Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely Series #4)

Eh

While Melissa Marr continues to be an excellent writer, and I enjoyed all of her books up to this point, Radiant Shadows was a disappointment. Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't really connect to her characters, and the story dragged on. Normally I read a book straight through without putting it down, but this one I got bored eaily and it took me several days to finish. I want to know more about Seth and Aislinn, and while they do make appearances in the story, it's as if Marr has brushed them aside to introduce these new people she's more excited about. Maybe I've just started to get bored with the fey, and the world she's created, but I do believe that Radiant Shadows could have been much, much better.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

COME ON!!!!!!!

Really? Are you serious?!? I waited forever for that book to come out, and this is what i get?!?! Don't get me wrong, the book had its high points ( i love Ani and Devlin). But Keenan has gone missing. And they only mention it once! Ash is not in the book and Seth hasn't changed from when he was a mortal. I expected Seth to be more emotional and dark and scary and FORCEFUL! he never even talks to Ash! Donia is also not in the book. With Keenan gone shouldn't she be upset!? Melisssa Marr is great, but this book was one big let down. It was the PENULTIMET (spelling?) the next to last and nothing is coming together. The last book will have to be pretty long to make up all this lost time.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

I was sadly disappointed

I am a HUGE fan of the Wicked Lovely series, and I have bullied each and every one of my friends into reading the books. I anxiously awaited RADIANT SHADOWS and then...I felt an enormous let-down. After the ending of FRAGILE ETERNITY, I expected (1) to see Seth grow as a faery (fight/hunt with the hounds/be more emotionally agressive towards Ash and not such a door-mat); (2) some sort of closure and finality already with the Keenan/Ash/Donia/Seth love quadrangle; (3) a greater change with the faery courts. I guess I should have anticipated a move like this after reading INK EXCHANGE, yet I was still unprepared for what I read. I felt the plot was thin and contrived at times (too many unanswered questions: Irial's fate? Jillian? The creation of YET ANOTHER faery court? And Keenan's MISSING--the Summer King is MISSING and it's only mentioned briefly in the book? No one cares??? What's Ash been doing during this time? Is she looking for him? Has she thrown Seth aside for Keenan?) Being the penultimate book in the series, I felt like Marr was all over the place with this book. I hope she regains her momentum for the last and wrangles back her readers who fell in love with the series in the first place.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Reviewed by Karin Librarian for TeensReadToo.com

In order to understand the specifics of all the characters in this story, it would be best to read the other books in the series: WICKED LOVELY, INK EXCHANGE, and FRAGILE ETERNITY.

RADIANT SHADOWS picks up where FRAGILE ETERNITY leaves off. As per their agreement, Seth leaves Sorcha in Faerie so he can return to his life in the Mortal world. Everything starts disintegrating soon after and provides a backdrop for the rest of the story.

Ani, Gabriel's daughter, is struggling with her role in the Hunt and controlling the way she feeds. Unlike her siblings, Ani can feed from both mortals and faerie since she feeds on emotions. Life for Ani becomes extremely complicated when Bananach takes an interest in her and orders her to kill Seth. Not knowing what else to do, Ani decides her only option is to run.

Devlin, the brother of Sorcha and Bananach, is sent to the Mortal world to look after Seth. Sorcha is obsessed with what Seth is doing and worried for his safety. The trouble is, Devlin gets sidetracked when he runs into Ani at a night club. Devlin and Ani are connected, although the specific connection is unknown - all Devlin understands is that he can't resist Ani.

Melissa Marr continues to hold readers' attention in this, the fourth book of the WICKED LOVELY series. Aislinn doesn't play a role in this installment because Keenan is missing, forcing her to focus her attention on the Summer Court. Faerie is in danger due to Sorcha's actions, and it is up to Devlin and Ani to put it right - but Bananach (War) is determined to see death and destruction everywhere.

Can they save Faerie before War destroys everything?

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great Installment- I devoured it!

