ARC Review: Darkest Mercy

Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr
Release Date: February 22, 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages:336, Hardcover
Young Adult
Source:Book Tour
Overall: 5+

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. Synopsis via Goodreads.

My Thoughts:

The journey is finally over for those of the Wicked Lovely series and Melissa Marr sure did let us go with a bang. Phew.  I have to admit my reluctance to even read this final installment of the spectacular series.  I couldn't come up with how Melissa would do it, tie it all up and keep me happy.  I can be a bit hard to please when I form certain attachments to characters, especially when these characters are conflicting and I know there are losses to be made.  Being the end of the series meant Melissa had one chance to do it and one chance to leave me feeling at least content with the final product.  Well, she did it.  Brilliantly.

Darkest Mercy kept pace with the other books in the series offering short moments of clarity and answers in between lots of action filled subplots.  This had to be the most complex of all of the action I have previously seen.  Yes, seen.  I didn't just read Darkest Mercy, I saw it, like every book before it.

All of the characters of Darkest Mercy were as they were in the previous novels.  Aislinn, Donia, Keenan, Niall, Irial, Seth and Sorcha, all still flawed, multidimensional and not without struggle.  It is the previous struggles and the sometimes selfish acts of these characters that got them to where they needed to be.  Aislinn's growth.  Keenan's ability to earn Aislinn and Donia's respect.  Seth's strength to stand against those who could have killed him and be the Faerie he was meant to be.  Donia's attempt to push personal feelings aside to see where the greater good of her court and others lay.  It was all there, for our taking and it lay the foundation for this final incredible installment.

Melissa Marr didn't only give us one more enchanting novel she gave us closure to a very meticulously woven story.  Darkest Mercy in the end wasn't just fighting the battle of one or two courts.  Darkest Mercy was a war of courts, emotions, and power of all of the courts and all of the main characters. Darkest Mercy can and does stand on it's own but I recommend you take a look at the previous books in the series if you haven't done so already.  This is a tale that Melissa doesn't cheat us on and you shouldn't cheat yourself of it either.

Cover: 5     
Characters: 5     
Plot: 5  
Re-readable: Yes!
Overall: 5+ 

On The Cover: All of the covers of the Wicked Lovely series are equally as pretty but this final cover is quite stunning.  The girl, what we can see of what the girl is wearing, the flower in the palm of her hands.  I love it!