Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely #2) by Melissa Marr

Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow.

Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life.

The tattoo does bring changes not the kind Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils...

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If there was one word I could use to describe Ink Exchange, the second title in what is quickly becoming my favorite Urban Faery series, is dark. And not just, woah-there's-a-lot-of-evil-going-on dark; more like burrowing-farther-in-the-blankets dark. Which, at least in the case of this book, was fantastic. I started out this book while I was in a sort of reading slump, not getting into much of what I had been reading recently; this book most definitely got me out of that. The book starts with Leslie, one of Ash's (the new Summer Queen) friends and totally unaware of the faeries around her; she wants a tattoo and we quickly realize her blindness to the invisible world around her is about to be removed. Irial, the king of the Dark court, has decided she will be bound to him by an ink exchange, binding them together so that he can feed off mortal's dark emotions. Woah, already I was on information overload. But I kept going, hoping for a release from such heavy ideas. Enter Niall, a member of the Summer court, though he once lived among the Dark fey. Irial still wants him to be his predecessor, though when Niall begins lusting after Leslie he is dead-set against her knowing of any of the fey. From there on the story is way to complicated to describe in less pages than what Marr took to explain. But just so you get it, there's love triangle that Leslie isn't even aware she's in the middle of, some really disturbing details about how Irial's Dark fey feed, and the gorgeous, scarred Niall (who I started lusting after somewhere in the middle). This book spun a tangled, complicated web of facts and a beautifully crafted world that leaves you practically gasping in its wake. The descriptions were fantastic, the story was fast, dark, and disturbing, and the characters were perfectly made. A couple of complaints: those random quotes in italics were cool, but what did they mean? Was it just a random little perk, if you noticed that they were in fact quotes? Also, the ending got jumbled a bit; for the sake of spoilers, I'll just say I wasn't totally positive what was really going on there. My favorite character from Wicked Lovely was surprisingly absent; it seemed odd that the whole WInter court was missing from this book. Lastly, why was Irial's court starving after a few days of Leslie leaving when he said several times he hadn't nourished for several months they were doing just fine? The lingering questions annoyed me a bit, but maybe they'll be answered in the next book.

5 stars and a recommendation to fans of Urban Faery. This book was one of the darker books I've read for a long while, so I don't recommend this book to teens under 14.

Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely #1) by Melissa Marr

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.

Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.

Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.

But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

Faerie intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning 21^st century faery tale.

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Since I finally found Ink Exchange, the second book in this series, I decided I'd write my review for this stunning faerie tale even though I read it a while ago. Okay, so the story opens to Aislinn hanging out in a pool hall where she watches as humans play pool and faeries--that no one else can see--mess with the humans, unbeknownst to them. While I love the whole, there's-another-world-we-can't-see concept, lately it has been a little too overused in YA literature, but I tried to ignore that fact. And I found it easy actually, because Marr has created such a beautiful, dangerous, complex world of faeries that immerses you the second you step in. If this book was anything, it was consuming, and I finished it in one sitting, not because it was an especially short or easy read, but because I was so into it I didn't notice when it had gotten late. I loved Seth and since I have a thing for best friends falling in love, I found everything about their slow-developing relationship sweet and again, I appreciated the slowed-down, realistic love story. My only complaint regarding their relationship was Aislinn's casual attitude about it. The romance was a little too played-down for my taste. But then again, the main focus was Keenan's sudden obsession with Aislinn. Keenan was a great character, and while he wasn't my favorite--that honor would have to reside with the Winter Girl, Donia--he was great, for one main reason: he wasn't all good or all evil. Beira, the Winter Queen, proved a stark contrast to Aislinn, as she is completely bad and Aislinn is described as all good. So Keenan's lack of complete darkness or light made the book more interesting, since his decisions weren't easy to guess beforehand. The plot moved fast and my only problem with it was the conclusion; it seemed a little too happily-ever-after and while I know the second book doesn't revolve around the same cast, but it seemed like all of the conflict was solved, making a sequel not quite as highly anticipated. That being said, I'm thrilled to be reading the second one. 

A little side note: I loved the little quotes before each chapter. A lot of books have poetry now before each chapter and I found the literature quotes, both factual and fictional, refreshing.

4 stars and a recommendation to modern faerie tales.