Scan barcode
mariana_cscs's review
5.0
I had hight expectations for this book and I was not disappointed! Syn and Sahara are an awesome couple and the story had everything you could wish for in a book: romance, action, humor and the hot darkness we've all grown accustomed to with the league series. I have throughly enjoyed this book and recommend it, as well as all the others this brilliant author writes. I expect to read this book again... a lot of times ;D
geleeregina's review
2.0
I love Kenyon, but I didn't love this book as much as Born of Night. Syn is a great hero, but I just couldn't connect with him as much as Nykyrian, probably because he reminds me of Acheron, my fave!
Re-listen and it still wasn't as good as I had hoped it might be due to narration. It could have been about 150 pages less, and it went on and on about their emotional baggage that could have been cut out.
Re-listen and it still wasn't as good as I had hoped it might be due to narration. It could have been about 150 pages less, and it went on and on about their emotional baggage that could have been cut out.
wynwicket's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this far more than I probably should have, but that's okay -- it was a perfect book to read when I wasn't feeling well.
amyiw's review
1.0
Adding the partially done review-
I'm 32% done with Born of Fire: She makes it impossible to like the heroine Shahara. She is a mix bag of contradictions, moralist, self-righteous, judgmental, and betrayal. I keep hoping she'll just die but know that is not possible. Syn is great but I just don't see the turn around for me. How can anyone trust this untrustworthy (proven) woman. She whines about being betrayed by "everyone", what about the siblings? Duh. I hate her. Love Syn.
-----------------------------------------------
This is what I wrote about Shahara while reading it and getting madder and madder.
Reasons to Hate Shahara-
-whines about not being able to trust anyone because everyone betrayed her (father, boyfriend) what about the siblings she adores and helps support? The ones that all love and trust Syn.
-hates convicts and has a obsessive desire to see them all back to prision never questioning if they were convicted falsely. No all convicts are criminals and have no possibility of having been convicted wrongly.
-Syn is a convict, said to be merciless, rapistist, killer. Yet all of his actions show otherwise. She breaks into his house and he restains her with little force. He doesn't rape her even when she is put into a compromising position with her. He doesn't even hurt her. What does he do? He let's her go with only a promise to not continue to hunt him.
-Syn is supposed to be this increadible tracker (apprehending criminals) yet she continually get bested by Syn even when she has the jump on him. Several times this happens and she doesn't get that she is out of her league, way way out of her league. I don't see the great tracker by her continual under judgment.
-Syn is so moralist on principles yet goes back on her word, her sworn oath. Then she takes on breaking Syn out of lock up under false pretenses, false orders, and under false circumstances, once again agreeing to betray Syn.
-Syn has shown no reason to lie and finally gives her the explaination about the chip yet she believes the men that were abusing prisoners and had her go against all her morals. She doesn't see that the men who hired her will kill her or make her a criminal just as Syn is now. All the proof of Syn not lying and not being the criminal he is painted is in her face, yet... she still plans to betray him, oh, for her siblings, the ones who love Syn, whom Syn has supported financially secretly with out ever asking for anything for years.
It didn't get better.
Shahara keeps making stupid choices and putting them in danger. She has no idea what she is doing. Some great tracer, Seax or whatever. She is a horrible fighter one moment and then suddenly the greatest. How ridiculous.
Syn stars great but then his introspection and wish-washiness just makes me not care anymore.
This book is half, introspection and questioning one's self and each other's actions. This made it drag and being such a poor story line made it not worth reading. It is not necessary for the next books so just skip it.
I'm 32% done with Born of Fire: She makes it impossible to like the heroine Shahara. She is a mix bag of contradictions, moralist, self-righteous, judgmental, and betrayal. I keep hoping she'll just die but know that is not possible. Syn is great but I just don't see the turn around for me. How can anyone trust this untrustworthy (proven) woman. She whines about being betrayed by "everyone", what about the siblings? Duh. I hate her. Love Syn.
-----------------------------------------------
This is what I wrote about Shahara while reading it and getting madder and madder.
Spoiler
Reasons to Hate Shahara-
-whines about not being able to trust anyone because everyone betrayed her (father, boyfriend) what about the siblings she adores and helps support? The ones that all love and trust Syn.
