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The League: Nemesis Rising #5
Born of Silence
Death Stalks Them All...
Kere is the second most infamous member of the shadow organization known as Sentella. An explosive engineer who strikes terror into the hearts of the League, the bounty on his head is truly staggering. No one knows his true identity.
The daughter of a traitor, Zarya Starska grew up hard on the back streets of hell- her family hunted to the brink of extinction. But Zarya dreams of a different life and a different world. A world where the harsh hand of the Caronese emperor doesn’t destroy his subjects. As a Resistance leader, her goal is to topple the government that needlessly ruined the lives of her family and comrades-in-arms. In this deadly quest, the only person she can trust is a mysterious man known only as Kere.
By The Light Of Day...
Kere has a dark secret and a brutal past. As he aids the Resistance, he’s actually working to bring down his own family- the Cruels- so named for the viciousness in their blood that runs so deep, no other name would do. Born and bred from one of the oldest and noblest families in the United Systems, Kere’s real name is Darling Cruel. And the one thing he wants most is to see his uncle, who stole the crown by murdering his father, pay for his crimes.
If You Tell A Lie Long Enough, It Becomes The Truth...
In order to protect his mother from execution, Darling’s entire life has been built on a lie that he dare not breathe a contrary word about. His hands tied by his uncle’s cruelty. No one has ever seen the real him. No one except Zarya. She’s the only person he’s ever fully trusted with the truth. But when she betrays him by allowing a weapon he designed solely for her to be used against him, all bets are off.
The Hero Is Now The Monster...
Betrayed to the deepest level, Darling becomes an enemy even worse than his uncle. His goal is not only to reign, but to kill every Resistance member he can find. He won’t rest until all of them are dead and that includes Zarya.
The Twisted Hand Of Fate...
Zarya is the only hope to reach the heart of the man her people once considered their ally. A man who hates her with a fury so great that she knows it’s just a matter of time before he kills her. But if she can find the part of him that once trusted her, the part of him that once loved her, she might be able to save not only her own life, but those of her people.
It’s an impossible mission.
Too bad she doesn’t play the odds.
Kere is the second most infamous member of the shadow organization known as Sentella. An explosive engineer who strikes terror into the hearts of the League, the bounty on his head is truly staggering. No one knows his true identity.
The daughter of a traitor, Zarya Starska grew up hard on the back streets of hell- her family hunted to the brink of extinction. But Zarya dreams of a different life and a different world. A world where the harsh hand of the Caronese emperor doesn’t destroy his subjects. As a Resistance leader, her goal is to topple the government that needlessly ruined the lives of her family and comrades-in-arms. In this deadly quest, the only person she can trust is a mysterious man known only as Kere.
By The Light Of Day...
Kere has a dark secret and a brutal past. As he aids the Resistance, he’s actually working to bring down his own family- the Cruels- so named for the viciousness in their blood that runs so deep, no other name would do. Born and bred from one of the oldest and noblest families in the United Systems, Kere’s real name is Darling Cruel. And the one thing he wants most is to see his uncle, who stole the crown by murdering his father, pay for his crimes.
If You Tell A Lie Long Enough, It Becomes The Truth...
In order to protect his mother from execution, Darling’s entire life has been built on a lie that he dare not breathe a contrary word about. His hands tied by his uncle’s cruelty. No one has ever seen the real him. No one except Zarya. She’s the only person he’s ever fully trusted with the truth. But when she betrays him by allowing a weapon he designed solely for her to be used against him, all bets are off.
The Hero Is Now The Monster...
Betrayed to the deepest level, Darling becomes an enemy even worse than his uncle. His goal is not only to reign, but to kill every Resistance member he can find. He won’t rest until all of them are dead and that includes Zarya.
The Twisted Hand Of Fate...
Zarya is the only hope to reach the heart of the man her people once considered their ally. A man who hates her with a fury so great that she knows it’s just a matter of time before he kills her. But if she can find the part of him that once trusted her, the part of him that once loved her, she might be able to save not only her own life, but those of her people.
It’s an impossible mission.
Too bad she doesn’t play the odds.
614 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2012
286 people are currently reading
7323 people want to read
About the author
Sherrilyn Kenyon
243 books30.2k followersOfficial Author site
Official Nevermore site
Official Deadman's Cross site
Official Chronicles of Nick site
Official Silent Swans site
Official Hunter Legends site
Official Witch of Endor site
Official Lords of Avalon site
Official Facebook site
New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon is a regular at the #1 spot. With legions of fans known as Paladins (thousands of whom proudly sport tattoos from her series and who travel from all over the world to attend her appearances), her books are always snatched up as soon as they appear on store shelves. Since 2004, she had placed more than 80 novels on the New York Times list in all formats including manga and graphic novels. Her current series are: Dark-Hunters, Chronicles of Nick and The League, and her books are available in over 100 countries where eager fans impatiently wait for the next release. Her Chronicles of Nick and Dark-Hunter series are soon to be major motion pictures while Dark-Hunter is also being developed as a television series. Join her and her Paladins online at MySherrilyn.com and www.facebook.com/mysherrilyn
Official Nevermore site
Official Deadman's Cross site
Official Chronicles of Nick site
Official Silent Swans site
Official Hunter Legends site
Official Witch of Endor site
Official Lords of Avalon site
Official Facebook site
New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon is a regular at the #1 spot. With legions of fans known as Paladins (thousands of whom proudly sport tattoos from her series and who travel from all over the world to attend her appearances), her books are always snatched up as soon as they appear on store shelves. Since 2004, she had placed more than 80 novels on the New York Times list in all formats including manga and graphic novels. Her current series are: Dark-Hunters, Chronicles of Nick and The League, and her books are available in over 100 countries where eager fans impatiently wait for the next release. Her Chronicles of Nick and Dark-Hunter series are soon to be major motion pictures while Dark-Hunter is also being developed as a television series. Join her and her Paladins online at MySherrilyn.com and www.facebook.com/mysherrilyn
Fan Run International Sites:
Argentinian FB Page
Fans de Sherrilyn Kenyon en Columbia
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Soy Fans de Sherrilyn Kenyon
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 801 reviews
April 28, 2012
**SPOILER FREE**
I went into this book convinced I was not going to like it. Darling has been a beloved character for me ever since the start of the series. And I was absolutely livid about the idea that after three books, Sherrilyn Kenyon was taking a character who had always been gay and making him straight. From the moment I finished the tepid Born of Shadows, the idea festered in my head. I complained about it for a year. Then I started reading this book and it blew me away from the very beginning.
Obviously, Darling is not gay and in my heart of hearts, that may always bother me on some level. But Kenyon makes it work. I'm not going to spoil how, because it's part of the journey. In fact, I'm going to try really hard to keep as much of the plot to myself as I can because I don't want to rob you of the shocking twists and turns the story takes us on.
The bare bones are as follows. Darling has been having a super-secret affair with a Resistance fighter named Zarya for two years, but he's been doing it as his alter-ego Kere. She has never seen his face but their love is real and they plan to get married. And then it all goes to hell. Darling's miserable past is slowly revealed over the course of the book and as horrible as it is, what he goes through in the present may actually be worse. The depths of his misery are hard to bear. I question whether anyone can go through what he does and emerge with a soul intact on the other side, no matter the depth of the love or friendship that surrounds him.
Kenyon is the queen of the tortured heroes and while Acheron may always reign supreme as the most tortured, Darling gives him a run for his money --and if you've read Acheron that should tell you a lot. What Darling has, though, that Ash never did, is an amazing friend in Maris. I love Maris. He is the glue that holds Darling together when he begins to crack and I'm so glad this character existed to give our hero some shelter from the storm.
As for Zarya, she makes a mistake that has serious consequences. But I believe she is a good person. And there is absolutely no doubt that she loves Darling with her whole heart. The question becomes whether her love will be enough to help heal him.
The cast of the previous League books feature prominently and Kenyon does a fantastic job maintaining continuity. I loved learning how Darling became part of the Sentella and seeing how Nyk, Syn and the others became his real family. It's also great to see the old characters not just used as placeholders for a happy ending update, but as a real part of the story.
And the ending. It was one heck of an ending. A game changer for the series.
I'm not going to say any more, except that if you are a League fan and were on the fence about this book, I urge you to read it. You'll be moved... outraged... and amazed. Or at least, I was. 4 1/2 stars.
*ARC Provided by Grand Central Publishing
I went into this book convinced I was not going to like it. Darling has been a beloved character for me ever since the start of the series. And I was absolutely livid about the idea that after three books, Sherrilyn Kenyon was taking a character who had always been gay and making him straight. From the moment I finished the tepid Born of Shadows, the idea festered in my head. I complained about it for a year. Then I started reading this book and it blew me away from the very beginning.
Obviously, Darling is not gay and in my heart of hearts, that may always bother me on some level. But Kenyon makes it work. I'm not going to spoil how, because it's part of the journey. In fact, I'm going to try really hard to keep as much of the plot to myself as I can because I don't want to rob you of the shocking twists and turns the story takes us on.
The bare bones are as follows. Darling has been having a super-secret affair with a Resistance fighter named Zarya for two years, but he's been doing it as his alter-ego Kere. She has never seen his face but their love is real and they plan to get married. And then it all goes to hell. Darling's miserable past is slowly revealed over the course of the book and as horrible as it is, what he goes through in the present may actually be worse. The depths of his misery are hard to bear. I question whether anyone can go through what he does and emerge with a soul intact on the other side, no matter the depth of the love or friendship that surrounds him.
Kenyon is the queen of the tortured heroes and while Acheron may always reign supreme as the most tortured, Darling gives him a run for his money --and if you've read Acheron that should tell you a lot. What Darling has, though, that Ash never did, is an amazing friend in Maris. I love Maris. He is the glue that holds Darling together when he begins to crack and I'm so glad this character existed to give our hero some shelter from the storm.
As for Zarya, she makes a mistake that has serious consequences. But I believe she is a good person. And there is absolutely no doubt that she loves Darling with her whole heart. The question becomes whether her love will be enough to help heal him.
The cast of the previous League books feature prominently and Kenyon does a fantastic job maintaining continuity. I loved learning how Darling became part of the Sentella and seeing how Nyk, Syn and the others became his real family. It's also great to see the old characters not just used as placeholders for a happy ending update, but as a real part of the story.
And the ending. It was one heck of an ending. A game changer for the series.
I'm not going to say any more, except that if you are a League fan and were on the fence about this book, I urge you to read it. You'll be moved... outraged... and amazed. Or at least, I was. 4 1/2 stars.
