Review - Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

Readin'
Fragile Eternity
Melissa Marr
HarperCollins
Pages: 389
Ttl Rdg Time: 5 hrs

Writin'
Fragile Eternity is the continuation of Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange. In Wicked Lovely we are introduced to Aislinn and Keenan. Keenan is the Summer King of the faery world and he wants Aislinn to be his Queen. If she becomes the Queen he will get stronger and he can overtake his mother Beira, the Winter Queen who has bound his strength as well as the strength of his court. In Ink Exchange we meet Iriel and Leslie. Iriel is the Dark King and he wants Leslie to join his court. Not exactly as the Queen but so that he can "feed" his court. They feed off negative emotions as well as desires. Leslie gets a tattoo (ink) that allows Iriel to do that but he becomes attached to her.

Fragile Eternity focuses mostly on Seth Morgan. Seth has decided that he is not strong enough to stay with Aislinn in his mortal state and he wants to change but everyone, including Niall, has turned him down. He believes that being a faery will put him on equal footing, not just with Aislinn, but Keenan too!

Rithmetic
There was a lot of foreshadowing regarding Seth's humanity and how he's losing the cool he's fought so hard for (p. 115). Although you *know* he's going to be changed, you are not sure if he's going to turn into a dark faery or what!

The writing in Fragile Eternity was beautiful and kept you engaged. Marr introduced characters in the beginning who we met again later in the book, bringing the plot full circle. There was a focus on love and it's separation from lust. You saw Aislinn and Seth drifting while Aislinn and Keenan drew closer - even though they don't love each other.

"love can give a person strength to break through glamours and magick" - p 134

"We're at the beginning today. I'm yours. Wholly without reservation." p 199

Many choices are made in the hopes that someone will notice. Seth goes with Bananach to Sorcha's despite his own feelings of unease. How many times have we done that? But he wants to be a faery. Will Sorcha grant him his request?

Definitely my favorite of the three books. I was about 10 pages from the end before I realized there was going to be a fourth book! I enjoyed the way Marr wove pertinent parts from the other books into this one without bogging down the story. The ending was well done and totally unexpected, just when I thought I knew what was going on! Will purchase for school!

Melissa Marr will be at Anderson's Book Shop June 2nd!