Darkest Mercy

Darkest Mercy
by Melissa Marr
Wicked Lovely, book five

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. (description taken from Amazon.com)

To be totally honest, each of the books in this series has elicited a different reaction from me. I loved some, felt "eh" about one, was slightly confused in one...Darkest Mercy was somewhat confounding for me.

I had a really hard time getting into the final book in this series. I couldn't connect to the characters. I felt like there was too much going on ...things were too disparate. I almost put the book down without finishing it, but it's the final book in the series and I couldn't abandon it!

So, I stuck with it. A few chapters at a time...and then I hit the last third of the book and it was like the whole world shifted! There again was the Melissa Marr that I loved in the original Wicked Lovely. There again was the gorgeous writing, the complex characters, the rigid and unforgiving faerie society that I missed.

I am sooo glad that I stuck with it. The end of the book, and the series, was beautiful.

Full disclosure: ARC received as part of a Book It Forward Blog Tour