Everything is getting harder for Aislinn, the Summer Queen. She’s finding it harder and harder to resist Keenan, her king, who it seems she is naturally inclined to lust after. Keenan loves Donia, the Winter Queen, and vice versa, but with such opposing natures, these two struggle to make any kind of relationship work. Aislinn still loves Seth and wants to be with him, but he is a human in a faery world and it’s hard on both of them. Aislinn has lost most of her human friends and finds it hard to separate herself from the faery world, making everything more awkward for Seth, who can feel her separation from him. He determines to take drastic measures in an attempt to be with Aislinn forever, not realizing the potential consequences of his choice.

Much of Fragile Eternity is spent on the characters agonizing over one another. A natural, and easy, pairing would have been Aislinn and Keenan, the Summer royalty, who are almost doomed to love one another given the eternity that they are forced to have. Yet both Aislinn and Keenan love elsewhere, hurting both each other and their lovers equally. They can’t stop being drawn together even though they don’t love one another. It is a difficult time for all four people, and Marr explores the tough choices that they have to make with some finesse, even if it feels frustrating. I know I had trouble returning to this book because the relationships were so well drawn and so painful. It was hard to know where the book was going to end up.

Seth’s choice, about halfway through the book, made sense even though I wished it hadn’t come to that. His journey into the world of Faerie was the best part for me. He was finally at peace with his choice, becoming more than frustrated ball of love for Aislinn, and Sorcha is a great addition to the cast of characters. She’s strong, interesting, and simply feels mythical. She adds immeasurably to a book that is largely about tortured lovers by giving the story another outlet. Besides, I always love great worldbuilding and Seth’s journey was a stellar opportunity for Marr to engage in it. I was really looking forward to learning more about the world and I wasn’t at all disappointed.

Overall, I’m not sure this one lives up to Wicked Lovely or Ink Exchange. I think it’s telling that I had to put it aside and take a break from all the angst, and then I dreaded going back to it because I didn’t want the characters to be so unhappy or tortured anymore. To some extent this has always been true of this series, but I really had a hard time here. It also ends in a cliffhanger and the next book isn’t out until 2010. So, I’ll be biting my nails until then! I do plan to continue but next time, I’m going to approach Marr’s books with a totally open and relaxed mind, rather than one which didn’t really need more stress. ( )

The third book in this enthralling series takes some interesting and unexpected turns and still leaves me wanting more. The author shows her readers, once again, that the direction the series will take is not a foregone conclusion and no character is without weakness. It definitely calls for another sequel. ( )

Reviewed by LadyJay for TeensReadToo.com

When last we saw Aislinn, she had become the embodiment of Summer, and taken her rightful place as Summer Queen.

Aislinn has had to adapt quickly to her new faery abilities, and it is certainly not easy. She struggles with her feelings towards Keenan, her Summer King, and her mortal boyfriend, Seth. She loves Seth, but is drawn to Keenan in a way that is inexplicable.

Aislinn searches for a happy balance, but it eludes her.

Keenan is also facing troubles of his own. Donia, the new Winter Queen, is his heart's desire, but she cannot bear sharing him with Aislinn. They also face a physical barrier that could destroy them both.

Aislinn, Keenan, and Donia continue their search for middle ground, but it all comes crashing down when Seth disappears. Aislinn becomes lost and wonders if joining the Faery Court was the right decision.

Melissa Marr's sequel to WICKED LOVELY is wonderful. She delves more deeply into the story of the Dark and High Courts, and gives a larger presence to Seth, Aislinn's mortal, and Sorcha, queen of the High Court.

Fans of both WICKED LOVELY and INK EXCHANGE will not be disappointed. I am looking forward to further installments in this amazing series! ( )

Summary: Seth exists in a position unlike any other mortal; he walks in the world of the fairies, and is friendly with three of the faerie Courts. Niall, King of the Dark Court, is like a brother to Seth; Donia, Queen of the Winter Court, treats him with respect if not close friendship; and Aislinn, formerly-mortal Queen of the Summer Court... Seth and Aislinn love each other, and Seth wants nothing more than to be with her forever - a word that has taken on terrifying new meaning since she became one of the Fae. Seth no that he doesn't really belong in her world - he's a mortal, and thus weaker than even the weakest fairy. But then there's Keenan, Aislinn's King, who knows that the Summer Court will be strongest if Aislinn and him are truly together - and not just as co-regents. Aislinn's torn between her love for Seth, and a growing, inescapable attraction to Keenan, and when Seth disappears in search of a means to make forever a reality, loyalties will be tested. And with fledgling rulers of three of the four faerie courts still testing the limits of their powers, shifting loyalties can easily spell disaster... not just for the faeries, but for the entire world.

Review: While I enjoyed this book more than I did Ink Exchange, neither of them has recaptured the magic of Wicked Lovely. Perhaps it's a case of shifting expectations - I expected Wicked Lovely to be rather silly and probably annoying, and so when it turned out to be really, really good, I was substantially more impressed. And then, when I expected the sequels to recapture that same feeling, they never *quite* made it. Don't get me wrong: I really enjoyed this book, and will absolutely be reading any more of the series that Marr writes. I just thought that Fragile Eternity didn't quite have the same spark that Wicked Lovely had.

One thing that may be contributing to the (slightly) reduced enjoyment is that Marr has a habit of taking characters who were completely sympathetic in previous books, and turning them into jerks. In Wicked Lovely, Keenan was intensely sympathetic... doing some unpleasant things, sure, but he was pretty torn up about it. But in Ink Exchange, he just seemed to turn into a pissy jerk, and that downhill slide continued through Fragile Eternity. Same thing with Niall - he's the "hero" of Ink Exchange, but by Fragile Eternity, he turned into kind of a nasty bully. But what really broke my heart was Donia... she was my favorite character in Wicked Lovely, so it kills me to see her acting so frostily (heh) bitchy here. Does this mean that Seth's next? (Say it ain't so!)

The thing is, though, that as busy as everyone is turning into jerks, it's hard to really blame them for it. Everyone is doing what they think best with the responsibilities they have, and Marr has done an admirable job of creating complex characters we care about, and putting them - with completely understandable motivations - into impossible situations. The power balance between the Courts, the love quadrangle... I don't see how these things can possibly work out to everyone's satisfaction... but I've got faith that Marr does see it, and that's the kind of complicated, intricate, character-driven plot that makes me guaranteed to keep reading. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Don't start here! (But do read the series! It's a very good teen paranormal romance, but it's also just very good.) Marr gives only very, very minimal background information, and the plot of this book is so based in the relationships between the characters that the books need to be read in order. (Also, ignore the fact that the cover says "Sequel to Wicked Lovely." It's true that Ink Exchange focuses on different main characters than books 1 and 3, but there's enough overlap that they really need to be read in order.) ( )