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Knight's Curse #2
Darkest Knight
"Betray your sisters or your lover. You choose."
After the warrior she loves saved her from a murderous gargoyle, Chalice watched helplessly as Aydin turned into a gargoyle himself. Now, free from the curse that enslaved her, Chalice pledges to join her sister knights in The Order of the Hatchet—and do whatever it takes to regain Aydin's humanity…and his love. What she encounters within their hallowed sanctuary is pure intrigue.
Someone—or something—is murdering her sisters in their sleep, provoking fear and suspicion among the order. Meanwhile, Aydin, unable to stay away, starts haunting Chalice's dreams, urging her onward. Ultimately, Chalice will be faced with an agonizing choice—one that will tear away at her newfound identity and force her to choose between duty and desire….
After the warrior she loves saved her from a murderous gargoyle, Chalice watched helplessly as Aydin turned into a gargoyle himself. Now, free from the curse that enslaved her, Chalice pledges to join her sister knights in The Order of the Hatchet—and do whatever it takes to regain Aydin's humanity…and his love. What she encounters within their hallowed sanctuary is pure intrigue.
Someone—or something—is murdering her sisters in their sleep, provoking fear and suspicion among the order. Meanwhile, Aydin, unable to stay away, starts haunting Chalice's dreams, urging her onward. Ultimately, Chalice will be faced with an agonizing choice—one that will tear away at her newfound identity and force her to choose between duty and desire….
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
151 people want to read
About the author
Karen Duvall
19 books44 followersKaren Duvall is a native Californian who grew up in Hawaii, lived in Colorado most of her adult life, and now lives in Bend, Oregon with her husband and four incredibly spoiled pets. She has three grown children and six grandchildren.
Karen has been telling stories since the age of three, when she wasn’t yet able to write but could tell her tales to her mother, who wrote them down for her. Illustrating the stories with crayons was one of her favorite parts of writing those early books.
She still draws pictures, but put her crayons away in favor of computer graphics. Karen is a professional graphic designer with a passion for portraying her characters and scenes by painting pictures with words.
Karen has been telling stories since the age of three, when she wasn’t yet able to write but could tell her tales to her mother, who wrote them down for her. Illustrating the stories with crayons was one of her favorite parts of writing those early books.
She still draws pictures, but put her crayons away in favor of computer graphics. Karen is a professional graphic designer with a passion for portraying her characters and scenes by painting pictures with words.
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March 11, 2012
3.5 out of 5 stars
When I first read Knight's Curse last year, I thought the book was unique, full of interesting characters, and the lead character, Chalice, was fascinating. Book 2 was not unique and it wasn't as addicting as book 1. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it. While the uniqueness was gone, the storyline held my attention.
Chalice, a member of the Hatchet Knights, is trying to save Aydin in the opening pages of Darkest Knight. If you haven’t read book 1, none of this will make sense. It’s hard to make sense even with reading book 1. Aydin is now a gargoyle and it will take a gargoyle's heart to save Aydin. Make sense? It will, just roll with me.
So Chalice is doing what she can to save thegargoyle man she loves. Chalice still has all her super cool powers and thanks to Rafe, now doesn’t have to use her nose and ear plugs and contacts.
Once we get the Aydin-the-gargoyle problem resolved, you need to have a new problem, and Chalice finds plenty of those in Darkest Knight. What I did like about book 2 is the further exploration behind the Hatchet Knights. The Hatchet Knights are being killed and it will take Chalice, and her cast of crazy characters, to figure out what and/or who is doing the killing. Along the way we learn more about the Knight’s history and also some interesting traditions that Chalice is expected to continue (cue the potential love triangle mess)
Overall
While the book didn’t “wow” me like book 1, it was interesting enough to keep me reading. I think the series has more strengths than weaknesses and I’ll keep reading.
When I first read Knight's Curse last year, I thought the book was unique, full of interesting characters, and the lead character, Chalice, was fascinating. Book 2 was not unique and it wasn't as addicting as book 1. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it. While the uniqueness was gone, the storyline held my attention.
Chalice, a member of the Hatchet Knights, is trying to save Aydin in the opening pages of Darkest Knight. If you haven’t read book 1, none of this will make sense. It’s hard to make sense even with reading book 1. Aydin is now a gargoyle and it will take a gargoyle's heart to save Aydin. Make sense? It will, just roll with me.
So Chalice is doing what she can to save the
Once we get the Aydin-the-gargoyle problem resolved, you need to have a new problem, and Chalice finds plenty of those in Darkest Knight. What I did like about book 2 is the further exploration behind the Hatchet Knights. The Hatchet Knights are being killed and it will take Chalice, and her cast of crazy characters, to figure out what and/or who is doing the killing. Along the way we learn more about the Knight’s history and also some interesting traditions that Chalice is expected to continue (cue the potential love triangle mess)
Overall
While the book didn’t “wow” me like book 1, it was interesting enough to keep me reading. I think the series has more strengths than weaknesses and I’ll keep reading.
March 19, 2012
Since I finished this book, I've been wracking my brain, trying to put my finger on what keeps this series from reaching its potential for me. And I think I've finally come up with the answer. It feels like a YA book. Yes, I know the heroine is 28, but I stand by this and I'll tell you why. She doesn't really act her age. Chalice has lived most of her life enslaved to an organization of dark magic. She only became free at the end of the last book and really, this series is her journey of self-discovery. She is learning about who and what she is. She is learning about her parents and how her family fits into her world. She is falling in love for the first time. And she is surrounded by a bunch of young women, also just coming into their powers and learning their place in the world.
As the story begins, Chalice is planning to meet her "sisters" in the Order of the Hatchet. But just as she is on her way, many of them are mysteriously slaughtered. She travels to her grandmother's home to meet the woman and some of her surviving sisters in training. Though she is looking for connections, she finds a lot of jealousy and immature cattiness from the other girls. (It was unnecessary and felt like high school, by the way.) Chalice quickly solves the mystery of who is behind the murders and spends the rest of the book trying to save the day.
In the meantime, she is also working to turn her love interest, Aydin, back into his human form. (He became a gargoyle at the end of the last book.) While she had affection for him before, that has now morphed into love. The growing relationship between Chalice and Aydin was very subtle in the last book and I was happy that it looked like it was going to take a bigger role here. Until I got to the first love scene, which was so vague, I had to read it three times to determine whether they actually had sex. I'm pretty sure they did. But you can be the judge. At this point in the story, Aydin is still a gargoyle and can only visit Chalice in dream form:
Wha?? That was the whole scene. I can't begin to tell you how cheated I felt here. There is one other sex scene in the book, and while it's not very long, at least that one acknowledges the necessary body parts to complete the act. But again, a first love scene like the one above reinforces my whole YA theory. Not what I'm looking for when my hero and heroine finally get together. (I should also point out, there's a minor secondary love interest, as well, but there is no way to take him seriously.)
The world-building is interesting and it's different from a lot of what's out there, so I must give the book credit for that. I can also say it wasn't predictable and I enjoyed the direction that the author took the story. It just didn't strike a great chord with me overall. Maybe it would be a better fit for someone with different expectations. 3 stars.
*ARC Provided by NetGalley
As the story begins, Chalice is planning to meet her "sisters" in the Order of the Hatchet. But just as she is on her way, many of them are mysteriously slaughtered. She travels to her grandmother's home to meet the woman and some of her surviving sisters in training. Though she is looking for connections, she finds a lot of jealousy and immature cattiness from the other girls. (It was unnecessary and felt like high school, by the way.) Chalice quickly solves the mystery of who is behind the murders and spends the rest of the book trying to save the day.
