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A review by navsy
The Darkest Seduction by Gena Showalter
1.0
Actual rating: 1.5 stars. Only for the sake of the ending. Although I'm not sure how I feel about Sienna getting to play Queen, there were other things in the ending that made up for the 1.5, other than the small appearances of Willy and Anya. I'm intrigued about Zacharel now but overall, this book was a complete disaster. Full review to come. More like me venting out my rage.
EDIT: Full review
I had taken a break from all the adult novels for the specific reason that I didn't wanna read any more detailed sex. It took a lot of determination on my part to pick up this book. I had delayed reading it since its release but then I thought that it was time to finish off the pending sequels in order to start off with new series. Yeah, yeah, pretty funny, I know. Sooo.. I really wish I hadn't decided to do just that and had let a friend of mine fill me in with how the story progressed. But, oh well, I suffered for my ill decision and that is that.
There were some book in the Lords of the Underworld series that had great story line going for them. There were a few that didn't do well on the pacing and dragged the romance quite a lot but this one just took it over the top (or maybe my patience just snapped). I was hardly holding up against Paris' temper for the last few books; I had really hoped that this book would end his tirade once and for all and even though I got my wish, I paid a lot for that. Paris' obsessive-ness over Sienna was somewhat understandable in the previous books because it was like, maybe he wanted to get a payback or have a woman he could be with forever without having to resort to other means, but in this book it just made me want to choke him to death.
This is how the story went:
Paris: I'll do anything to get Sienna. I.will.not.stop. I have come this far and I will have her. What if she doesn't want me? What if she hates me? But, hell. I'll make her have sex with me at least once. Then I'll let her go. Yeah, yeah. That sounds like the perfect plan.
Meanwhile, Sienna who is caged up in some castle of blood and shadows in Cronus' realm.
Sienna: Ow. I hurt. My wings, my body, my head...aaahhhh! What does Cronus want from me? I'm such a despicable human being. Oh, wait. Imma ghost! Nevermind. I won't help Cronus because I hate him. But he promised to bring me back Skye! I will do anything for my sister. Anything! Even if that means I have to seduce Galen as Cronus asked me to. But I'm not attractive. What did Paris see in me? He must hate me. Oh, Paris. If only, I could see you again (and maybe jump your bones for like one more time...ooooh...Paris..Paris!!)
Me: Willyyy!!!Willly!!!!1 Zacharel!! I want you in the story! Please don't let these two torture me. PLEASE??
^ That goes on for some time till Paris manages to enter the castle or is rather dragged by the gargoyles who keep humping him *snickers*He totally had that coming! where he finally manages to see Sienna after getting some tattoos and then they meet and then started the part when my eyes were mercilessly tortured. Zacharel kept on warning both of them to stay away and make their choices to go on separate paths while both of them stubbornly declined. They went to a cave (after some foreplay in the castle while William was busy protecting their asses..*rubs eyes*) and then started my skimming:
Me: Uh, you're going to do it in a cave? Umm...suit yourselves. I hope you get really uncomfortable. *skim skim skim* Done! Wait...no no no no...Not again! *covers eyes* *gasp* Paris got stabbed! Whoooopiiiieee!! *fight punch blood kick ka-boom* Zachy appears. Zachy disappears with the pink-haired punk. Does this mean...?? Oh LORD! WHY? *skim skim skim* Ick! Still doing it...*skim skim skim*
Paris calls Sienna "baby". Have I mentioned how much "baby" irks me as a term of endearment? No. Well, now having read Paris call Sienna "baby" for at least a gazillion times, I think if I ever hear that again, I'll punch someone. Truly, not even kidding.
Then..
Paris: I can't let her go. But, Zach said I have to let her go and I should let her go or I'll hurt her. But...but...but....I want her. I want her so bad. She smells so good. Oh that Cronus will pay for what he did to my *cringe* "baby". Murdermurdermurder!!
Zachy gets tired of their lovey-dovey looks and throws Paris back to the castle *chirp chirp chirp*. Then, some relief comes in the form of Galen and Cronus. Cronus kills Skye. Galen kidnaps Ashyln (who was still pregnant!!!) in hopes that the lords will trade Legion for Maddox's wife. Legion becomes the sacrificial lamb and goes to Galen on her own terms. [Now, is there going to be some sick kind of romance between Galen and Legion? Is Galen going to be the good guy now?] And then all Lords move to Sienna's home castle and finally Anya and Willy make appearance and it made me so happy (although my happiness didn't last for long)..
William clapped to gain everyone's attention. "All right, listen up. I've got good news and bad news. Because I'm such a positive person, we'll start with the good..... "
"So what's the bad?" someone demanded.
After a dramatic pause, the warrior said, "I'm out of conditioner. I need someone to flash out of here and get me some. Hint, I'm looking at you, Lucien...."
After Cronus lies to Sienna that Rhea killed her sister, she gets back to the castle all weepy eyed and angry and that's your clue.. Guess what happens? Yup. Angry wild sex aaaaannndd...*skim skim skim* Whoops.. still going on like the monkey-kong.. *skip skip skip*
Some info on poor Kane, some info on poor Torin, and then Sienna performing the ultimate sacrifice. Well, to this point, I can't understand why Paris and Sienna started loving each other. Both of them needed someone and yeah, desperation or whatever, but dude! An unhealthy obsession fueled by a lot of lust =/= lurrrveee!!
Sienna: This is the only thing that I can do. Paris will hate me for this but I have to do this to save everyone. Paris, hate me. Please? You can cheat on me if you have to survive, I'll pretty much die from jealousy and kill that bitch, but you do what you have to do. I will always love you...*sob sob*.
Blah blah blah..blah-freakin-blah! Why do I even bother? Gah! So, Sienna plans to go to Galen to get back at Rhea and then some shit goes down and then, *sigh* more sex, and then the only good part! The final fight!
Oh and not to forget, Anya's minuscule speech and oh oh oh, I have a quote:
Anya was reading her letter out loud. "..you're okay, I guess. I mean, if Lucien says you're good people, you're good people. I think you've got a really hot body with a lot of delicious brawn and sinew, and even though I wouldn't do you without having an emergency medical exam afterward, a lot of women with low self-esteem would totally hit that."
She cleared her throat, glanced back down at the paper. "Making out with an invisible woman is a disease. And really creepy. If I see you with your hands squeezing air one more time, I'm going to sandpaper my corneas."
"Wait. What?" Her red lips pulled into a frown. "I thought you wanted me to do something totally, absolutely freaky to your body, and I was one-hundred-percent racer ready for that. Hot chocolate?"
"Anya. Please. I have a craving."
Her eyes narrowed. "Are you pregnant?"
Oh boy, you'd think my crush on her would fade after all this time. She's my one and only female fictional crush till date. *flutters eyelashes*
I guess I feel better now. I wouldn't have even given a single star to the book if not for what went down in the last chapters. It was a nice twist. We kept on believing that Galen would kill Cronus but Wrath happened to be the killer! So, Sienna made some satisfactory deals in the end and even though I'm not happy with her being Queen and getting all of Cronus' power (I'd rather have both of them stuck in the Underworld never to be heard from again), I'm pretty sure the story is headed in an interesting direction.
“All hail the new queen,” a goddess suddenly said. The rest of the Titans repeated the phrase, their voices rising in fervor, as one by one, they kneeled in front of Paris. He wasn’t sure what was happening; surely they would not refer to him as the new queen. He had his moments, sure, but maybe it was a Titan thing, like how Viola called her male pet “princess.”
This will be all.. Mind you, I did need sandpaper for my corneas after all.
EDIT: Full review
I had taken a break from all the adult novels for the specific reason that I didn't wanna read any more detailed sex. It took a lot of determination on my part to pick up this book. I had delayed reading it since its release but then I thought that it was time to finish off the pending sequels in order to start off with new series. Yeah, yeah, pretty funny, I know. Sooo.. I really wish I hadn't decided to do just that and had let a friend of mine fill me in with how the story progressed. But, oh well, I suffered for my ill decision and that is that.
There were some book in the Lords of the Underworld series that had great story line going for them. There were a few that didn't do well on the pacing and dragged the romance quite a lot but this one just took it over the top (or maybe my patience just snapped). I was hardly holding up against Paris' temper for the last few books; I had really hoped that this book would end his tirade once and for all and even though I got my wish, I paid a lot for that. Paris' obsessive-ness over Sienna was somewhat understandable in the previous books because it was like, maybe he wanted to get a payback or have a woman he could be with forever without having to resort to other means, but in this book it just made me want to choke him to death.
This is how the story went:
Paris: I'll do anything to get Sienna. I.will.not.stop. I have come this far and I will have her. What if she doesn't want me? What if she hates me? But, hell. I'll make her have sex with me at least once. Then I'll let her go. Yeah, yeah. That sounds like the perfect plan.
Meanwhile, Sienna who is caged up in some castle of blood and shadows in Cronus' realm.
Sienna: Ow. I hurt. My wings, my body, my head...aaahhhh! What does Cronus want from me? I'm such a despicable human being. Oh, wait. Imma ghost! Nevermind. I won't help Cronus because I hate him. But he promised to bring me back Skye! I will do anything for my sister. Anything! Even if that means I have to seduce Galen as Cronus asked me to. But I'm not attractive. What did Paris see in me? He must hate me. Oh, Paris. If only, I could see you again (and maybe jump your bones for like one more time...ooooh...Paris..Paris!!)
Me: Willyyy!!!Willly!!!!1 Zacharel!! I want you in the story! Please don't let these two torture me. PLEASE??
