Wicked Lovely



""Don't stare at invisible faeries, Rule #3.

Don't answer invisible faeries, Rule #2.

And... Rule #1: Don't ever attract faeries' attention.""

- Aislinn, Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely is a 2007 YA fantasy novel by Melissa Marr. The title can also refer to the Wicked Lovely series, which includes the novel of the same name, Ink Exchange (2008), Fragile Eternity (2009), Radiant Shadows (2010) and Darkest Mercy (2011). A short story, "Stopping Time", serves as a sort of postscript to Ink Exchange. Chock full of romance and a dash of political intrigue, the series is a Paranormal Romance set in Huntsdale, where three of the four Courts of Faerie currently reside.

The first book deals with Keenan, the King of the Summer Court, courting a human girl named Aislinn, who he hopes is the missing Summer Queen, and her attempts to resist his advances. Subsequent books build upon the cast of characters established in Wicked Lovely, introducing readers to the movers and shakers within the Winter, Dark and High Courts. Further explanation of the plot would simply be too spoileriffic.

The fifth book, Darkest Mercy was recently released, and a short story anthology is planned for 2012.

This series provides examples of:
""Pride comes before a fall, my friend. But then, you've already fallen, haven't you?""
 * Above Good and Evil: How Irial perceives the Dark Court. See also this page's entry for Blue and Orange Morality.
 * Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Partially subverted in Fragile Eternity.
 * Action Girl: Ani, Chela.
 * Achilles Heel: Iron is poisonous to fey except for monarchs and a select few others like Bananach.
 * Aerith and Bob: Let's see...Aislinn, Seth, Leslie, Rianne, Carla, Grace, Sorcha, Bananach...
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: However, it's pretty clear that boys want bad girls as well.
 * Anchored Ship: Aislinn and Keenan.
 * And I Must Scream: Shades [ghosts of faeries], 'trapped and silent for all eternity'.
 * Asskicking Equals Authority: the solitary fey work on "rule of might and will", which basically amounts to this. Unusual for this trope, and likely due to Fair Folk Blue and Orange Morality, this is a good thing, or at least works for the solitaries.
 * Author Catchphrase: "There are always choices", which doubles as An Aesop, is spoken by a different character every book, sometimes more than once.)
 * Author Appeal: Non-sexual, but several characters have similar tastes in music and fashion to Melissa Marr, not to mention the whole tattoo thing in Ink Exchange...
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Ani, according to Word of God.
 * Ax Crazy: Bananach.
 * An Ice Person: The Winter Court.
 * Badass Normal: Aislinn's grandmother; Seth
 * Balance Between Good and Evil: In Radiant Shadows especially: "Without shadows, the radiance was insufficent."
 * Bastard Boyfriend: Irial can come off this way in regards to Leslie and Niall.
 * Battle Couple: Ani and Devlin; Gabriel and Chela.
 * Be Careful What You Say
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: Poor Leslie.
 * Bedmate Reveal: In Radiant Shadows, involving Irial, Ani, and Niall.
 * Biker Babe: Ani.
 * Bishonen: Despite the scars, Niall is outright referred to as 'pretty' often.
 * Blood Knight: Bananach, the Hounds.
 * Blue and Orange Morality: Pretty much everyone. For example,
 * Bodyguard Crush: Even though Niall kinda fails at the bodyguarding part.
 * Break the Haughty: Whilst not quite an example, Iri tries to warn Devlin of this in Radiant Shadows.