*ARC Provided by Grand Central Publishing
May 6, 2012
This is a Quickie Review. For the full review, please visit The Romanceaholic.
Expected Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Hachette
Imprint: Grand Central Publishing
Author’s Website: sherrilynkenyon.com
My Source for This Book: Amazon.com
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 5, The League Series
Series Best Read In Order: Works well as a standalone,
but I would recommend reading the series in order.
Steam Level: Steamy
I'm devastated. Simply devastated. I have been anxiously awaiting this book since before it was actually written. Darling is one of my absolute favorite characters in the League Series, and I had such high hopes for his book.
Let me start off by saying that my disappointment is not based on the fact that Darling is actually heterosexual. While I admit I was very annoyed by that revelation in the epilogue of the last book, and in the blurb for this one, I've had a long time to get used to the idea, so that wasn't even a negative point for me. (Besides, it appears there are plans to unite Maris and Ture in their own novel, which makes up for any allegations that may or may not have been thrown around about Ms. Kenyon "selling-out" with making Darling "straight".)
Instead, it was the torture. Don't get me wrong -- I love a good tortured protagonist! I possess a very high degree of schadenfreude when it comes to fictional characters, and I admit that I just love seeing them suffer at the hands of others. Brutal physical torture? Horrific personal betrayal? Terrible childhood? Abuse that leave the protagonist scarred and suffering? I eat those things up with a spoon when it comes to my favorite protagonists! Beat 'em, rape 'em, lull them into a false sense of security and then rip the rug out from under them with heartless betrayal, leave them permanently scarred both physically and emotionally -- I love it all!
This book, however, crossed that line from using a horrific past and terrible suffering to make a character sympathetic and to illustrate inner strength and what-not, and instead delved into torture for titillation -- "torture porn" as some people call it -- once it crosses that line it's impossible to come back. Nobody, and I mean nobody could have survived what Darling suffered in the early chapters of this book, and the very weak explanation of how he did so that was thrown in towards the end did nothing towards making me believe it was anything other than ridiculous that he was still alive long enough to be rescued. Then on top of the horrific torture in the beginning, we're informed of all of the other abuses, rapes, attacks, indignities, humiliations, and betrayals he's suffered over the course of his life. It got to the point where I'd skim over any new "revelation" of something bad that he'd gone through.
There were so many things I couldn't stand in this book, from pet peeve tropes (forced nudity, overuse of certain terms, GaryStu syndrome), to continuity errors, long-winded dialogue, unrealistic physical fortitude, torture for titillation, and what felt like last-minute character developments thrown in to explain things done earlier. I'm so horribly disappointed, and honestly, I had to force myself to finish this, which has never happened with a Kenyon book, not even Retribution, which was only a 3.5 for me.
To be completely honest, this is very likely my last Kenyon novel, at least unless I get future ones for free from the library.*
2/5 Stars
*That's a big fat lie -- Hauk's book is next, and I know very well I'm going to end up pre-ordering it no matter how bad this one was. But still.
The League Series Reading Order:
Born of Night
Born of Fire
Born of Ice
Fire & Ice (Novella, in the In Other Worlds Anthology)
Born of Shadows
Born of Silence
Expected Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Hachette
Imprint: Grand Central Publishing
Author’s Website: sherrilynkenyon.com
My Source for This Book: Amazon.com
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 5, The League Series
Series Best Read In Order: Works well as a standalone,
but I would recommend reading the series in order.
Steam Level: Steamy
I'm devastated. Simply devastated. I have been anxiously awaiting this book since before it was actually written. Darling is one of my absolute favorite characters in the League Series, and I had such high hopes for his book.
Let me start off by saying that my disappointment is not based on the fact that Darling is actually heterosexual. While I admit I was very annoyed by that revelation in the epilogue of the last book, and in the blurb for this one, I've had a long time to get used to the idea, so that wasn't even a negative point for me. (Besides, it appears there are plans to unite Maris and Ture in their own novel, which makes up for any allegations that may or may not have been thrown around about Ms. Kenyon "selling-out" with making Darling "straight".)
Instead, it was the torture. Don't get me wrong -- I love a good tortured protagonist! I possess a very high degree of schadenfreude when it comes to fictional characters, and I admit that I just love seeing them suffer at the hands of others. Brutal physical torture? Horrific personal betrayal? Terrible childhood? Abuse that leave the protagonist scarred and suffering? I eat those things up with a spoon when it comes to my favorite protagonists! Beat 'em, rape 'em, lull them into a false sense of security and then rip the rug out from under them with heartless betrayal, leave them permanently scarred both physically and emotionally -- I love it all!
This book, however, crossed that line from using a horrific past and terrible suffering to make a character sympathetic and to illustrate inner strength and what-not, and instead delved into torture for titillation -- "torture porn" as some people call it -- once it crosses that line it's impossible to come back. Nobody, and I mean nobody could have survived what Darling suffered in the early chapters of this book, and the very weak explanation of how he did so that was thrown in towards the end did nothing towards making me believe it was anything other than ridiculous that he was still alive long enough to be rescued. Then on top of the horrific torture in the beginning, we're informed of all of the other abuses, rapes, attacks, indignities, humiliations, and betrayals he's suffered over the course of his life. It got to the point where I'd skim over any new "revelation" of something bad that he'd gone through.
There were so many things I couldn't stand in this book, from pet peeve tropes (forced nudity, overuse of certain terms, GaryStu syndrome), to continuity errors, long-winded dialogue, unrealistic physical fortitude, torture for titillation, and what felt like last-minute character developments thrown in to explain things done earlier. I'm so horribly disappointed, and honestly, I had to force myself to finish this, which has never happened with a Kenyon book, not even Retribution, which was only a 3.5 for me.
To be completely honest, this is very likely my last Kenyon novel, at least unless I get future ones for free from the library.*
2/5 Stars
*That's a big fat lie -- Hauk's book is next, and I know very well I'm going to end up pre-ordering it no matter how bad this one was. But still.
The League Series Reading Order:
Born of Night
Born of Fire
Born of Ice
Fire & Ice (Novella, in the In Other Worlds Anthology)
Born of Shadows
Born of Silence
December 12, 2012
Where do I even begin with how annoying and disappointing I found this book to be??
Do I start with the selfish heroine, the plot holes, the torture, or the insanely selfish heroine???
Well how about instead I start with what I liked...
DARLING! Oh, and while I thought it was a bit of a cop out that Darling ended up being heterosexual after all the hints in the other books that was not a disappointment. Although I would love to see all these romance novelists take a shot at a m-m book. Darling was a great character. He had an honest to goodness sweet heart. No matter what you did to him he cared for you, and the 20 laws he lived by made into a good and fair man.
The best character though was Maris, hands down. That guy was funny, loyal, surprising, and genuine. Not to mention he had style and class. If he wasn't in the book I wouldn't have even kept reading. And while I glad he gets happiness I really wanted him to have his own book. He deserved a whorl wind romance!
I also loved how with each book past characters are still present and play a role in the following books. Although there are so many babies at this point it is hard to keep them all straight. I am glad that we get peaks into the lives of past characters and their relationships, especially Syn as he is my favorite character in this series so far.
Now, finally, onto what I didn't like...sure there were a few plot holes, and the torture was almost more than I could bear. But in the end it all came down to...
THE SELFISH HEROINE!!
Zarya was a bitch. A selfish, whiny, self centered bitch. SERIOUSLY. She is easily my most hated female character in any book of this genre.
She is the leader of the resistance. THE LEADER. As in she is responsible for her men, their actions, their prisoners, their everyone. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE. Yes she was totally terrified by her missing fiance Kere, but as a LEADER she was expected to put that aside and do her duty, to protect her organization, and even the people being held prisoner by her organization.
So as LEADER she allows her men to capture a prisoner, hold him for 5 months, muzzle him for 5 months, RAPE HIM REPEATEDLY with all manner of objects, starve him, dehydrate him, beat him, feed him his own waste and theirs, cut off his finger and feed that to him as well, all while striped naked and hanging by his wrists from the ceiling. YES, THEY DID ALL OF THAT, and he lived through it thanks to his not 100% human genes. And this is all in the first 100 pages.
Honestly, at this point I hoped Darling would kill her by ripping her fucking heart out.
At this point well duh he doesn't want to see her, so one of the other Sentella sells her to a slaver. Sucks, yes, and had she been younger she probably would have had a horrific experience, but she goes unscathed except for malnutrition and sleeping in a dirty cell.
She then has the audacity to compare her pain to his, even though she saw him right before his rescue, saw how bad he was. Sadly enough what she saw was way worse than what she experienced, and what she saw only like 10% of what he went through. The continues this shit for most of the book.
Sure she feels bad for what happened to him and she is angry that her own men would act the way they did, but she constantly compared his pair with her own. Every time he feels pain related to what happened to him she feels for him then turns it back to herself. EVERY DAMN TIME!
She also constantly states that she didn't do anything. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know. WELL THAT IS CRAP. She was their leader. IT WAS HER FAULT. She won't even admit this till page 500 of 615.
SELFISH.
Even by the end of the book I couldn't care about her at all. By the time to takes responsibility for her people's actions I just wanted her to stop talking and for the book to end.
So yeah...
Frankly this book could have had plot holes galore, all middling characters, and a lukewarm romance and I would have liked it better than book because Zarya ruined the entire thing for me. She damn near ruined the series for me. And if I hadn't stuck through with it I probably would have quit the whole thing. The only reason I will read this series any more is because the hints surrounding the other characters caught my interest.
Oh and two more point that pales in significance to the annoyingness that is Zarya but I feel I must mention...
1. The torture. MY GOD. It's like Kenyon just sits at home and makes lists and lists of horrible, disgusting, heart wrenching, experiences, and then instead of picking one or two to subject her characters too she CHOOSES THEM ALL!
2. Why does Kenyon feel the need to give all her books a Disney-esche ending?? Everything and everyone has to have a happy ever after ending. Every woman has to have a child, every past bad relationship needs an explanation, and all conflicts need to be tied up in a pretty bow. The kicker for this book was Darling's mother coming in at not even the 11th hour, more like 11:57, to explain why she was an awful mother, and the desire to suddenly change her entire relationship with her son. I mean damn she claimed he as cold as a child (when he was really just an introvert) and because of that she felt the need to neglect and ostracize him for the rest of his life??? PLEASE. WHAT A BITCH.
