Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr

Title: Faery Tales & Nightmares
Author: Melissa Marr
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  HarperCollins (1st March 2012)
Blurb:

Dangerous promises and beguiling threats swirl together in a dozen stories of enchantments, light and dark.

Uncanny and unexpected creatures appear from behind bushes, rise from under the seas, or manifest for seasonal storms to pursue the objects of their attention – amorous or sinister intent – relentlessly.

Takes of favourite characters from Marr’s Wicked Lovely novels mix with accounts of new characters for readers to fall in love with . . . or fear.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)

Review:

Faery Tales & Nightmares is a collection of short stories by Melissa Marr, some of which are set in her Wicked Lovelyuniverse – answering questions that weren’t answered in the books – whilst others are of new characters and places. There are twelve stories in total in the collection.

This book was exactly what I needed to read, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was nice to slip back into the world of Wicked Lovely, to see the familiar characters and places, but it was also nice to explore new characters and new worlds. There is a bit of everything in this collection. If you are a fan of the Wicked Lovely series then you should definitely get your hands on this collection. If you are new to the world of Melissa Marr then I advise that you approach this collection of short stories with care, as there are definitely spoilers for the Wicked Lovely books in the collection.

I was a wee bit disappointed with the ending of  Darkest Mercy, the final book in the Wicked Lovely series, but the stories in this book made me fall back in love with this world again. Marr has a knack for wrapping the beautiful with the ugly, the safe with the dangerous. It is something I really like about her faery world – it is beautiful, but all courts are deadly.

To my great surprise there isn’t a single story in the collection that I didn’t enjoy reading – and it is a surprise, as there is normally at least one story in a short story collection that doesn’t work for some reason for me. It was really fun and interesting to see Marr explore new places and ideas. Marr has the ability to approach things from a slightly different angle so that you see “common” situations in a new light. I really enjoyed her story Love Stuck and the ideas she explored about love in it. It was a revelation, and it is definitely one of my favourite stories in the collection.

Faery Tales & Nightmares is a great collection of short stories for fans of Marr’s Wicked Lovely series. I look forward to seeing what Marr turns here attention to next.