 * Broken Bird: Leslie. Donia as well, who is arguably even more of a woobie, just the iron variety.
 * But Your Wings Are Beautiful: Think Niall's extensive scarring might be unattractive? Pfft.)
 * By the Eyes of The Blind: Only some humans, like Aislinn and her grandmother, can naturally See faeries.)
 * Byronic Hero: Irial.
 * Can Not Tell a Lie: Extensive use, in accordance with old fairy folklore.
 * Casting a Shadow: The dark and  courts, of course.
 * Chick Magnet: Irial, Niall, Keenan, Seth
 * Cute Ghost Girl: Rae.
 * City Noir: Huntsdale, just...Huntsdale.
 * The Chosen One: Aislinn,
 * The Unchosen One: Donia, Rika.
 * Dark Is Evil: The denizens of the Dark Court. Subverted somewhat with Irial and, who consciously hold their Court at least somewhat in check. Water fey as well, as glimpsed throughout the series and in Darkest Mercy previews. FAR more so than the Dark Court, they are borderline sociopaths to mortal standards, or at least completely, utterly alien. Even most 'normal' fey fear them.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Also applies to the Dark Court. Both Dark Is Evil and Dark Is Not Evil can apply to them because of the Blue and Orange Morality of faeries. Death fey like Far Dorcha  as well.
 * Deadly Decadent Court: Everyone, really, but most especially the Dark Court - again.
 * Dream Weaver: Rae
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Niall
 * Dysfunction Junction: Everyone has issues of some kind. EVERYONE. Misery loves company and faeries, evidently.
 * Earn Your Happy Ending: Definitely. These characters go through a lot, and things get pretty bad for faerie as a whole at points, but it's worth it in the end.
 * Emotion Eater: The Dark Court.
 * Important Haircut: Niall had much longer hair in the backstory, but cut it very short when he left the dark court, both as a symbolic gesture of 'not looking back' and for more practical trauma-relatated reasons, according to Word of God.
 * Even the Guys Want Him: Oh, Irial. Niall too. Remember the scene with Seth lusting on him in Fragile Eternity?
 * Everyone Calls Him Barkeep: The Gabriel is always referred to as such. Marr has stated that he had another name before, and that it's not secret but it's not relevant either.
 * Evil Is Deathly Cold: Beira.
 * Face Heel Turn: Niall. Probably inevitable, but more interesting angsty.
 * Faeries Speaking English: Why Sorcha, who has been around literally forever, speaks perfect -if overly formal- modern English despite having never even been to the human world is the worst example, but it applies to several faeries. Mind you, it would be hard to write all dialogue in Gaelic, especially considering most readers wouldn't understand it, so this was probably a common-sense move on Melissa's part. Although faeries HAVE been said to possess the gift of tongues.
 * The Fair Folk: Pretty much the very engine of the series.
 * Fatal Flaw: Way to withhold vital info, Keenan.
 * Femme Fatalons: Bananach. Of course, without faery glamour, they're literal talons.
 * Friend Versus Lover: Keenan and Seth do NOT get along.
 * The Fog of Ages: Sorcha has been around since faerie was first created, and by her own admission doesn't remember a lot of it.
 * Four Seasons: Well, two of them.
 * For Happiness: The Summer Court's basic mentality. Keenan's Summer Girls in particular serve as a strong 'choose happiness' thing.
 * "Sometimes, it's not about being happy, but courting happiness."
 * Green Thumb: Again, the Summer Court.
 * Half Human Hybrid: Ani, Tish, and Rabbit. To a much lesser extent, Aislinn.
 * Half Truth: What else did you expect from The Fair Folk?
 * Human Mom Nonhuman Dad: Gabriel's kids; Ani, Rabbit and Tish.
 * The High Queen: Sorcha, of course.
 * Horror Hunger: Negative emotions (fear, hatred, pain, lust, greed, etc) are the Dark Court's source of nourishment.
 * Innocent Cohabitation: Keenan and Aislinn.
 * Interplay of Sex and Violence: The Dark Court, and how.
 * Interspecies Romance
 * I Will Protect Her: Niall and Irial towards Leslie; also, Niall towards Seth.
 * Jumped At the Call: Ani in Radiant Shadows.
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Knife Nut: Probably the way many fey fight, but special mention goes to Ani who states at one point "a girl can never have too many knives". Also her father Gabriel, and Bananach.
 * Land of Faerie: Where the High and Shadow courts reside.
 * Light Is Not Good: The Summer Court is far from perfect and the High Court is implied to be the villain in Radiant Shadows.
 * Love Hurts: Hoo, boy.
 * Magical Girl: Um... all of them?
 * Making a Splash: Water fey, like Aobheall and Innis, have been mentioned throughout the series and according to the snippets on the author's website pay a big role in the final book.
 * Mama Bear:
 * Manipulative Bastard: Irial
 * May December Romance: Due to the immortality of the fey, pretty much every couple except Aislinn/Seth and Niall/Irial.