Not everything can be tied in nice and neat. Some characters are awful and should end awful. Zarya had like 500 pages to redeem herself (and given the number of 5 star ratings this book has gotten, she obviously succeeded for many readers) but the mom only gets like 30 pages. Not enough time to forget and forgive for anyone - not that the mom deserved it at all.
Well....was that enough ranting??
...
...
...
tl;dr - ZARYA IS A SELFISH BITCH.
Do I start with the selfish heroine, the plot holes, the torture, or the insanely selfish heroine???
Well how about instead I start with what I liked...
DARLING! Oh, and while I thought it was a bit of a cop out that Darling ended up being heterosexual after all the hints in the other books that was not a disappointment. Although I would love to see all these romance novelists take a shot at a m-m book. Darling was a great character. He had an honest to goodness sweet heart. No matter what you did to him he cared for you, and the 20 laws he lived by made into a good and fair man.
The best character though was Maris, hands down. That guy was funny, loyal, surprising, and genuine. Not to mention he had style and class. If he wasn't in the book I wouldn't have even kept reading. And while I glad he gets happiness I really wanted him to have his own book. He deserved a whorl wind romance!
I also loved how with each book past characters are still present and play a role in the following books. Although there are so many babies at this point it is hard to keep them all straight. I am glad that we get peaks into the lives of past characters and their relationships, especially Syn as he is my favorite character in this series so far.
Now, finally, onto what I didn't like...sure there were a few plot holes, and the torture was almost more than I could bear. But in the end it all came down to...
THE SELFISH HEROINE!!
Zarya was a bitch. A selfish, whiny, self centered bitch. SERIOUSLY. She is easily my most hated female character in any book of this genre.
She is the leader of the resistance. THE LEADER. As in she is responsible for her men, their actions, their prisoners, their everyone. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE. Yes she was totally terrified by her missing fiance Kere, but as a LEADER she was expected to put that aside and do her duty, to protect her organization, and even the people being held prisoner by her organization.
So as LEADER she allows her men to capture a prisoner, hold him for 5 months, muzzle him for 5 months, RAPE HIM REPEATEDLY with all manner of objects, starve him, dehydrate him, beat him, feed him his own waste and theirs, cut off his finger and feed that to him as well, all while striped naked and hanging by his wrists from the ceiling. YES, THEY DID ALL OF THAT, and he lived through it thanks to his not 100% human genes. And this is all in the first 100 pages.
Honestly, at this point I hoped Darling would kill her by ripping her fucking heart out.
At this point well duh he doesn't want to see her, so one of the other Sentella sells her to a slaver. Sucks, yes, and had she been younger she probably would have had a horrific experience, but she goes unscathed except for malnutrition and sleeping in a dirty cell.
She then has the audacity to compare her pain to his, even though she saw him right before his rescue, saw how bad he was. Sadly enough what she saw was way worse than what she experienced, and what she saw only like 10% of what he went through. The continues this shit for most of the book.
Sure she feels bad for what happened to him and she is angry that her own men would act the way they did, but she constantly compared his pair with her own. Every time he feels pain related to what happened to him she feels for him then turns it back to herself. EVERY DAMN TIME!
She also constantly states that she didn't do anything. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know. WELL THAT IS CRAP. She was their leader. IT WAS HER FAULT. She won't even admit this till page 500 of 615.
SELFISH.
Even by the end of the book I couldn't care about her at all. By the time to takes responsibility for her people's actions I just wanted her to stop talking and for the book to end.
So yeah...
Frankly this book could have had plot holes galore, all middling characters, and a lukewarm romance and I would have liked it better than book because Zarya ruined the entire thing for me. She damn near ruined the series for me. And if I hadn't stuck through with it I probably would have quit the whole thing. The only reason I will read this series any more is because the hints surrounding the other characters caught my interest.
Oh and two more point that pales in significance to the annoyingness that is Zarya but I feel I must mention...
1. The torture. MY GOD. It's like Kenyon just sits at home and makes lists and lists of horrible, disgusting, heart wrenching, experiences, and then instead of picking one or two to subject her characters too she CHOOSES THEM ALL!
2. Why does Kenyon feel the need to give all her books a Disney-esche ending?? Everything and everyone has to have a happy ever after ending. Every woman has to have a child, every past bad relationship needs an explanation, and all conflicts need to be tied up in a pretty bow. The kicker for this book was Darling's mother coming in at not even the 11th hour, more like 11:57, to explain why she was an awful mother, and the desire to suddenly change her entire relationship with her son. I mean damn she claimed he as cold as a child (when he was really just an introvert) and because of that she felt the need to neglect and ostracize him for the rest of his life??? PLEASE. WHAT A BITCH.
Not everything can be tied in nice and neat. Some characters are awful and should end awful. Zarya had like 500 pages to redeem herself (and given the number of 5 star ratings this book has gotten, she obviously succeeded for many readers) but the mom only gets like 30 pages. Not enough time to forget and forgive for anyone - not that the mom deserved it at all.
Well....was that enough ranting??
...
...
...
tl;dr - ZARYA IS A SELFISH BITCH.
July 17, 2013
We can never escape the pain of our pasts, or the flashbacks that assault us when we dare to let our thoughts drift unattended, but we can choose to not let it ruin the future we, alone, can build for ourselves.
"The Broken Ones by Dia Frampton"
Again I'm speechless...choke in tears and I'm still reeling on what words to say.
It was gut-wrenching,heart breaking and painful to read, emotional to the deepest core.
but at the same time it was Inspiring, Evocative and full of Wisdom.
I sobbed my way through every page, reading it even though I can't see it anymore, the pain was to much to bear, too difficult to swallow and yet too hard to look away. I can't put it down, hoping there's a light at the end of the dark tunnel, thank goodness there was hope.
I admire Darling's character, he'd been through hell and back yet he amaze me with his capacity to care, to love and to sacrifice himself to the people he love dearly even though it will be the death of him, and even though his last shred of humanity was torn through him by the one he loves most, he gave forgiveness.
“We are all the masters of our own decisions. Right or wrong, Stupid or intelligent. Only we are to blame for our missteps and mistakes.”
What happens when the one you love, the one you promise your whole life with, the one you trusted most, the one you want to spend your Forevers..betray you?
What Zarya did was unintentional, but it was callous of her to be a part of the the suffering of Darling even though she didn't know his true identity, she was blinded by her own grief of finding Darling aka Kere as she had know him, with one bad decision she both altered what could have been the best day of their life to become the worst nightmare they can't ever forget.
I'm happy that she works so hard for Darling to trust her again, I love that she'll do anything for Darling, to keep him happy and be loved and then put him first amidst the danger and even though what she did was a total mistake it was already ingrain in both their hearts.
“You are my heaven… And you will always be my eternal hell.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
and my favorite character... he was truly special, one of the best secondary character I've ever read, he's the foundation that glued both Darling and Zarya together, and he's the best friend everyone wants to have with, I for one, I Love my Maris:_)
Darling:“Why couldn’t I be gay? It would be so easy to love you if I were. You’ve always been here for me, Mari. You’ve never hurt me. Not once.”
Maris:Why couldn’t I be what you need?
It was why he’d never been serious about anyone else. How could he? He was in love with his best friend and no one else measured up.
yes that's the truth the fracking truth why Maris and Darling will NEVER be together as a couple, they love each other so much, only that Darling is straight while Maris is not.
they've been together as a kid, always support each other and always protect each other,
without the other, one will crumble.
What truly touched my heart was that Maris will do anything for Darling to be whole again and even to bring Zarya back to his arms, it was an act of genuine love for the sake of his best friend even though it hurts that he cannot be what Darling needed.
“Through thick and thin, we’re brothers to the bitter end. And if
you’re going to hell, buddy, I’m driving the bus.”
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“Monsters can’t be hurt by people... You can only be hurt when you have a heart and monsters don’t have hearts. That’s why they steal them from others.”
This book shatters my heart in every way possible and then picking up the pieces and knitting them whole again with a new found understanding...
“Scars are there to remind us of the price we pay when we learn a vital lesson. Never hide them. Revel in the fact that you’ve grown as a person. Embrace the new found knowledge you learned about yourself.”
May 11, 2012
Well, I was right. Sherrilyn did have a humdinger of a story here! Wow. Just wow. What a great book! I can't recommend this highly enough!
February 23, 2019
“You are my heaven… And you will always be my eternal hell."
This was almost 700 pgs and I'm guessing 680pgs have the hero either experiencing physical or emotional abuse or recalling it. It is truly awful stuff, examples:
Those are just some examples. It was all too much for me, the torture and constant homophobic slurs started to feel sensationalized, the point that the hero was constantly kicked and belittled by people, past and currently but still remained kind to those less fortunate was made without the feeling of, not reveling in it, but torture porn.
The heroine had some offbeat moments with almost thinking things weren't fair for her after all the hero had endured from her carelessness, not much of heroine material. The whole thing was just off with the excessive torture the hero went through and constant homophobic slurs. This wasn't fun or entertaining to read. I did enjoy past characters from the series and the world the author has set this in but I don't ever want to revisit or read Darling's story again.
This was almost 700 pgs and I'm guessing 680pgs have the hero either experiencing physical or emotional abuse or recalling it. It is truly awful stuff, examples:
Those are just some examples. It was all too much for me, the torture and constant homophobic slurs started to feel sensationalized, the point that the hero was constantly kicked and belittled by people, past and currently but still remained kind to those less fortunate was made without the feeling of, not reveling in it, but torture porn.
The heroine had some offbeat moments with almost thinking things weren't fair for her after all the hero had endured from her carelessness, not much of heroine material. The whole thing was just off with the excessive torture the hero went through and constant homophobic slurs. This wasn't fun or entertaining to read. I did enjoy past characters from the series and the world the author has set this in but I don't ever want to revisit or read Darling's story again.
August 21, 2012
Best in the series so far!! All the others are worth reading just to make it to this one!!
I absolutely loved this book!! All 614 pages of it (if I was still living in the Paper Age). Darling is definitely now on my list of favorite tortured heroes of all time!! What happens to Darling is possibly worse than some of what Acheron went through, but we don't have to read about it for 400 pages like we did with Ash. Its just spread out equally across the 614 pages of this book. This story is the epitome of why I love Kenyon's writing! And while a lot of this book is dark and brutal, there is also a large amount of humorous and tender moments.
In the beginning I was really worried about reading this book because I knew it involved a lot of homophobic context and also simply for the fact that Darling was never actually gay as we all believed...only pretending. Trust me, he had very good reasons for his secret. Also, the over-all tone of this book is that homosexuality is okay and homophobia is wrong. So I was comfortable with that. Plus, Maris, Darling's best friend forever and the main-secondary character is a gay man. A very flamboyant and effeminate gay man...who used to be a warrior!! Honestly, he was my favorite character in the book!!
Now, back to Darling: As Kere, he is feared, fearless, respected and in love. He has all his comrades at Sentella and his secret love, Zarya. As Darling, he is afraid, hated, vulnerable and lonely. And don't forget the scars! On the outside, on the inside, and all around him. All he has is Maris. The best friend who knows almost all of his secrets. The untouchable friendship between Darling and Maris happens to be [IMO] one of the strongest factors in the story. Darling never would have survived without Maris. So Darling's journey to a HEA begins...
While Darling is spending his time on my list of favorite heroes, Zarya plays a strong heroine. Yeah, she does some really stupid things in the beginning, but she is truly and totally devoted to Darling. The two basically go from lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers, causing Darling to be conflicted on what to do with Zarya: "You are my heaven... And you will always be my eternal hell." There is love there, but also a sense of betrayal and danger. Zarya, she doesn't care about how Darling looks or how many times he's been raped. She loves him for the man he is and leader he could be. "I don't need the light to see you, Darling. Your heart shines brighter than any sun ever could." I love how she...
Thoughts on the future:
♦ I can wait to see the after-effects of that little "display" put on by a few of the Sentella members at the end
♦ I'm really looking forward to Maris's book. He and Ture were adorable at the end of and it is time for Maris to finally have someone that loves him in the way he deserves to be loved. I'm also really curious on how well their relationship will be accepted into society because of how many homophobes appeared in this book and they repeatedly verbally/physically attacked Darling.
♦ I'm looking forward to Hauk's book almost as much as I am Maris's
♦ Bite me now, but I am even hoping for Fain's story to come soon.
♦ ...and is something wrong with me that I kinda want a book about Kyr??
I'm really loving this series and it's sad that it isn't extremely popular. I guess the big rave is still vampires and shifters...not tortured alien smuggler/assassins with space ships.
I absolutely loved this book!! All 614 pages of it (if I was still living in the Paper Age). Darling is definitely now on my list of favorite tortured heroes of all time!! What happens to Darling is possibly worse than some of what Acheron went through, but we don't have to read about it for 400 pages like we did with Ash. Its just spread out equally across the 614 pages of this book. This story is the epitome of why I love Kenyon's writing! And while a lot of this book is dark and brutal, there is also a large amount of humorous and tender moments.
In the beginning I was really worried about reading this book because I knew it involved a lot of homophobic context and also simply for the fact that Darling was never actually gay as we all believed...only pretending. Trust me, he had very good reasons for his secret. Also, the over-all tone of this book is that homosexuality is okay and homophobia is wrong. So I was comfortable with that. Plus, Maris, Darling's best friend forever and the main-secondary character is a gay man. A very flamboyant and effeminate gay man...who used to be a warrior!! Honestly, he was my favorite character in the book!!
Now, back to Darling: As Kere, he is feared, fearless, respected and in love. He has all his comrades at Sentella and his secret love, Zarya. As Darling, he is afraid, hated, vulnerable and lonely. And don't forget the scars! On the outside, on the inside, and all around him. All he has is Maris. The best friend who knows almost all of his secrets. The untouchable friendship between Darling and Maris happens to be [IMO] one of the strongest factors in the story. Darling never would have survived without Maris. So Darling's journey to a HEA begins...
While Darling is spending his time on my list of favorite heroes, Zarya plays a strong heroine. Yeah, she does some really stupid things in the beginning, but she is truly and totally devoted to Darling. The two basically go from lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers, causing Darling to be conflicted on what to do with Zarya: "You are my heaven... And you will always be my eternal hell." There is love there, but also a sense of betrayal and danger. Zarya, she doesn't care about how Darling looks or how many times he's been raped. She loves him for the man he is and leader he could be. "I don't need the light to see you, Darling. Your heart shines brighter than any sun ever could." I love how she...
Thoughts on the future:
♦ I can wait to see the after-effects of that little "display" put on by a few of the Sentella members at the end
♦ I'm really looking forward to Maris's book. He and Ture were adorable at the end of and it is time for Maris to finally have someone that loves him in the way he deserves to be loved. I'm also really curious on how well their relationship will be accepted into society because of how many homophobes appeared in this book and they repeatedly verbally/physically attacked Darling.
♦ I'm looking forward to Hauk's book almost as much as I am Maris's
♦ Bite me now, but I am even hoping for Fain's story to come soon.
♦ ...and is something wrong with me that I kinda want a book about Kyr??
I'm really loving this series and it's sad that it isn't extremely popular. I guess the big rave is still vampires and shifters...not tortured alien smuggler/assassins with space ships.
September 8, 2015
The fifth addition to Sherrilyn Kenyon's The League series. Darling Cruel has been abused by his uncle for years and the time has finally come to exact his vengeance. Meanwhile, as Kere, Darling's Sentella name, he has found love in resistance fighter, Zarya Starska. But will Zarya love him as Darling Cruel?
Wow! I "discovered" Sherrilyn Kenyon's The League series only a few months ago and devoured them all quickly. For whatever reason her other series didn't do it for me. Anyway, I have been anxiously anticipating Darling's story for a while. I wasn't too sure of how I was going to like it at the beginning but as I read farther and farther into the story I was entranced. But this book is no light fluffy romance. There are over 600 pages of action, excitement, heart-wrenching moments, and even a wonderful romance. How long do I have to wait for the next one?
Wow! I "discovered" Sherrilyn Kenyon's The League series only a few months ago and devoured them all quickly. For whatever reason her other series didn't do it for me. Anyway, I have been anxiously anticipating Darling's story for a while. I wasn't too sure of how I was going to like it at the beginning but as I read farther and farther into the story I was entranced. But this book is no light fluffy romance. There are over 600 pages of action, excitement, heart-wrenching moments, and even a wonderful romance. How long do I have to wait for the next one?
May 22, 2012
We finally get to Darling Cruel's story, aka Kere, one of the most feared assassins who is allegedly gay. Allegedly as in not gay....blasphemous right? I have to admit, I felt a bit betrayed when I first heard. Wondering what in the heck Sherrilyn Kenyon could be up to, I just had to find out and boy, what a tale.
Let me just say that no one...NO ONE does a better tortured and abused hero than Sherrilyn Kenyon. If you thought Archeron's story was bad or even Zsadist from the Black Dagger Brotherhood, you would be mistaken. Darling takes the cake. And the abuse never ends....it is through the whole book and SK does not leave out one detail. Add betrayal to the mix and it's an almost emotional overload.
Yes, it is depressing and sickening. Definitely not for the faint of heart. And if gay insults bother you, this book is probably not for you. Some of this stuff is hard to read and the only thing that kept me going was knowing that things would work out. I only wished there were more happy times and more redeeming moments. I enjoyed people learning who and what Darling really was and all that he did. That was the best.
Zarya was amazing as well. She is perfect for Darling. I love how their relationship was for the first two years even if it was a bit unorthodox. And that lead to her perceived betrayal which was very hard to read. Of course, she learned so much and definitely redeemed herself. I enjoyed all the stories about them as kids and loved the little twist about them at the end.
Almost all the gang is here and I really enjoyed that. You get caught up with everyone...even the kids which was great. I loved all the banter between all the characters. I think that's one of my favorite parts...well, besides all the parts with Syn. ;) I loved getting to know Maris as well and I especially loved his and Darling's relationship. I hope what happens to him at the end works out.
Definitely a great addition to the League series and I would recommend it. SK leads you through a hard tale and doesn't pull any punches. Blasphemous? Not at all.
Favorite quote:
♦ “Nykyrian… when we rescued him, you said that you’d been where he is. What saved you from your madness?”
“My wife.”
“Excuse me?” Syn asked in a highly offended tone. “I think I was there for you a little longer than she was, by a couple of decades as I recall. No offense.”
Nykyrian rolled his eyes. “Syn helped,too.”
Syn snorted at that. “ ‘Helped’ my ass, you psycho son of a bitch. How many times have I been shot protecting your hulking ass? Yeah, I’m going to remember this the next time you’re in the dog house ’cause you left a sock on the floor or didn’t lower the seat, or an assassin comes at your back.”
Nykyrian gave him a feral grimace. But when he spoke, his soft, lilting tone belied his fierce expression. “Syn… what can I say? I love you, man. I can’t live without you. You are the air I breathe.”
♥ “In all my life, I have only had one haven that sheltered me from my hell. One woman whose smile made me fly even after I’d hit the ground so hard that I didn’t think I could ever stand again. There is nothing in this universe that could destroy me, except you, Zarya. You have taken a monster and made him human. My wounded soul was healed because of your smile. So long as I live and even beyond this life, I am and will always be ever yours.”
Let me just say that no one...NO ONE does a better tortured and abused hero than Sherrilyn Kenyon. If you thought Archeron's story was bad or even Zsadist from the Black Dagger Brotherhood, you would be mistaken. Darling takes the cake. And the abuse never ends....it is through the whole book and SK does not leave out one detail. Add betrayal to the mix and it's an almost emotional overload.
Yes, it is depressing and sickening. Definitely not for the faint of heart. And if gay insults bother you, this book is probably not for you. Some of this stuff is hard to read and the only thing that kept me going was knowing that things would work out. I only wished there were more happy times and more redeeming moments. I enjoyed people learning who and what Darling really was and all that he did. That was the best.
Zarya was amazing as well. She is perfect for Darling. I love how their relationship was for the first two years even if it was a bit unorthodox. And that lead to her perceived betrayal which was very hard to read. Of course, she learned so much and definitely redeemed herself. I enjoyed all the stories about them as kids and loved the little twist about them at the end.
Almost all the gang is here and I really enjoyed that. You get caught up with everyone...even the kids which was great. I loved all the banter between all the characters. I think that's one of my favorite parts...well, besides all the parts with Syn. ;) I loved getting to know Maris as well and I especially loved his and Darling's relationship. I hope what happens to him at the end works out.
Definitely a great addition to the League series and I would recommend it. SK leads you through a hard tale and doesn't pull any punches. Blasphemous? Not at all.
Favorite quote:
♦ “Nykyrian… when we rescued him, you said that you’d been where he is. What saved you from your madness?”
“My wife.”
