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A review by cala_p
Darkness Embraced by Tillie Cole
4.0
Darkness Embraced is the newest book in the Hades Hangmen series, and boy was I ever excited for another one. I was also very curious what Tillie Cole would do with Tanner.
Of all the Hangmen books, this has to be my least favorite one. Believe me--no one is more upset by this than I am. It’s a Hangmen book! These things are my reason for living, but Darkness Embraced didn’t fully live up to my hopes and dreams.
Don’t get me wrong, the characters and the storyline are wonderful. So I’ll start with those. The story follows Adelita, a cartel princess and Tanner, ex-Klan heir and now Hangman. They had a past already (which I will discuss shortly), so there was none of the falling in love here. In the midst of the new war that we have seen introduced in previous books, the Hangmen decide to kidnap the cartel’s bride for leverage, who is believed to be Adelita’s cousin. Instead, they got wires crossed and the unwilling bride-to-be that they kidnap is none other than Tanner’s Adilita. Two years passed since they have seen each other last, so she gave up hope that he was coming for her. While he’s been fighting to ensure he is tightly in with the Hangmen and have their protection before getting her. It worked out well for him here, since she was delivered right to him with no issues. So of course the cartel is upset, and with the Klan on their side, they target the Hangmen to get her back and take them down. This is the bulk concept of the story. Not bad. There’s not a huge ton that occurs here, but it seems to be very much a novel that allows the overarching plot to focus on the war. With two key players, a couple of battles that knock down enemies, we’re given a story that progresses the overall plot of the series through.
The characters were great. I have nothing bad to say about them at all. Adelita is a firecracker; when needed she’s as riled up as anyone else, but she’s also super kind and sweet. She manages to fit right in with the women, and when it matters most, she’s the first on the frontlines to save the club. First during a trade, and second when she went away willing to try to keep the cartel away from the Hangmen. After her not-so-great life, the loyalty in the Hangmen wakes her up to what she can easily have. Tanner too is a great character. He shows a lot of strength when it comes to Adilita, and most importantly, a fierce need to protect her. You really feel for him in this one because you can see how he isn’t 100% trusted amongst everyone yet, and how often they brush aside what he is saying, despite his prior loyalties. It’s sad in the moment, but all works out in the end.
So while all this is great, what I wasn’t completely in love with is the execution of this. Tillie takes great lengths to ensure her books are always 200% perfect before release, even if it means postponing a release. I’ve always appreciated this because it always pays off when I was reading it. This one seems more rushed than the others. I just didn’t get the same sparks as the other one.
For much of the beginning, we see a lot of flashbacks of when they first met. I have nothing bad to say about the content of these parts; in fact I loved them! They have such a romantic, Romeo and Juliet backstory that you can’t help but squeal for them. But we got a bit of the present, a bit of the past, a bit more present, and then a whole lot of past for a while. I think I would have liked the past a bit more broken up. As much as I was enjoying the scenes, considering where we left off with the present scenes, I was dying for more. The flashbacks are also written in italics to symbolize the past, but since there’s like 50 straight (ebook) pages of flashback, I was getting annoyed and a headache. Loved the content; just not how this was executed.
Secondly, going back to what I mentioned earlier, it felt too rushed. There were scenes in the book that seemed rushed over. In the first few books, there is a lot of grim events that happen to the women. We get these chapters in their POVs, so we get all the gory details straight on. I like that. It makes the pain Mae and her sisters went through that much real. That whole “show, don’t tell” thing for writers; well, Tillie does it. But with this one, we’re told. For example, toward the end when Adelita is back with the cartel, her ex-temporary fiance (that makes sense once you read it) has her, and we can imagine how that will go for her. But when Tanner and everyone shows up, they are told that she was beaten. There is not a chapter in her POV in which she details the abuse and pain that he inflicts on her. I understand, in general that this book is not as dark as the others, but this seems like a basic crucial necessity in a series like this. Just showing us these scene where she’s beat would have tied the ending together nicely.
We’re hinted to who will be Viking’s girl, and I’m interested in how this will work out and what kind of character she will be, and more so, how she’ll fit into the story. The ending also lists the next book being a Flame and Maddie novella which makes me soooo happy. One of my comments was going to be that I hope Maddie gets pregnant. Maddie has hinted in her book wanting to be, and I think Flame being protective over her belly will be beautiful. My one hope is that in future books when she gives birth, we get his POV for that part. Like Skyx. I also suspect Lilah will give birth in that one. Maybe.
One thing this book did which I am so happy about is allow Lil Ash to grow up more. I won’t like--I’m so beyond excited for his book. More excited than I am for Viking’s book. He needs to age a bit more, and I see how this book is building his “Hangmen character” for his book eventually.
Overall this is a great read. Really sad parts at times. I cried. I enjoyed it and cannot wait to get the paperback to add to its siblings. But it’s the only full novel in this series that I feel doesn’t get 5 stars. It saddens me because this hurts me to give it less than 5, but I just wasn’t feeling it here as much as the others. It’s a good book, just not the greatest.
