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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
This is about my fifth reread of this book. The first in a series is often the best, and while I love some of the others equally, I still think Maddox and Ashlyn are the cutest couple ever. The sex scenes are steamy hot, the humour is witty and those Lords of the Underworld are sexy, sexy men. Gotta love a demon with a heart of gold
Good enough to continue the series but didn't go deep enough into the curses/talents to really have me connect. Light and entertaining, easy to read though.
I have a long love affair with ancient Greek myth. When I first read about the ancient Greeks and the twelve Olympians as a child, I never quite looked back. That love of ancient Greek myth naturally followed me into adulthood and my more mature reading, which was why I practically inhaled Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter books when I first discovered them. But recently I was looking for something different, and Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series seemed as good a place as any to start.
And really, what could be more interesting? Several Lords (who are all drop-dead gorgeous), were cursed forever to be bonded to the demons that emerged from Pandora's Box because they murdered Pandora and opened the Box she was supposed to protect. Those Lords have wandered the Earth ever since, atoning from their sins by trying their best to help the world - while at the same time trying to avoid, gods and mortals alike, who seek to wipe them out.
In The Darkest Night, the reader is introduced to some of the Lords, though the primary focus is on Maddox, who is bonded to the demon Rage. His life thus far has not been the best, even in comparison to some of the other Lords, but it's bearable. And then his path crosses with that of Ashlyn Darrow, a woman who wanders into the vicinity of the Lords' isolated castle outside Budapest, and the repercussions of this meeting promise to reverberate down the rest of the series.
Truth be told, my feelings for this book are rather neutral. I didn't think Ashlyn was a particularly engaging character; while she's not entirely abhorrent, she did not encourage any great attachment from me. As for Maddox, his predicament regarding his demon was rather intriguing, but I didn't find him any better than Ashlyn. Matter of fact, I found some of the other Lords more interesting, despite them not being the primary focus in this book - Lucien and Torin are my personal favorites. And while the world is intriguing enough to encourage me to come back for seconds, maybe thirds, it did not inspire any rabid fangirling in me the same way the first book in Kenyon's Dark Hunter series did.
There is great potential in this series, and I am quite willing to give the second book a try - it's about Lucien, and I did rather like Lucien in this book, so the chance to learn more about him is enough to get me to read the next book in this series. But I shall have to see about the rest.
And really, what could be more interesting? Several Lords (who are all drop-dead gorgeous), were cursed forever to be bonded to the demons that emerged from Pandora's Box because they murdered Pandora and opened the Box she was supposed to protect. Those Lords have wandered the Earth ever since, atoning from their sins by trying their best to help the world - while at the same time trying to avoid, gods and mortals alike, who seek to wipe them out.
In The Darkest Night, the reader is introduced to some of the Lords, though the primary focus is on Maddox, who is bonded to the demon Rage. His life thus far has not been the best, even in comparison to some of the other Lords, but it's bearable. And then his path crosses with that of Ashlyn Darrow, a woman who wanders into the vicinity of the Lords' isolated castle outside Budapest, and the repercussions of this meeting promise to reverberate down the rest of the series.
Truth be told, my feelings for this book are rather neutral. I didn't think Ashlyn was a particularly engaging character; while she's not entirely abhorrent, she did not encourage any great attachment from me. As for Maddox, his predicament regarding his demon was rather intriguing, but I didn't find him any better than Ashlyn. Matter of fact, I found some of the other Lords more interesting, despite them not being the primary focus in this book - Lucien and Torin are my personal favorites. And while the world is intriguing enough to encourage me to come back for seconds, maybe thirds, it did not inspire any rabid fangirling in me the same way the first book in Kenyon's Dark Hunter series did.
There is great potential in this series, and I am quite willing to give the second book a try - it's about Lucien, and I did rather like Lucien in this book, so the chance to learn more about him is enough to get me to read the next book in this series. But I shall have to see about the rest.
I liked the premise, but the execution didn't work for me. Neither main character seemed to have much of a personality beyond the paranormal romance standbys--super-possessive guy, spunky-but-not-too-spunky woman. They feel instant lust and nearly as instant love for each other, which resolve any tension in their relationship before it rises to the point of drama.
The warriors who are unwilling demon hosts was an interesting hook, but in practice they're heavy-handed and one-note. (And... kinda crappy warriors, to be honest. It's the 21st century; if you guys haven't thought of using guns, maybe you deserve to get rolled up by hunters.) The hero is possessed by the spirit of Violence, which could have been fodder for some really painful romance. Instead, the heroine is like "nah, whatever you did in the past is cool," and it's just... fine? Which is one way to resolve that, I guess.
Meh. Lots of people love this book; I just wish I'd seen whatever they do in it.
The warriors who are unwilling demon hosts was an interesting hook, but in practice they're heavy-handed and one-note. (And... kinda crappy warriors, to be honest. It's the 21st century; if you guys haven't thought of using guns, maybe you deserve to get rolled up by hunters.) The hero is possessed by the spirit of Violence, which could have been fodder for some really painful romance. Instead, the heroine is like "nah, whatever you did in the past is cool," and it's just... fine? Which is one way to resolve that, I guess.
Meh. Lots of people love this book; I just wish I'd seen whatever they do in it.
Bits of this were enjoyable but they were so hard to find and impossible to relish, considering the wretchedness of so much of this.
