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_michelle_'s review
I loved the first 2 books in this series when I read them (10 years ago, so no idea if they hold up), but I don't believe in the "power of love" (aka love solving every damn thing). I don't like that Darling was "pretending to be gay all along" just so a hetero HEA could be for one of best characters in the series. Plus, he's a fucking monster in this book, not so much from PTSD but because a girl broke his heart. Nope. I'm out.
chelseaj91's review against another edition
5.0
In a universe where corruption and deception rule the day, sparks of rebellion ignite.
This book! It is definitely a contender of one of my favorites in the series!
I love Darling. He's such a swoony hero and I love his 20 rules that he lives by and does his best to uphold. Honestly, considering everything that happened to him, he really had pretty much every reason imaginable to become the person his uncle was trying to make him out to be. And aside from some minor lunacy there in the beginning, he was able to get past it and truly shine as the leader of his people. Although I will admit that the idea of him not being gay was kind of a surprise and felt like a cop out when it was mentioned by Desideria in [b:Born of Shadows|9447878|Born of Shadows (The League, #4)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437679905s/9447878.jpg|13001362], at the same time, it honestly works really well. I absolutely love the way he cares for his siblings, and really anyone that he considers family. Of course that also made me want to smack him a few times. He was always willing to do stupid crap and put himself in the line of fire to keep them safe, but that often led to some suicidal lunacy. Thankfully there was usually someone around to stall him. I also hated that he continued to blame himself for Lise's attack. It. Wasn't. His. Fault. How could he have known that Clarion was a lying jackass? It was interesting watching him wrestle with himself regarding his feelings for Zarya. Knowing that he's loved her forever, but still dealing with her betrayal (although I feel like that's a hazy line to be honest--) and somehow finding the strength to pull himself out, for her, is nothing short of amazing.
Speaking of Zarya...I got a little frustrated with her when things were first on their upwards trajectory there at the palace. She was always ready to get mad at Darling because of the various things that went along with her title, and really, 99% of the things she had issues with were already in place and changed the second Darling heard she was unhappy. Most of the problems were because he didn't think about it since they'd been traditions for years. Like the fact that she was pissed when Geara said he'd come to her at his leisure. Really? She's technically been given the title of "mistress" at this point, everything she's supposed to do is at his leisure (yes, that's not the way Darling works, but no one fully knew that yet). I did like the fact that once she realized that Darling was Kere she tried to bring him back. She did keep apologizing, which, while it doesn't fully expunge her, it does help. And I liked how she became so determined to prove that Darling wasn't the monster his uncle had tried to paint him as.
Maris was great too. He's definitely one of my favorite characters in the whole series. It was interesting to see more of his backstory. Like pretty much everyone, he's had a hard life, but it was nice to see him being himself once he'd fully acknowledged everything. It's a good thing he listened to Darling instead of trapping himself in something that no one would have liked. And while he doesn't necessarily like to, he can definitely kick ass when needed and I kind of want to see him in action again.
And the League. Those idiots. What would make Kyr think that was a good idea? CDS (bunch of morons) request or not, he knew that Darling hung with some pretty important people (forget the Sentella connections, just look at the royalty that was at his banquet). Plus, Nykyrian. I mean, there's the whole Andarion heir thing, but there's also the fact that he's the only assassin to leave the League alive. And he's one of the people who trained Darling. Again I ask, what was Kyr thinking?
Who to trust...For one man's greed, Zarya's entire family was murdered. As a Resistance leader, she must topple the government that forced her to grow up alone on the back streets of hell. Zarya's right hand is a mysterious man with a dark secret. His name is Darling Cruel, and he is heir to the government Zarya wants to overthrow. Like Zarya, he wants his uncle--who murdered his father and stole his crown--to pay for his crimes.
When the hero becomes the monster?Zarya is the only person Darling has ever trusted. Yet when she allows a weapon he designed for her to be used against his beloved sister, all bets are off. Now Darling wants not only to reign, but to kill every Resistance member. Zarya is the only one capable of stopping him. But can she reach past his insanity to restore the hero who once fought by her side?