-hates convicts and has a obsessive desire to see them all back to prision never questioning if they were convicted falsely. No all convicts are criminals and have no possibility of having been convicted wrongly.
-Syn is a convict, said to be merciless, rapistist, killer. Yet all of his actions show otherwise. She breaks into his house and he restains her with little force. He doesn't rape her even when she is put into a compromising position with her. He doesn't even hurt her. What does he do? He let's her go with only a promise to not continue to hunt him.
-Syn is supposed to be this increadible tracker (apprehending criminals) yet she continually get bested by Syn even when she has the jump on him. Several times this happens and she doesn't get that she is out of her league, way way out of her league. I don't see the great tracker by her continual under judgment.
-Syn is so moralist on principles yet goes back on her word, her sworn oath. Then she takes on breaking Syn out of lock up under false pretenses, false orders, and under false circumstances, once again agreeing to betray Syn.
-Syn has shown no reason to lie and finally gives her the explaination about the chip yet she believes the men that were abusing prisoners and had her go against all her morals. She doesn't see that the men who hired her will kill her or make her a criminal just as Syn is now. All the proof of Syn not lying and not being the criminal he is painted is in her face, yet... she still plans to betray him, oh, for her siblings, the ones who love Syn, whom Syn has supported financially secretly with out ever asking for anything for years.
It didn't get better.
Shahara keeps making stupid choices and putting them in danger. She has no idea what she is doing. Some great tracer, Seax or whatever. She is a horrible fighter one moment and then suddenly the greatest. How ridiculous.
Syn stars great but then his introspection and wish-washiness just makes me not care anymore.
This book is half, introspection and questioning one's self and each other's actions. This made it drag and being such a poor story line made it not worth reading. It is not necessary for the next books so just skip it.
xakyr's review against another edition
3.0
Futuristic romance has never really been my thing, so reading these books, even though I enjoy the author's other works, puts me out of my comfort zone. This book took me a while to read, even though there were a good bit of twists and turns. The characters were hard for me to relate to, even though I could totally understand their trust issues. There was way too much betrayal going on between the two main characters for me to believe that they could have a loving and trusting relationship in the future. I did like the look at the universe that had been built and enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous book having an impact in this one, so I'll continue with the series for now.
jcarew's review
3.0
Not sure if I'm sold on this series yet. Some plain blatant mistakes from the first book to the second. Going to give it at least one more book and see how it goes. I like the characters and there are some funny parts, but not sure yet.
cjterry07's review
4.0
Awww
I liked hearing Syn's story, just wish he wasn't so stubborn then he could have got to the good parts faster.
I liked hearing Syn's story, just wish he wasn't so stubborn then he could have got to the good parts faster.
neha_s's review
3.0
2.5 Stars!
I really liked Syn and plot was also okay. Writing was mediocre. But I could not stand Shahara at all. It would have been a four star book if she had died. Really!
I really liked Syn and plot was also okay. Writing was mediocre. But I could not stand Shahara at all. It would have been a four star book if she had died. Really!
bananatricky's review
3.0
Wow, what a difference from the first book!
Slightly disconcerting the names of some people had changed - looking at Amazon it appears that there have been several iterations of the series for different publishers, some of which necessitated the changes.
Shahara is a Seax (as I understand it Seax are above reproach law enforcement agents whose sole responsibility is to ensure justice). She is the oldest of four and has been the sole carer for her two sisters and brother since their mother and father died – I found this odd as both Kasen and Caillen have jobs and mentioned contributing money. The youngest sister (Trisa?) is a gambler, obsessed by get-rich-quick schemes and we start the novel with her having been put in hospital for failing to pay gambling debts. There was also mention of a chronic medical condition although it was unclear whether it was Trisa or Kasen who suffered. In order to save her sister's life and keep her in hospital, Shahara takes on a bounty case to apprehend C I Syn, a notorious filch (thief/hacker) and alleged murderer/rapist.
