Covers Around the World - Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr has such a beautiful cover I had to do this one next.

US edition

 

German edition

 

French edition

 

Indonesian edition

 

Spanish edition

 

another English language edition

 

Turkish edition

 

Romanian edition

 

Italian edition

 

Got a favorite?

Cover Reveal - Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

In a city of daimons, the Carnival of Souls hosts a deadly competition. Once in a generation, every citizen can fight to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live. In our own world, Mallory knows that her father—and every other witch—fled the daimons’ city long ago. She trains to be lethal because it’s only a matter of time until the daimons catch up with them. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans there for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence that is the Carnival of Souls. From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series, comes a brand-new tale of secrets, love, and the struggle to forge one’s own destiny.

What do you guys think?

Covers Around the World - Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

So in honor of me finally posting a review for Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr, I figured it should be the spotlight for this weeks CAW.

English language edition

another English language edition

Malaysian edition

German edition

French edition

Romanian edition

Turkish Edition

There you go. Which one is your favorite? 

Review - Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

I read this book some time ago, well... a few years now. It has two of my favorite things in the world in it. Fantasy and tattoos. Who wouldn't want to read it? And the covers to all of the novels in the Wicked Lovely series are so striking.

To 17-year-old Leslie, the tattoo is a thing of indescribable beauty, a captivating mark that she must make her own. But this subtle web of eyes and wings brings with it a transformation that no sweet young girl would ever imagine or welcome. Like its predecessor, this stand-alone sequel to Wicked Lovely plunges its youthful heroine into a faery world of almost constant peril. A tantalizing urban fantasy that won't let go.

Leslie has quite a home life. Only part of which holds a drug addicted brother who is completely fine trying to sell her to his friends so he can score in a different way. Poor Leslie can't really control this downward spiral, so she decides to try and find a foothold in the chaos. She wants a tattoo. A chance to dull the pain inside with a little pain on the outside.

Niall, right hand man to the king of the Summer Court, Keenan, has been selected to guard Leslie. Or to watch over her at least. To keep her safe from the Dark Court faeries. The only problem? He's falling in love with her. And he's not supposed to.

Leslie ends up choosing for her tattoo, the mark of the Dark Court king, Irial. A tattoo that binds her to him and allows him to, more or less, feed on her and sustain his fae. But instead of stronger, his bond with Leslie leaves him wondering if he's too weak for his court. On the bright side for Leslie, though, it leaves her numb to pain and sorrow.

But does she want to stay that way?

I loved Ink Exchange. I can't even tell you how much I loved it. Reading the first novel in the series, I disliked the Dark Court. Troublemakers. That's all they were to me. Trouble makers and just bad overall. This story told me how completely wrong I was. I completely fell for Irial and Niall.

Leslie was a strong character, even if she didn't feel that way most of the time. And I completely identify with her. The reason for her getting tattooed. WANTING to feel numb for a while. Leslie proves she's strongest though at the end.

I've seen a lot of reviews where this book fell flat for people. And a lot of reviews where this book was so much better than the first for others. It's a companion book to the first, not necessarily a sequel. And I think honestly, I fall in with the second lot. The first book made me angry. Which I suppose was the right reaction to have. But the second, like I said, had two of my favorite things. Tats and fantasy.

I will recommend this, to anyone who's read Wicked Lovely. If you haven't read that one, you probably won't understand what's going on in this one. I might recommend a minimum age of 15 or 16, because it is a darker book than the first, but other than that, everyone should go pick it up!

Check out a fan made trailer for the book:

Follow Friday #13

Hop on over to Parajunkee's View to check out this week's Follow Friday!

AHHHH. Another hard question!

Q. In light of the Summer Solstice. Also known as Midsummer...let's talk about fairies. What is your favorite fairy tale or story that revolves around the fae?


A. Grrrr... I really don't know. There are so many that I absolutely love. Like the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr. There were some books in that series that I enjoyed more than others, but it was the first series I'd read where the faeries weren't always the good guys. And then there's Lament by Maggie Stiefvater (I still haven't read Ballad yet.... but I've got it on my book shelf!). Tithe by Holly Black was a good book. I read it years and years and years ago... but I remember loving it.