This book! It is definitely a contender of one of my favorites in the series!
I love Darling. He's such a swoony hero and I love his 20 rules that he lives by and does his best to uphold. Honestly, considering everything that happened to him, he really had pretty much every reason imaginable to become the person his uncle was trying to make him out to be. And aside from some minor lunacy there in the beginning, he was able to get past it and truly shine as the leader of his people. Although I will admit that the idea of him not being gay was kind of a surprise and felt like a cop out when it was mentioned by Desideria in [b:Born of Shadows|9447878|Born of Shadows (The League, #4)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437679905s/9447878.jpg|13001362], at the same time, it honestly works really well. I absolutely love the way he cares for his siblings, and really anyone that he considers family. Of course that also made me want to smack him a few times. He was always willing to do stupid crap and put himself in the line of fire to keep them safe, but that often led to some suicidal lunacy. Thankfully there was usually someone around to stall him. I also hated that he continued to blame himself for Lise's attack. It. Wasn't. His. Fault. How could he have known that Clarion was a lying jackass? It was interesting watching him wrestle with himself regarding his feelings for Zarya. Knowing that he's loved her forever, but still dealing with her betrayal (although I feel like that's a hazy line to be honest--
Spoiler
while admittedly she should have known more about what Clarion was doing and should have flat out told him to release Darling, she admitted to herself that after that first time she saw him in the cell, she was consumed with looking for Kere and assumed that he'd already been released. Again, acknowledging that, as the LEADER OF THE RESISTANCE she should have been actually leading and not just counting on them to release basically the one person they all hated, she was highly emotional which was something she'd been taught not to show anyone. So while not necessarily acceptable exactly, it can be a little bit understandable.Speaking of Zarya...I got a little frustrated with her when things were first on their upwards trajectory there at the palace. She was always ready to get mad at Darling because of the various things that went along with her title, and really, 99% of the things she had issues with were already in place and changed the second Darling heard she was unhappy. Most of the problems were because he didn't think about it since they'd been traditions for years. Like the fact that she was pissed when Geara said he'd come to her at his leisure. Really? She's technically been given the title of "mistress" at this point, everything she's supposed to do is at his leisure (yes, that's not the way Darling works, but no one fully knew that yet). I did like the fact that once she realized that Darling was Kere she tried to bring him back. She did keep apologizing, which, while it doesn't fully expunge her, it does help. And I liked how she became so determined to prove that Darling wasn't the monster his uncle had tried to paint him as.
Maris was great too. He's definitely one of my favorite characters in the whole series. It was interesting to see more of his backstory. Like pretty much everyone, he's had a hard life, but it was nice to see him being himself once he'd fully acknowledged everything. It's a good thing he listened to Darling instead of trapping himself in something that no one would have liked. And while he doesn't necessarily like to, he can definitely kick ass when needed and I kind of want to see him in action again.
And the League. Those idiots. What would make Kyr think that was a good idea? CDS (bunch of morons) request or not, he knew that Darling hung with some pretty important people (forget the Sentella connections, just look at the royalty that was at his banquet). Plus, Nykyrian. I mean, there's the whole Andarion heir thing, but there's also the fact that he's the only assassin to leave the League alive. And he's one of the people who trained Darling. Again I ask, what was Kyr thinking?
solaceinprose's review against another edition
5.0
I've said this before about Kenyon, but for me, reading her is definitely like coming home. There is a way she writes that is just so familiar to me. That feeling didn't change with this book. I've been a huge fan of Kenyon's for years. I've read her Dark Hunter/Were Hunter books since there was only a handful of them published. I love that series with my entire heart, but I have to say that Kenyon really has found her niche with the League Series. You can obviously tell that science-fiction is a deep love for her. It's not that she doesn't write the other series with the same passion (although, the last few books in the DH series, I've begun to wonder), but she really shines with this genre.