Syn (Rachol from the first book – glad that name changed) bears little resemblance to the description from the first book. He is the son of the most notorious filch/murderer/torturer in history – the sort whose crimes live on the collective memory. Syn's life has been horrific, beaten and tortured by his father, his virginity sold to paedophiles, abandoned and rejected by his mother. After his sister kills herself as a result of their father's brutality Syn informs against him to the authorities. Instead of rewarding him they place him (as a child of 10 years old) into an adult maximum security prison. Partly as a result of his father's brutal but highly effective training, and partly as a result of having to survive as a child on the streets, Syn has become the best filch in the universe and has extraordinary skills at evading detection. Despite this, Shahara finds him because he bought a fighter (well some kind of plane) and she traced where it was stored – sneaky, not!
The plot involves Syn and Shahara trying to find a disc which contains a confession by the President (or his father) that he arranged the assassination of the former President. Unbeknown to Syn, Shahara is being helped by the President's father – she is expected to double-cross Syn in order to safeguard her family.
Probably for the first half of the book I was really enjoying the fast-paced chases and the witty repartee between Syn and Shahara as they dodged the various parties trying to capture Syn. Then it was as though Ms Kenyon had to create some angst. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Syn bemoaned that he was worthless filth, that no upstanding citizen like Shahara could ever want to be with scum like him. Despite the fact that they had slept together. Even after she says she loves him. I get that his wife had rejected him when she discovered his real identity – but then she was a two-timing, money-grubbing, social climber anyway. Added to that, Shahara worried that she wasn't good enough for Syn. He was used to a wife who knew how to use the right knives and forks, was elegant, poised and could converse with high society – she lived in a condemned building and had a rough and dirty job. On and on, pages of manufactured angst.
Also Syn's uncle Digger was an enigma. He watched his brother brutalise his children, beat them, torture them, sell them to paedophiles, starve them AND HE DID NOTHING! Yet, at the same time he was in prison and had been planning his escape for several year – when Syn was put in prison it was easy for him to change his plans to add Syn to the list – maybe I got the timeline wrong but it didn't seem to make sense unless his uncle helped him to escape from prison the second time – but then he wouldn't have been a child? Also, Syn helped Nero to escape prison, but Nero didn't know that Syn had been in prison twice? Overall, I found Digger's story unimpressive and he seemed to serve more as a way of telling Shahara all about Syn's childhood – would an uncle really tell a complete stranger all the shocking and intimate details of his nephew's childhood?
So, I felt that there were a few plot holes. I also felt that both Syn and Shahara changed personalities at a round the halfway mark and became irritating with their "woe is me" sackcloth and ashes routines. I also wasn't convinced by the way in which Shahara's betrayal was whitewashed – it was too much of a "ta da" moment for me and added nothing to the story.
But, despite the niggles this was leaps and bounds better than the edition of the first in the series I read. I will definitely be reading the next one.
Slightly disconcerting the names of some people had changed - looking at Amazon it appears that there have been several iterations of the series for different publishers, some of which necessitated the changes.
Shahara is a Seax (as I understand it Seax are above reproach law enforcement agents whose sole responsibility is to ensure justice). She is the oldest of four and has been the sole carer for her two sisters and brother since their mother and father died – I found this odd as both Kasen and Caillen have jobs and mentioned contributing money. The youngest sister (Trisa?) is a gambler, obsessed by get-rich-quick schemes and we start the novel with her having been put in hospital for failing to pay gambling debts. There was also mention of a chronic medical condition although it was unclear whether it was Trisa or Kasen who suffered. In order to save her sister's life and keep her in hospital, Shahara takes on a bounty case to apprehend C I Syn, a notorious filch (thief/hacker) and alleged murderer/rapist.
Syn (Rachol from the first book – glad that name changed) bears little resemblance to the description from the first book. He is the son of the most notorious filch/murderer/torturer in history – the sort whose crimes live on the collective memory. Syn's life has been horrific, beaten and tortured by his father, his virginity sold to paedophiles, abandoned and rejected by his mother. After his sister kills herself as a result of their father's brutality Syn informs against him to the authorities. Instead of rewarding him they place him (as a child of 10 years old) into an adult maximum security prison. Partly as a result of his father's brutal but highly effective training, and partly as a result of having to survive as a child on the streets, Syn has become the best filch in the universe and has extraordinary skills at evading detection. Despite this, Shahara finds him because he bought a fighter (well some kind of plane) and she traced where it was stored – sneaky, not!
The plot involves Syn and Shahara trying to find a disc which contains a confession by the President (or his father) that he arranged the assassination of the former President. Unbeknown to Syn, Shahara is being helped by the President's father – she is expected to double-cross Syn in order to safeguard her family.
Probably for the first half of the book I was really enjoying the fast-paced chases and the witty repartee between Syn and Shahara as they dodged the various parties trying to capture Syn. Then it was as though Ms Kenyon had to create some angst. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Syn bemoaned that he was worthless filth, that no upstanding citizen like Shahara could ever want to be with scum like him. Despite the fact that they had slept together. Even after she says she loves him. I get that his wife had rejected him when she discovered his real identity – but then she was a two-timing, money-grubbing, social climber anyway. Added to that, Shahara worried that she wasn't good enough for Syn. He was used to a wife who knew how to use the right knives and forks, was elegant, poised and could converse with high society – she lived in a condemned building and had a rough and dirty job. On and on, pages of manufactured angst.
Also Syn's uncle Digger was an enigma. He watched his brother brutalise his children, beat them, torture them, sell them to paedophiles, starve them AND HE DID NOTHING! Yet, at the same time he was in prison and had been planning his escape for several year – when Syn was put in prison it was easy for him to change his plans to add Syn to the list – maybe I got the timeline wrong but it didn't seem to make sense unless his uncle helped him to escape from prison the second time – but then he wouldn't have been a child? Also, Syn helped Nero to escape prison, but Nero didn't know that Syn had been in prison twice? Overall, I found Digger's story unimpressive and he seemed to serve more as a way of telling Shahara all about Syn's childhood – would an uncle really tell a complete stranger all the shocking and intimate details of his nephew's childhood?
So, I felt that there were a few plot holes. I also felt that both Syn and Shahara changed personalities at a round the halfway mark and became irritating with their "woe is me" sackcloth and ashes routines. I also wasn't convinced by the way in which Shahara's betrayal was whitewashed – it was too much of a "ta da" moment for me and added nothing to the story.
But, despite the niggles this was leaps and bounds better than the edition of the first in the series I read. I will definitely be reading the next one.
alexa_ayana's review
5.0
"As a rule, I don't let people get to close to me. Because when they look at me, they didn't see me. They only see my father's son."
C.I Syn benar-benar tidak bisa ditebak. Di luar deskripsi kriminal dan tuduhan kejahatan yang melimpah tersimpan masa lalu super ngenes dan menyedihkan. Di aniaya dan di siksa ayah kandung yang penjahat berbahaya, Syn tumbuh besar dengan perasaan terabaikan dan tertutup, bajingan penyendiri yang salah pahami oleh semua orang. Penjahat yang dituduh super sadis tapi punya hati nurani dan menyembunyikan luka batinnya dibalik sikap mesum, joke garing dan kalimat-kalimat sarkastiknya.
Shahara juga harus berdamai dengan nerakanya sendiri. Gadis ini adalah pemburu terhormat yang punya segudang kode etika dan harga diri walaupun super miskin. Sikap luarnya yang dingin, kejam dan kaku yang menjadi kedok kupernya dia terhadap pergaulan normal. Dia juga meragukan Syn berulang kali. Tapi hari demi hari Shahara makin dibingungkan dengan tingkah lalu penjahat itu yang kontradiktif dengan smua deskripsi tuduhannya. Bantuan ogah-ogahan yang diberikan gadis ini saat terjebak dalam petualangan penuh aksi bersama Syn hampir di sepanjang buku membuat usaha kerasnya untuk menyelamatkan leher Syn adalah cerminan ketulusan perasaannya yang terdalam.
Setelah mengenal Ichidan Universal, aku makin menyukai seri ini. Apalagi SK benar-benar kuat dalam membangun dunia fantasy ciptaannya. Nama-nama ras asing, planet asal, kelebihan dan beberapa fakta lain menempel tanpa susah payah membuat pembaca bisa menikmati seri sci fi ini tanpa kening berkerut. Buku ke-2 ini memberikan karakter h/h sama kuat yang awalnya saling membenci dan saling memanfaatkan. Walau scene steamynya tidak banyak dan standar tapi banter, tarik ulur, chemistry dan tensi diantara mereka sudah terbangun sejak awal pertemuan mereka.