Please don't ask what my favorite book about elves is. Or dragons. Because the list would be even LONGER. Oy. LoL.

*Interesting side note...

My youngest daughter was originally going to be named Oona. I got the name from the movie Legend... the fairy who helps Jack is named Oona. It's also an Irish name and means Faerie Queen. And being Irish, I loved it. However, my soon to be ex husband did not like it so I was made to change to something different. I refused, however, to change her middle name. Faye. Which means faerie. :-) HA. Take that STBEH.

Can't wait to see what you guys came up with!

Darkest Mercy - Melissa Marr

(possible spoilers!)

It took me a bit to get in to the story again, as it's been so long since I've read Radiant Shadows. I had to get reaquainted with all of the characters.

Darkest Mercy tied things up nicely. I would have liked to see Devlin and Ani play more of a role in this book than just being mentioned by characters, but you can't have everything can you? I loved how strong Aislinn became in this book. Less of the "oh crap I don't know what I'm doing" and more of the "I don't know what I'm doing but I'll fake it till I make it". She had really begun to irritate me in the other books. Keenan as well. Well, he irritated me from the beginning because of what he did to Ash, but I guess if he hadn't there wouldn't have been a series. So... moving on.

Donia had to have been my favorite in this book. She definitely became a force to be reckoned with (so did another regent, but I don't want to give away too much). And the pact that Keenan made with Innis reminds me of Aragorn and the undead army he recruited in Return of the King.

I am sad that the series ended but I am happy with the way it did. I always hate when a series I love comes to an end. It's like a good friend has moved away. But kudos to you Melissa Marr for writing such a remarkable tale of Faerie.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:


•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This weeks teaser is brought to you by Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr.



"Shadowy abyss figures took shape on either side of Seth, and he hoped that he wasn't about to die. There was no one else on this side of the veil who could balance the Dark King, and if this was what he was like with a High Court presence near him, Seth couldn't fathom what the Dark King had been like in those couple of days between the gate being sealed and now." ~ p 149

In My Mailbox

In my mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren every week.

And I know it hasn't been a full week yet since my last IMM, but I've been holding on to these books (or most of them) for days now and I just can't do it anymore!

There are possible spoilers in here! Just so everyone is aware.

So without further ado.....

Catching Fire. The second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. I loved The Hunger Games so much I couldn't wait to get the second one (luckily, since I'm reading these so late in the game, I don't have to wait... hehe). Catching Fire follows Katniss and Peeta on their "Victory Tour" around the 12 Districts after The Hunger Games. They have to prove their undying love and devotion for each other or face the consequences of their actions at the end of the games. And from the description it seems like their could be a rebellion at hand. I can't wait to read it!

Darkest Mercy. I've been waiting for this one forever. When I first started reading the series, there were 3 out already (what can I say... I'm a slacker). I was walking though the book aisle at Walmart when the cover for Fragile Eternity caught my eye. I snatched it up and went through checkout without another thought. Started trying to read it and couldn't help but feel like I had come in during the middle of the story. Which of course, I had. I learned that Wicked Lovely was actually the first novel, so I went and grabbed that. Read it and then found out that there was ANOTHER one I'd missed. Ink Exchange. Of course I had to buy that one before I could start to read Fragile Eternity again. But read I did. At the time, they were unlike any fae novel I'd ever read before. And I loved them. A while after finishing Fragile Eternity, I found Radiant Shadows. Which was, by far, my favorite book in the series. So with Darkest Mercy, I can't wait to find out what happens with Aislinn and Seth. Can War be defeated? What of Ani and Devlin (my favorite pair in the series!)? Another one I can't wait to crack open!

City Of Ashes and City Of Glass. Now, as I haven't even started this series, I don't personally have a lot to say about it except I've heard nothing but good things about all the books that are out. I knew if I read the first one and loved it I'd kick myself for not having the other two so I snagged those from Walmart as well. :-)

What's in your mailbox?