I have to say that Kenyon really knows how to make her characters suffer. I mean, REALLY make them wish they had never been born. Darling saw no shortage of horrors in his lifetime. From the time he was a young lad up until his late 20's, he had been tortured, sodomized, beaten to near death, disfigured, stabbed, shot, mocked, humiliated, and everything else that is horrible in the world. By the middle of the book, you kind of just want to go, "Jesus Christ, there's more?" Every time you thought it got as bad as it is going to get, something else happened to Darling to make the last bad thing seem like it was just any other day. I'll be honest, it kind of got tedious after a while, but before it could be come too overwhelming, Kenyon finally puts a cap on the torture porn, and puts on track to getting Darling on the path to healing.
The love story between Zarya and Darling wasn't the best. I like it when it starts fresh, and we can see that love blossom. In this book, the love was already there, it just took severe damage because Z is probably the WORST Resistance Leader on all the planets, and just let her crew do whatever they liked. It was a clear case of letting her emotions rule her job. I kind of have an issue with that, because it seemed like if it had been the other way around, Darling would have been shown as the clear headed hero who didn't let past prejudices get in the way of doing what was right. I guess Kenyon had to have the snag in the love tapestry, I just wish that it wasn't the woman who screwed up ALL the time. Granted, Darling was pretty freaking intolerable after he killed his uncle and decided to take a Swan Dive off the deep end into the crazy pool, but for the most part, it was Z trying to make up for her gross insight. I really wished she had finally told Darling that she made a mistake, yes it did cost him a lot, but he did some crappy things as well. I guess he forgot about the time he indirectly had her sold into the sex market.
The book was rather brilliant in its subtle commentary on gay people. The derogatory terms were a bit much at times, and I wonder if Kenyon was doing that to be a little sensational, but nothing the "bad guys" said aren't anything that I'm sure homosexuals don't hear today. It's still a little saddening, though, that even in an alternative universe, homosexuality is still considered a 'sin' and an 'abomination'. Then again, if it wasn't, then Darling wouldn't have had half of his back story.
All is well, though, and eventually they make up and she gets pregnant (another thing I find redundant in Kenyon's verses), he becomes the Darling the Greatest Emperor To Have Ever Emperored and everyone lives happily ever after...with the League waiting in the shadows to strike. I'm interested to see where she goes with the next book, and if Kyr will finally meet his doom. I hope, above all hope, that is' Maris that finally takes him down.
I don't think I've loved a character as much as I loved Maris. I hope he's featured more in the other books, because he is amazing. A-MAH-ZING.
I have to say that Kenyon really knows how to make her characters suffer. I mean, REALLY make them wish they had never been born. Darling saw no shortage of horrors in his lifetime. From the time he was a young lad up until his late 20's, he had been tortured, sodomized, beaten to near death, disfigured, stabbed, shot, mocked, humiliated, and everything else that is horrible in the world. By the middle of the book, you kind of just want to go, "Jesus Christ, there's more?" Every time you thought it got as bad as it is going to get, something else happened to Darling to make the last bad thing seem like it was just any other day. I'll be honest, it kind of got tedious after a while, but before it could be come too overwhelming, Kenyon finally puts a cap on the torture porn, and puts on track to getting Darling on the path to healing.
The love story between Zarya and Darling wasn't the best. I like it when it starts fresh, and we can see that love blossom. In this book, the love was already there, it just took severe damage because Z is probably the WORST Resistance Leader on all the planets, and just let her crew do whatever they liked. It was a clear case of letting her emotions rule her job. I kind of have an issue with that, because it seemed like if it had been the other way around, Darling would have been shown as the clear headed hero who didn't let past prejudices get in the way of doing what was right. I guess Kenyon had to have the snag in the love tapestry, I just wish that it wasn't the woman who screwed up ALL the time. Granted, Darling was pretty freaking intolerable after he killed his uncle and decided to take a Swan Dive off the deep end into the crazy pool, but for the most part, it was Z trying to make up for her gross insight. I really wished she had finally told Darling that she made a mistake, yes it did cost him a lot, but he did some crappy things as well. I guess he forgot about the time he indirectly had her sold into the sex market.
