Thursdays are great days here on the blog. Aly, Renee and I get together to chat about different books. We did the
Wicked Lovely chat a while ago, but with my sister's wedding approaching fast, I'm apparently getting really flaky. I thought I'd already posted this one, but it turns out I didn't! So here it is - finally.
Vi: Today we're discussing
Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr. What did everyone think about the book?
Renee: I really liked
Wicked Lovely. Faeries or the fae are probably my least favorite of the paranormal creatures that are coming out in fiction these days, but since I felt that
Wicked Lovely focused more on the romantic elements between Seth and Ash and Keenan and Donia, I didn't mind it as much.
Aly: I would also agree that Fae are not my favorite paranormal creature. Partially because they tend to be so devious and mischievous. But I liked the characters. Well I have a huge crush on Seth so I kept reading because of him. I did feel the book took a little bit to get going though.
Vi: So this was the second time I read
Wicked Lovely, and I think I appreciated it more the second time around than the first. I felt like I liked the characters more and the story held more tension for me. I remember liking it the first time I read it, but now I actually want to continue the series, whereas before, I could take or leave the other books. And I loved Seth even more the second time reading it!
Aly: I am skipping the 2nd book so I can go right to Seth in
Fragile Eternity. LOL
Vi: Okay, so any favorite characters? I have to say that I love Donia, myself. She rocks.
Renee: I actually am like Aly and went out and bought
Fragile Eternity (book 3) so I could get more of Seth. I loved Seth and Ash, both together and individually, and actually Donia was my least favorite character of the bunch. I kind of wish we learned more about the grandmother though... because I think she has an interesting past.
Aly: Oh I also liked Donia. I thought she offered another level to the book. And I loved Seth, and I liked Ash. I think I agree too with Renee that I would have liked to have known more about the grandmother and her past and everything with the fae.
Vi: I honestly didn't like Ash as much as I thought I would. She's okay, but as far as heroines go, Donia got to me more. And it's interesting that you two are interested in the grandmother. I'd never really thought about her at all. She's barely been a blip on the radar for me. I guess I'm sort of neutral about her. I definitely didn't like Keenan's mother, but she was a very creepy and good villain.
Aly: See that is the issue with the fae. Most of the time they are scary and creepy. They like to have fun at the expense of mortals and usually they don't have true feelings (i.e., love) and so a relationship with them is kind of limited. However, I do feel that in some ways Keenan really did care for Ash. And as for liking or not liking Ash - I didn't love her but at least she didn't annoy me. And as for the grandmother - I always love back stories.
Renee: Agreed. The fae seem very fickle, so it was hard for me to make up my mind about them, especially regarding Keenan. I agree that I think he really does have some kind of feelings for her beyond her practical purpose for the fae, but I always second guessed myself.
Vi: I got the distinct impression that Keenan cared for Ash, and that he truly cared for his people. He wanted to bring them balance and be the king he should've been. That made me like Keenan, even though I was rooting for Seth and Ash.
Vi: What did you think of how Keenan's mother didn't care at all for him, but his two advisers seemed to care for him like a son? I found it interesting, myself. Thoughts?
Aly: See this is what confuses me about the Fae. You have different courts. You have summer and winter or Seelie and Unseelie and I don't always understand if they are on the same side or different sides? It's like because Keenan was one thing and his mother a different thing, then they were enemies but the two advisers are like royal advisers or pseudo-parents or whatever. Which seems to fit most fantasy stories. But I kind of liked the two advisers.
Vi: I know that in most schools of myth-thought, there are Seelie and Unseelie courts. It's pretty typical. The mythology in
Wicked Lovely has the Winter Court, the Summer Court and the Dark Court. I kind of got the impression that his mother didn't have to dislike Keenan, but she just wanted the power. But I liked that the advisers seemed to care for Keenan, even though they didn't really have to since he was technically their boss.
Renee: I liked the idea of two different courts, and thought that was an interesting way to develop an enemy with a family twist -- making it even more sinister. I guess I just felt that the non-romantic aspects were less developed in this book, and maybe later in the series once the courts have been restored you'll learn more about the fae world.
Aly: Thanks ladies... that helped explain some stuff for me. Now did anyone feel like it took awhile to really get anywhere? I felt that 100 pages in, we were still talking about some of the same things in the first couple of chapters. It was almost as if I could skip them and then picked up and continued on without missing anything. Was it just me?
Vi: I think that may have been why I didn't love the book the first time I read it. I didn't really notice it the second time, but that might be because I already knew what was going to happen. I did think that Ash hemmed and hawed a lot over certain things, like Seth, and that had she made a decision sooner, things might've been resolved quicker. Or the author could've thrown a few more bad things Ash's way to impede her a bit.
Aly: I think I agree. I was surprised at how long it took to get to the whole point of Ash and Keenan going against the Winter Queen. I kept thinking it would happen a little earlier. And yes, Ash hemmed and hawed a lot. She liked Seth. He liked her. Why not move it along a little faster.
Renee: The general pace was pretty subdued throughout for me. Don't misunderstand: I really enjoyed this book, but I never felt like it got to a point where I couldn't put it down. It was a nice little teen romance book for me and the tension about whether Keenan would find the Summer Queen and all of that never really felt monumental for me.
Vi: I feel like I've picked up several books recently with a lack of tension. I felt the same way with this one, even though I wanted to know what would happen I could put it down and do other things without feeling the craving to read more. I did like it, though.
Aly: Same here...which is why I could see you not picking up the next book for a very long time. So where there were parts that I enjoyed. It wasn't like this amazing read.
Vi: Would you recommend this out to other people?
Aly: I know a lot of teens who like it and yes, I think there are people who really like this genre and would enjoy the book.
Renee: I would definitely recommend it -- there's obviously a huge market for this kind of book in YA right now -- although I might not call it the strongest of its type out there.
Vi: I think that the romance element was strong enough to attract some girls who are less-inclined to read, and I would recommend it to those, but I agree that there are other books who do the genre better for the more reluctant readers. Any last thoughts?
Renee:
Wicked Lovely gave me enough to make me want to continue in the series, and I think it does have very strong character development with less conventional teen romance elements -- doesn't Seth have multiple piercings? A refreshing change :)
Aly: I think that is part of what I liked. Seth isn't exactly the type of lead romantic character on some level (multiple piercings, etc.) but I think that is another reason I loved him so much.
Vi: Thanks for the chat, ladies! Once again, it was fun, and I'm glad we all enjoyed the book.
It was another great chat for me with these two amazing people! If you want to help us continue this discussion, please leave us a comment. We love to hear from you. ^_^ Thanks for stopping by!!
~ Vilate
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