“Excuse me?” Syn asked in a highly offended tone. “I think I was there for you a little longer than she was, by a couple of decades as I recall. No offense.”
Nykyrian rolled his eyes. “Syn helped,too.”
Syn snorted at that. “ ‘Helped’ my ass, you psycho son of a bitch. How many times have I been shot protecting your hulking ass? Yeah, I’m going to remember this the next time you’re in the dog house ’cause you left a sock on the floor or didn’t lower the seat, or an assassin comes at your back.”
Nykyrian gave him a feral grimace. But when he spoke, his soft, lilting tone belied his fierce expression. “Syn… what can I say? I love you, man. I can’t live without you. You are the air I breathe.”
♥ “In all my life, I have only had one haven that sheltered me from my hell. One woman whose smile made me fly even after I’d hit the ground so hard that I didn’t think I could ever stand again. There is nothing in this universe that could destroy me, except you, Zarya. You have taken a monster and made him human. My wounded soul was healed because of your smile. So long as I live and even beyond this life, I am and will always be ever yours.”
November 20, 2012
-spoilers within-
Honestly, I have to wonder why in the world I keep reading most of the Kenyon novels nowadays, especially when I thought I learned my lesson when Acheron came out. It used to be I was in love with a lot of the novels, mostly for the Dark Hunter series, that she wrote, but now? Now I just find myself shaking my head and trying to come up with reason why each novel only gets worse.
This was the first book I read of the series since most of the others were taken by other people at the library. However, I think it was enough to paint me a general picture of what awaited me in the others. As I've noticed with other novels, generally what is made out to be a big issue is quickly resolved in few pages. For instance, where Darling was being hostile and distrustful towards Zaraya because he believed she had betrayed him. Within a few pages, they were doing the do and everything was fine again. Wtf? I'm sorry, but sex is not a complete cure for everything and I really don't like it being used as some quick fix method for problems just to get the couple together quicker. Seriously, whatever happened to pacing relationships anymore rather than just having them constantly humping their problems away?
Darling disappointed me a great deal and frankly, I'm not surprised. For someone who started out with potential, he quickly faltered into the same category as every other hero who got their HEA. Not only do they end up horribly emasculated, but they no longer retain anything interesting about them. I always find myself rooting for everyone else who's not in this love story because they are far more interesting than the main characters. I also never got why Darling waited so long to kill his uncle, considering how quickly his uncle went down. Nope, smart Darling is smart and he WAITS FOR THE DAY. Also, I'm tired of having the scarred and broken down man trope shoved in my face constantly when it came to Darling. I get that he didn't have the best life growing up, but once we got more details about his abuse, it honestly got to the point where I felt shit was just being made up and tossed in there to make us feel more sorry than we even were for him at the start. Sorry Dar, I'm all out of sympathy.
Another issue was the heroine. In the beginning, I was immediately presented with her stupidity thanks to being told she never gets to see what Kere looks like and she's okay with screwing around with someone and never seeing his face because she 'trusts' him. Yes folks, love at it's finest. He doesn't apparently trust her enough to show her his face the whole time they've been together, and wants to wait until their wedding day. Remember folks if she's stupid enough to say yes, then chances are she won't be able to escape the idiotic trap she's caught herself in :D As said, that doesn't speak love to me, especially since what they had was built up on nothing more than hormones and lies. Sadly, her intelligence does not improve and only gets much worse from here. Don't even get me started on her lame attempt at being a bad ass female. Seriously, how in the world is she in charge of this rebel band again? She has Darling taken prisoner and never bothers to check up on him to make sure he's even still with them? How in the world does a leader like Zaraya states she is get into that situation or even hope to maintain such a rank when she's obviously slacking?
I did however like Nero, about the only thing that was worth reading out of the whole book. However, if he gets a book, I'm not going to read it. Acheron was a favorite character of mine and I saw what a disappointment his book turned out to be, so I'm staying clear of Nero's.
Honestly, I have to wonder why in the world I keep reading most of the Kenyon novels nowadays, especially when I thought I learned my lesson when Acheron came out. It used to be I was in love with a lot of the novels, mostly for the Dark Hunter series, that she wrote, but now? Now I just find myself shaking my head and trying to come up with reason why each novel only gets worse.
This was the first book I read of the series since most of the others were taken by other people at the library. However, I think it was enough to paint me a general picture of what awaited me in the others. As I've noticed with other novels, generally what is made out to be a big issue is quickly resolved in few pages. For instance, where Darling was being hostile and distrustful towards Zaraya because he believed she had betrayed him. Within a few pages, they were doing the do and everything was fine again. Wtf? I'm sorry, but sex is not a complete cure for everything and I really don't like it being used as some quick fix method for problems just to get the couple together quicker. Seriously, whatever happened to pacing relationships anymore rather than just having them constantly humping their problems away?
Darling disappointed me a great deal and frankly, I'm not surprised. For someone who started out with potential, he quickly faltered into the same category as every other hero who got their HEA. Not only do they end up horribly emasculated, but they no longer retain anything interesting about them. I always find myself rooting for everyone else who's not in this love story because they are far more interesting than the main characters. I also never got why Darling waited so long to kill his uncle, considering how quickly his uncle went down. Nope, smart Darling is smart and he WAITS FOR THE DAY. Also, I'm tired of having the scarred and broken down man trope shoved in my face constantly when it came to Darling. I get that he didn't have the best life growing up, but once we got more details about his abuse, it honestly got to the point where I felt shit was just being made up and tossed in there to make us feel more sorry than we even were for him at the start. Sorry Dar, I'm all out of sympathy.
Another issue was the heroine. In the beginning, I was immediately presented with her stupidity thanks to being told she never gets to see what Kere looks like and she's okay with screwing around with someone and never seeing his face because she 'trusts' him. Yes folks, love at it's finest. He doesn't apparently trust her enough to show her his face the whole time they've been together, and wants to wait until their wedding day. Remember folks if she's stupid enough to say yes, then chances are she won't be able to escape the idiotic trap she's caught herself in :D As said, that doesn't speak love to me, especially since what they had was built up on nothing more than hormones and lies. Sadly, her intelligence does not improve and only gets much worse from here. Don't even get me started on her lame attempt at being a bad ass female. Seriously, how in the world is she in charge of this rebel band again? She has Darling taken prisoner and never bothers to check up on him to make sure he's even still with them? How in the world does a leader like Zaraya states she is get into that situation or even hope to maintain such a rank when she's obviously slacking?
I did however like Nero, about the only thing that was worth reading out of the whole book. However, if he gets a book, I'm not going to read it. Acheron was a favorite character of mine and I saw what a disappointment his book turned out to be, so I'm staying clear of Nero's.
April 24, 2017
UPDATE
4 years later and I stand with my first opinion. Zarya isn't only a bad heroine, she is human waste. She should never have been written. She is NOT worth of existing.
This book has spoiled all this author's works for me.
I just stopped reading ANYTHING by her. I can't even read the other series. That's how much Ms. Kenyon has screwed up. (And I loved Archeron, goodbye forever my love. You're tainted to me...)
How can an author devolve so much, I have no idea. She is my auto don't-buy. I don't even read the plot summaries. It's instant ignore button here.
Also, to the people still thinking this is a good book, giving it 5 star reviews and saying this couple is cute, that you understand the heroine and such: what is wrong with you?!! Please, go seek counseling! I'm serious. This is some fucked up shit. You need professional help.
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Spoilers / Old review / Me trying to be diplomatic (I don't know why I tried...)
I'd like to let it be clear that I love Sherrilyn Kenyon and her books in general. This is just my rage against Born of Silence and the destruction of my most cherished ginger character since my late hubby, Fred Weasley, may he live forever in my heart.
***** WARNING! DARLING CRUEL'S FAN GIRL HATE RANT *****
I was waiting for this book like crazy. I mean, Darling Cruel, c'mon, the name is freaking brilliant, not even to say he is a GINGER, known as a dandy, is a prince annnd has long hair! Sort of.
For starters, I think that for everyone who has read the other books in the series it has become an understatement that Darling's (*fan girl squeal* I love his name! XD) life ain't been easy. But, wait for it...
Enter Zarya, Zaira, Zayra, or whatever name that b**** has (I can't seem to remember, even though I just closed the book a second ago) and acts like the "freaking bullet that killed Kennedy"! Arrrrrrrrgh!!! So you will not forgive him for killing your sister? I'd freaking have her tortured just like they did to Darling just to get to you, you awful, awful, AWFUL character!!!!
What was done to Darling is unforgivable! The way the "heroine" reacts at it is disgusting. The way she keeps thinking she is so righteous is, is, is.. aaaaargh. And the way she simply turns out to be THE ONE who can save him after everything she's done is the greatest insult of ALL. After everything she did or didn't do, I wanted to have her commit suicide and be done with this book.
Really? Really? Really, Zarya, Zaira or Zayra? He told you to shut up, so boo hoo, poor you who is a woman and told to shut by a man you let be sodomized so brutally for FIVE months, he had to have his bowels reconstructed! Yeah, let him be raped by really sharp objects, that's his bad, but don't dare he tell you to shut your mouth!
Seriously, I know part of why I read romance is because I need to assure myself there are awesome heterosexual men out there that can treat you like a lady without them having to be gay. It's fiction, I know, but still I hope. I digress... I WISH Darling was gay. The only person who deserved his love was Maris. I swear, now I want him to be as gay as they come. I'll just erase I EVER read this book in my mind and forget it ever existed. Forget that an awful character like Zarya, Zaira, Zayra or whatever was created by Sherrilyn.
I never hated a character as much I as hate this one now. I just want my Darling whole again. Now I'm just depressed and crying for what could have been... I gave up this book around chapter 12, I think. Threw it away to recycle, so I can protect other people from this mental trauma.
4 years later and I stand with my first opinion. Zarya isn't only a bad heroine, she is human waste. She should never have been written. She is NOT worth of existing.
This book has spoiled all this author's works for me.
I just stopped reading ANYTHING by her. I can't even read the other series. That's how much Ms. Kenyon has screwed up. (And I loved Archeron, goodbye forever my love. You're tainted to me...)
How can an author devolve so much, I have no idea. She is my auto don't-buy. I don't even read the plot summaries. It's instant ignore button here.
Also, to the people still thinking this is a good book, giving it 5 star reviews and saying this couple is cute, that you understand the heroine and such: what is wrong with you?!! Please, go seek counseling! I'm serious. This is some fucked up shit. You need professional help.
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Spoilers / Old review / Me trying to be diplomatic (I don't know why I tried...)
I'd like to let it be clear that I love Sherrilyn Kenyon and her books in general. This is just my rage against Born of Silence and the destruction of my most cherished ginger character since my late hubby, Fred Weasley, may he live forever in my heart.
***** WARNING! DARLING CRUEL'S FAN GIRL HATE RANT *****
I was waiting for this book like crazy. I mean, Darling Cruel, c'mon, the name is freaking brilliant, not even to say he is a GINGER, known as a dandy, is a prince annnd has long hair! Sort of.
For starters, I think that for everyone who has read the other books in the series it has become an understatement that Darling's (*fan girl squeal* I love his name! XD) life ain't been easy. But, wait for it...
Enter Zarya, Zaira, Zayra, or whatever name that b**** has (I can't seem to remember, even though I just closed the book a second ago) and acts like the "freaking bullet that killed Kennedy"! Arrrrrrrrgh!!! So you will not forgive him for killing your sister? I'd freaking have her tortured just like they did to Darling just to get to you, you awful, awful, AWFUL character!!!!
What was done to Darling is unforgivable! The way the "heroine" reacts at it is disgusting. The way she keeps thinking she is so righteous is, is, is.. aaaaargh. And the way she simply turns out to be THE ONE who can save him after everything she's done is the greatest insult of ALL. After everything she did or didn't do, I wanted to have her commit suicide and be done with this book.
Really? Really? Really, Zarya, Zaira or Zayra? He told you to shut up, so boo hoo, poor you who is a woman and told to shut by a man you let be sodomized so brutally for FIVE months, he had to have his bowels reconstructed! Yeah, let him be raped by really sharp objects, that's his bad, but don't dare he tell you to shut your mouth!
Seriously, I know part of why I read romance is because I need to assure myself there are awesome heterosexual men out there that can treat you like a lady without them having to be gay. It's fiction, I know, but still I hope. I digress... I WISH Darling was gay. The only person who deserved his love was Maris. I swear, now I want him to be as gay as they come. I'll just erase I EVER read this book in my mind and forget it ever existed. Forget that an awful character like Zarya, Zaira, Zayra or whatever was created by Sherrilyn.
I never hated a character as much I as hate this one now. I just want my Darling whole again. Now I'm just depressed and crying for what could have been... I gave up this book around chapter 12, I think. Threw it away to recycle, so I can protect other people from this mental trauma.
August 20, 2012
I am a reluctant fan of this series, I normally find SK's writing style a teensy bit annoying, but I can't get enough of The League series.
BUT DUDE! Wasn't Darling Cruel gay? WTF is he doing with a female HEA? There better be a good explanation why suddenly breasts fascinate him again, otherwise I may have to give up!
Review
Kere is a lethal assassin and also one of the founding members of the Sentella, an organisation whose aim is to fight injustice where they find it. But, he is also Darling Cruel, the next Ruler of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Universe and also one of the most despised men in space. Humiliated and tortured on a daily basis to keep his family safe no one really knows the true Darling Cruel, not even the woman he loves, Zarya , the leader of the rebels who oppose his family rule and knows him as Kere, an ally to her cause. But, her love for Darling is tested when her men drag him to her in chains without his mask.....and she fails with devastating consequences.
I admit I was highly skeptical about this book, I mean Darling was gay right? So what's he doing with a girlfriend? I was told it would all be explained in the book to my complete satisfaction, and I admit I am not as devastated as I thought I would be. In any other authors work apart from Sherrilyn Kenyon's I may have still been disgruntled, but been as Ms Kenyon seems to take great delight in torturing her heroes more then any other author I have ever read, her coming up with Darling being gay in a severely homophobic society who enjoys watching his pain and humiliation kind of makes sense.
But despite being apprehensive about the gay thing, I have been looking forward to this book, although I don't really like her Dark Hunter series (there are exceptions, Vane and Wren yum!) the League series has captured my imagination. Logically I know that it is basically Dark Hunters -in -Space, but something about it makes me preorder each new book in the series. This book wasn't that much different from the others, only to time it was Darling's turn on the rack and Zarya's turn to sooth him, and I liked both of them and they definitely had on the page chemistry. I did find their relationship a little bit hard to swallow at first because of previous events, but by the end, much like the gay issue, I accepted it.
What I liked most about this book was the way at the end the game has been changed, and I can't wait to see the impact this has on the next book In the series, which I believe in Hauk's although it looks like there will be a novella for Maris towards the end of year.
Although this wasn't much different from any of the other books in the series, I did enjoy it and will be eagerly waiting for the next book.
BUT DUDE! Wasn't Darling Cruel gay? WTF is he doing with a female HEA? There better be a good explanation why suddenly breasts fascinate him again, otherwise I may have to give up!
Review
Kere is a lethal assassin and also one of the founding members of the Sentella, an organisation whose aim is to fight injustice where they find it. But, he is also Darling Cruel, the next Ruler of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Universe and also one of the most despised men in space. Humiliated and tortured on a daily basis to keep his family safe no one really knows the true Darling Cruel, not even the woman he loves, Zarya , the leader of the rebels who oppose his family rule and knows him as Kere, an ally to her cause. But, her love for Darling is tested when her men drag him to her in chains without his mask.....and she fails with devastating consequences.
I admit I was highly skeptical about this book, I mean Darling was gay right? So what's he doing with a girlfriend? I was told it would all be explained in the book to my complete satisfaction, and I admit I am not as devastated as I thought I would be. In any other authors work apart from Sherrilyn Kenyon's I may have still been disgruntled, but been as Ms Kenyon seems to take great delight in torturing her heroes more then any other author I have ever read, her coming up with Darling being gay in a severely homophobic society who enjoys watching his pain and humiliation kind of makes sense.
But despite being apprehensive about the gay thing, I have been looking forward to this book, although I don't really like her Dark Hunter series (there are exceptions, Vane and Wren yum!) the League series has captured my imagination. Logically I know that it is basically Dark Hunters -in -Space, but something about it makes me preorder each new book in the series. This book wasn't that much different from the others, only to time it was Darling's turn on the rack and Zarya's turn to sooth him, and I liked both of them and they definitely had on the page chemistry. I did find their relationship a little bit hard to swallow at first because of previous events, but by the end, much like the gay issue, I accepted it.
What I liked most about this book was the way at the end the game has been changed, and I can't wait to see the impact this has on the next book In the series, which I believe in Hauk's although it looks like there will be a novella for Maris towards the end of year.
Although this wasn't much different from any of the other books in the series, I did enjoy it and will be eagerly waiting for the next book.
April 3, 2024
6+ stars!*********
One of my ultimate all-time favourites that I'll happily re-read time after time after time. I think that I read it at least a dozen times up to this date. And it's still not getting old.
EDIT:
After four years I did another re-read and it still stands.
One of my ultimate all-time favourites that I'll happily re-read time after time after time. I think that I read it at least a dozen times up to this date. And it's still not getting old.
EDIT:
After four years I did another re-read and it still stands.
May 30, 2013
I was really looking forward to this installment of the League Series. I wish I could say I liked it more than I did.
At first I thought I might be over Kenyon's style, but then I remembered that I really liked Infamous, so my dislike can't be because her style doesn't appeal to me anymore...I think it was just this book.
First of all, everyone seemed excessively whiney. Maybe it's because this was an audiobook and the reader's voice was a little overdramatic, but I just kept thinking, "If one more person spills their sob story, I'm going to vomit." I know Kenyon's typical heroes and heroines are tragic characters, but it just seemed like every single person in this story had some tragic thing they had to share. If it wasn't Darling and Zarya (which I expected), it was Maris, Darling's brothers, Nero, Darling's or Zarya's sisters going on about something. I guess I only have so much empathy to spare characters in a book and this book maxed me out. I felt like Kenyon needed to stick to the sad stories of the three main characters (Maris, Darling and Zarya) instead of pulling in all the misery from every character she could find.
Another thing that bothered me were all the "wise" (and overly cynical) sayings that the characters kept quoting one another. For example, Maris tells Zarya about a "saying" that Darling's father used to have. I was expecting a sentence, maybe two. It must have gone on for like 2 minutes. It just seemed unrealistic that Maris would have committed something like that to memory. And don't even get me started on the 20 principles that Darling's dad made Darling memorize - and how he recited ALL 20 to the nobility in a speech. Are you kidding me? Yawn.
Finally, I have to comment on the treatment of the gay characters in the book. I've never read a pro-gay book so overfilled with stereotypes of the gay culture than I did here. I'll admit that I'm not especially tight with the gay community (though I do have openly gay friends) but I felt like Kenyon must know only one type of gay man. Not that there aren't flamboyantly gay men like Maris out there, but I feel like your average gay guy is a fairly normal guy who happens to be gay. Maris was every gay stereotype there is. I'm sure there are pacifist gay men and gay men who wish they were women, but I don't think they're the norm (of course I could be wrong). In the book, both hetero- and homosexuals alike assumed that all gay men are passive, submissive, and effeminate. I could understand heterosexuals making those assumptions, but not other homosexuals. I can't help but compare Kenyon's gay characters with gay characters written by Suzanne Brockmann and JD Ward. Brockmann and Ward both seem like they have a better understanding of human nature than Kenyon does. B and W are able to capture the humanity of their gay characters; Kenyon mainly captured the gayness of her gay characters and nothing more.
At first I thought I might be over Kenyon's style, but then I remembered that I really liked Infamous, so my dislike can't be because her style doesn't appeal to me anymore...I think it was just this book.
First of all, everyone seemed excessively whiney. Maybe it's because this was an audiobook and the reader's voice was a little overdramatic, but I just kept thinking, "If one more person spills their sob story, I'm going to vomit." I know Kenyon's typical heroes and heroines are tragic characters, but it just seemed like every single person in this story had some tragic thing they had to share. If it wasn't Darling and Zarya (which I expected), it was Maris, Darling's brothers, Nero, Darling's or Zarya's sisters going on about something. I guess I only have so much empathy to spare characters in a book and this book maxed me out. I felt like Kenyon needed to stick to the sad stories of the three main characters (Maris, Darling and Zarya) instead of pulling in all the misery from every character she could find.
Another thing that bothered me were all the "wise" (and overly cynical) sayings that the characters kept quoting one another. For example, Maris tells Zarya about a "saying" that Darling's father used to have. I was expecting a sentence, maybe two. It must have gone on for like 2 minutes. It just seemed unrealistic that Maris would have committed something like that to memory. And don't even get me started on the 20 principles that Darling's dad made Darling memorize - and how he recited ALL 20 to the nobility in a speech. Are you kidding me? Yawn.
Finally, I have to comment on the treatment of the gay characters in the book. I've never read a pro-gay book so overfilled with stereotypes of the gay culture than I did here. I'll admit that I'm not especially tight with the gay community (though I do have openly gay friends) but I felt like Kenyon must know only one type of gay man. Not that there aren't flamboyantly gay men like Maris out there, but I feel like your average gay guy is a fairly normal guy who happens to be gay. Maris was every gay stereotype there is. I'm sure there are pacifist gay men and gay men who wish they were women, but I don't think they're the norm (of course I could be wrong). In the book, both hetero- and homosexuals alike assumed that all gay men are passive, submissive, and effeminate. I could understand heterosexuals making those assumptions, but not other homosexuals. I can't help but compare Kenyon's gay characters with gay characters written by Suzanne Brockmann and JD Ward. Brockmann and Ward both seem like they have a better understanding of human nature than Kenyon does. B and W are able to capture the humanity of their gay characters; Kenyon mainly captured the gayness of her gay characters and nothing more.
February 26, 2013
4.5 stars
Move over Ash, Zsadist, and any other romance hero with a tortured and tragic past... There's a new guy in town!
Darling Cruel has endured more than his fair share of abuse growing up. He's been mocked, ridiculed, locked up and beaten - and he's braved it all to save his family from a similar fate. But all of that is nothing compared to what he's suffered at the hands of his fiancée's friends. Disturbing doesn't even begin to cover it! I think I'm going to have nightmares now....
The misery doesn't go on for 300 pages (*cough* Acheron *cough*), but Kenyon does not shy away from Darling's horrifying experience. At one point, I honestly thought he would be better off DEAD because there is no way anyone could come back from that. But he does and while the process is grueling, it's actually miraculous that Kenyon pulls it off!
Darling's one-time true love, Zarya, is the key to Darling's healing process, but I had a hard time warming up to her. There were a bunch of times I felt she was a selfish bitch of epic proportions and I just wanted her GONE...
...but when she finally grasped the extent of Darling's horrors - past and present - she proved herself a worthy and kickass heroine and I'm content she can bring Darling the peace he needs and deserves.
Move over Ash, Zsadist, and any other romance hero with a tortured and tragic past... There's a new guy in town!
Darling Cruel has endured more than his fair share of abuse growing up. He's been mocked, ridiculed, locked up and beaten - and he's braved it all to save his family from a similar fate. But all of that is nothing compared to what he's suffered at the hands of his fiancée's friends. Disturbing doesn't even begin to cover it! I think I'm going to have nightmares now....
The misery doesn't go on for 300 pages (*cough* Acheron *cough*), but Kenyon does not shy away from Darling's horrifying experience. At one point, I honestly thought he would be better off DEAD because there is no way anyone could come back from that. But he does and while the process is grueling, it's actually miraculous that Kenyon pulls it off!
Darling's one-time true love, Zarya, is the key to Darling's healing process, but I had a hard time warming up to her. There were a bunch of times I felt she was a selfish bitch of epic proportions and I just wanted her GONE...
...but when she finally grasped the extent of Darling's horrors - past and present - she proved herself a worthy and kickass heroine and I'm content she can bring Darling the peace he needs and deserves.
September 1, 2016
I just finished 18 hours of audiobook. That's right. 18. Hours. And I loved, loved listening to this book.
I used to be a huge Kenyon reader. I blasted through her entire Dark Hunter series a couple of years ago and had read the first 3 books in The League series. However, I got sidetracked from reading this book by a whole lot of newer, shinier reads that stole my attention. When I saw that this audiobook was available from my library, I figured, "Why not?" I have listened to a few audiobooks in the past and had liked them enough, but I had always preferred ebooks. Audiobooks were just a way of letting me read while folding laundry and cooking dinner. I had no expectations going into this story, so I was blind-sighted by how freaking AMAZING this narrator was. It changed the whole book for me. I immediately bought the audiobook for the 6th in the series (Maris's M/M book---->PUMPED) and even got the audiobook for Cry Wolf just because of the narrator.
My rating is a little divided. I give this book 3 stars for content and 5 stars for the narration, so 4 stars overall.
I'll talk a little bit about the content rating. DAMN this author likes to torture her main characters. I had forgotten how completely brutal she is with them. Parents, relatives, friends all betray them and do horrible things like beat, rape, and maim them. Darling was no exception. The poor guy was brutalized so thoroughly that it was painful for me to listen at times. Also, the gay slurs and torments thrown at Darling and Maris were just devastating. The brutality got so over-the-top that it dropped my rating a bit.
Also, the length of this book. Really? 600 pages of torture and misunderstandings is a bit much. I feel like it could have been edited down a ton and still had the same effect. Also, don't get me started on the logic of the plot. It didn't all make sense and I didn't try to reason it through.
However, the author really knows how to make me feel. I was listening to this audiobook in Target and actually was gasping out-loud and grimacing behind my hand. I think people though I was having intestinal problems or something... I love Kenyon's ability to write characters that have flaws and that I root so hard for. I love the friendships in this book, and I always love the romance.
I will be certainly continuing with The League series, mostly because I'm so invested in the characters but also largely because the narrator rocked my socks off.
October 16, 2016
Born of Silene by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Fifth in The League series
5 stars
Whimsical Writing Scale: 5
I'm sorry I wanted to slap you
But why do you make me feel conflicted
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 4.25
NO! I said Kere, dang it I mean Darling;)
Swoon-Worthy Scale: 4.5
Villain Scale: 4
Maris, I loved him. He was such a great character and I felt bad for him, because of his love for Darling that would never be returned, but he still stuck by him. Maris got a happy ending. YAY!
Character Scale: 5
Plotastic Scale: 5
Cover Thoughts: It reminds me a lot of Caillen’s cover, but I don’t care because I love the cover anyway.
Fifth in The League series
5 stars
Kere is the second most infamous member of the Sentella. He’s an explosive engineer who can scare even the toughest assassins of the League and it doesn’t hurt that he has a bounty on his head worth more than imaginable. But no one has ever seen Kere’s face, except for his other leading Sentella members, so no one knows who Kere is. Zarya Starska is a daughter of a traitor and hardly has any family left. As the leader of the Caronese Resistance she tries to overthrow the feared Arturo. The only person she trusts is Kere, a man whose face she’s never seen, but she has fallen deeply in love with. But Kere is actually Darling Cruel, heir to the Caronese empire and constant victim of his uncle, Arturo’s, hatred as well as anyone else who sees Darling as a punching bag or a cheap joke. In order to protect his mother from execution Darling has built his life on a lie that only one person knows the real truth about. But after being betrayed on the deepest level, Darling’s out for revenge and he wants blood and lots of it. Anyone that has hurt him in the past, present, or future as hell to pay including Zarya. Now Zarya has to figure out a way to save a man whose heart she destroyed and bring him back from the black rage that has consumed his entire being making a killing machine. Sherrilyn Kenyon’s League series is back and it hit hard with a vengeance. The last two books in the League series were great, but they had been missing something, but this book. OMG!!!!!! This book was absolutely amazing! It had everything: action, sex, blood, murder, love, betrayal, and everything amazing that you would expect in a Kenyon novel. Words don’t even describe how many emotions I felt reading this book. It was a roller coaster ride of awesomeness. Ms. Kenyon pulled a fast one on us the last books of the series having us think Darling was gay. We have been misguided and for that Kenyon you are a great writer and story teller. (But I already knew that.)
Whimsical Writing Scale: 5
The main female character is Zarya. I had really liked Zarya the first part of the book, but then I wanted to bitch-slap her for what happened with Darling and her constant ignorance and slight stupidity. But she regained my favor and I forgave her. She’s a well-thought character that makes you feel emotions toward that isn’t just hatred or one particular feeling which IMO makes her a great heroine.Here's a reenactment of my feelings:
I'm sorry I wanted to slap you
But why do you make me feel conflicted
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 4.25
The main male character is Darling. Darling was an even more thought-out character than Zarya. He was absolutely amazing. Darling made me feel what he felt and I felt so bad for him and all the injustices he went through. I’m sorry to say this ladies, but Darling was a more tortured hero than Syn. I mean think of the horrendous stuff he went through during the book and what happened to him in the past. Darling had been handed all the bad cards, but he finally got a good one and I’m so happy he did.
NO! I said Kere, dang it I mean Darling;)
Swoon-Worthy Scale: 4.5
The Villain- I love the League novels, because they usually have multiple villains and it makes more problems and a better story and I wasn’t disappointed when it came to villains.
Villain Scale: 4
Maris, I loved him. He was such a great character and I felt bad for him, because of his love for Darling that would never be returned, but he still stuck by him. Maris got a happy ending. YAY!
Character Scale: 5
I was blown away with this book. 
I’m so excited for Hauk’s book. I can’t wait for more of the League and their swoon worthy guys. :) I highly recommend giving this series a shot and if you weren’t impressed with the previous novels give it a shot anyway, because it is an amazing read.
Plotastic Scale: 5
Cover Thoughts: It reminds me a lot of Caillen’s cover, but I don’t care because I love the cover anyway.
August 19, 2017
5++ "EPIC" STARS!
😍😍😍😍
This book blew me away!! Amazing! Heart-gripping! And really really brought me to tears 😢😢
😍😍😍😍
This book blew me away!! Amazing! Heart-gripping! And really really brought me to tears 😢😢
May 17, 2012
Won from First Reads!
Basic Plot: Everyone thinks Kere (aka Darling Cruel), heir to the Caronese Empire is gay, but his girlfriend Zarya would beg to differ. They have to go through a lot to be together including but not limited to: surviving torture and imprisonment as well as starting a war with the League.
This was a monster of a book for a romance at 614 pages. That's a monster of a book for just about any genre except epic fantasy, come to think of it. It's hard to quantify my feelings about this book, so I'll try to sum up my thoughts as best I can and hope they come out coherent.
As I've never read a League book before, I had no preconceived notions going into it, which I understand was something of an issue for fans of the series. The only preconception I had was that it was a romance, which always makes me extremely cautious. I was actually very put off my the book after the.. erm... unusual... manner of exposition used in this book. But I learned a new word because of it: "sexposition." And it has nothing to do with the Kama Sutra. Who knew?