In the meantime, she is also working to turn her love interest, Aydin, back into his human form. (He became a gargoyle at the end of the last book.) While she had affection for him before, that has now morphed into love. The growing relationship between Chalice and Aydin was very subtle in the last book and I was happy that it looked like it was going to take a bigger role here. Until I got to the first love scene, which was so vague, I had to read it three times to determine whether they actually had sex. I'm pretty sure they did. But you can be the judge. At this point in the story, Aydin is still a gargoyle and can only visit Chalice in dream form:
His body appeared hazy, like a blurred rendition of his former self, yet I could sense every part of him, smell his skin, taste his lips as he kissed me. I pressed against him and felt the hardness of his body as sensations thrilled my every cell. Dream or not, my body was consumed by passion that melted into me like hot lava.
Aydin filled my mind, which enabled me to get inside his. I found love there, and concern, and hesitation. His need overwhelmed me, yet knowing his feelings were as strong as mine put me at peace.
His arms held me close, his chin pressed against my neck as we lay spooned on the bed. I snuggled against his naked chest and his hold on me tightened as he gently nibbled my ear.
"I wish this was real," I told him. He kissed my hair.
"It is real."
I smiled. "I know, but I mean physically real."
"Felt pretty real to me." He rolled me over onto my back and ran a finger from the hollow of my throat down to my navel. "I still need to get some sleep."
"You are asleep."
I sighed. "You know what I mean. Dream sex is confusing."
"But you enjoyed it."
I reached up to pull his head down close so I could kiss him. "Yes I did. Very much."
Wha?? That was the whole scene. I can't begin to tell you how cheated I felt here. There is one other sex scene in the book, and while it's not very long, at least that one acknowledges the necessary body parts to complete the act. But again, a first love scene like the one above reinforces my whole YA theory. Not what I'm looking for when my hero and heroine finally get together. (I should also point out, there's a minor secondary love interest, as well, but there is no way to take him seriously.)
The world-building is interesting and it's different from a lot of what's out there, so I must give the book credit for that. I can also say it wasn't predictable and I enjoyed the direction that the author took the story. It just didn't strike a great chord with me overall. Maybe it would be a better fit for someone with different expectations. 3 stars.
*ARC Provided by NetGalley
February 27, 2013
Ms. Duvall has done it again with the second thrilling installment of the Hatchet Knights books. I only hope there are more books to come!
Duvall has created a powerful world within our own full of angels and demons and ghosts and fae... she has done this all seemlessly and in such a way as to immerse the reader. I read this book in one day. I couldn't put it down. The end of every chapter had raised stakes that made me have to find out what happened next.
A great read from start to finish!
Duvall has created a powerful world within our own full of angels and demons and ghosts and fae... she has done this all seemlessly and in such a way as to immerse the reader. I read this book in one day. I couldn't put it down. The end of every chapter had raised stakes that made me have to find out what happened next.
A great read from start to finish!
April 11, 2012
RECEIVED FROM: Net Galley For Review
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
Chalice has left the realm of the Arelim and is on her way to join the Hatchet Knights and finally meet her grandmother. She only has one stop to make first; she needs the heart of Shojin to save Aydin from eternity as a gargoyle. That Shojin would offer his heart willingly is a surprise, but when Aydin can’t take it because of pain from the loss of his longtime friend, Chalice doesn’t know what to do. Worse than this while she’s robbing the Vyantara of a gargoyle assassin, most of the Hatchet Knights are murdered in their sleep, suffocated with no evidence of how or why it was done. Chalice must now find a place for herself in the world of the Knights, try to convince Aydin to return to his human form and discover just who is murdering the Knights and why before the Order kills Aydin for crimes he didn’t commit. Will she stop the killer before all of her new family is lost?
This is another novel where I debated on rating, I chose to give this a four stars because it offered a lot more of story arc than the first novel in the series and the world Duvall creates is really interesting. I do however still think that book has some issues. First of all, and this could be said for both novels in this series, the book could use and extra fifty to a hundred pages just in fleshing things out. Duvall’s stories read less like a singular story arc and more like a journal from someone who has a very strange and exciting life. I say this because yes I guess there is a main story arc, last time it was Chalice getting free of the Vyantara, and this time it was discovering and stopping the person who’s killing the Hatchet Knights. But she doesn’t focus on the story arc and it really isn’t until you get to the final climatic scenes of the book that it’s clear what that main story arc is. In the mean time she begins all these subplots that aren’t really fully explained or played out and which leave you with a lot more questions than answers when the novel is done. She also creates this who subculture of Arelim, Hatchet Knights, Vyantara and the Fallen without fully explaining how the organizations came to be, what they exist for and the whole magic creature subculture is more like a naming of all sort of creatures rather than really weaving them into the world Duvall’s created. Her works feel like I’m only getting half the story and I think would be considerably better with more length and fleshing out. She’s created and story and world that are really interesting but it’s like we only glaze the surface of that world. This story does move the series in a more adult direction because it does include a semi-graphic sex scene which is always a little uncomfortable to read in a first person narrative because it feels almost like one of those T.M.I. conversations with a girlfriend who doesn’t seem to realize her friends really don’t want to know anymore more than he was hot and good in bed or bad in bed whichever the case may be. Maybe extending to a he’s really good at or really bad at such and such but never into a play by play of their sex life because nobody really needs that much detail about someone else’s sex life. I think the reason first person sex seems like that to me is because the first person is probably the closest point of view you can get and it’s a lot more personal reading a sex scene in that point of view than it is from the outside with a close third person point of view. The first novel in this series I would have easily said would be fine for teen readers, but with this new addition I’d now say it’s more for older teens and adults only, meaning my eleven year old won’t be reading this for many years to come. Duvall creates a sort of love triangle with this new book by bringing Chalice’s guardian angel Rafe who was briefly introduced at the end of the first novel in as a more constant character in this novel. It’s sort of a one-sided love triangle however as Chalice is completely wrapped up in Aydin who’s still a gargoyle for much of the book even though he could have been human in the first couple chapters. Rafe wants to father a child for the order and become human to raise that child and as Chalice is the one who he’s supposed to guide from the way things are set up it seems as if Chalice is his only option to do that. The other Knights are of course pushing her toward Rafe in this very medieval arranged marriage sort of set up, but even though I still don’t get that connection because Duvall never really fleshed it out, Chalice is in love with Aydin. Again Chalice is quick to accept her new life and her new family as if she’s always had them which doesn’t fit with the lifestyle previously created for her. Also some of the things established in this novel don’t really make sense. Like everyone in the Order seems to know all about Chalice’s life before even meeting her, but none of them came to get her in those thirteen years when she lived in the monastery before the Vyantara found her? You’d think the angels guarding over and mating with the Knights would notice a young knight living in a monastery and since her grandmother’s already kind of running a half way house for orphaned knights it would make sense she’d be brought there. The story never explains why that didn’t occur other than Chalice needing a different background to be a more interesting character for the plot. Which isn’t really an explanation or said in the novel, it’s just well interesting characters are a lot of what sells books, so it’s just a logical deduction on my part. The book was well written and fast paced as well as a lot more intense than it’s predecessor. The final scenes were more climactic than the first novel and I’d definitely describe the book as a page turner. I think the main fault I find with this book is that it needs more fleshing out of ideas and character relationships. It needs the extra time and space to finish out the half done subplots and to better build the world. Duvall definitely has the talent to make the extra length interesting and I think it would definitely enhance her work if she’d slow down and really take the time to build the world and the character relationships rather than focusing on having constant action occurring in the story. Chalice is always in some predicament or another, she doesn’t really get downtime and though I’ve always been a fan of the fast paced novel, what the series really needs is a little downtime to flesh out histories, backgrounds and establish realistic relationships between characters as well as character motivations. We as readers need to know more than just the what that’s occurring, we need to understand the why and that’s not really offered so far in the series.
