Melissa Marr ‘Wicked Lovely’ Series

I’ve just put down an unrpoofed copy of Marr’s Fragile Eternity  so thought it was about time I darn well shared my thoughts on this truly scrumptious, utterly dark and fabulously crafted set of young adult novels.

There’s a zillion reviews of Marr’s work on the interwebs and outline of plot – remember, my beauties, Google is your friend. So I wanna make this short and sweet.

If I was in the Summer Court and was all positive and happy and stuff, this is what I’d say…

• The yummy imagery. In particular, the way she manages to evoke the very essence of the fairy courts in her character descriptions. Eg. the eyes of Keenan, the Summer King, are described as having oceans waves lapping in them; suns rising and setting. Really quite fabulous. The description of the tattoo in Ink Exchange (the second book) is ultra cool too. The settings are to die for – the train carriage, the loft.
• It’s dark. Yeah baby, dark. Tattoos, piercings, pool tables (ha!), snakes. Other than the odd spark of colour when Marr’s highlighting the court  quirks, in my head, it’s all dark and rock ‘n’ rolla when I’m reading her stuff. And I like that.
• It’s dirty. Really urban. Dirty city setting, quirky industrial homes (eg. Seth’s train carriage home). And yet the ‘fantasy’ world – Keenan’s loft, the park, the winter court… they’re just o so beautiful and vibrant.
• Strong characters. There’s not enough of these out there, especially strong female characters. But Ash, Donia, Leslie , – tough girls with endearing qualities.
• Cute guys. All for different reasons. Seth for his intelligent, patient, rocky gorgeousness. Keenan for his wicked loveliness. Niall for his big, strong ‘I will protect you’ vibe, Irial for his dark and dirty ‘I will unravel you’ essence. Hmmmmmm…. Niall is my fave, who’s yours?

If I was in the Dark Court and was all cynical and, urm, dark, I’d say…

• Plots a teensy bit samey (okay, grasping at straws here cos books are truly close to perfection). From one book to the next, you kinda see the same battles taking place. ‘Please love me’, ‘No, no, I shan’t’. ‘You shall change into a fairy and be mine’. ‘No, no, I shan’t.’ You get what I mean? But I think us gals like that, right? And there are some fab sub-plots. *Slaps face and forces oneself to return to cynical Dark Court self* But yeah, could’ve done with mixing it up a bit but why fix what ain’t broke *Slaps face again*
• Intensity of relationships: I know some people hate Twilight but for those of us who enjoyed the series, it’s difficult to forget the sheer intensity of Bella and Edward’s relationship and that same level intensity isn’t there in the ’Wicked Lovely’ series. The main ‘relationship’ is between Ash and Seth and it’s great, it’s real, it’s ‘healthy’ and mebbe for that reason I was a teensy bit like ’whatever’ about it. Yeah, they’re cute together. Yeah, sure, you want them to get together but deep down, you SO want Ash and Keenan to get it on! I think it might be cos I preferred Keenan to Seth so mebbe those who prefer seth will think totally differently. Mebbe Marr meant it to be like this cos she wants to keep the Ash / Keenan dynamic on the simmer setting? Plus her stuff is grittier, stronger, more real than Meyer’s stuff (eg. in real life, not all relationships are so intense) so mebbe this is why there aren’t so many brooding looks etc. Hey, it’s down to personal taste really.
• Urm, that’s all I can think of (I am SO for the Summer Court but I am SO gonna be cannoodling with a Dark Court boy

Anyways, out of ALL the books I have reviewed here (including Before I Die), I totally and utterly recommend the luscious ‘Wicked Lovely’ series for readers and writers (of YA stuff particularly) as it’s to DIE FOR!!!! In terms of reading material and inspiration for writing. Go Marr!

x

I have an agent!

I never thought I’d be saying these words, so soon after I started querying but heck, yeah baby, I have an agent!!!

Until I sign on the dotted line, I won’t say who she is but she’s diamond and incredibly enthusiastic about my book (and my lovely Tori and Cam). Also, she wants to represent ME not just my book. She wants to create a writing career for me.

If any aspiring writers are reading this and wondering how to get an agent: write a damn good personalised query letter (there’s LOADS of advice on the net, lap it up); write a book with a great hook and then there’s the stuff you can’t control, like writing style. ‘Voice’ is mentioned so much and it’s something you can’t really fake, you have it or you don’t. Plus each agent is different, some will like your voice, other’s won’t. Something you can control is keep your writing tight – show, don’t tell. Express what’s going on in actions and dialogue. One great book I recommend is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (click here) .

I’ll keep ya’ll posted…

x

The Blarney Stone snogfest worked (so far)

I have another exciting development – an agent who I queried, the third to request my full who has impressed me by how  passionate and communicative she seems (and the fact that she’s damn good and was on my ‘A List’ of agents) wants to meet up.

I got The Call (well, not quite The Call as she hasn’t offered to represent me) on Monday. Came in on the old mobile phone after I’d finished work and I was strangely calm when she said who it was (can’t say the same for the dog who was running around like a mad thing, barking at the birds outside). She said she loves what she’s read so far and wants to meet face-to-face.

So, the meet-up happens Thursday. How am I gonna prepare? I’m just going to be myself (and hope my hair behaves itself!). I’m passionate about my book, I’m passionate about books overall, I’m passionate about the literary world, always have been, always will. So that’s all there is to know.

I’ll let you all know how I get on… x