Fragile Eternity

Written by Melissa Marr

Narrated by Nick Landrum

In the third mesmerizing tale in Melissa Marr’s #1 New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series, old friends become new enemies—and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos.

Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone, but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he'd ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen.

Aislinn never expected to rule the very creatures who'd always terrified her, but that was before Keenan. He stole her mortality to make her a monarch, and now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she'd ever imagined.

Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other—all while navigating the shadowy rules and shifting allegiances of the Faery Courts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 5, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061778926

Melissa Marr

Melissa Marr was voted in high school the “most likely to end up in jail”. Instead, she went to graduate school, worked in a bar, became a teacher and did a lot of writing. Her novels Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange and Fragile Eternity are published by HarperCollins.

Reviews for Fragile Eternity

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this third book of the series, Seth becomes unhappy with his mortal status now that his girlfriend is a fairy queen (and being heavily courted by her king), so he seeks a solution to the problem. There is lots of upset and trouble within the triangle.Yeah, I think I'm done with this series. There's too much love triangle angst and the same old fraught conversations are rehashed over and over and characters make frustratingly bad decisions.

[melrailey-412132 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fragile Eternity continues Melissa Marr's stories of Faerie that began with Wicked Lovely. The third book in the series, it moves back to focus on the triangle between Aislinn, Seth and Keenan; although this time, it's all about Seth. Seth loves Aislinn but he realizes that he is mortal and she is Faerie which means that he'll die and she'll live for eternity. As summer grows nearer, Aislinn's bond with Keenan, her summer king, continues to grow. Seth can't stand the thought of being without Aislinn or of losing her to Keenan so he sets out to seek immortality for himself. But what will he have to give in exchange for an eternity with Aislinn?

What can I say? These books are very enjoyable. They're fun, enchanting reads. It's easy to relate to the characters. I love both Seth and Keenan and can't really make a choice between the two. I keep thinking I'm going to hate Keenan and then he does something wonderful. Should I doubt his motives? And Seth, well, he's the super-sexy, faithful guy that every girl wants. I'm even drawn to the characters of the Dark Court. I keep thinking there's going to be something done that redeems Naill, Donia and Sorcha to where everybody can live together happily ever after. Actually, I think Naill is probably my favorite character in the story - there's something intriguing and alluring about him. Maybe he'll turn out to be the true hero of the story.

[jalenv_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can't say that I liked Fragile Eternity as well as Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange. I did enjoy Seth's story arc and what happened to Keenan (arrogant jerk!), but dear heaven, the middle was tedious! I felt as if I were reading one of Laurell K. Hamilton's books where the sex scenes are smothering the plot, only substituting angst and dithering for sex.

[grgenius_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Book 3 in the WICKED LOVELY series finds Aislinn faced with a tough decision....to whom does her heart truly belong? With Keenan, her Summer King? With Seth, her mortal boyfriend? She's just trying to find where she fits in...as are several others characters, leading to a rather surprising ending. Definitely recommend this 3rd installment in the series....now working my way through book 4....YAY!

[cindywho-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

So Much Faerie Angst!

[thetreereader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love this series. It is one of my all time favorites. Every single book is incredible and well written. Out of the three I’ve read so far, Fragile Eternity isn’t my favorite, but I still absolutely loved it.Melissa Marr really brings the story and characters to life. You feel like you are actually there and not just reading a book.I love how much focus is on Seth in this book. He is an amazing character and it’s nice to know more about what he’s thinking and feeling.I honestly can’t wait to start reading the next book, Radiant Shadows.

[shaunesay · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent, big changes in this one, kind of wanted to slap Aisling for being so pathetic and wimpy, though I suppose that's only because as the reader you know what's happening, she doesn't. Though really she shouldn't have been so trusting.

[the1butterfly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The pull between everyone- who should and shouldn't be together and who wants to be together is exciting and confusing. Seth goes on a quest that will make him the most powerful character in the story, bound in one way and unbound in another. I was upset that Aislinn gave up on him, but perhaps I'm being too hard on her- six months is a long time when you're a teenager.