Syn memang sudah mencuri perhatian dan memikat sejak buku pertama. Tapi walaupun di sini adalah awal kemunculannya aku akan tetap jatuh bangun menyukainya tanpa kecuali. Aku menyukai cara SK menunjukan bagaimana Syn dan kepribadiannya yang salah dipahami dengan banyak scene-scene kecil dan bukannya menjejaliku dengan penjelasan betapa hebatnya pria ini.
Buku ini lebih fokus pada h/h utama dan hanya menampilkan sedikit figuran (faveku? VIK ❤️❤️❤️). Kisah ini akan memberimu porsi besar perjuangan cinta yang kuat dan alur rollercoaster sampai akhir. Padukan itu dengan aksi laga seru yang menegangkan. Dan bonus momen-momen emosional penuh pengkhianatan, kekecewaan dan patah hati yang akan membuatmu berurai air mata. Ending buku ini HEA yang alot, tapi aku bersyukur karena SK tidak terjebak untuk memberikan HEA ala sinetron untuk Syn dan Shahara.
"Thank you for looking into the eyes of nothing and seeing a man you could love."
My Rating :
Star : 5/5
Bikini : 2.5/5
C.I Syn benar-benar tidak bisa ditebak. Di luar deskripsi kriminal dan tuduhan kejahatan yang melimpah tersimpan masa lalu super ngenes dan menyedihkan. Di aniaya dan di siksa ayah kandung yang penjahat berbahaya, Syn tumbuh besar dengan perasaan terabaikan dan tertutup, bajingan penyendiri yang salah pahami oleh semua orang. Penjahat yang dituduh super sadis tapi punya hati nurani dan menyembunyikan luka batinnya dibalik sikap mesum, joke garing dan kalimat-kalimat sarkastiknya.
Shahara juga harus berdamai dengan nerakanya sendiri. Gadis ini adalah pemburu terhormat yang punya segudang kode etika dan harga diri walaupun super miskin. Sikap luarnya yang dingin, kejam dan kaku yang menjadi kedok kupernya dia terhadap pergaulan normal. Dia juga meragukan Syn berulang kali. Tapi hari demi hari Shahara makin dibingungkan dengan tingkah lalu penjahat itu yang kontradiktif dengan smua deskripsi tuduhannya. Bantuan ogah-ogahan yang diberikan gadis ini saat terjebak dalam petualangan penuh aksi bersama Syn hampir di sepanjang buku membuat usaha kerasnya untuk menyelamatkan leher Syn adalah cerminan ketulusan perasaannya yang terdalam.
Setelah mengenal Ichidan Universal, aku makin menyukai seri ini. Apalagi SK benar-benar kuat dalam membangun dunia fantasy ciptaannya. Nama-nama ras asing, planet asal, kelebihan dan beberapa fakta lain menempel tanpa susah payah membuat pembaca bisa menikmati seri sci fi ini tanpa kening berkerut. Buku ke-2 ini memberikan karakter h/h sama kuat yang awalnya saling membenci dan saling memanfaatkan. Walau scene steamynya tidak banyak dan standar tapi banter, tarik ulur, chemistry dan tensi diantara mereka sudah terbangun sejak awal pertemuan mereka.
Syn memang sudah mencuri perhatian dan memikat sejak buku pertama. Tapi walaupun di sini adalah awal kemunculannya aku akan tetap jatuh bangun menyukainya tanpa kecuali. Aku menyukai cara SK menunjukan bagaimana Syn dan kepribadiannya yang salah dipahami dengan banyak scene-scene kecil dan bukannya menjejaliku dengan penjelasan betapa hebatnya pria ini.
Buku ini lebih fokus pada h/h utama dan hanya menampilkan sedikit figuran (faveku? VIK ❤️❤️❤️). Kisah ini akan memberimu porsi besar perjuangan cinta yang kuat dan alur rollercoaster sampai akhir. Padukan itu dengan aksi laga seru yang menegangkan. Dan bonus momen-momen emosional penuh pengkhianatan, kekecewaan dan patah hati yang akan membuatmu berurai air mata. Ending buku ini HEA yang alot, tapi aku bersyukur karena SK tidak terjebak untuk memberikan HEA ala sinetron untuk Syn dan Shahara.
"Thank you for looking into the eyes of nothing and seeing a man you could love."
My Rating :
Star : 5/5
Bikini : 2.5/5