by Melissa Marr
ages: 14+
First sentence: “The Summer King knelt before her.”
Aislinn can see faeries.
Granted, that’s not always a good thing. She’s not supposed to let on that she can see them, especially since they tend to get vindictive when they find out. So, for her whole life, she’s been going around pretending that what she can see doesn’t exist.
It works out fine, until one — Keenan, the Summer King — starts paying attention to her. See, he’s been bound by Beria, the Winter Queen, and he will not have his full power until he chooses one to be his queen. She has to willing give herself to him, and if she isn’t the One, she will carry the curse of the Winter Queen. Not an easy fate, and something that not many girls will choose. And it seems that for Keenan, Aislinn is The One. Except. She’s in love with Seth, an ordinary mortal, which makes things slightly more complicated.
You have everything in here: urban fairies, kicking heroine, love triangle (of sorts), faerie mythology, good overcoming evil… there’s nothing to not love. Except, while it was good and gripping and intriguing, I felt disconnected from it all. The was something missing, that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Or maybe it was just disconcerting to read a dark faery tale, one where everything was harsh and edgy. However, it wasn’t enough to keep me from being curious as to what happens in the next book. I guess that’s a good thing.
Buy it from: Amazon, Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.
The Book Nut 
The next one is VERY dark and kind of stands alone. You can move on to the third if you don't want to take the detour.
LikeLike
I got this one on BookMooch and I'm part intrigued, part scared to read it!
LikeLike
I agree about being disconnected. It was the same for me, although I want to read the entire series, just out of curiousity.
LikeLike
I'm listening to this one at the moment and really enjoying it – the narrator is great!
LikeLike
softdrink — that's interesting. M read it, and agreed: it's VERY dark. But I think I'm like Jessica: I'll read it because I'm curious. (Though being forewarned is always good.)
Joanna — I heard that the narrator for this audiobook was fabulous. Perhaps I should have listened to it…
LikeLike
Everyone keeps talking about this book (and series) and I'm resisting as hard as I can. I've got so much on my plate right now, I can't afford to dive into it yet. But I can't wait!!
LikeLike
I totally loved this book and enjoyed your review. I have the second one on my pile to read sometime soon!!
LikeLike
I really enjoyed this book. If it occasionally tried too hard to be edgy, it was still better than a lot of the other stuff out there.
LikeLike
I had a similar reaction – I thought everything about it was great, I just didn't love it. But, I had to keep reading. Still waiting on that third book…
LikeLike
Very true, stu — it is a lot better than a lot of te other stuff out there. And yeah, melissa, I'll probably be waiting for that third book to come in…
LikeLike
I am looking forward to reading the third book. I own it, but I haven't got around to reading it yet
LikeLike