[myntop · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book. I loved getting to see more of Seth's side of things and getting to learn a bit more about the other court. I found myself angry with Niall and even angrier with Keenan though. It saddened me to be angry with Niall because prior to this book I really liked him. I'm hoping to get to like him again in the next installment of the series. I also found myself EXTREMELY angry with Don. I've always wanted to love her, and now I'm not sure that will happen. Again, I'm hoping she's redeemed in future books. The series keeps getting better for me, so I'm glad I still have a few more books to read.

[rosa.mill · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this one Fairy is on the precipice of war and when the book ends it definitely seems as though Seth is set to push them over the edge.

Okay, I love this series but seriously Ash and the whining were freaking killing me. She has a lot of good things going on and all she was doing was whining about Seth and Keenan. Seth and Niall are much more interesting characters.

[sgcastellini · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome! Very unpredictable, can't wait to read more, love this series!

[katemiller1724 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was glad to be back to the Seth/Aislinn story line, but I felt a certain amount of anticlimax with this book. I understand that there was a HUGE plot thread woven into this story, and that takes a lot of time and tending to develop and nurture, but as a reader, I was hoping for some kind of finality at the end of this book. Instead, I was left feeling like there were missing pages from my book. I still look forward to the next two books, because I'm excited to see where this plot thread goes and how it is all resolved, but it was a bit more of a frustrating read this time.

[armchairauthor · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Seth is dissatisfied with Aislinn’s attempt to have her cake and eat it too, which requires her to revel in pleasures with her Court (and Keenan) to keep them strong even as she tries to remain faithful to her mortal boyfriend. Keenan has his own love, new Winter Queen Donia, who he pines for but is prepared to abandon for the health of the Summer Court. Did I mention that Aislinn’s touch literally gives Seth sunburns? Keenan and Donia can’t touch for similar, mutually damaging, reasons. The attraction between Keenan and Aislinn is fated and sun-hot, but she nevertheless tries to resist in the interest of self-determination. Seth, being more practical, knows that the current situation will tear him and Aislinn apart…so he goes looking for his own solution.This is my favorite book of the series for one reason: it introduces Sorcha, queen of the High Court. She is the creator of faerie and the embodiment of order and logic, and has her own artists’ colony in Faerie. She stands as counterpoint to her sister Bananach, the embodiment of Chaos agitating for war.

[laphenix · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! Such a deliciously thrilling read! The characters are so vivid; the world, stunning; and the plot set me dancing with trepidation and antici...

[krumbs_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

While I'm glad this book was mostly devoted to the character of Seth (introduced in the first book), nothing happened. Sure, there's a great setup for the next book, but it would have been nice to have some sort of action or resolution or tension or something here. Also, some throwaway remark introducing a love triangle that I didn't even get a hint of in book 2 was odd--particularly since it involved two characters who didn't make an appearance in this book. I think the editor needs to pay more attention.

[elysianfield_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's been some time since I read the last books and I had forgotten who was who. I also had some trouble to get into the book but it was better towards the end. I would have liked to read more about Niall and I hope there's more about him in the next book!

[sassybrunette · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

this book was pretty good. fun to read and fairly easy. an enjoyable book in this wonderful series. Marr continues to entice us with her world of faeries, both good and bad, and continues to build on two characters who have to love each other and two that love each other but cant.