First, the premise. I love the idea of Pandora’s box demons possessing immortal warriors that then get the chance to fall in love and there’s the nice long series potential with the various warriors, the jets vs sharks divided warriors, the centuries long feud with the Hunters, the problematic paranormal institute (another fave device of mine), the Gods vs TItans, the mysterious demi goddess ... so many avenues of potential ... and all poorly executed. Foreshadowing that leaves bruises, clunky af dialogue, wonky timelines (um, Pandora’s box wouldn’t have been 400 years ago if it were real ...), inconsistent details. *sigh*
Second, the romance. I’m not a huge fan of instalove even when done well and this isn’t. There’s a scene when he realises he wants to talk to her, get to know her, but still must interrogate - and so he asks her about her job and then suddenly announces he wants to bang her. Many many times the mood changes were too fast and without context. The MC even joked about getting whiplash from it. Dude. No. Plus, this is full of all the eye roll laden misogynistic ideas about masculinity and femininity, super problematic cisheteronormativity, and paranormal devices that don’t belong here (like the typical shifter mating bite ... when he’s not a shifter). He’s huge, she’s a virgin, he wants to be slow and gentle for her but can’t and it’s cool cuz she’s panting for it harder/faster/more and yet is deeply sex negative and we’re all drowning in “shouldn’t”s. *sigh*
That shower scene had SUCH potential to at least let me say the sex was hella hot but it ends up being pretty meh. Don’t bother, imo.
First, the premise. I love the idea of Pandora’s box demons possessing immortal warriors that then get the chance to fall in love and there’s the nice long series potential with the various warriors, the jets vs sharks divided warriors, the centuries long feud with the Hunters, the problematic paranormal institute (another fave device of mine), the Gods vs TItans, the mysterious demi goddess ... so many avenues of potential ... and all poorly executed. Foreshadowing that leaves bruises, clunky af dialogue, wonky timelines (um, Pandora’s box wouldn’t have been 400 years ago if it were real ...), inconsistent details. *sigh*
Second, the romance. I’m not a huge fan of instalove even when done well and this isn’t. There’s a scene when he realises he wants to talk to her, get to know her, but still must interrogate - and so he asks her about her job and then suddenly announces he wants to bang her. Many many times the mood changes were too fast and without context. The MC even joked about getting whiplash from it. Dude. No. Plus, this is full of all the eye roll laden misogynistic ideas about masculinity and femininity, super problematic cisheteronormativity, and paranormal devices that don’t belong here (like the typical shifter mating bite ... when he’s not a shifter). He’s huge, she’s a virgin, he wants to be slow and gentle for her but can’t and it’s cool cuz she’s panting for it harder/faster/more and yet is deeply sex negative and we’re all drowning in “shouldn’t”s. *sigh*
That shower scene had SUCH potential to at least let me say the sex was hella hot but it ends up being pretty meh. Don’t bother, imo.
This book. Oy.
Just. I've no words, so I'll use Showalter:
"He could have shoved her away. Could have rejected her, cursed her. Hit her"
Could he? Really? Are these the possibilities we want to assume on our ROMANTIC HERO?
Shit, girls, for the love of the gods, feminism isn't opposed to romance. Miranda Davis. Ilona Andrews. Kreasley Cole, Jeaniene Frost, Kristen Callihan. Go read them and leave this domestic abuse propaganda where it belongs. In the trash.
Just. I've no words, so I'll use Showalter:
"He could have shoved her away. Could have rejected her, cursed her. Hit her"
Could he? Really? Are these the possibilities we want to assume on our ROMANTIC HERO?
Shit, girls, for the love of the gods, feminism isn't opposed to romance. Miranda Davis. Ilona Andrews. Kreasley Cole, Jeaniene Frost, Kristen Callihan. Go read them and leave this domestic abuse propaganda where it belongs. In the trash.
|3.8 keeper of awesomeness stars|
I was a bit afraid of finding out I didn’t like this series after reading The Darkest Touch but with re-reading this first book? I feel like I’m back on it.
The Lords of The Underworld series is so addicting and so much fun and with an interesting premise, it’s no wonder why how these books have made it this far.
I find the mix between Greek mythology, urban legends and paranormal creatures pretty great and with this compelling characters, you just want to learn more and more about them.
In this first story we fall in love with Maddox, keeper of the demon of Violence and Ashlyn, a young girl working for a paranormal researcher institute with an interesting gift. It’s a bit of insta-love but more like insta-lust and it’s a very decent start of a series. We also meet Maddox’s brothers in arms: Torin, Lucien, Reyes and Paris who are the keepers of Disease, Death, Pain and Promiscuity respectively. Also we learned about their backstory and their curses.
Overall I think this a good paranormal romance book and I will be re-reading the rest of the series because why not.
It is so good when things turn out positively.
I was a bit afraid of finding out I didn’t like this series after reading The Darkest Touch but with re-reading this first book? I feel like I’m back on it.
The Lords of The Underworld series is so addicting and so much fun and with an interesting premise, it’s no wonder why how these books have made it this far.
I find the mix between Greek mythology, urban legends and paranormal creatures pretty great and with this compelling characters, you just want to learn more and more about them.
In this first story we fall in love with Maddox, keeper of the demon of Violence and Ashlyn, a young girl working for a paranormal researcher institute with an interesting gift. It’s a bit of insta-love but more like insta-lust and it’s a very decent start of a series. We also meet Maddox’s brothers in arms: Torin, Lucien, Reyes and Paris who are the keepers of Disease, Death, Pain and Promiscuity respectively. Also we learned about their backstory and their curses.
Overall I think this a good paranormal romance book and I will be re-reading the rest of the series because why not.
Ok this book is... erotically charged... BUT I REALLY LIKED IT. It actually had an interesting plot and was easy to read and I enjoyed it a lot please don't judge me.
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated