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A review by chelseaj91
The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was okay.
It was a little shaky, but for the first book in a series, it wasn't bad. I am curious to see how Greek mythology will be woven in through the rest of the books. I'm also curious about the various demons that are infecting the Lords and how things are going to work with that. I did wish we'd spent a little more time on the past and how Maddox and the others came to be cursed. Yeah, we are told that it's because they were pissed that Pandora was chosen to guard the box, so they tried to one up her and FUBAR'd everything, but I feel like there's a lot more to that story than basically jealousy.
Overall, Maddox was pretty great although I wished there'd been a little more time for his character development/exploration. Yes, this is PNR and everything but still...he went from "she's Bait so I won't do anything" to "she might be Bait but I'll get everything I can out of her/have some sex while I'm at it" to "I can't live without her" at almost lightspeed. Granted, you did get to see the progression but it was still super fast. I didn't like the fact that everyone decided that Maddox was just bewitched and Ashlyn was Bait so they'd use her as such and then got ticked off that he objected. I mean, I kind of get it but also, it was stupid (and yes technically Ashlyn was Bait but it was not by choice).
Ashlyn was okay but similar to Maddox, I wished there'd been more time on her character development. She flip-flopped too much between timid/wary and Sassy McSassypants and even the sassy wasn't all that present up until the end and just didn't feel like it fit, IMO. I did like that she pushed a little with Maddox when he tried to tell her what to do. I was surprised she didn't put the Institute together with what Maddox had told her sooner though. Granted, McIntosh flat out told her they'd basically gone out of their way to make sure she didn't realize what they were doing but every time Maddox said something that had her going "I wonder...", then she'd remind herself that McIntosh read fairytales to her so couldn't possibly be doing anything wrong. But when she finally got smacked between the eyes with it, she was all in on "how dare you" indignation. Not that it wasn't deserved but I guess I was hoping there'd have been a bit more of a gradual "wait".
Aeron's order is curious and I definitely want to know why they want Danika/her family taken out. And why they ordered Aeron to do it. The relationship between Danika/Reyes is going to be interesting when that finally explodes.
It was a little shaky, but for the first book in a series, it wasn't bad. I am curious to see how Greek mythology will be woven in through the rest of the books. I'm also curious about the various demons that are infecting the Lords and how things are going to work with that. I did wish we'd spent a little more time on the past and how Maddox and the others came to be cursed. Yeah, we are told that it's because they were pissed that Pandora was chosen to guard the box, so they tried to one up her and FUBAR'd everything, but I feel like there's a lot more to that story than basically jealousy.
Overall, Maddox was pretty great although I wished there'd been a little more time for his character development/exploration. Yes, this is PNR and everything but still...he went from "she's Bait so I won't do anything" to "she might be Bait but I'll get everything I can out of her/have some sex while I'm at it" to "I can't live without her" at almost lightspeed. Granted, you did get to see the progression but it was still super fast. I didn't like the fact that everyone decided that Maddox was just bewitched and Ashlyn was Bait so they'd use her as such and then got ticked off that he objected. I mean, I kind of get it but also, it was stupid (and yes technically Ashlyn was Bait but it was not by choice).
Ashlyn was okay but similar to Maddox, I wished there'd been more time on her character development. She flip-flopped too much between timid/wary and Sassy McSassypants and even the sassy wasn't all that present up until the end and just didn't feel like it fit, IMO. I did like that she pushed a little with Maddox when he tried to tell her what to do. I was surprised she didn't put the Institute together with what Maddox had told her sooner though. Granted, McIntosh flat out told her they'd basically gone out of their way to make sure she didn't realize what they were doing but every time Maddox said something that had her going "I wonder...", then she'd remind herself that McIntosh read fairytales to her so couldn't possibly be doing anything wrong. But when she finally got smacked between the eyes with it, she was all in on "how dare you" indignation. Not that it wasn't deserved but I guess I was hoping there'd have been a bit more of a gradual "wait".
Aeron's order is curious and I definitely want to know why they want Danika/her family taken out. And why they ordered Aeron to do it. The relationship between Danika/Reyes is going to be interesting when that finally explodes.