Are you a fan of fantasy that keeps you on the edge of your seat? Then Melissa Marr’s Seven Black Diamonds may be for you.
I really enjoyed the fantastical world Melissa Marr created in Seven Black Diamonds. There’s a nice blend of fantasy and reality, captivating characters, and plenty of surprises that you won’t see coming.
Lilywhite Abernathy is a criminal—she’s half human, half fae, and since the time before she was born, a war has been raging between humans and faeries. The Queen of Blood and Rage, ruler of the fae courts, wants to avenge the tragic death of her heir due to the actions of reckless humans.
Lily’s father has always shielded her, but when she’s sent to the prestigious St. Columba’s school, she’s delivered straight into the arms of a fae sleeper cell—the Black Diamonds. The Diamonds are planted in the human world as the sons and daughters of the most influential families and tasked with destroying it from within. Against her will, Lilywhite’s been chosen to join them…and even the romantic attention of the fae rock singer Creed Morrison isn’t enough to keep Lily from wanting to run back to the familiar world she knows.
Melissa Marr returns to faery in a dramatic story of the precarious space between two worlds and the people who must thrive there. The combination of ethereal fae powers, tumultuous romance, and a bloodthirsty faery queen will have longtime fans and new readers at the edge of their seats.
There were some things about the world, its rules, and the characters that I found confusing. But even when I was slightly confused, the Fae world really captivated me. Marr switches between Lily’s point of view and many of the other characters in the story, including the other Black Diamonds. She does the different viewpoints well but with so many POV’s, it can sometimes be hard to keep track of who’s who and what their role is in the story.
That being said, I really liked the characters and their story arcs. Lily is fierce and determined to make her own decisions despite all of the forces working against her. Creed has a pop-star aura about him and he’s an interesting foil to Zephyr, who is busy trying to balance leadership with fighting his own demons. Each of the Black Diamonds has their own unique personality and I thought it was really interesting how their magical affinities play a role in who each character is.
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Each character is complex and has a very developed backstory. The Queen of Blood and Rage is terrifying but she also has a good reason for what she’s doing, at least from her point of view. Each character’s motivations are meaningful and unique. After all, most people aren’t living with the crime lord commandments that Lily has spent her whole life abiding by. The layers of each backstory that get revealed as the story goes on keep the story interesting and disclose some of those unforeseen twists.
There is a lot going on in the 400 pages of this book but I think that means there will be something that almost every reader will like. Overall, Seven Black Diamonds is an entrancing introduction to the world of the Fae. I am definitely looking forward to book two in this duology.
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