DARKLIGHT

Urban faerie killers, star-crossed lovers, rival courts and a spot of Shakespeare vie for center stage in this sequel to Wondrous Strange (2009). Kelley’s rehearsing for the role of Juliet and dealing with her intrusive birth mother—the faerie queen Mabh—and nightmares that are actually glimpses into the grisly deaths her boyfriend Sonny, a faerie changeling, metes out to the evil Wild Hunt. Then things get really complicated when leprechauns—menacing, drunk sadists—come after her. Kelley finds herself in Faerie and then back in New York City in a battle for her life and must come to terms with her own heritage and the surprising truth of Sonny’s. Fans of the first volume will especially relish the ending, which hints at darker things to come. Livingston has tweaked—and made grimmer—Celtic legend and lore enough to keep readers interested, and the pedestrian prose and predictable romantic elements (he thinks she likes Fenn! she worries he’s over her!) don’t detract too much from a better-than-average entry in the Urban Faerie genre. (Fantasy. 12 & up)