In the fourth installment of The Wicked Lovely series, I'm quite happy to say that as always, Melissa Marr doesn't disappoint! This installment brings more attention to the "background" characters and doesn't focus on Seth and Aislinn. Instead, the reader is taken into Ani and Devlin's developing relationship, as well as Marr's continued beautiful and alluring magical writing that will capture your heart. I'll be honest; Ani's character didn't particularly strike me in the beginning. She struggles, and her character voice annoyed me at times with the constant complaining of "not fitting in". But you know, if you think about it, that makes a character REALISTIC. As the story played on, I grew attached to her strength and determination, and fierce protection over her loved ones. Devlin, I loved. I adored. He was mysterious. Beautiful. Marr crafted his character wonderfully, I thought. And I always love Irial and Niall! They are so tempting... sexy... ;) The dialogue throughout the entire novel is so smooth, rich, and easily read- yet artistically done and poetic. I don't have many complaints when it comes to Melissa Marr's The Wicked Lovely Series, and once again, found myself ravishing every page through this installment. I can't wait to read the next- and final installment: Darkest Mercy.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Okay, But Not Worth It

Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr starts with Ani, a half mortal and half faery who is trying to find her place in the strange world she was born into without a mother. Devlin is a faery that works as a faery leader's assassin and who had been sent to kill both Ani and her mother, but for the first time in his life he had not had the heart to kill someone. Melissa Marr does a wonderful job at describing these interestingly complicated characters and showing the battles they face within their own minds. She uses beautiful words to help you picture just how intricate the faery world is and how it is seen from the perspective of all of the different characters. The theme of love versus the darkness that haunts them and the dangers of being together keep the story incredibly entertaining. Ani, with Devlin surprisingly at her side and against the ones he was born to follow, being hunted down as a resource to be used for creating chaos among the leaders of the faery world is a creative conflict. You would think it would make the story excitingly fast paced, but no. Most of the story is spent in Ani's car driving away with Devlin as fast as she can. There is not really any turning point and there is absolutely no suspense at all. Nothing all that amazing happens until the last few chapters of the novel. This was not a great addition to the Wicked Lovely Series and the first three were much more worthy of my time.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Radiant shadow

First it was Aislinn, then it was her best friend Leslie, after was about Seth, Now its about Ani. Ani is the sister of Rabbit and Tish from the tatoo shop.
Melissa Marr a great book and series writer has brought us into Faerie and showed us of the glam behind the glam of the faerie people.
Its Ani's turn to stand next to her father as a hound and not just a half mortal half human. With devlin being bound to his sisters by their blood, he is to keep her away. But Ani being the daughter of the Dark court, anything is possible.
This is a book you would want to read after what happen to Aislinn, Leslie, and Seth. This book shows you what happens after they have gotten away or stayed in Faerie.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Radiant Shadows is sharp, edgy and I loved it!

This book is the best installment in the Wicket Lovely series to date. It brings all the characters from past books into the story and adds some captivating new ones. It awakens the storyline and gives the series a huge shot in the arm. The edgy attraction between Ani and Devlin was wonderful and the plot was a total page turner. I kept finding myself wanting to stay up later and later to read more. This is a keeper. Twilight fans that love Jacob will love this book.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

AMAZING

For me, this was the best book in the series! It takes you into other courts besides Summer and Winter. Devlin is one of my favorite characters! Even though you don't see some old favorites, its good to learn more about the High Court. I was a little dissapointed with Fragile Eternity, so this book was a breath of fresh air for me! :)

Highly Recommend

My least favorite book in the Wicked lovely series, but I'd still Recommend it to almost anyone.

