Review: Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr

I received this book via Edelweiss, My Book Shelf. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr
Series: Seven Black Diamonds #1
Published by HarperCollins on 2016-03-01
Length: 400 pages
Reviewing eARC, Audiobook from Edelweiss, My Book Shelf
Rating:
Reading Challenges: #NGEW2017, Audiobook Challenge 2017, Blogger Shame Review Challenge 2017, COYER Blackout

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.

Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr has been on my TBR shelf for a really long time, like embarrassingly long. When I receive a book to review, I write it down on a spreadsheet. It helps me to keep track of what books I have and when they are being released. Somehow when I received this book in 2015, it didn’t get written down. It wasn’t until I came across it on my Kindle that I realized I had it and hadn’t read it *hangs head in shame* So the first thing I did when I found it….READ IT!

Melissa Marr has been a name I’ve heard over and over again from people telling me I should read her books and that I’d enjoy them. Well, they were right! Seven Black Diamonds is the first book by Melissa Marr I’ve read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story is told from multiple points of view, but focuses on one main character: Lilywhite Abernathy. This girl is going down the rabbit hole….erhm tunnel?….you get my meaning 😉 as she embarks on a journey to discover who she is and what that means.

I really like Lily…and not just because her name is similar to my own. She’s fierce, loyal, and has a strong moral compass for the daughter of a crime lord. Set several years after the fae/human war (I really want more info on this!) in the human realm, fae are outlawed. Any trace of fae blood or affinities is a ticket to jail, more likely it’s a death sentence. Lily has not one, not two, not even three affinities, but MANY and she doesn’t know why. She suspects her mother was fae, but she died when Lily was just a girl and her father is extremely overprotective. It isn’t until she encounters Creed Morrison that she learns there are other like her. I have to give her props. She hides her secrets well, even when others suspect what she is, she neither confirms or denies (you know because fae can’t lie, at least without it hurting). The only person in the know is her father and it is something he guards very closely.

When Lily goes to St. Columba’s…think private school for the elite of the elite, she learns that Creed is there along with his friends whom she suspects are like her. Except they aren’t exactly what she thought. As the blurb suggests, Creed is a part of a fae Sleeper cell known as the Black Diamonds and they’ve been waiting on Lily to join them. They work for the fae Queen of Blood and Rage who is waging war against the human population for killing her heir. Lily is mistrusting of their cause, but quickly begins to rely on these people. They are like her and for the first time in her life, Lily isn’t hiding what she is. I really felt for her as she slowly let her walls down. How freeing is it to just be yourself?!

The plot is twisted and as I said told from many points of view. I don’t think the book would’ve worked if it was told from only one. I liked finding out the motives behind other characters and understanding what drove their actions. Plus all the secrets!!! Yikes! As the reader you know way more than Lily and I found myself yelling at her, many times. So the plot is basically about Lily and her heritage and who she really is. It focuses little on the war between fae and human, though I’d love to hear more about that!

Overall, I enjoyed this read. I alternated between reading my ARC copy and listening to it on audiobook (yes, I bought it). I enjoyed the narrator! She drew me into the story immediately, and I loved her accents. Honestly I had attempted to start reading it but found myself a little bored so switched to listening. Once I got about 25% in though, I was fully invested and switched back and forth until I finished. If you enjoy fae lore, urban fantasy, and romance (because there’s quite a bit of it), I highly recommend you read this book!

 

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