Book Review: Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr

Title: Darkest Mercy (Goodreads/Amazon)
Author: Melissa Marr
Series: Wicked Lovely #5
Release Date: Feb. 22 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
My Source: ARC Tour
Other Books in Series: Ink Exchange

Goodreads Summary:

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.

My Review:

Darkest Mercy, the last book of the Wicked Lovely series, begins with chaos. The courts are in disorder, people are missing, the regents in all the faery courts are all relatively new at their jobs. Most of the characters from the previous books in the series are back and we see all their stories tie together in the end as they fight the faery called War and struggle to find the neccesary balance between the courts.

I love the faery courts and the faery world Marr has invented. Aislinn, Keenan, Donia, Niall, Seth, Irial... they're all some of my favorite characters. I've gotten to know them over the course of listening to this series on audiobook (though I read an ARC copy of Darkest Mercy) and I like them a lot. It's sad to see their stories come to an end, but I enjoy the way it ended. It was perfect.

The plot of Darkest Mercy was very similar to the previous 2 books in the series, meaning it's slow and almost not really there. There's a couple of small battles and one big battle and that's the whole plot. This is easily my biggest complaint with the series- it's hard to keep reading at times when it's going slow. Still, I consider it worthwhile.

So while at times the series gets a little slow for me, it's very well written and worthwhile to read the Wicked Lovely series. Darkest Mercy (what a perfect title!) put a cap on all the stories and ended the series beautifully.

4 out of 5 Stars

Cover: 4.5/5 Beautiful! I love the covers and book titles in this series. The titles are some of my all-time favorite titles. Wicked Lovely, Fragile Eternity, Darkest Mercy... :)