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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Review: Fragile Eternity (Wicked Lovely #3) by Melissa Marr

Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: January 1, 2009
Pages: 389
Source: Library
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Description: 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.
In Melissa Marr's third mesmerizing tale of Faerie, Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other in a milieu of shadowy rules and shifting allegiances, where old friends become new enemies and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos.

In short: Though I didn't love Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr as much as the previous two books in the series, it was still a solid, entertaining sequel. I still hate Keenan.
I've never written a review for a sequel in a series before (Ink Exchange didn't really count) so I am going to do my best to try to make this as vague as possible to avoid any spoilers.

First off, let me say that I am glad I decided to read Ink Exchange instead of skipping it even though it wasn't technically a sequel. In Ink Exchange, the reader gains loads of information about the Dark Court. As the Dark Court is still integral to the plot in Fragile Eternity, I would have missed some significant developments had I chosen to skip it.

Right at the start of Fragile Eternity, there's a promise of action the likes of which we haven't seen before in the previous books in the series. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a false promise because there wasn't really a whole lot going down for the first half of the book. There was a lot of talk of the impending doom of the world, but very little danger actually takes place. The majority of the drama in the story occurs in the complicated relationships. Of course, this is true for the previous books in the series as well but I was able to overlook that because that was during the still early stages of the series. I'm getting a bit impatient for some real action now that I'm more than halfway done the series.

In case you were wondering, Keenan is still a selfish prick. He continues to manipulate both of his love interests for his own gain, blatantly leading them both on. He wants the total love and attention of both of them. And somehow they're both still forgiving and sympathetic towards him?! There were some hints that he feels bad for his actions, but I just don't buy his feelings.

Okay, okay. Enough of the bad. Now let's talk about the good. I enjoyed the new reveals in the faery mythology. Whereas Wicked Lovely focused on the Summer and Winter Courts and Ink Exchange focused on the Dark Court, Fragile Eternity focuses on the High Court. I've really come to enjoy and appreciate this slow reveal of the Faery World that Marr has been doing with each book, learning about it all in bits and pieces rather than all at once.

Although I didn't like Fragile Eternity as much as the first two books in this series, it was still a fairly entertaining read. I look forward to reading Radiant Shadows next!

Previously, My Reviews for Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange.

Other Reviews:

Stalk the Author (not for serious):

*Read as part of the YA Series Challenge
*The Letter F in the A-Z Reading Challenge

Note: I'm so sorry that it's been two weeks since I last posted a review! I'm feeling completely overwhelmed with school at the moment as I scramble to write up a research grant proposal for the summer. And it's only going to get worse as midterms are fast approaching... Sincerest apologies.

14 comments :

  1. I really liked this book, but listening to the audiobook almost killed me toward the end... Can't wait to see how the series ends.

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  2. Sounds like most of the things that bothered me about WICKED LOVELY are still there in the rest of the series - the lack of action, a bit of vagueness about characters and their motivation. I'm working on INK EXCHANGE now, but I think I'll continue with the series despite its shortcomings.

    One of the good things about books like these is that your own imagination can take you a lot farther than the books do. I think I built up Aislinn, Seth and Keenan more than they're revealed in the books.

    As to hating Keenan - why?? I only have WICKED LOVELY to go on now, but I thought he was one of the only redeeming faeries (the other being Donia)!

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  3. I'm looking forward to reading the final book just to see how everything wraps up. Oh, and hopefully Keenan will become a more redeeming character.

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  4. Hey no worries. School comes first and we will wait :)

    I've not got this far in the series yet so I can't comment on Fragile Eternity, but I LOVED Wicked Lovely.

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  5. Nice review Aylee! I have a hard time reviewing sequels as well, it's difficult to get your thoughts across without spoiling the prior books. I think you did a fabulous job here, I got a good feel for the book without any major plot points being revealed:)

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  6. Jessi: How so? Because of the sort of cliffhanger?

    Esther: You can't be serious?! Well, I suppose he's not bad as far as faeries go... but I can't help but think he's incredibly fake. The "bad guys" in the books don't pretend to be anything other than themselves, but Keenan, the supposedly "good guy", pretends to be good but he is just so manipulative it's disgusting. Maybe you'll see his true colours come out more in the later books.

    A Canadian Girl: I'm kind of hoping he'll redeem himself and kind of hoping not. You know, I've actually been enjoying myself quite a bit just hating him :)

    The Slowest Bookworm: Glad to know you loved WL!

    Jenny: Aw, well thank you! :)

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  7. No need to apologize. School comes first and all that. Good Luck with your proposal. :D

    And thanks for the review. What MM is doing with the mythology sounds very interesting.

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  8. Thanks! Yeah, I wasn't sure if I liked it at first but I think I'm getting used to Marr's ways now.

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  9. I love your brutal honesty! I've heard similar about Keenan. Sorry to hear this one fell rather short of the two previous books. Your definitely speeding your way through the series! Great job, Aylee :)

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  10. Yuck. I still hate Keenan. Continue to hate him even after I read Radiant Shadows (he doesnt show up much tho) I love Seth though, so I liked Eternity, and things do seem to make more sense in Shadows than in other books of the series anyway!
    I love MM's writing :)

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  11. Don't feel bad! This is supposed to be your fun outlet, not another assignment. ;)

    This series is really intriguing to me. Faerie seems to be the new thing and I may need to be on board with it. Looks like I may start with this series.

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  12. Julie: I wouldn't say I'm speeding! Fragile Eternity took me two weeks to read. But thanks! :)

    Ani Raye: It makes me happy to hear other people talk about how much they hate Keenan! :) I love Seth, too.

    BookGeek: Yes, it is very important to me that this doesn't become a chore. This series is my first taste of faeries... I like it enough but there may be series I might and you might like more. I'm thinking of the Iron Fey series and Holly Black's Tithe series.

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  13. I love this review! Seriously. Whenever I write sequel reviews I have a bizillion spoilers for the earlier books. You did a great job giving a good idea of this book without giving away any spoilers.

    I love your updates on your feelings for Keenan. :D

    You have absolutely nothing to apologize for :)

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  14. Aw, thanks so much! Keenan is turning out to be one of my most hated characters I've read about of all time. Seriously. He hasn't shown up yet in Radiant Shadows but I'm prepared to hate on him some more. I'm looking forward to it, actually! It has become fun somehow...

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