Chalice is as always an extremely well developed character, this is pretty much a given for a first person novel. Aydin is fairly well developed as well but he’s built more on what Chalice tells us rather than what his actions show us. Other characters are distinguishable and Maria was decently built as a character, but as I said above motivations for their actions weren’t really offered. The secondary character were moderately built, but not really fleshy. I mean each was definitely separate from the others, but at the same time, time isn’t really taken to understand each of the secondary characters.
Overall I’d definitely recommend the novel to readers of fantasy and probably paranormal romance. It’s an exciting fast paced read that keeps you interested from beginning to end. I just maintain that if Duvall slowed down and fleshed out the plot, character and world know the book would be so much better than what is currently offered.
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
Chalice has left the realm of the Arelim and is on her way to join the Hatchet Knights and finally meet her grandmother. She only has one stop to make first; she needs the heart of Shojin to save Aydin from eternity as a gargoyle. That Shojin would offer his heart willingly is a surprise, but when Aydin can’t take it because of pain from the loss of his longtime friend, Chalice doesn’t know what to do. Worse than this while she’s robbing the Vyantara of a gargoyle assassin, most of the Hatchet Knights are murdered in their sleep, suffocated with no evidence of how or why it was done. Chalice must now find a place for herself in the world of the Knights, try to convince Aydin to return to his human form and discover just who is murdering the Knights and why before the Order kills Aydin for crimes he didn’t commit. Will she stop the killer before all of her new family is lost?
This is another novel where I debated on rating, I chose to give this a four stars because it offered a lot more of story arc than the first novel in the series and the world Duvall creates is really interesting. I do however still think that book has some issues. First of all, and this could be said for both novels in this series, the book could use and extra fifty to a hundred pages just in fleshing things out. Duvall’s stories read less like a singular story arc and more like a journal from someone who has a very strange and exciting life. I say this because yes I guess there is a main story arc, last time it was Chalice getting free of the Vyantara, and this time it was discovering and stopping the person who’s killing the Hatchet Knights. But she doesn’t focus on the story arc and it really isn’t until you get to the final climatic scenes of the book that it’s clear what that main story arc is. In the mean time she begins all these subplots that aren’t really fully explained or played out and which leave you with a lot more questions than answers when the novel is done. She also creates this who subculture of Arelim, Hatchet Knights, Vyantara and the Fallen without fully explaining how the organizations came to be, what they exist for and the whole magic creature subculture is more like a naming of all sort of creatures rather than really weaving them into the world Duvall’s created. Her works feel like I’m only getting half the story and I think would be considerably better with more length and fleshing out. She’s created and story and world that are really interesting but it’s like we only glaze the surface of that world. This story does move the series in a more adult direction because it does include a semi-graphic sex scene which is always a little uncomfortable to read in a first person narrative because it feels almost like one of those T.M.I. conversations with a girlfriend who doesn’t seem to realize her friends really don’t want to know anymore more than he was hot and good in bed or bad in bed whichever the case may be. Maybe extending to a he’s really good at or really bad at such and such but never into a play by play of their sex life because nobody really needs that much detail about someone else’s sex life. I think the reason first person sex seems like that to me is because the first person is probably the closest point of view you can get and it’s a lot more personal reading a sex scene in that point of view than it is from the outside with a close third person point of view. The first novel in this series I would have easily said would be fine for teen readers, but with this new addition I’d now say it’s more for older teens and adults only, meaning my eleven year old won’t be reading this for many years to come. Duvall creates a sort of love triangle with this new book by bringing Chalice’s guardian angel Rafe who was briefly introduced at the end of the first novel in as a more constant character in this novel. It’s sort of a one-sided love triangle however as Chalice is completely wrapped up in Aydin who’s still a gargoyle for much of the book even though he could have been human in the first couple chapters. Rafe wants to father a child for the order and become human to raise that child and as Chalice is the one who he’s supposed to guide from the way things are set up it seems as if Chalice is his only option to do that. The other Knights are of course pushing her toward Rafe in this very medieval arranged marriage sort of set up, but even though I still don’t get that connection because Duvall never really fleshed it out, Chalice is in love with Aydin. Again Chalice is quick to accept her new life and her new family as if she’s always had them which doesn’t fit with the lifestyle previously created for her. Also some of the things established in this novel don’t really make sense. Like everyone in the Order seems to know all about Chalice’s life before even meeting her, but none of them came to get her in those thirteen years when she lived in the monastery before the Vyantara found her? You’d think the angels guarding over and mating with the Knights would notice a young knight living in a monastery and since her grandmother’s already kind of running a half way house for orphaned knights it would make sense she’d be brought there. The story never explains why that didn’t occur other than Chalice needing a different background to be a more interesting character for the plot. Which isn’t really an explanation or said in the novel, it’s just well interesting characters are a lot of what sells books, so it’s just a logical deduction on my part. The book was well written and fast paced as well as a lot more intense than it’s predecessor. The final scenes were more climactic than the first novel and I’d definitely describe the book as a page turner. I think the main fault I find with this book is that it needs more fleshing out of ideas and character relationships. It needs the extra time and space to finish out the half done subplots and to better build the world. Duvall definitely has the talent to make the extra length interesting and I think it would definitely enhance her work if she’d slow down and really take the time to build the world and the character relationships rather than focusing on having constant action occurring in the story. Chalice is always in some predicament or another, she doesn’t really get downtime and though I’ve always been a fan of the fast paced novel, what the series really needs is a little downtime to flesh out histories, backgrounds and establish realistic relationships between characters as well as character motivations. We as readers need to know more than just the what that’s occurring, we need to understand the why and that’s not really offered so far in the series.
Chalice is as always an extremely well developed character, this is pretty much a given for a first person novel. Aydin is fairly well developed as well but he’s built more on what Chalice tells us rather than what his actions show us. Other characters are distinguishable and Maria was decently built as a character, but as I said above motivations for their actions weren’t really offered. The secondary character were moderately built, but not really fleshy. I mean each was definitely separate from the others, but at the same time, time isn’t really taken to understand each of the secondary characters.
Overall I’d definitely recommend the novel to readers of fantasy and probably paranormal romance. It’s an exciting fast paced read that keeps you interested from beginning to end. I just maintain that if Duvall slowed down and fleshed out the plot, character and world know the book would be so much better than what is currently offered.
March 20, 2012
3.5 out of 5!
Read the Review On My Blog ---> Ageless Pages Reviews: Darkest Knight
This is the second novel in Duvall's creative series centered around Chalice, a member of an order of knights (The Hatchet Knights) who have been around since the Crusades and mate with the Arelim, the lowest form of angel, to propagate their order. The same original and quirky ideas for magic present in the first are contained here in second, but I have to say that overall, Ms. Duvall definitely got off on a better foot with this second effort in her UF/PNR offering. While the plot I thought would be the center of Darkest Knight (restoring Aydin back to humanity from his cursed gargoyle form) wasn't at all what this novel was about, I wasn't disappointed. The antagonist created for the events of book two neatly tied in with the mythology and lore of the first and was on the same malevolence level as the previous antagonist, the evil sorcerer-kidnapper Gavin. And while I wasn't as surprised as I could've been at the "reveal" of the Big Bad of the book and the heart of the murders/mystery, I thought it left an interesting possibility for the plot of the sure-to-follow third installment.
I felt tepid and 'mehhh' about the first ( Knight's Curse ) when I read it last year and a large amount of my dissatisfaction had to do with and centered around the main character Chalice. I liked it well enough, was certainly entertained by it but the knight had a way of frustrating very simple situations, either by not listening or assuming she knew all the answers. Chalice in book two is a bit more aware, a bit more intelligent and a whole lot easier for me to like. I despise when heroines are convinced they shouldn't let allies into their plans because only they can do it, only they know the risk , etc and so on! And while Chalice was like that in the first, I found that her uneasy relationship with guardian-angel Rafe brought out a more mature side to her. While I still didn't wholly invest in Chalice or closely identify with her, I do like several aspects of her personality: her independence, her openness to magicfinally, her fighting abilities; I love a heroine that can fight well and Chalice is one those few. Her martial skills complement her prickly personality quite well. One of the few major issues I had with Chalice here in this was her "instructing" the new squires of her order when Chalice has been a knight for less than three months, known of the order for only that long, has never had any formal training herself and there are older, more indoctrinated knights able to do the job....so why pick the newbie who is clueless to teach new members?
What also improved my experience the second time around is the romance of the novel. Or, to be perfectly clear, the lack of stressing the romance and love between Aydin and Chalice. I didn't buy their almost insta-love connection from book one and since they're separated more often in Darkest Knight, I actually got to see them on their own for extended periods of time. They both actually have to work for the relationship (and get over their dumb decisions, like Aydin's particularly stupid rejection in the beginning), and work together to fix Aydin's curse. It brought out another dynamic to their relationship and also helped to flesh out Aydin a bit more independently. I truly like that both people fight and struggle for the other: Aydin wants Chalice just as much as she wants him. Another bonus originality point for this series? Aydin is the swoon-worthy love interest and he is not a typical WASP. Diversity brings a lot to the table and for Aydin especially, it sets him apart from the thousands of UF/PNY love-interests out there. The whole 'gargoyle' thing doesn't hurt, either.
Back to the mythology of Darkest Knight: the world Duvall has created for her novels is a potent one. There are charms, magic, sorcerers, gargoyles, curses, guardian angels and Fallen angels - all with their own conduct, rules and uses. While the lore behind the angels can be confusing sometimes, it is unique and presents an interesting structure for the Hatchet Knights to find mates within. While the charms didn't impress me as much as the creativity shown in the first seems to have waned a tad (except for a pen with ink that makes the writer invisible - not the words being written. That's creative.) with a few exceptions: the "soul-stain" (which reminded me of Lord Denbury's condition in Darker Still ), the non-dead non-living "life" of St. Geraldine, the half-sylph half-necromancer exorcist that I picture as an English man who says things like, "My dear chap, I daresay I couldn't possibly...." I also really liked that that the plot of the second book could be found mentioned/hidden within the first; there are references within Knight's Curse that, in hindsight, seem to set up the stage for book two perfectly.
The abrupt ending seemed slightly rushed to me, but definitely did not pull any punches. Characters die, lose their powers, fight and have an all-might brawl that made this quite hard to put down. This is action-packed and though some of the fights seemed redolent of earlier clashes (Evan and Zee, both specifically seemed to pop up for an altercation one too many times - especially Zee!) the pages turn quickly and Chalice's story is amusing for an hour or two. Though I found the uncovering of the Hatchet murderer to be too drawn out and arduous for how obvious it was . Darkest Knight is a fun and enjoyable read. The ending leaves several key plotlines open for a continuing third volume and since this is one of the few series where I've liked the second more than the first, I can guarantee I'll be on the lookout for more from Chalice, Aydin, and my favorite: Ruby.
Read the Review On My Blog ---> Ageless Pages Reviews: Darkest Knight
This is the second novel in Duvall's creative series centered around Chalice, a member of an order of knights (The Hatchet Knights) who have been around since the Crusades and mate with the Arelim, the lowest form of angel, to propagate their order. The same original and quirky ideas for magic present in the first are contained here in second, but I have to say that overall, Ms. Duvall definitely got off on a better foot with this second effort in her UF/PNR offering. While the plot I thought would be the center of Darkest Knight (restoring Aydin back to humanity from his cursed gargoyle form) wasn't at all what this novel was about, I wasn't disappointed. The antagonist created for the events of book two neatly tied in with the mythology and lore of the first and was on the same malevolence level as the previous antagonist, the evil sorcerer-kidnapper Gavin. And while I wasn't as surprised as I could've been at the "reveal" of the Big Bad of the book and the heart of the murders/mystery, I thought it left an interesting possibility for the plot of the sure-to-follow third installment.
I felt tepid and 'mehhh' about the first ( Knight's Curse ) when I read it last year and a large amount of my dissatisfaction had to do with and centered around the main character Chalice. I liked it well enough, was certainly entertained by it but the knight had a way of frustrating very simple situations, either by not listening or assuming she knew all the answers. Chalice in book two is a bit more aware, a bit more intelligent and a whole lot easier for me to like. I despise when heroines are convinced they shouldn't let allies into their plans because only they can do it, only they know the risk , etc and so on! And while Chalice was like that in the first, I found that her uneasy relationship with guardian-angel Rafe brought out a more mature side to her. While I still didn't wholly invest in Chalice or closely identify with her, I do like several aspects of her personality: her independence, her openness to magic
What also improved my experience the second time around is the romance of the novel. Or, to be perfectly clear, the lack of stressing the romance and love between Aydin and Chalice. I didn't buy their almost insta-love connection from book one and since they're separated more often in Darkest Knight, I actually got to see them on their own for extended periods of time. They both actually have to work for the relationship (and get over their dumb decisions, like Aydin's particularly stupid rejection in the beginning), and work together to fix Aydin's curse. It brought out another dynamic to their relationship and also helped to flesh out Aydin a bit more independently. I truly like that both people fight and struggle for the other: Aydin wants Chalice just as much as she wants him. Another bonus originality point for this series? Aydin is the swoon-worthy love interest and he is not a typical WASP. Diversity brings a lot to the table and for Aydin especially, it sets him apart from the thousands of UF/PNY love-interests out there. The whole 'gargoyle' thing doesn't hurt, either.
Back to the mythology of Darkest Knight: the world Duvall has created for her novels is a potent one. There are charms, magic, sorcerers, gargoyles, curses, guardian angels and Fallen angels - all with their own conduct, rules and uses. While the lore behind the angels can be confusing sometimes, it is unique and presents an interesting structure for the Hatchet Knights to find mates within. While the charms didn't impress me as much as the creativity shown in the first seems to have waned a tad (except for a pen with ink that makes the writer invisible - not the words being written. That's creative.) with a few exceptions: the "soul-stain" (which reminded me of Lord Denbury's condition in Darker Still ), the non-dead non-living "life" of St. Geraldine, the half-sylph half-necromancer exorcist that I picture as an English man who says things like, "My dear chap, I daresay I couldn't possibly...." I also really liked that that the plot of the second book could be found mentioned/hidden within the first; there are references within Knight's Curse that, in hindsight, seem to set up the stage for book two perfectly.
The abrupt ending seemed slightly rushed to me, but definitely did not pull any punches. Characters die, lose their powers, fight and have an all-might brawl that made this quite hard to put down. This is action-packed and though some of the fights seemed redolent of earlier clashes (Evan and Zee, both specifically seemed to pop up for an altercation one too many times - especially Zee!) the pages turn quickly and Chalice's story is amusing for an hour or two. Though I found the uncovering of the Hatchet murderer to be too drawn out and arduous for how obvious it was . Darkest Knight is a fun and enjoyable read. The ending leaves several key plotlines open for a continuing third volume and since this is one of the few series where I've liked the second more than the first, I can guarantee I'll be on the lookout for more from Chalice, Aydin, and my favorite: Ruby.
October 22, 2020
This book gets less stars than the previous one, because it didn’t tie up any loose ends, had some typos, and the writing style was not improved at all.
Overall, I thought the story was OK. It was very interesting and unique, which were the positives. However, I thought the pieces of the story moved too fast. The character development was kind of washed over, the bonds between the characters seem to be forged too quickly, and not over anything of substance. The stories from the previous book were almost completely dropped from the last book to this one as well, and nothing was really explained.
The other thing I really disliked about this book was that it had a sort of happily ever after ending, but only for one piece of the storyline and the rest of the pieces were not really resolved. The author didn’t write any more books after this one either, so I guess the story will just remain unfinished.
Overall, I thought the story was OK. It was very interesting and unique, which were the positives. However, I thought the pieces of the story moved too fast. The character development was kind of washed over, the bonds between the characters seem to be forged too quickly, and not over anything of substance. The stories from the previous book were almost completely dropped from the last book to this one as well, and nothing was really explained.
The other thing I really disliked about this book was that it had a sort of happily ever after ending, but only for one piece of the storyline and the rest of the pieces were not really resolved. The author didn’t write any more books after this one either, so I guess the story will just remain unfinished.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2012
Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Dark Urban Fantasy with a likeable heroine and a steady plot.
Opening Sentence: “You’re coming with me, right?” I asked Rafe when he opened the silver veil that separated the physical world from the realm of angels.
Review:
After the events of Knight’s Curse, Chalice has spent the last month in the light veil learning from her father how to control her gifts. Now that she has been released from her gargoyle curse and her evil mentor is dead, she finally has a chance to make a new life for herself. The first item on her to do list is to free Ayden from his curse, which leads Chalice to a not so surprising encounter with Shojin, the gargoyle that Ayden is bonded. With the gargoyle’s heart she finally has a chance to free Ayden but he refuses to end his curse.
After being rejected by Ayden, Chalice journey’s back to Colorado with her guardian angel Rafael. There she meets up at Halo Home, the home of her grandmother and grandfather. There are also Hatchet Knight’s living in the home, Chalice finally gets to meet up with her sisters, something that she has wanted to do since she learned of her heritage. Unfortunately just before she gets to Halo Home someone has murdered forty Knights’ in their sleep.
In Knight’s Curse, Chalice absolutely hated magic. It was a big cause of a lot of her problems but she is immune to some charms and curses which makes her the perfect person to handle the charms that Ayden has collected over the years. Chalice’s job at Halo Home is to teach her fellow sisters how to use magic to their advantage. The Hatchet Knight’s are dwindling in numbers and need all the help they can get to defeat the bad guys. A Hatchet Knight is murdered and Chalice brings her back with a charm. Then Chalice is nearly murdered herself but when a fellow Knight runs away with some of the charms Chalice takes it upon herself to go find her.
Ayden and Rafe join Chalice in her search for the missing Knight. Ayden believes he is better off helping Chalice as a gargoyle and he definitely comes in handy. Chalice tries to search for her missing comrade while trying to avoid the Vyantara from learning she is back in town. Chalice’s mission leads her to the black veil, the home of the Fallen angels, where she discovers a devious plan in works for the creation of a whole new order of Knights.
Chalice is still the resilient heroine that she was from Knight’s Curse. She never had family around her and now that she has seen what could be she doesn’t want to lose the family she could now have. She fights hard for acceptance while still remaining true to who she is. She is delivered bad news about her love life but she doesn’t care. She makes no excuses about being in love with Ayden even though he is not human anymore.
The world-building expands in this book to include the white and black veil, dimensions where angels and other creatures live. The plot is a little more straightforward in this book compared to the first book in the series. Darkest Knight does work well as a standalone novel. The main plot points are resolved by the end of the book, a few points are saved for later in the series. The tone is still one of doom and Chalice puts herself in another situation that I have no idea how she is going to get out of it.
In the end, Darkest Knight is a suitable follow up to Knight’s Curse. It is the tale of a thief turned hero who wants to help save the world from evil. Darkest Knight is an urban fantasy that has the potential to be a great series but so far just manages to ride the fence.
Notable Scene:
Rusty’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe what I heard about your mother was true.”
If she said one bad thing about my mother I’d make sure she lost more than just her powers. I felt the weight of the knife sheathed between my shoulder blades.
“What was that sorcerer’s name?” Rusty’s eyes rolled as if she tried to think of the answer. “Oh, yeah. Gavin. The Vyantara’s head honcho and your mother’s lover.”
I sprang at her.
It was totally impulsive and completely driven by some primal part of my brain. Anything having to do with my mother was a sensitive issue. To hear the name of that sociopathic sorcerer and my mother in the same breath sent me over the edge. I couldn’t stop myself.
The knife was in my hands so fast I barely registered my fingers wrapping around the hilt and my thumb springing the latch to pop the blade.
The Knight’s Curse Series:
1. Knight’s Curse
2. Darkest Knight
FTC Advisory: Harlequin/Luna provided me with a copy of Darkest Knight. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: Dark Urban Fantasy with a likeable heroine and a steady plot.
Opening Sentence: “You’re coming with me, right?” I asked Rafe when he opened the silver veil that separated the physical world from the realm of angels.
Review:
After the events of Knight’s Curse, Chalice has spent the last month in the light veil learning from her father how to control her gifts. Now that she has been released from her gargoyle curse and her evil mentor is dead, she finally has a chance to make a new life for herself. The first item on her to do list is to free Ayden from his curse, which leads Chalice to a not so surprising encounter with Shojin, the gargoyle that Ayden is bonded. With the gargoyle’s heart she finally has a chance to free Ayden but he refuses to end his curse.
After being rejected by Ayden, Chalice journey’s back to Colorado with her guardian angel Rafael. There she meets up at Halo Home, the home of her grandmother and grandfather. There are also Hatchet Knight’s living in the home, Chalice finally gets to meet up with her sisters, something that she has wanted to do since she learned of her heritage. Unfortunately just before she gets to Halo Home someone has murdered forty Knights’ in their sleep.
In Knight’s Curse, Chalice absolutely hated magic. It was a big cause of a lot of her problems but she is immune to some charms and curses which makes her the perfect person to handle the charms that Ayden has collected over the years. Chalice’s job at Halo Home is to teach her fellow sisters how to use magic to their advantage. The Hatchet Knight’s are dwindling in numbers and need all the help they can get to defeat the bad guys. A Hatchet Knight is murdered and Chalice brings her back with a charm. Then Chalice is nearly murdered herself but when a fellow Knight runs away with some of the charms Chalice takes it upon herself to go find her.
Ayden and Rafe join Chalice in her search for the missing Knight. Ayden believes he is better off helping Chalice as a gargoyle and he definitely comes in handy. Chalice tries to search for her missing comrade while trying to avoid the Vyantara from learning she is back in town. Chalice’s mission leads her to the black veil, the home of the Fallen angels, where she discovers a devious plan in works for the creation of a whole new order of Knights.
Chalice is still the resilient heroine that she was from Knight’s Curse. She never had family around her and now that she has seen what could be she doesn’t want to lose the family she could now have. She fights hard for acceptance while still remaining true to who she is. She is delivered bad news about her love life but she doesn’t care. She makes no excuses about being in love with Ayden even though he is not human anymore.
The world-building expands in this book to include the white and black veil, dimensions where angels and other creatures live. The plot is a little more straightforward in this book compared to the first book in the series. Darkest Knight does work well as a standalone novel. The main plot points are resolved by the end of the book, a few points are saved for later in the series. The tone is still one of doom and Chalice puts herself in another situation that I have no idea how she is going to get out of it.
In the end, Darkest Knight is a suitable follow up to Knight’s Curse. It is the tale of a thief turned hero who wants to help save the world from evil. Darkest Knight is an urban fantasy that has the potential to be a great series but so far just manages to ride the fence.
Notable Scene:
Rusty’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe what I heard about your mother was true.”
