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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Different Expectations Required, March 16, 2010
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First, let me get this announcement out of the way: Radiant Shadows is not about Aislinn and Seth, or even Aislinn at all. Of course that's disappointing to those of us who want to know what happens next to our couple now that Seth is faery, but that story must wait until another story is told. Then I suspect we will know how it all comes together, but if you go into Radiant Shadows expecting not Aislinn and Seth, but instead a story that stands on its own merits, you will come away from the reading with a much more satisfied frame of mind.
That said, Radiant Shadows focuses instead on the halfling Ani and her importance to the land of Faerie and Devlin, the brother of Sorcha, Queen of Faerie. Devlin has always done his sister's bidding (and tried to get along with her evil twin Bananach as well) except in one slightly major thing: he did not kill Ani when she was a child as Sorcha instructed him to do. Oh, and one more thing: he allowed a mortal, Rae, to inhabit Faerie without his sister's knowledge or permission. Devlin's lapses have stayed hidden relatively well until Ani starts to come into her own powers, and Rae, who is now a dreamwalker, unwittingly supplies Sorcha with the power to watch her newly reborn son Seth in his mortal life. To say things deterioriate at this point is an understatement: Ani suddenly finds herself hunted, Devlin must determine where his loyalties actually lie, and the courts are all in disarray. The one mention we get of Keenan is that he's missing, which cannot bode well for Aislinn or Seth, or even Irial and Niall.
Radiant Shadows began as pure confusion for me; it had been a year since I'd read Fragile Eternity and the intricacies of the courts and the Hounds was lost on me totally. The absence of Aislinn and all that I'd come to know of Faerie at first left me cold, but once I started to sort out the situation, I found that Radiant Shadows itself was a well written labyrinth with twists that I could not predict. I can see now where Ms. Marr was leading us and that this story needed to be told in order to get all of the details set up for the final book, but I would very much have appreciated some sort of reminder of who the Hounds and the Hunt were and perhaps a diagram showing where all the courts reside. (This being an ARC I read, it is possible the final copy will indeed include these things). This book is gorier than the others in the series, and the darkness that permeates the world Ms. Marr created is definitely growing. Now that I'm done, I can appreciate the world of Faerie and its intricacies; I just feel the need to warn those who are hoping for a smooth continuation into the lives of Aislinn, et.al that that's not what this book is about. Still, it's definitely well written and gripping, and I can recommend it not just as a filler story, but one that stands strongly on its own if given the chance.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Irial is back!, March 3, 2010
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Hmmm. I'm not entirely sure how to go about reviewing this latest installment to the Wicked Lovely series. I suppose I'll begin by saying that Marr has done a fantastic job setting up the final installment to the series. Anything could happen and there is certainly going to be a lot of action and declarations of love to be had. With that said, I didn't enjoy Radiant Shadows as much as the others in the series, much to my dismay.
The premise was spot on. Ani, a halfling, has tendencies of both Hound and Dark Court fey, making her more unique than most know or could guess. However, there are a few who can "see" that Ani's uniqueness could change the shape of faerie forever, and as a result want Ani dead.
Devlin, is the son/brother of twins Sorcha and Bannache, possessing both light and dark qualities, and has sworn fealty to the High Queen since the time of his making. As such, his purpose is to act as the bloody hands of the High Court. Devlin has never violated an order, save for one and the repercussions surpass anything that Devlin could have foreseen.
Devlin is captivated by Ani, whom he allowed to live, despite his sister Sorcha's order. She has remained hidden for fourteen years, but has now caught the attention of his other sister, Bannache. Bannache is intent on using Ani as a weapon in her war. If such a thing were to come to pass, Ani would be discovered and killed by Sorcha. If Ani disregards the order, Bannache will have her head. The logical answer would be to flee, but is there another path?
While the plot of the story was intricate and intriguing, I could muster up any love or like for either Ani or Devlin. The best thing about Ani was her haircut (It is so refreshing to find a heroine who has short hair, not because she had to shave her head to look like a man, but because she likes short hair. Such a thing is very hard to find in literature.) as she often came across as a randy, petulant child. Devlin, on the other hand, was so controlled and borderline anal, that he fell flat, and just when I was beginning to muster up some like for him, I got hit with a ménage a trois. Now, I would like to note that I could care less about a person's sexual orientation and I thought it was a fantastic addition to have a love triangle between Irial, Niall, and Leslie in Ink Exchange, made even more interesting by the fact that they are all in love with each other. Oh the drama! However, seeing Devlin have his cake and eat it too by keeping both Rae (who you will meet in this installment) and Ani made me cringe. I lost all respect for Ani, and just wanted to slap Devlin. Not cool. I realize that there are all sorts of relationships in this world, but not all of them belong in YA, erotica yes, YA, no.
The saving grace of this story was two fold, well, three. I love Melissa Marr. I may not agree with what she wrote in this book relationship wise, but I have to give her kudos for writing it. There are all sorts of relationships in this world, and I give her props for including them in her series. Second, the plot was great, even though I didn't care for the two main characters. Lastly, Irial. He and Keenan are my favorite characters, perhaps because they are the most multifaceted, and thankfully, he has returned in Radiant Shadows. Oh how I love him and wish for his happiness. All I'm going to say is that he better be in the last one!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't entertain me this time..., April 11, 2010
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Devlin is caught between two natures. His sister-creators made him and because of their duality he is cursed to be ever conflicted. He is chaos and reason, the balance between the unbalanced. He serves his sister Sorcha, Queen of the High Court, without question save one choice he has made of his own free will. A decision that nows haunts him. Ani, the halfling he did not kill, has now grown to be a young woman. She is both part Hunt and not of the Hunt. Ani must feed on both touch and emotion but what she really longs for is to belong.
Now War and Order threaten the world of the Fae and only Devlin and Ani can put things to right. But will doing so unravel their world or can they save the whole of Faery and themselves in the process?
I know it's not a terrific synopsis I've provided there and for that I really am sorry. I wanted to like Radiant Shadows. I really, really did. Wicked Lovely was just such a terrific story and it was written so well! So naturally as part of that series it has to be compared to this one. For me it just did not deliver. I liked the basic plot idea and the characters conceptually speaking. I loved the Hunt and got very excited to see what would happen with Ani's role in and outside it. Devlin's part of the story didn't work for me so much. Aside from some kind of weird lust-at-first-sight type attraction I felt no chemistry between the two as romantic partners. If that had been left out of the story I think I would have actually liked it a little more.
What really killed this book for me was how slowly paced it moved along. So much talking and indecision and reflecting on boring stuff. I didn't care about any of the politicing with Niall and Irial. I began skimming these scenes out of sheer desperation for something interesting to happen. There's also Rae. She makes no sense to me. How did she get into Faery and why? What is the point of her other than to be a pivot point for Devlin? She's a likable character but so little is really explained about her (and her bit of story has no real conclusion) that it was hard to not think of her as pretty superfluous.
If you're a die-hard fan of the series you may like this one. I think Marr has written better stuff in her previous installments of this series but that's just me. I think I'm just gonna fence sit on this one. It wasn't horrid but there was a lot about it I did not like. Good story but not well executed.
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