Radiant Shadows

Well after reading Radiant Shadows the fourth installment of the wicked lovely series by Melissa Marrs I first must say for those who are following this series this book barely mentions Ash or the summer court that being said I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the Dark court and the high court. In this story we learn more about Devlin and Ani. Devil a fairy made from two powerful fairies has spent his life taking orders and being in control till he meets Ani a Halfling of the dark court. When they meet again after many years their connection is instant and we are taken on the ride of how their bond plays out. We also learn exactly how important both Devlin and Ani are to the survival of Fairies the magical land where Sorcha the unchanging queen has ruled since the beginning. This book kept me intrigued from beginning to end and I was surprised how it all ended up. Marrs has pulled me into this world of fairies and I’m excited to see how it will play out. If you haven’t read this series yet I encourage you to start because it is a captivating story and well worth the read.

highly recommended

It's sexy dark fantasy that still has a happy ending. I couldn't put it down. Some books are easy to read, they hold your interest the whole time. This is one of them.

I end up loving every single character...

The Wicked Lovely series has held my interest by how all the characters play important roles. Radiant Shadows continues to do so by focusing on Ani and Devlin and how their choices may change Faerie for the good or bad. The backstory of Ani is revealed and questions are slowly answered. As much as I enjoyed this book I did feel like it was a bit...dry. I didn't feel like it was something I wanted to stay up all night to read. I think it's because I'm so set into the whole Ash, Kennan, and Seth thing going on that I don't want to read about any one else.

Ani was first introduced in Ink Exchange and I didn't think much of her. This book really shined more light on Ani and the struggles she's going through to survive. Ani is a halfling of the Dark Court and must feed off of both emotions and touch. She's a new breed that can feed from faeries as well as mortals, but is starved of both touch and emotions from the protection of her father, Gabriel. Ani is daring and impulsive. She's also caring as well as impulsive which makes her unpredictable.

Melissa Marr does such a great job at entwining the stories of different characters. When I read the synopsis I wasn't sure how Devlin had anything to do with Ani or even how they knew each other. The consequences of Devlin's past is now catching up to him and it involves Ani. I really don't like spoilers so I won't go into it too much, but Devlin made some choices that saved Ani's life and changed his future.

Even though Radiant Shadows was more focused on Ani and Devlin it became one of my favorites because of the strong character developments. The story continues to turn from page to page and as usual, Melissa Marr has left me wanting more. I will be continuing the series by reading the last book, Darkest Mercy.

exiting

this book was really good, but of course all the books in this series have been teriffic. i didnt think i would get interested in the cheracters in this book but i definatley did. i really liked the charecters because they seemed to be the mysteriuos ones in the series i could not wait to find out what was the destiny for these cheracters!!

I luv this book!

i love this book and the other series read it!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Off topic?

I completely loved the first three books. Ink Exchange being my ultimate favorite. The suspense that Marr had in those books had me reading non stop. but this book kind if threw me off. Keenan's missing...wheres Ash during this time. Although this book had great page turning action, i thought Marr was kinda all over. Off topic from the first three books. I still liked it though. (:

Radiant Shadows

I was quite eager to read this as i thoroughly enjoyed Fragile Eternity,Radiant Shadows focuses on the dark court and the High court,Main characters that were only minor characters in the previous books become so important,Devlin,high court assassin and Ani,daughter of the hunt whose fates are tied together but they do not know yet in the first part of the book,Devlin betrays Sorcha by not following her order to kill Ani,He does not kill her because Rae tells him not to,Rae is a dream walker which means she can enter dreams,she sees thing s that happen but cannot tell Devlin,Devlin goes to the mortal world to see that Seth is fine as Sorcha character seems to be changing,the unchanging queen IS changing and there is nothing Devlin can do but follow her orders,Bananach causes discord and trouble in this novel,going after Ani and murdering Tish,Irial,Niall,Gabriel and Rabbit are all pulled into this fight,Ania and Devlin struggle with their attraction to each other,Ani afraid that she will hurt or maybe even kill Devlin as she needs skin contact to sate her hunger,Devlin is attracted to Ani as she is as bold as him and a good fighter,Ani does not sit around and wait for someone to save her,she is a hound,a fighter,Sorcha going to sleep creates disaster in Faerie and only when Seth returns will everything there go back to order,Devlin,Ani,Rabbit and Seth travel to Faerie and upon arrival,Sorcha awakens and is glad to have Seth back,Because she made Seth a fairy,she also gained mortality making her not a twin to Bananach anymore,but still balance is required in Faerie so Devlin seeks Niall and Irial out in a dream,aided by Rae,Niall refuses to return the dark court to Faerie so Devlin and Ani decide to make a new court,the Shadow court,quite like a branch of the dark court with Ani and Devlin as monarchs.Exciting and filled with heart pounding fights and emotions,Radiant shadows is worth the read for anyone who enjoyed the Wicked Lovely series and i think it's fine to not read the previous books as this one seems quite close to stand alone.