The book was rather brilliant in its subtle commentary on gay people. The derogatory terms were a bit much at times, and I wonder if Kenyon was doing that to be a little sensational, but nothing the "bad guys" said aren't anything that I'm sure homosexuals don't hear today. It's still a little saddening, though, that even in an alternative universe, homosexuality is still considered a 'sin' and an 'abomination'. Then again, if it wasn't, then Darling wouldn't have had half of his back story.
All is well, though, and eventually they make up and she gets pregnant (another thing I find redundant in Kenyon's verses), he becomes the Darling the Greatest Emperor To Have Ever Emperored and everyone lives happily ever after...with the League waiting in the shadows to strike. I'm interested to see where she goes with the next book, and if Kyr will finally meet his doom. I hope, above all hope, that is' Maris that finally takes him down.
I don't think I've loved a character as much as I loved Maris. I hope he's featured more in the other books, because he is amazing. A-MAH-ZING.
lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
Loved rereading this book, caught some details I didn't before, and some things made more sense, and yeah, I wonder about his older brother, that reason he had, I want his story now, too!!!
*Second review January 30th 2013*
Just as great the second time, such a great, powerful story! Loved it, can't wait for the next League story to come out!!!
*First review May 29th 2012*
Such a great, great book! Loved the 18 hours in the closet thing! So funny! And the characters were tortured so much, but that their love heals them, such a great, powerful story! Love Sherrilyn Kenyon's writing! In fact, just bought on of her books today :)
*Second review January 30th 2013*
Just as great the second time, such a great, powerful story! Loved it, can't wait for the next League story to come out!!!
*First review May 29th 2012*
Such a great, great book! Loved the 18 hours in the closet thing! So funny! And the characters were tortured so much, but that their love heals them, such a great, powerful story! Love Sherrilyn Kenyon's writing! In fact, just bought on of her books today :)
rachelcus's review against another edition
4.0
I love Darling and Zarya; they are awesome characters and awesome together. I think the only thing that bothered me (as it has in the case of previous Kenyon books, but not quite so much as in this one) was the fact that the main characters, particularly Maris, kept forgetting that they essentially had friends in other places. I mean, I sort of get that perspective based on how some of the characters were portrayed, but it still sort of bugged me, probably more so because it's been one of those nagging little things that I've noticed as a theme in Kenyon's books. Still, I love the world, or rather worlds, that have been created in this series. The characters are rich and endearing, even when they do things that you want to yell at them for. All in all, loved this book and can't wait to see what happens with the rest of the characters.
thenia's review against another edition
3.0
A dark, dark book, with a beyond tortured hero who goes through hell before finally getting his happily ever after.
Darling is living a double life - pretending to be gay and submitting to his uncle's abuse, while at the same time being Kere, a highly killed assassin and member of the Resistance against his uncle.
He is in a relationship with Zarya, a Resistance leader who only knows him as Kere and hasn't seen his face without a mask, but he is planning to come clean right after he gets rid of his sadistic uncle who sits on Darling's throne until he is of age.
Unfortunately, things do not go at all as planned, and
Eventually he is rescued, but he is beyond damaged, both physically and emotionally, and he hates Zarya for her unwitting part in his torture.
His worried friends, unable to reach him in his darkness, turn to Zarya for help, and the two slowly find their way back to each other, but have to face their past mistakes and learn to trust one another again.
At the same time Darling has to deal with the derision of his people, who ridiculed him while he was under his uncle's thumb, as well as the remainder of the Resistance that also want him gone, and find a way to fulfill his promise to his father that he will take care of their people.
Seriously, sometimes needlessly dark, with Darling having survived far too much and still being able to forgive Zarya a lot easier than I could.
I couldn't seem to forgive her, and that kept me from enjoying the relationship between them or their happy ending together.