[kr15tina · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

*Contains Spoilers*I am not censoring this review because I want to just say my opinions without dancing around any potential spoilerish information. I also figure that many people have already read this series and if you haven't... well go and read them and start with book 1. In summary they are fantastic faery court books with lots of drama. I also didn't post reviews for the 1st 2 books because I had started rereading them earlier and wasn't posting much yet. I have not yet read Radiant Shadows nor Darkest Mercy and I can't wait to read them.My Biggest IssueI have not been the biggest fan of Ash and Seth being a couple, I have always been rooting for Ash and Keenan to finally find their love for each other and stop fighting destiny. I think my issues with Seth comes from personal bias, I don't find facial piercings attractive, not a huge fan of the emo look on guys and I really don't like guys who sleep around without being in a relationship (male sluts). All of these things have made Seth the guy I don't want to cheer for. On the other hand Keenan isn't my favorite type of male character either, he is self absorbed and thinks he is entitled to everything, but he is the faery king so he is warranted these qualities and even expected to have as a born faery king. Therefor I have given Keenan a pass on his less desirable qualities and crowned him with my approval.Getting Over My PrejudicesAs I was reading through Fragile Eternity I was coming to the realization I was rooting for the loosing teams and I had to go sneak a peak through the last pages of Darkest Mercy to see who would eventually end up with each other. With less than 100 pages to go I realized that I am going to have to see Seth's other attributes and blot out his not so desirable qualities. Seth is a very nice kind loving person and he is willing to sacrifice his human mortality for forever with Ash. Ash tried to love Keenan, but her heart beats for Seth. Donia loves Keenan no matter how many times he betrays her love. Keenan does actually love Donia and does everything completely wrong which is very pitiful and enduring.Still Love the SeriesEven though I am rooting for all the wrong love matches I still completely love the series. I love the faery courts, how dark and mischievous they truly are. The trials of love, loss, betrayal, friendship and many many more things.RecommendationGreat series to reread or to read for the first time.

[keycat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

or some reason book #3, “Fragile Eternity”, was a very difficult book for me to get through. This book brings us back to the saga of Aislinn, Seth and Keenan from “Wicked Lovely”, Melissa Marr’s first book in the series. Keenan finally has his Queen, Aislinn, ruling by his side yet her love for Seth keeps her from giving her heart to Keenan which would strengthen the court. Seth, a mortal, knows that his time with Aislinn is limited since he will one day meet his demise therefore Seth wants to find a way to become a fairy so he can live eternity with the love of his life. This book seemed to highlight character flaws in Keenan, Aislinn and Seth. Keenan was quite manipulative, Aislinn was extremely naïve and Seth was a bit weak. Yet these were all necessary flaws for the books conclusion. I was surprised at how weak Seth was portrayed but then again he was the only mortal so it does make sense. In this book we get acquainted with the High Queen, Sorcha, in the hidden city of Faerie. I found the scenes in Fairie to be a bit boring even though I know they were essential. At the conclusion of the book we are left with many unanswered questions. So much so that we are compelled to read the next book in the series.

[sithereandread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Finally! I've been waiting to get this book to continue the story of Seth and Aislinn and how they end up happily ever after! Not quite. Melissa Marr does it again with keeping you on your toes until the very end and keeps you wanting more than when you started. In this novel, we get a deeper look into Seth's mind and how he feels about Aislinn and her role as Summer Queen. We see his jealousy and insecurities that were absent in Wicked Lovely.We are also faced with how the relationship between Aislinn and Keenan changes as the Summer season approaches. This love triangle was stepped up a whole knotch which made me read this book at lightning speed. The character shifts were superb to witness and it really did keep you guessing until the last chapter. The way Aislinn tried to balance her mortality to be with Seth and her faery nature as Summer Queen was heartbreaking. She wanted so much happiness for everyone it was almost impossible to succeed. When Seth decided to take it in his own hands, the balance was thrown out of whack and worlds were affected. The character of the Summer King, Keenan, was greatly changed with figuring out how to keep his Summer Queen happy for his faeries and keeping his one true love at the same time. And the natural lust that between the Summer Queen and King tested boundaries only understood by the faery world, which created such confusion for all three main characters.I really enjoyed the story that Marr created for these characters. It was true to life in the fact that not everything is easy or free and you must be willing to trade anything for the one you love!

[shelleyraec · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't really get into Wicked Lovely and didn't like Ink Exchange much but I enjoyed Fragile Eternity. Not sure why exactly - perhaps I was just in the right mood. It was slow to start with and I nearly just gave up but I am glad I finished it.