If she said one bad thing about my mother I’d make sure she lost more than just her powers. I felt the weight of the knife sheathed between my shoulder blades.
“What was that sorcerer’s name?” Rusty’s eyes rolled as if she tried to think of the answer. “Oh, yeah. Gavin. The Vyantara’s head honcho and your mother’s lover.”
I sprang at her.
It was totally impulsive and completely driven by some primal part of my brain. Anything having to do with my mother was a sensitive issue. To hear the name of that sociopathic sorcerer and my mother in the same breath sent me over the edge. I couldn’t stop myself.
The knife was in my hands so fast I barely registered my fingers wrapping around the hilt and my thumb springing the latch to pop the blade.
The Knight’s Curse Series:
1. Knight’s Curse
2. Darkest Knight
FTC Advisory: Harlequin/Luna provided me with a copy of Darkest Knight. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
March 7, 2012
*Rating* 3.5
*Genre* Paranormal Romance
*Review*
Darkest Knight (Knight's Curse #2) is once again told in the first POV by Chalice. Chalice is a member of the Hatchet Knighthood of Medieval Times by virtue of her birth from a human mother and a guardian angel named Barachiel. If you haven’t read Knights Curse, please try and do so before starting this book.
As the story opens, Chalice is trying to find a way to turn the one she loves, Aydin, back into human form. It has been over a month since the events of Knight’s Curse when Aydin helped break Chalice’s curse that would have turned her into a gargoyle at the expense of being turned into a gargoyle by his own curse.
Over the course of the last month or so, and with the assistance of her guardian angel Raphael (Rafe), Chalice has learned to control over her acute hypersensitivity to light, sound, and smells thanks to meditation. Chalice is immune to magical artifacts and objects and was forced to wear eye, ear, and nose protection to tamper down the acute sensitivity she has to her surroundings.
Shortly after a successful mission to find Shojin, Chalice and Rafe travel to Halo Home where Chalice is met by her grandmother (a Hatchet Knight), and her grandfather (a former guardian angel who is now human), and learns that 40 of the 46 Hatchet Knights have fallen to a mysterious villain who kills them in their sleep.
She also learns that it is the duty of a Hatchet knight to marry and have children with her Guardian Angel regardless of whether or not they actually love each other. Chalice refuses to even consider such action as her heart and soul belong to Aydin.
Chalice is a pretty interesting character in that she knows what she wants, and doesn’t sit around waiting for others to hold her hand, or lead her in the right direction. Yes, she does have some support from Rafe, as well as Aydin and several other characters from the first book including her own Fallen Angel father.
Chalice also comes into several new abilities thanks to the use of a magical artifact that transfers to powers of one person, to her. She truly needs all the help she can get because the so called villain is someone who know the insides and outsides of the Hatchet’s extremely well. <--not going to spoil this!
I was worried that Duvall was going to get stuck on the whole 3-way love triangle with Rafe and Aydin duking it out. Both men have their good points as well as bad. However, as an Aydin supporter, I would have been majority disappointed had the story not turned out exactly the way it did. I even respected Rafe in how he was able to fool said villain when she wanted to force him and Chalice to marry and have children for the dark side.
My only concern about this book was the ending and what happens next to the characters Duvall introduces. The story leaves so many unanswered questions, and Chalice is still not out of the wood when it comes to her former masters the Vyantara. Here’s hoping that the next book, if released, will be just as good as the first two.
*ARC Recvd 02/12/2012 via Netgalley.com*
Expected publication: March 20th 2012 by Harlequin
*Genre* Paranormal Romance
*Review*
Darkest Knight (Knight's Curse #2) is once again told in the first POV by Chalice. Chalice is a member of the Hatchet Knighthood of Medieval Times by virtue of her birth from a human mother and a guardian angel named Barachiel. If you haven’t read Knights Curse, please try and do so before starting this book.
As the story opens, Chalice is trying to find a way to turn the one she loves, Aydin, back into human form. It has been over a month since the events of Knight’s Curse when Aydin helped break Chalice’s curse that would have turned her into a gargoyle at the expense of being turned into a gargoyle by his own curse.
Over the course of the last month or so, and with the assistance of her guardian angel Raphael (Rafe), Chalice has learned to control over her acute hypersensitivity to light, sound, and smells thanks to meditation. Chalice is immune to magical artifacts and objects and was forced to wear eye, ear, and nose protection to tamper down the acute sensitivity she has to her surroundings.
Shortly after a successful mission to find Shojin, Chalice and Rafe travel to Halo Home where Chalice is met by her grandmother (a Hatchet Knight), and her grandfather (a former guardian angel who is now human), and learns that 40 of the 46 Hatchet Knights have fallen to a mysterious villain who kills them in their sleep.
She also learns that it is the duty of a Hatchet knight to marry and have children with her Guardian Angel regardless of whether or not they actually love each other. Chalice refuses to even consider such action as her heart and soul belong to Aydin.
Chalice is a pretty interesting character in that she knows what she wants, and doesn’t sit around waiting for others to hold her hand, or lead her in the right direction. Yes, she does have some support from Rafe, as well as Aydin and several other characters from the first book including her own Fallen Angel father.
Chalice also comes into several new abilities thanks to the use of a magical artifact that transfers to powers of one person, to her. She truly needs all the help she can get because the so called villain is someone who know the insides and outsides of the Hatchet’s extremely well. <--not going to spoil this!
I was worried that Duvall was going to get stuck on the whole 3-way love triangle with Rafe and Aydin duking it out. Both men have their good points as well as bad. However, as an Aydin supporter, I would have been majority disappointed had the story not turned out exactly the way it did. I even respected Rafe in how he was able to fool said villain when she wanted to force him and Chalice to marry and have children for the dark side.
My only concern about this book was the ending and what happens next to the characters Duvall introduces. The story leaves so many unanswered questions, and Chalice is still not out of the wood when it comes to her former masters the Vyantara. Here’s hoping that the next book, if released, will be just as good as the first two.
*ARC Recvd 02/12/2012 via Netgalley.com*
Expected publication: March 20th 2012 by Harlequin
January 18, 2017
Originally published at Dark Faerie Tales: http://darkfaerietales.com/review-dar...
Quick & Dirty: Dark Urban Fantasy with a likeable heroine and a steady plot.
Review:
After the events of Knight’s Curse, Chalice has spent the last month in the light veil learning from her father how to control her gifts. Now that she has been released from her gargoyle curse and her evil mentor is dead, she finally has a chance to make a new life for herself. The first item on her to do list is to free Ayden from his curse, which leads Chalice to a not so surprising encounter with Shojin, the gargoyle that Ayden is bonded. With the gargoyle’s heart she finally has a chance to free Ayden but he refuses to end his curse.
After being rejected by Ayden, Chalice journey’s back to Colorado with her guardian angel Rafael. There she meets up at Halo Home, the home of her grandmother and grandfather. There are also Hatchet Knight’s living in the home, Chalice finally gets to meet up with her sisters, something that she has wanted to do since she learned of her heritage. Unfortunately just before she gets to Halo Home someone has murdered forty Knights’ in their sleep.
In Knight’s Curse, Chalice absolutely hated magic. It was a big cause of a lot of her problems but she is immune to some charms and curses which makes her the perfect person to handle the charms that Ayden has collected over the years. Chalice’s job at Halo Home is to teach her fellow sisters how to use magic to their advantage. The Hatchet Knight’s are dwindling in numbers and need all the help they can get to defeat the bad guys. A Hatchet Knight is murdered and Chalice brings her back with a charm. Then Chalice is nearly murdered herself but when a fellow Knight runs away with some of the charms Chalice takes it upon herself to go find her.
Ayden and Rafe join Chalice in her search for the missing Knight. Ayden believes he is better off helping Chalice as a gargoyle and he definitely comes in handy. Chalice tries to search for her missing comrade while trying to avoid the Vyantara from learning she is back in town. Chalice’s mission leads her to the black veil, the home of the Fallen angels, where she discovers a devious plan in works for the creation of a whole new order of Knights.
Chalice is still the resilient heroine that she was from Knight’s Curse. She never had family around her and now that she has seen what could be she doesn’t want to lose the family she could now have. She fights hard for acceptance while still remaining true to who she is. She is delivered bad news about her love life but she doesn’t care. She makes no excuses about being in love with Ayden even though he is not human anymore.
The world-building expands in this book to include the white and black veil, dimensions where angels and other creatures live. The plot is a little more straightforward in this book compared to the first book in the series. Darkest Knight does work well as a standalone novel. The main plot points are resolved by the end of the book, a few points are saved for later in the series. The tone is still one of doom and Chalice puts herself in another situation that I have no idea how she is going to get out of it.
In the end, Darkest Knight is a suitable follow up to Knight’s Curse. It is the tale of a thief turned hero who wants to help save the world from evil. Darkest Knight is an urban fantasy that has the potential to be a great series but so far just manages to ride the fence.
Quick & Dirty: Dark Urban Fantasy with a likeable heroine and a steady plot.
Review:
After the events of Knight’s Curse, Chalice has spent the last month in the light veil learning from her father how to control her gifts. Now that she has been released from her gargoyle curse and her evil mentor is dead, she finally has a chance to make a new life for herself. The first item on her to do list is to free Ayden from his curse, which leads Chalice to a not so surprising encounter with Shojin, the gargoyle that Ayden is bonded. With the gargoyle’s heart she finally has a chance to free Ayden but he refuses to end his curse.
After being rejected by Ayden, Chalice journey’s back to Colorado with her guardian angel Rafael. There she meets up at Halo Home, the home of her grandmother and grandfather. There are also Hatchet Knight’s living in the home, Chalice finally gets to meet up with her sisters, something that she has wanted to do since she learned of her heritage. Unfortunately just before she gets to Halo Home someone has murdered forty Knights’ in their sleep.
In Knight’s Curse, Chalice absolutely hated magic. It was a big cause of a lot of her problems but she is immune to some charms and curses which makes her the perfect person to handle the charms that Ayden has collected over the years. Chalice’s job at Halo Home is to teach her fellow sisters how to use magic to their advantage. The Hatchet Knight’s are dwindling in numbers and need all the help they can get to defeat the bad guys. A Hatchet Knight is murdered and Chalice brings her back with a charm. Then Chalice is nearly murdered herself but when a fellow Knight runs away with some of the charms Chalice takes it upon herself to go find her.
Ayden and Rafe join Chalice in her search for the missing Knight. Ayden believes he is better off helping Chalice as a gargoyle and he definitely comes in handy. Chalice tries to search for her missing comrade while trying to avoid the Vyantara from learning she is back in town. Chalice’s mission leads her to the black veil, the home of the Fallen angels, where she discovers a devious plan in works for the creation of a whole new order of Knights.
Chalice is still the resilient heroine that she was from Knight’s Curse. She never had family around her and now that she has seen what could be she doesn’t want to lose the family she could now have. She fights hard for acceptance while still remaining true to who she is. She is delivered bad news about her love life but she doesn’t care. She makes no excuses about being in love with Ayden even though he is not human anymore.
The world-building expands in this book to include the white and black veil, dimensions where angels and other creatures live. The plot is a little more straightforward in this book compared to the first book in the series. Darkest Knight does work well as a standalone novel. The main plot points are resolved by the end of the book, a few points are saved for later in the series. The tone is still one of doom and Chalice puts herself in another situation that I have no idea how she is going to get out of it.
In the end, Darkest Knight is a suitable follow up to Knight’s Curse. It is the tale of a thief turned hero who wants to help save the world from evil. Darkest Knight is an urban fantasy that has the potential to be a great series but so far just manages to ride the fence.
April 17, 2012
Maybe 2.5
Favorite Lines: "I had no problem facing a dozen gargoyles or a dozen nasty sorcerers, but threaten to take my family away from me and I'm shaking in my boots." (p. 152, egalley)
Last year Karen Duvall introduced a woman named Chalice in Knight's Curse. We learned Chalice was a slave and watched her discover her lineage and win freedom. She had help from a man named Aydin. A man who sacrificed his humanity in order to save her. Darkest Knight picks up a month after the events which culminated in Chalice's freedom.
I had high hopes for Darkest Knight. It started out pretty good with Chalice determined to make her love interest human again. She finds help in an unexpected place, but it goes down hill after that. All sorts of bad things begin happening.
The reader learns about the role of knights and their guardian angels and gets to see Chalice introduced to her grandparents. Obstacles are thrown in Chalice's path as she searches for the threat to her sister knights. And Aydin's only hope of becoming human is threatened. You'd think that would be enough to keep the reader interested and invested in the story. It wasn't enough for me.
It was okay. I had no emotional connection to the story and the story lacked depth. I didn't care if Aydin became human. (It was his choice. You'll know what I mean when you read the book.) I didn't care if Chalice and Aydin advanced to the next stage in their relationship. (Hello, he's a gargoyle.) I didn't understand Chalice's reactions to different situations, nor did I care. I even rolled my eyes as the character's spoke. My reaction only got worse as the story progressed.
I will say that there was a major surprise revealed about a character. I didn't see it coming. Unfortunately, it couldn't make up for the cookie-cutter characters and lackluster story. I feel like 75 percent of the book was filler material. It showed the character's relationship to one another, introduced and took away characters, but really didn't do more than take up page space.
I know it sounds like I hated the book. I didn't. I liked it less than an average book, but I never thought about putting it down and walking away. I'd suggest if you feel wishy-washy about Darkest Knight that you borrow it from your local library. I'd also suggest you read book one, Knight's Curse, before starting Darkest Knight.
Scooper Speaks
Favorite Lines: "I had no problem facing a dozen gargoyles or a dozen nasty sorcerers, but threaten to take my family away from me and I'm shaking in my boots." (p. 152, egalley)
Last year Karen Duvall introduced a woman named Chalice in Knight's Curse. We learned Chalice was a slave and watched her discover her lineage and win freedom. She had help from a man named Aydin. A man who sacrificed his humanity in order to save her. Darkest Knight picks up a month after the events which culminated in Chalice's freedom.
I had high hopes for Darkest Knight. It started out pretty good with Chalice determined to make her love interest human again. She finds help in an unexpected place, but it goes down hill after that. All sorts of bad things begin happening.
The reader learns about the role of knights and their guardian angels and gets to see Chalice introduced to her grandparents. Obstacles are thrown in Chalice's path as she searches for the threat to her sister knights. And Aydin's only hope of becoming human is threatened. You'd think that would be enough to keep the reader interested and invested in the story. It wasn't enough for me.
It was okay. I had no emotional connection to the story and the story lacked depth. I didn't care if Aydin became human. (It was his choice. You'll know what I mean when you read the book.) I didn't care if Chalice and Aydin advanced to the next stage in their relationship. (Hello, he's a gargoyle.) I didn't understand Chalice's reactions to different situations, nor did I care. I even rolled my eyes as the character's spoke. My reaction only got worse as the story progressed.
I will say that there was a major surprise revealed about a character. I didn't see it coming. Unfortunately, it couldn't make up for the cookie-cutter characters and lackluster story. I feel like 75 percent of the book was filler material. It showed the character's relationship to one another, introduced and took away characters, but really didn't do more than take up page space.
I know it sounds like I hated the book. I didn't. I liked it less than an average book, but I never thought about putting it down and walking away. I'd suggest if you feel wishy-washy about Darkest Knight that you borrow it from your local library. I'd also suggest you read book one, Knight's Curse, before starting Darkest Knight.
