Review: Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr

Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: March 1st, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

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 alike at the edge of their seats.
Lilywhite Abernathy is a criminal—she's half human, half fae, and since the time before she was born her very blood has been illegal. A war has been raging between humans and faeries, and 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 from the truth, 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.

My thoughts:
I love Melissa Marr. I have been waiting and waiting for her to release another fae book and Seven Black Diamonds was amazing!!!  Marr always manages to amaze me and this book was pure brilliance!

This new fae world is different than her last in my opinion.  It felt more like a kingdom than her previous ones and for me at least it was a whole new spin on her lore.  I really enjoyed it and I thought it brought something new and fresh to her audience.  The story included a whole new cast of characters who I loved fiercely and brought an interesting plot line that kept me on my toes the entire time!

The story centers around Lilywhite.  She is fae-blood and in her world that is punishable by death so she keeps her secret to herself with the only exception being her father who just happens to be a drug lord.  See interesting from the start right?!  This story has so many different lines that I won't lie were a little hard to keep up with, but they all blended well together so even when I didn't totally grasp something I knew later I would get it. 

I think one of my favorite things about this book was the way Marr created her characters.  We don't have the annoying love triangle even though she could have put one in, we also finally get a heroine who has the training and logic to fight.  I hate when the whole damsel in distress pops up and then all of a sudden knows how to fight.  How did she learn??!  Lily from the get go knew how to handle herself and I think adding that her family was basically the mob was brilliant.  It set her up so that when she had to fight we as the readers knew she could.  I loved this!

I also really loved the rest of the characters!  They were fun and deep and I honestly can't wait to see where they go from where the book ended.  I like that they all had there own problems, but they were there for one another when it counted.  I hope this stays true for the rest of the series.

I'm really curious how the next book will play out.  I can't wait to see more from The Hidden Lands and since I love all things dark and twisty I can't wait to see what the Queen of Blood and Rage has up her sleeve.  She was definitely one of the reasons I kept reading.  Her character showed no mercy and she was truly one to be feared. I hope Marr keeps her this way!!

The one and only thing that bothered me was the whole Abernathy Commandments.  Lily repeated these constantly and it got to be a little much. I get that they were showing the reader her calculating side, but after the first ten times I really didn't need them recited.

I really loved this book and after a string of books that failed me and I am so glad I read this one. It showed me that some authors will always deliver and that Marr still holds a spot in my top five favorite authors of all time!

5 snowflakes