Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds, #1)

by Melissa Marr

[Leigha]

A young changeling discovers she is part of a much bigger plot in this young adult dystopian fantasy novel.

Lilywhite Abernathy is seriously going down as one of my all-time favorite female characters. Very much like Avry from Snyder's Healer series, Lilywhite has a strong sense of self even if she struggles to understand everything going on around her. I loved how Mar incorporates Lily's "rules" throughout the narrative, which helps structure the story despite the various points of view from other characters.

I also absolutely loved the other six members of Lily's group. They were all really unique with their own agendas and schemes. Some got more "screen" time than others, and I hope future novels in the series gives them all an opportunity to shine. Even when I did not like an action taken by one of the six, I always understood the motives behind the action. Finally, it was refreshing to have so many POC characters. I hope this is a trend we start seeing more of in young adult literature.

While the characters really made this novel enjoyable, the setting lacked any real development. Neither the fey realm nor the human realm really offered anything distinctive. Additionally, aren't these characters at a boarding school? Did they never, ever have to attend classes? That really bothered me. I hope the next book delves further into the world-building. These characters deserve better world-building!

tl;dr Strong female heroine surround by a wonderfully diverse cast of secondary characters with a really intriguing plot makes this novel a must read.