Title: Old Habits
Author: Melissa Marr
Series: Wicked Lovely #2.5
In: Faery Tales & Nightmares (Melissa Marr)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Fae, Paranormal fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2012

I haven’t revisited any of the Wicked Lovely world for quite a while. I definitely remember reading both Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange, but it’s been a very long time since I’ve even read them. Which made reading this novella / short story all that much enjoyable. It bought back exactly what it is about this world that I love so much. And why I sink so deeply into the work of Melissa Marr.

Niall was a fun character in Ink Exchange (from what I remember), and it was really nice to get to know him better in this tale. It’s all about what happens to him and between him and Iriall after the dramas of the previous stories. The intricacies of the courts and the more drama that is about to follow our multiple leads are also hinted at in this tale. Ones that make me desperate to dive right back into this world.

I love how this tale is definitely one that I think will be useful to the greater series, but not one that needs a full-length novel. After all, it’s all about the changing of the old guard to make way for the new. Both Niall and Iriall have issues with understanding and maintaining the new status quo. And both are able to find a way to (eventually) work together to create a happier future for everyone in the Dark Court.

This tale ends on a bit of a hint as to what is likely to happen in Fragile Eternity. So now I have to dig right in and see if my hunch that Sebastian is about to get even more heavily involved with the fae is correct…

<- Ink Exchange

Fragile Eternity ->

Image source: HarperCollins Publishers