Scooper Speaks
March 27, 2021
This was a pretty good series. I had picked it up a long time ago and finally decided to dig through my TBR pile for some titles that have been hanging out for a while. Glad I picked this one out. I liked the characters, thought the story flowed pretty well and I enjoyed the writing style. Overall, it was a good, quick series to read.
March 23, 2012
You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/03/...
In Darkest Knight, Chalice has joined her fellow sisters of the Hatchet Knights at Halo House, which is run by her grandmother, Aurora. Chalice is thrilled to meet her grandmother and is also excited (and nervous) about her role in teaching the squires in the art of using charms. She has her guardian angel along with her, and is no longer under the thumb of her evil adoptive father, Gavin. Not everything is good, though. Her lover, Aydin, is still a gargoyle, and the only way he can become human is to eat the heart of another gargoyle. Also, someone is killing Chalice’s sisters, and if she doesn’t find the culprit soon, more lives will be lost.
I enjoyed this one, although it didn’t dazzle me like Knight’s Curse. I think the reason for that is that I was already familiar with the worldbuilding, so it wasn’t a matter of uncovering the coolness on a near constant basis, which happened with Knight’s Curse. Most of the first half takes place in Halo House, getting to know the various squires, and Chalice learns that her new job may not be as easy as she thought. When she gets into the nitty gritty of chasing the unknown killer is when things really get fun, though, and definitely get darker. Chalice will not only have to confront an ancient evil, but she’ll also have to also confront her own destiny, which is, after all, to join with her guardian angel and conceive a child that will eventually become a knight. Like I said, the action in the second half really picked up, and that’s when I found myself turning the pages a little bit quicker. I like Chalice, a lot, even if she is a little bit more forgiving than I would be (you’ll see what I mean), and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series!
In Darkest Knight, Chalice has joined her fellow sisters of the Hatchet Knights at Halo House, which is run by her grandmother, Aurora. Chalice is thrilled to meet her grandmother and is also excited (and nervous) about her role in teaching the squires in the art of using charms. She has her guardian angel along with her, and is no longer under the thumb of her evil adoptive father, Gavin. Not everything is good, though. Her lover, Aydin, is still a gargoyle, and the only way he can become human is to eat the heart of another gargoyle. Also, someone is killing Chalice’s sisters, and if she doesn’t find the culprit soon, more lives will be lost.
I enjoyed this one, although it didn’t dazzle me like Knight’s Curse. I think the reason for that is that I was already familiar with the worldbuilding, so it wasn’t a matter of uncovering the coolness on a near constant basis, which happened with Knight’s Curse. Most of the first half takes place in Halo House, getting to know the various squires, and Chalice learns that her new job may not be as easy as she thought. When she gets into the nitty gritty of chasing the unknown killer is when things really get fun, though, and definitely get darker. Chalice will not only have to confront an ancient evil, but she’ll also have to also confront her own destiny, which is, after all, to join with her guardian angel and conceive a child that will eventually become a knight. Like I said, the action in the second half really picked up, and that’s when I found myself turning the pages a little bit quicker. I like Chalice, a lot, even if she is a little bit more forgiving than I would be (you’ll see what I mean), and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series!
March 2, 2012
This is the second book in Karen Duvall's series about Hatchet Knight, Chalice. I absolutely loved the first book, "Knight's Curse" and really liked this one. Like all series books, there are enough threads left dangling that we know there are going to be more books, but unlike some series (which I do not like), this one is a complete book. Not everything gets settled, but enough, and the main plot line that I was satisfied with the way it turned out. There is enough background information in the beginning for someone to pick up the story and know pretty much what's going on, but I strongly suggest you read the first book first in order to know it all.
In this one Chalice, Aydin and Rafe continue their adventures with the Knight's, the Fallen, and more. We are reunited with characters from the first book and a few new ones are added.
Karen Duvall is an expert world-builder and character creator, especially Chalice. If you are a fan of urban fantasies, definitely pick up this series. It's a keeper.
In this one Chalice, Aydin and Rafe continue their adventures with the Knight's, the Fallen, and more. We are reunited with characters from the first book and a few new ones are added.
Karen Duvall is an expert world-builder and character creator, especially Chalice. If you are a fan of urban fantasies, definitely pick up this series. It's a keeper.
February 9, 2020
I originally requested this for review from NetGalley in 2012, but must have never gotten to it for some reason. The ARC is long gone but I am trying to clear my NetGalley to review shelf, so I purchased another copy to read.
3stars= I liked it.
I thought Darkest Knight was pretty good, it's book two of a series, so I am missing a few pieces of the world building. What I did get is that there is a sisterhood of knights who are either children of angels or future mates to angels. After mating the angels either turn human and stay with their new family or become Fallen. The pieces I am missing is who the sister Knights fight, there's references to somebody or another's Fatherhouse, but they really aren't part of this story, and also the big about Gargoyles except that somehow it is possible to be enslaved to one and the leading lady was freed from that bond at the cost of her lover turning into one. But that's sort of a side but here, since the focus is the leading lady is on the hunt for a being who has killed most of her 'sisters'. So fearless leading lady, some charms and magic, and angels, ghosts, witches, and gargoyles - it kept my interest and stacks up fairly well against current urban fantasy at a similar price point of $2.99 for the kindle edition.
3stars= I liked it.
I thought Darkest Knight was pretty good, it's book two of a series, so I am missing a few pieces of the world building. What I did get is that there is a sisterhood of knights who are either children of angels or future mates to angels. After mating the angels either turn human and stay with their new family or become Fallen. The pieces I am missing is who the sister Knights fight, there's references to somebody or another's Fatherhouse, but they really aren't part of this story, and also the big about Gargoyles except that somehow it is possible to be enslaved to one and the leading lady was freed from that bond at the cost of her lover turning into one. But that's sort of a side but here, since the focus is the leading lady is on the hunt for a being who has killed most of her 'sisters'. So fearless leading lady, some charms and magic, and angels, ghosts, witches, and gargoyles - it kept my interest and stacks up fairly well against current urban fantasy at a similar price point of $2.99 for the kindle edition.
September 26, 2012
This is a terrific sequel to Knight's Curse, Karen Duvall's first Hatchet Knight series. You can read Darkest Knight as a standalone, however. Everything about Chalice and her world is included in the opening sequences, backstory that you won't really notice because the story starts out fast and just gets better and better. Chalice is a tough twenty-first century girl but she feels, deeply, for those who suffer. This endearing heroine is catapulted into some frightening situations that are written with such skill you feel like you're there. Scenes like homeless children squatting in an abandoned building, the haunted remains of a house fire, and demonic and angelic worlds beyond are created with such realism that you taste the smoke and feel the slippery fabric of a red and black gown as it puddles around Chalice's feet. Chalice must save her lover, Ayedim, figure out a way to handle a handsome guardian angel named Rafe, and find a serial killer who is targeting the young girls who are in training to become Hatchet Knights. Chalice has a lot to handle in this story and you won't want to put the book down until every hair-raising battle scene is over and she solves the final mystery. I highly recommend this novel.
July 23, 2013
This still wasn't what I normally read I couldn't get into it but if you like urban fantasies this is the book for you but don't forget book 1 Knight's Curse first. It was a good series overall but not for me .
March 12, 2012
3.5 out of 5
Read
March 11, 2017miniseries: Knight's Curse
May 17, 2012
I really like this series. It brings something new to the table.
November 11, 2014
What the...? Seriously? SHE IS SO IMMATURE!! You know those books that you think, oh the first was okay, maybe it'll be better in the second book. Well, nope, nope, nope!
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