^ That goes on for some time till Paris manages to enter the castle or is rather dragged by the gargoyles who keep humping him *snickers*
Me: Uh, you're going to do it in a cave? Umm...suit yourselves. I hope you get really uncomfortable. *skim skim skim* Done! Wait...no no no no...Not again! *covers eyes* *gasp* Paris got stabbed! Whoooopiiiieee!! *fight punch blood kick ka-boom* Zachy appears. Zachy disappears with the pink-haired punk. Does this mean...?? Oh LORD! WHY? *skim skim skim* Ick! Still doing it...*skim skim skim*
Paris calls Sienna "baby". Have I mentioned how much "baby" irks me as a term of endearment? No. Well, now having read Paris call Sienna "baby" for at least a gazillion times, I think if I ever hear that again, I'll punch someone. Truly, not even kidding.
Then..
Paris: I can't let her go. But, Zach said I have to let her go and I should let her go or I'll hurt her. But...but...but....I want her. I want her so bad. She smells so good. Oh that Cronus will pay for what he did to my *cringe* "baby". Murdermurdermurder!!
Zachy gets tired of their lovey-dovey looks and throws Paris back to the castle *chirp chirp chirp*. Then, some relief comes in the form of Galen and Cronus. Cronus kills Skye. Galen kidnaps Ashyln (who was still pregnant!!!) in hopes that the lords will trade Legion for Maddox's wife. Legion becomes the sacrificial lamb and goes to Galen on her own terms. [Now, is there going to be some sick kind of romance between Galen and Legion? Is Galen going to be the good guy now?] And then all Lords move to Sienna's home castle and finally Anya and Willy make appearance and it made me so happy (although my happiness didn't last for long)..
William clapped to gain everyone's attention. "All right, listen up. I've got good news and bad news. Because I'm such a positive person, we'll start with the good..... "
"So what's the bad?" someone demanded.
After a dramatic pause, the warrior said, "I'm out of conditioner. I need someone to flash out of here and get me some. Hint, I'm looking at you, Lucien...."
After Cronus lies to Sienna that Rhea killed her sister, she gets back to the castle all weepy eyed and angry and that's your clue.. Guess what happens? Yup. Angry wild sex aaaaannndd...*skim skim skim* Whoops.. still going on like the monkey-kong.. *skip skip skip*
Some info on poor Kane, some info on poor Torin, and then Sienna performing the ultimate sacrifice. Well, to this point, I can't understand why Paris and Sienna started loving each other. Both of them needed someone and yeah, desperation or whatever, but dude! An unhealthy obsession fueled by a lot of lust =/= lurrrveee!!
Sienna: This is the only thing that I can do. Paris will hate me for this but I have to do this to save everyone. Paris, hate me. Please? You can cheat on me if you have to survive, I'll pretty much die from jealousy and kill that bitch, but you do what you have to do. I will always love you...*sob sob*.
Blah blah blah..blah-freakin-blah! Why do I even bother? Gah! So, Sienna plans to go to Galen to get back at Rhea and then some shit goes down and then, *sigh* more sex, and then the only good part! The final fight!
Oh and not to forget, Anya's minuscule speech and oh oh oh, I have a quote:
Anya was reading her letter out loud. "..you're okay, I guess. I mean, if Lucien says you're good people, you're good people. I think you've got a really hot body with a lot of delicious brawn and sinew, and even though I wouldn't do you without having an emergency medical exam afterward, a lot of women with low self-esteem would totally hit that."
She cleared her throat, glanced back down at the paper. "Making out with an invisible woman is a disease. And really creepy. If I see you with your hands squeezing air one more time, I'm going to sandpaper my corneas."
"Wait. What?" Her red lips pulled into a frown. "I thought you wanted me to do something totally, absolutely freaky to your body, and I was one-hundred-percent racer ready for that. Hot chocolate?"
"Anya. Please. I have a craving."
Her eyes narrowed. "Are you pregnant?"
Oh boy, you'd think my crush on her would fade after all this time. She's my one and only female fictional crush till date. *flutters eyelashes*
I guess I feel better now. I wouldn't have even given a single star to the book if not for what went down in the last chapters. It was a nice twist. We kept on believing that Galen would kill Cronus but Wrath happened to be the killer! So, Sienna made some satisfactory deals in the end and even though I'm not happy with her being Queen and getting all of Cronus' power (I'd rather have both of them stuck in the Underworld never to be heard from again), I'm pretty sure the story is headed in an interesting direction.
“All hail the new queen,” a goddess suddenly said. The rest of the Titans repeated the phrase, their voices rising in fervor, as one by one, they kneeled in front of Paris. He wasn’t sure what was happening; surely they would not refer to him as the new queen. He had his moments, sure, but maybe it was a Titan thing, like how Viola called her male pet “princess.”
This will be all.. Mind you, I did need sandpaper for my corneas after all.