 * Mayfly December Romance: What Irial and Niall's relationship with Leslie is, as well as being a major source of angst for Seth in Fragile Eternity.
 * Non Human Sidekick: The Hounds' Steeds, and Donia's wolf Sasha.
 * Nobody Thinks It Will Work: The general reaction of the Summer Court to Aislinn's relationship with Seth.
 * Not Himself:
 * Omnicidal Maniac: Bananach.
 * Only Known By Their Nickname: Rabbit.
 * The Ophelia: If Sorcha wasn't one in Radiant Shadows, she was damn close.
 * Order Versus Chaos: High Court and Dark Court. Sorcha and Bananach. Reason and War.
 * Our Vampires Are Different: Not technically vampiric, but needing others' blood is a result of Devlin being the balance between Reason and War.
 * Out With a Bang: Pity the poor innocent bystanders in Ink Exchange. Well, poor innocent quasi-bystanders.
 * Plant Person: Hawthorn (Winter) and Rowan (Summer) fey.
 * Polyamory: Niall, Irial, and Leslie are all totally cool with their emotional - though not physical - threeway. To a lesser extent, Ani and Rae don't appear to have any qualms about sharing Devlin either.
 * Posthumous Character: Miach, Moira.
 * The Power of the Sun: The Summer Court, of course, especially Keenan.
 * Put On a Bus:
 * Rags to Royalty
 * Rape As Backstory: Leslie. And Niall, even though in his case backstory means '1200 years ago'. Still counts.
 * Reality Warper: Sorcha, Bananach,, Devlin, Rae in dreams, and arguably
 * Red String of Fate: Aislinn and Keenan, though she resists it
 * Reformed Rakes: Seth.
 * Reluctant Monster: Niall as a Gancanagh,.
 * Resigned to The Call: Aislinn at the end of Wicked Lovely.
 * Sadistic Choice: Irial gives Niall one in their shared backstory, as revealed in Ink Exchange- "You entertain the court or they can, Gancanagh." Niall chose to give them himself.
 * Scars Are Forever: Niall, oh so much so.
 * Sealed Inside a Person Shaped Can: The Summer Queen, sealed away by Beira and Irial.
 * Shown Their Work: Marr generally gets the folklore right, though, of course, faery lore is already old enough and varied enough that Marr can have quite a bit of wiggle room to make any new innovations she sees fit.
 * Sibling Yin Yang: Sorcha and Bananach.
 * Smoking Is Cool: Oh, Irial...
 * Single Minded Twins: Ani and Tish act like this, despite not actually being twins.
 * The Symbiote: How ink exchanges are supposed to work.
 * There Are No Therapists: Subverted somewhat with Leslie, who is revealed to be having therapy in Stopping Time. Justified with anyone else as no sane therapist would believe them.
 * Title Drop: Once a book.
 * Wicked Lovely: "And he smiled at her, truely smiled- wicked and lovely..."
 * Ink Exchange: Frequently, but it's to be expected due to ink exchanges being the central plot device as well as the title.
 * Fragile Eternity: (Ask another troper to find one, but I'm sure it was in Seth's pov.)
 * Radiant Shadows: "Without shadows, the radiance was insufficient." and "Instead of being wrought of shadows like those from her own court, this faery had a tangled feel. Shadow and radiance."
 * Stopping Time: "It's okay to stop time every so often to be with someone you love."
 * Triang Relations: Of the polyamourous variety. Ani/Devlin/Rae is a type seven Irial/Niall/Leslie is a type eight.
 * Troubled but Cute: Niall
 * Try Not to Die: The last line of Radiant Shadows is Devlin telling Seth, "Try not to die, brother."
 * Understanding Boyfriend: The degree to which Seth embodies this trope comes dangerously close to ridiculousness.
 * Unwanted Spouse: Their shared leadership of the Summer Court puts Aislinn and Keenan in this kind of relationship.
 * What Is Evil: Irial tends to do this a bit. See "above good and evil", above. Some people thought a bt too much about it, as well.
 * Willing Channeler:
 * Winter Royal Lady: Beira and Donia.
 * Where the hell is Huntsdale?: It was actually assumed to be in Pennsylvania, until Melissa said she deliberately left it ambiguous.
 * The Wild Hunt: The Gabriel hounds, and possibly the shadow court.
 * Woman Scorned: Implied to be the reason for Beira turing all psycho (because of Miach). Donia also has her moments (because of Keenan). It must be a Winter Court thing.
 * Wonder Child:
 * The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask: Sorcha by Radiant Shadows. Aislinn also has elements of this. Subverted with Donia, who adapts to being Winter Queen suprisingly well.
 * Word of God: Plenty of it- Melissa pops up on the fan forums every now and then.
 * Yaoi Guys: Irial and Niall again.
 * Year Inside Hour Outside: Every month spent in Faerie is six months in the human world, which somewhat explains why the High Court's mannerisms seem so old fashioned.
 * You Sexy Beast
 * Year Inside Hour Outside: Every month spent in Faerie is six months in the human world, which somewhat explains why the High Court's mannerisms seem so old fashioned.
 * You Sexy Beast