Ow that was bad.

I had to force myself to keep reading it because it was just a mess at first. Way to many characters are introduced and reintroduced it becomes a jumbled mess. I understand that the author is trying to flesh out more characters but it turns out to be a detriment to the franchise.

Anything but Radiant

I have to say that I was very upset by this book. I did not like it from the start. The other three were so much better than this one. I can honestly say that I wish Melissa had just skipped over this one and kept going with the story of Ashlyn and Keenan. Hopefully the next is better :-(

Awesome paranormal book!

This, is paranormal YA writing at its most intelligent, elegant, atmospheric form. A perfect blend of eerie atmosphere and graceful, poetic prose. What I absolutely adored about Radiant Shadows (and every other Wicked Lovely book) is the eeriness and the darkness in the writing. There is no vulgarity, no unforgivably bad language, no too-fast skips from one character to another. And of course, there is never the question of knowing the characters too well, as any one who has read the first few books would surely know.
I simply love Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series, for its unpredictable awesomeness. Just when I was tearing out my hair wondering who the new protagonists would be, in Book 4 of the lovely Wicked Lovely series, she brought two people who were always in the background out in full regalia: Ani and Devlin have been mentioned in nearly all the previous books, but I love the fact that now we get to know so much more about the strange half-mortal half-fey girl whom Irial seems to consider family and the High Court's seemingly cold and passionless assassin Devlin, brother to Reason and War. But it is not just Ani and Devlin that we learn so much more about in this amazing installment: Sorcha is not the Unchanging Queen without any emotional flux anymore. Seth's arrival into her life has changed all that. Again, we get to know about Bananach, about deeper fey magic than before.
I continue to adore Seth and be impressed by Niall and Irial. Especially the former Dark King, Irial, still captivates me. There is something about him that's new to the genre in a whole. Something amazingly fresh about his (and Ani's, actually) characters that make him irresistible.
Ani, I liked better than Aislinn and Leslie, actually. She was braver, spunkier yet not so hardened or stoic that tragedies and losses don't crush her. She is, as Devlin says, the most captivating faery. Devlin is another great character with shades that I would never have realized from the appearances he put on in the other book.
Radiant Shadows also brings out the strange and slightly sad relationship between Irial and Niall.which really makes me wish for Darkest Mercy. There's not much of Aislinn or Keenan or Donia in the book, and the book does make some unexpected and very unusual turns.
I loved the near-end, with the well-described fight. I actually cared enough about the book that a BELOVED character's near possible death is freaking me out. (If you are a WL fan and you haven't read the fourth book yet, dump this now and go read)
I want Darkest Mercy NOW. Seriously.

Cover: always awesome, but doesn't really compare to the first and third book.
Plot: why do I need to mention? I've said enough about awesomeness.

What I loved: EVERYTHING, including the Harper Collins book trailer available on the website. Except maybe some bits in between which I skipped because I was so eager to get to the next bit. Harmless little skips though.

What I hated: To an extent, I didn't really like the cover much. I also got a little annoyed with Seth's slight departure from the calm, completely in control kind of character I've come to absolutely love.