[suzanne520 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow. This book was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I really loved it. I loved Seth from the first book and was happy to see he had such a role in the next book. I couln't figure Sorcha out, but now, I LOVE her too! I can't wait for the next book in this series. It really was very good. Great job Melissa Marr, I hope your next book continues to be this good!

[sath0921 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book never seemed to end, going on and on about a boring matter. It needed to have more excitement and action in it.

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Aislinn, Summer Queen, loves Seth the mortal artist but is hopelessly drawn to Summer King Keenan, who in turn loves Donia the Winter Queen... Seth's best friend, Dark Court King Niall would protect him, but his court craves blood and turbulence, and the presence of Bannanach, storm crow chaos bringer and sister to Sorcha, the Queen of Faerie (and ruler of order and reason) isn't helping him keep the peace... confused yet? There are so many threads woven together and pulling in various directions that it's easy to get lost. Angst, depression, star-crossed love and emotional turbulence... if you like books where the characters never seem to have a happy moment, and spend all their time thinking, talking and acting on their feelings but never finding resolution, then this may just be your cup of tea. I stuck through over half, skimmed the rest, and don't feel that I missed much. Well written, but lacking humor or any sort of comic relief to lesson the emotional barrage.

[ayleeargh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In short: Though I didn't love Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr as much as the previous two books in the series, it was still a solid, entertaining sequel. I still hate Keenan.I've never written a review for a sequel in a series before (Ink Exchange didn't really count) so I am going to do my best to try to make this as vague as possible to avoid any spoilers.First off, let me say that I am glad I decided to read Ink Exchange instead of skipping it even though it wasn't technically a sequel. In Ink Exchange, the reader gains loads of information about the Dark Court. As the Dark Court is still integral to the plot in Fragile Eternity, I would have missed some significant developments had I chosen to skip it.Right at the start of Fragile Eternity, there's a promise of action the likes of which we haven't seen before in the previous books in the series. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a false promise because there wasn't really a whole lot going down for the first half of the book. There was a lot of talk of the impending doom of the world, but very little danger actually takes place. The majority of the drama in the story occurs in the complicated relationships. Of course, this is true for the previous books in the series as well but I was able to overlook that because that was during the still early stages of the series. I'm getting a bit impatient for some real action now that I'm more than halfway done the series.In case you were wondering, Keenan is still a selfish prick. He continues to manipulate both of his love interests for his own gain, blatantly leading them both on. He wants the total love and attention of both of them. And somehow they're both still forgiving and sympathetic towards him?! There were some hints that he feels bad for his actions, but I just don't buy his feelings.Okay, okay. Enough of the bad. Now let's talk about the good. I enjoyed the new reveals in the faery mythology. Whereas Wicked Lovely focused on the Summer and Winter Courts and Ink Exchange focused on the Dark Court, Fragile Eternity focuses on the High Court. I've really come to enjoy and appreciate this slow reveal of the Faery World that Marr has been doing with each book, learning about it all in bits and pieces rather than all at once.Although I didn't like Fragile Eternity as much as the first two books in this series, it was still a fairly entertaining read. I look forward to reading Radiant Shadows next!

[francescadefreitas · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Oh, poor Seth - it has been some time since I read the first two books, so I am sure I missed some subtlety, but I remember how fond I was of Seth, so his story was wrenching. I guessed the gotcha in his deal immediately, and I was alternately frustrated and sorry for Aislinn. I would have liked to see more of NIall, and Bananach was nicely creepy. The romantic triangle (figure 8?) was over-flogged a bit, but still, nice to see the characters again.

[millett23 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I am giving this book only 2 stars due to me skipping through several of the middle chapters trying to find a moving forward point. I felt like the middle chapters were the same thing just repeated over. The begining and the ending were good, I just felt like there were unneeded chapters in the middle. It was like "we get it Aislinn is trying to resist Keenan and wants to be with Seth."