Onto the impatient wait for the next one!
Of all the Hangmen books, this has to be my least favorite one. Believe me--no one is more upset by this than I am. It’s a Hangmen book! These things are my reason for living, but Darkness Embraced didn’t fully live up to my hopes and dreams.
Don’t get me wrong, the characters and the storyline are wonderful. So I’ll start with those. The story follows Adelita, a cartel princess and Tanner, ex-Klan heir and now Hangman. They had a past already (which I will discuss shortly), so there was none of the falling in love here. In the midst of the new war that we have seen introduced in previous books, the Hangmen decide to kidnap the cartel’s bride for leverage, who is believed to be Adelita’s cousin. Instead, they got wires crossed and the unwilling bride-to-be that they kidnap is none other than Tanner’s Adilita. Two years passed since they have seen each other last, so she gave up hope that he was coming for her. While he’s been fighting to ensure he is tightly in with the Hangmen and have their protection before getting her. It worked out well for him here, since she was delivered right to him with no issues. So of course the cartel is upset, and with the Klan on their side, they target the Hangmen to get her back and take them down. This is the bulk concept of the story. Not bad. There’s not a huge ton that occurs here, but it seems to be very much a novel that allows the overarching plot to focus on the war. With two key players, a couple of battles that knock down enemies, we’re given a story that progresses the overall plot of the series through.
The characters were great. I have nothing bad to say about them at all. Adelita is a firecracker; when needed she’s as riled up as anyone else, but she’s also super kind and sweet. She manages to fit right in with the women, and when it matters most, she’s the first on the frontlines to save the club. First during a trade, and second when she went away willing to try to keep the cartel away from the Hangmen. After her not-so-great life, the loyalty in the Hangmen wakes her up to what she can easily have. Tanner too is a great character. He shows a lot of strength when it comes to Adilita, and most importantly, a fierce need to protect her. You really feel for him in this one because you can see how he isn’t 100% trusted amongst everyone yet, and how often they brush aside what he is saying, despite his prior loyalties. It’s sad in the moment, but all works out in the end.
So while all this is great, what I wasn’t completely in love with is the execution of this. Tillie takes great lengths to ensure her books are always 200% perfect before release, even if it means postponing a release. I’ve always appreciated this because it always pays off when I was reading it. This one seems more rushed than the others. I just didn’t get the same sparks as the other one.
For much of the beginning, we see a lot of flashbacks of when they first met. I have nothing bad to say about the content of these parts; in fact I loved them! They have such a romantic, Romeo and Juliet backstory that you can’t help but squeal for them. But we got a bit of the present, a bit of the past, a bit more present, and then a whole lot of past for a while. I think I would have liked the past a bit more broken up. As much as I was enjoying the scenes, considering where we left off with the present scenes, I was dying for more. The flashbacks are also written in italics to symbolize the past, but since there’s like 50 straight (ebook) pages of flashback, I was getting annoyed and a headache. Loved the content; just not how this was executed.
Secondly, going back to what I mentioned earlier, it felt too rushed. There were scenes in the book that seemed rushed over. In the first few books, there is a lot of grim events that happen to the women. We get these chapters in their POVs, so we get all the gory details straight on. I like that. It makes the pain Mae and her sisters went through that much real. That whole “show, don’t tell” thing for writers; well, Tillie does it. But with this one, we’re told. For example, toward the end when Adelita is back with the cartel, her ex-temporary fiance (that makes sense once you read it) has her, and we can imagine how that will go for her. But when Tanner and everyone shows up, they are told that she was beaten. There is not a chapter in her POV in which she details the abuse and pain that he inflicts on her. I understand, in general that this book is not as dark as the others, but this seems like a basic crucial necessity in a series like this. Just showing us these scene where she’s beat would have tied the ending together nicely.
We’re hinted to who will be Viking’s girl, and I’m interested in how this will work out and what kind of character she will be, and more so, how she’ll fit into the story. The ending also lists the next book being a Flame and Maddie novella which makes me soooo happy. One of my comments was going to be that I hope Maddie gets pregnant. Maddie has hinted in her book wanting to be, and I think Flame being protective over her belly will be beautiful. My one hope is that in future books when she gives birth, we get his POV for that part. Like Skyx. I also suspect Lilah will give birth in that one. Maybe.
One thing this book did which I am so happy about is allow Lil Ash to grow up more. I won’t like--I’m so beyond excited for his book. More excited than I am for Viking’s book. He needs to age a bit more, and I see how this book is building his “Hangmen character” for his book eventually.
Overall this is a great read. Really sad parts at times. I cried. I enjoyed it and cannot wait to get the paperback to add to its siblings. But it’s the only full novel in this series that I feel doesn’t get 5 stars. It saddens me because this hurts me to give it less than 5, but I just wasn’t feeling it here as much as the others. It’s a good book, just not the greatest.
Onto the impatient wait for the next one!