covers?