[dbhutch_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What is a decent guy to do? The girl you've waited to find, and to warm to you, and to get over being nervous around you turns out to be more than you ever expected. She's not just a girl you fell for, she's immortal, a fae. And not just any fae, but the Summer Queen, and therefore somewhat bound to the Summer King, the one who noticed her, and started her on her transformation from human to fae. Its not safe for you in her world, since you are human, and while she will barely age at all, you will age and die in what seems a blink to her. but she loves you, you love her, and you both are determined to make things work and be together. So what is your solution? For Seth, Asilinn's human boyfriend, the answer to him is clear. He needs to become fae as well. But that is not an easy task, for none of the fae he knows are willing to change him. So he seeks out the Queen of the High Court to ask her to make him an immortal fae so he can be with his love. But in the world of Farie, everything comes with a price. Will Seth be able to bear the price of the Queen to be with Ash? And will his bargain with her touch off a war in the world of Farie? Marr reveals these answers, and more in her 3rd installment of the Wicked Lovely series

[liddygw · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fragile Eternity is the sequel to Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange. I had read Wicked Lovely maybe a year before I finally purchased Fragile Eternity so I decided that it would make sense in rereading it, skipping Ink Exchange and going straight to Fragile Eternity. It was a pretty good plan, I got into the world that Melissa Marr had created but I also was able to pinpoint the more serious problems I had with the series.I would give Fragile Eternity 3 stars. 1 star for the name. 2 stars for the premise.I enjoyed the plot a lot, I'm always a sucker for Faery books, but I did not feel like I connected with the characters. The love triangle between Seth, Aislinn and Keenan, felt like it was more worried about than shown. I didn't understand why Aislinn was so in love with Seth and hated Keenan so much, other than that he is a faery. Thinking about it there are a couple reasons, but I felt that they were not expanded enough in the plot to really stick out while I was reading. Another thing that I did not enjoy about the Wicked Lovely series, is the writing. I found Melissa Marr's prose sometimes repetitive, clumsy, and confusing. A few of the descriptions were very beautiful, but as a whole the books did not have a smooth narrative.My last complaint is that I did not understand quite why the Summer Court, Winter Court, and the Dark Court would all be situated in Huntsdale, especially because in the beginning Aislinn makes it clear she moved to such an iron filled city to get away from Faeries, yet it happens that all the Courts end up being there? Or...did they all move for Aislinn?However, overall I did enjoy the books enough to read three of them, and once the fourth comes into paperback I will probably read that one too. So yes this series has its faults, but I still do think that it has a couple of plus sides (mainly the plot) that downplay the minuses for a fun, less serious, skimming read.

[ericajsc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Seth has always been my favorite character in these books, so I was excited to finally get to experience things from his perspective. And I must say that it only made me like him even more. This book focuses a lot of time on Aislinn as she attempts to acclimate to her new role as Summer Queen. Even though she came up with a plan to rule on her own terms – Keenan would be her King, but Seth would be her partner – things are more difficult than she expected. Not only does the Summer Court grow stronger if she and Keenan are together in every sense of the word, she has a strong connection to him and part of her is drawn to Keenan in every way. Obviously this poses some problems in her relationship with Seth. Some of Aislinn’s choices in this book infuriated me, because even though she knows the situation she’s in is precarious, she doesn’t act in a way that is mindful of the other two people in the situation with her. While this made me want to throttle her, at the same time it works within the context of the story. What didn’t work for me about Aislinn was that, despite the fact that she was highly distrustful of faeries before she became one, now that she is one she seems to have forgotten just how manipulative they can be while still abiding by the rule that they can’t lie. While I can see that she’d want to be able to trust Keenan implicitly, I don’t know that she would be able to after so little time. Seth’s role in this story took a not completely unexpected but nevertheless surprising turn. I say that because, while I would expect him to take the actions he does in this book, I was surprised that it happened in this book. But I’m glad that it does, because I think these actions will force Aislinn to finally confront who and what she really wants, and also the truth about what kind of a ruler Keenan is capable of becoming. This seems to be the turning point in the series, and I like where the story seems to be headed. The only reason I didn’t like this book as much as the others was that there seemed to be a lot of repetition throughout it, like characters constantly telling Aislinn how she can strengthen the Summer Court, which I felt could have been left out (or just not repeated as often) and the story would still remain the same