Black Jewels Trilogy - Anne Bishop

Genre: Dark Fantasy
Subgenre: demons, witches, otherworlds
Age Appropriate: Adult (or possible mature younger adult - R?)
Recommended for my sister: Yes

"The difference is that he recognized it." - Jaenelle

In the realms of the Blood, there are different ranks of Jewels. Each member of the blood has two jewels - one Birthright and one post-Ceremony. The higher ranker jewels mean higher power. Added to that, women are the major powers. No matter what level two people might share, if one is female than she has more power and more control. The society is based on Blood power, and worshipping Queens. As centuries have passed, the number of higher ranked jewels is starting to dwindle and those in power have become highly corrupted. In the human living realm, the Queens are all but slave drivers using dark entertainments to pass the time, and treating powerful Warlord Princes as toys in their evil schemes.

The Black Jewels Trilogy follows a very dark coming-of-age tale of a young lady named Jaenelle. The story begins when she's 12, and hiding some scary secrets. The tale is told from three different perspectives: Lucivar Yaslana, Saeten and Daemon. Each of these men are related to each other, but their relationships to Jaenelle are very different. Jaenelle's frightening tale spans the three realms, and within those realms and the relationships she develops. It is up to the people in her life to help Jaenelle find her path between pain and happiness. The path she chooses will change the world.

-----

Dark is the best description that I can come up with this series. It's heartbreaking almost the whole way through. It is a powerful story, though. The twist on the realms versus the traditional understanding of humans vs. demons, and earth vs. hell, is creative. Even the plan on character names add a little something to the story. The little twists here and there remove the series from some of the more blatant traditions for this sort of storyline, and it succeeds. There are other novels that come after the story. They are all somewhat stand-alone, but the series foundation is fairly necessary. I'm struggling to give too much information in this review because so much of the beginning story development is in the first book alone. Either way, I believe it is completely worth it, if you can handle it. Heh.
-----

Forward: The Deed of Paksenarrion