The series continues with [b:Cloak & Silence|13631346|Cloak & Silence (The League, #5.5)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353134746l/13631346._SX50_.jpg|19239708] and Maris's story, but I will need a break from this world before getting to it.
Previous book reviews:
✦ Born of Shadows (The League, #4) ~ ★★★★ (11/04/2019)
✦ Fire and Ice (The League: Nemesis Rising #3.5) ~ ★★★★ (31/03/2015)
✦ Born of Ice (The League: Nemesis Rising #3) ~ ★★★★ (11/08/2014)
✦ Born of Fire (The League: Nemesis Rising #2) ~ ★★★★ (27/09/2012)
Darling is living a double life - pretending to be gay and submitting to his uncle's abuse, while at the same time being Kere, a highly killed assassin and member of the Resistance against his uncle.
He is in a relationship with Zarya, a Resistance leader who only knows him as Kere and hasn't seen his face without a mask, but he is planning to come clean right after he gets rid of his sadistic uncle who sits on Darling's throne until he is of age.
Unfortunately, things do not go at all as planned, and
Spoiler
Darling ends up a prisoner of his allies who despise him for being part of the aristocratic family that they love to blame for all of their problems, and under Zarya's nose, he is being tortured for months.Eventually he is rescued, but he is beyond damaged, both physically and emotionally, and he hates Zarya for her unwitting part in his torture.
His worried friends, unable to reach him in his darkness, turn to Zarya for help, and the two slowly find their way back to each other, but have to face their past mistakes and learn to trust one another again.
At the same time Darling has to deal with the derision of his people, who ridiculed him while he was under his uncle's thumb, as well as the remainder of the Resistance that also want him gone, and find a way to fulfill his promise to his father that he will take care of their people
Seriously, sometimes needlessly dark, with Darling having survived far too much and still being able to forgive Zarya a lot easier than I could.
Spoiler
I found her attitude after she realized that her people had been torturing him while she was completely ignorant, extremely annoying, since I would have expected her to be drowning in guilt and not feeling slighted by him not wanting to see her after what she'd allowed her men to put him through, even if it was only by negligence.I couldn't seem to forgive her, and that kept me from enjoying the relationship between them or their happy ending together.
The series continues with [b:Cloak & Silence|13631346|Cloak & Silence (The League, #5.5)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353134746l/13631346._SX50_.jpg|19239708] and Maris's story, but I will need a break from this world before getting to it.
Previous book reviews:
✦ Born of Shadows (The League, #4) ~ ★★★★ (11/04/2019)
✦ Fire and Ice (The League: Nemesis Rising #3.5) ~ ★★★★ (31/03/2015)
✦ Born of Ice (The League: Nemesis Rising #3) ~ ★★★★ (11/08/2014)
✦ Born of Fire (The League: Nemesis Rising #2) ~ ★★★★ (27/09/2012)
malissac's review against another edition
5.0
Darling's story is my favorite of this series. While they all pull at your heartstrings, Darling' tore my heart from my chest before replacing it gently with a small smile and a comforting tap.
bookishescapism's review
1.0
This is my first novel by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and quite possibly my last. Prior to getting this book, I read its many reviews. So many readers loved this book, so my expectations were high. After trudging through 200+ pages of this book, I gave up. I couldn't force myself to continue reading. I didn't feel any connection toward any of the characters. Almost everyone had a bad past...they were all so predictable and dull. I expected a lot more action, but I personally felt that practically everything I read consisted of lovey-dovey, overdone, cheesy dialogue. I really tried to love this book, though. Oh well.
*Update: June 10*
Haha I actually decided to finish reading this book. Surprisingly, I found the ending rather cute, but it was not worth reading over 400+ pages. The last 36 pages were my favorite. Sad but true.
*Update: June 10*
Haha I actually decided to finish reading this book. Surprisingly, I found the ending rather cute, but it was not worth reading over 400+ pages. The last 36 pages were my favorite. Sad but true.