So now I'm on to the more grown up and paranormal side of my book collection and keeping away from the dystopia fiction this time.
The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter is the first in her Lords of the Underworld series, following a group of men who have been cursed by the gods. Their curse is to be possessed by unique demons that were released from Pandora's Box. The Darkest Night tells the story of Maddox who shares his body with the demon of violence. Not only is Maddox cursed with this demon in his body but Zeus cursed him a second time: to be murdered every night at midnight. So for over a thousand years, Maddox has died at night and taken to hell only to be resurrected again in the morning to relive this horror again and again.
Rating: 10
Recommended To: Those that like paranormal novels, though definitely for an adult audience.
Favourite Character: I have a few. It's a toss-up between Paris, Maddox, Torin and Ashlyn. Paris makes me laugh; Maddox and Torin intrigue me; and I connect with Ashlyn as she's pretty much the only woman in the book.
Favourite Part: Maddox held Ashlyn for several hours as she napped, hopefully reviving body and soul. Time was his enemy, midnight fast sneaking up on him, but he didn't wake her. - Page 186
Good Points: The concept; the characters are engaging
Bad Points: There's a lot of men possessed by demons, hard to keep track of them
I absolutely adore this book and I can't wait to read more of this series; I kind of hoping it doesn't lose its appeal as it changes the focus from the different men introduced in this book. I've always been interested by paranormal fiction such as novels about vampires, ghosts and the like. However, I do not have many about demons or those possessed by demons so I found this really intriguing before I even picked up this book, it was different.
With the men being punished by the gods for harming Pandora and her box is interesting as a topic alone; this book was captivating and much like the other books I've read recently, if it wasn't for life continuing around me and needing sleep, I wouldn't have put this book down. I just wanted to keep reading to know what happened to Maddox and Ashlyn as well as the others.
I find the concept of this book really intriguing and appealing with the different men as the focus of the individual books while still keeping the other characters there so there is a consistency between them as they are introduced over the course of this book and picked back up on in other books in greater detail.
Keeping in the third person and changing the perspective from primarily Maddox and Ashlyn keeps the focus on these two which was good for me as it provided less distraction and forced a focus. However, occasionally switching perspective to characters such as Lurien and the others allows a connection to be formed with them before their own book. If this had been first person, the book wouldn't have been as effective as more information was provided as an outsider. A first person perspective could have been confusing as well.
There's only a tiny thing that I don't like about this book and that is there seem to be a lot of warriors by demon lords and I kind of lose track of each one and their demons. I was sort of okay with the six who lived in Budapest but then more were thrown in and I just felt overwhelmed but maybe I'll get used to it as the series goes on. If it had been me writing this series, I'd have stuck to just the Budapest men.
Maddox held Ashlyn for several hours as she napped, hopefully reviving body and soul. Time was his enemy, midnight fast sneaking up on him, but he didn't wake her. - Page 186
As for The Darkest Night, Maddox and Ashlyn as a couple really appeal to me as they are intense yet gentle with one another; both of them want to protect each other and Maddox, being the demon of Violence, wanting to care for Ashlyn shows a development of character. With them suppressing one another's inner demons shows that they need one another to stay sane; to me, it implies an intense love which could harm them both (with Maddox being blinded to anyone other than Ashlyn, heaven forbid she ever rejected him). This is appealing to me as the intense and devoted relationship shared between these two, though fictional, is something that can be desired in reality as it adds a sense of normalcy to an unusual book, implying that these characters are relatable for me.
I can't wait to continue with this series, some of which I bought today so there will be some more reviews on them later.
Predictions
1. The other lords will find someone that compliments them like Ashlyn and Maddox did.
2. Reyes goes after Danika.
3. Aeron is relieved of his promise to kill Danika and her family.
Other Books By Gena Showalter
No comments:
Post a Comment