This actually brings me to my biggest gripes about this book, which don't actually include the sex, which was absurdly frequent but not to the point of losing narrative focus, thank the gods. The first gripe is that the book is probably half flashback. Every time a scene would get moving, someone would have to have a flashback to their youth and all of the TRAUMA that just oozed out of the characters. It felt like torture porn at times. HONESTLY, how much abuse must an author heap upon the male lead of a romance novel? Over the top and overdone, Ms. Kenyon. By halfway through the book it had started to irritate me. By the end, I wanted to slap her into a cohesive timeline.
Which actually leads me to my second gripe: the characters were at times out and out STUPID. Darling in particular. There were times when I just found myself tossed completely out of my willing suspension of disbelief by the way the characters acted, were treated, or managed to endure. I call shenanigans. SHENANIGANS!
That said, it really wasn't a terrible book. It wasn't what I'd call "literature," but it was enjoyable enough of a read that I felt invested in the characters and their relationship. This varied in strength over the course of the book (probably in direct correlation with the number of flashbacks I had to endure). The book was sci fi, but no hard science went into this, and the setting was just the location for the story, not a difficult to interpret web of technological descriptions. For this, I was supremely thankful. There was an actual plot, even if it was overly drawn out and angsty, and the plot did seem to trump the sex scenes in importance to the author, at least most of the time.
I don't know if I'll actively seek out more books by this author, but it was a decent read, and I'm glad I had the chance to find out what Kenyon's books are like. I like to be at least somewhat aware of the popular authors in my favorite genres.
Basic Plot: Everyone thinks Kere (aka Darling Cruel), heir to the Caronese Empire is gay, but his girlfriend Zarya would beg to differ. They have to go through a lot to be together including but not limited to: surviving torture and imprisonment as well as starting a war with the League.
This was a monster of a book for a romance at 614 pages. That's a monster of a book for just about any genre except epic fantasy, come to think of it. It's hard to quantify my feelings about this book, so I'll try to sum up my thoughts as best I can and hope they come out coherent.
As I've never read a League book before, I had no preconceived notions going into it, which I understand was something of an issue for fans of the series. The only preconception I had was that it was a romance, which always makes me extremely cautious. I was actually very put off my the book after the.. erm... unusual... manner of exposition used in this book. But I learned a new word because of it: "sexposition." And it has nothing to do with the Kama Sutra. Who knew?
This actually brings me to my biggest gripes about this book, which don't actually include the sex, which was absurdly frequent but not to the point of losing narrative focus, thank the gods. The first gripe is that the book is probably half flashback. Every time a scene would get moving, someone would have to have a flashback to their youth and all of the TRAUMA that just oozed out of the characters. It felt like torture porn at times. HONESTLY, how much abuse must an author heap upon the male lead of a romance novel? Over the top and overdone, Ms. Kenyon. By halfway through the book it had started to irritate me. By the end, I wanted to slap her into a cohesive timeline.
Which actually leads me to my second gripe: the characters were at times out and out STUPID. Darling in particular. There were times when I just found myself tossed completely out of my willing suspension of disbelief by the way the characters acted, were treated, or managed to endure. I call shenanigans. SHENANIGANS!
That said, it really wasn't a terrible book. It wasn't what I'd call "literature," but it was enjoyable enough of a read that I felt invested in the characters and their relationship. This varied in strength over the course of the book (probably in direct correlation with the number of flashbacks I had to endure). The book was sci fi, but no hard science went into this, and the setting was just the location for the story, not a difficult to interpret web of technological descriptions. For this, I was supremely thankful. There was an actual plot, even if it was overly drawn out and angsty, and the plot did seem to trump the sex scenes in importance to the author, at least most of the time.
I don't know if I'll actively seek out more books by this author, but it was a decent read, and I'm glad I had the chance to find out what Kenyon's books are like. I like to be at least somewhat aware of the popular authors in my favorite genres.
March 21, 2018
If you think Acheron was Kenyon's most tortured hero, think again. Darling Cruel can top it. But that does not make the book good. In fact: It's the worst book of Kenyon for a long time.
Because:
- the heroine is annoying, stupid, incompetent as a rebel and behaves unexcusable towards the hero
- the hero is just too good to be true
- there are endless repetions of "nobody has ever been nice to him", "nobody ever loved him" etc.
- the writing is bad
- it much too long (625 pages!): I like reading long well told stories but here it's just an ongoing addition of further details of second or third characters which isn't interesting or important AT ALL
So: Don't spend your money, because the last point on my list is the price.
Because:
- the heroine is annoying, stupid, incompetent as a rebel and behaves unexcusable towards the hero
- the hero is just too good to be true
- there are endless repetions of "nobody has ever been nice to him", "nobody ever loved him" etc.
- the writing is bad
- it much too long (625 pages!): I like reading long well told stories but here it's just an ongoing addition of further details of second or third characters which isn't interesting or important AT ALL
So: Don't spend your money, because the last point on my list is the price.
May 2, 2012
I'm still processing, but this is easily one of the best books I've read in a long time. Possibly the best in the series so far. Syn is still my absolute favorite, but Darling has carved a deep spot in my heart. His story is so heartbreaking and beautiful and overwhelming... I laughed, cried, cried a little more, swooned, sighed...I ran the gamut. Zarya is one of the best female characters I've encountered in a long time. Maris will own my heart forever and ever. I have no words for my love for him. Ryn and Drake really grew on me as the book went on. The whole Sentella and their family are some of the greatest. I love them all. Highly recommend this book. I loved it.
May 12, 2012
*Warning: SPOILERS!!!!!!*
This is, without a doubt, my favourite The League book of all time. Possibly my favourite Sherri book of all time.l She experimented with a lot of new things this time around and didn't follow her usual pattern when it came to her plotline and characters. I mean I love all of Sherri's books but they usually follow more or less the same grid frame and structure. As per usual with paranormal romances.
The first thing that was different was that Zarya and Darling were already dating before the story began. Even more unusual is the fact that Zarya was dating Darling as her Sentella alter ego - Kere - without at all knowing what he looked like and still loving him with such a level of fierce devotion. While this appeared to be an unusual take to a relationship and difficult to justify the love they declared for each other, Sherri wrote it in a way that their relationship at the beginning of the book was just as real and genuine as any other relationship despite Zarya's lack of knowledge of Kere's other persona and his appearance. This is one of the first times we experienced the Betrayal and the brutal past first hand. We were there with Darling through the ultimate Betrayal from the woman he loved and the vicious torture that scarred his existance. We're usually there only for the healing process in the other books. But with this one, we were there for the destruction AND the healing.
Sherri explored such a newfound depth of humanity and emotion in this new book with Darling. It was incredible and so poignant that I found myself laughing, crying and suffering with Darling through everything he's forced through. Sherri takes you on a rollar coaster ride of emotion and doesn't let you go even long after you've flipped the last page. I also loved how the plotline followed a more domestic, political approach. In the previous League books, I enjoyed the run while on the chase, the constant fights, the surprises,danger-at-every-turn and edge-of-your-seat plots. But the more confined approach she took this time with focusing on the Caronese Empire added to the focus on the emotional buildup and the chaotic turmoil that exemplifies Darling's life.
Sherri also adds incredible dynamic to other relationships other than romance, something very few authors manage to do so well. Darliing's friendship with Maris was so incredibly sweet and touching. It was the ultimate portrayal of true friendship and loyalty. The funny, witty comraderie is what we're used to with all other friendships in Sherri's books and it was present in this novel too. It's signature Sherri and adds caustic humour in just the right places. But rarely has she ever explored the true depth and love that friends have for each other beyond the banter and the mission runs that they have together. There was excellent contrast demonstrated between Darling and his friends in the Sentella (Nyk, Syn, Hauk, Caillen) and with Maris. With the Sentella crew, it's what we're used to with Sherri and the comraderie between the guy characters. They'll as readily insult you with every thing they've got as take a bullet for you. It's like that with Maris too, but there's a much deeper element to it than just that. While there are failures, mistakes, arguments and regrets when it comes to friendship, but when it comes down to it a true friend is one that stands by you through the test of all things, unflinchingly, right till the very last second.
"If you're going to hell, buddy, I'm driving the bus"
The same ges for family love, family can fail you too but sometimes you need to find the strength to push past the hurt and come through for the people you love. Ryn, Drake and Natale had jagged relationships with Darling for various reasons. But all of them found it within themselves to see through their arrogance, fear and anger to make peace with their inner demons. Darling's fierce protection for his siblings is just incredibly sweet and endearing.
And can I just say how much I love Darling? Despite what fate throws at him over and over again and the hardships he's forced to endure, he still manages to retain the humanity within him to demonstrate fierce courage, unyielding loyalty and passionate love. After being forced to pretend to be passive and gay against his nature, his resilient character is what makes him shine. His level headed patience and quick witted mind makes him an excellent politician and a governor to restore the Cruel's name and heritage. And add the fact that he's one of the most lethal bad asses out there and a trained assassin, is there anything that could possibly make him more perfect? Man, I wish Zarya would have gotten cold feet at the wedding so I could marry Darling myself.
Reading Born of Silence reminds me of why I love Sherri's books so much. No one's perfect. Everyone disappoints us at some point in our life. And when that happens, the betrayal and pain is crushing but it takes a far greater person to be able to get past the hurt that consumes us and to find the courage and strength to love again.
This is, without a doubt, my favourite The League book of all time. Possibly my favourite Sherri book of all time.l She experimented with a lot of new things this time around and didn't follow her usual pattern when it came to her plotline and characters. I mean I love all of Sherri's books but they usually follow more or less the same grid frame and structure. As per usual with paranormal romances.
The first thing that was different was that Zarya and Darling were already dating before the story began. Even more unusual is the fact that Zarya was dating Darling as her Sentella alter ego - Kere - without at all knowing what he looked like and still loving him with such a level of fierce devotion. While this appeared to be an unusual take to a relationship and difficult to justify the love they declared for each other, Sherri wrote it in a way that their relationship at the beginning of the book was just as real and genuine as any other relationship despite Zarya's lack of knowledge of Kere's other persona and his appearance. This is one of the first times we experienced the Betrayal and the brutal past first hand. We were there with Darling through the ultimate Betrayal from the woman he loved and the vicious torture that scarred his existance. We're usually there only for the healing process in the other books. But with this one, we were there for the destruction AND the healing.
Sherri explored such a newfound depth of humanity and emotion in this new book with Darling. It was incredible and so poignant that I found myself laughing, crying and suffering with Darling through everything he's forced through. Sherri takes you on a rollar coaster ride of emotion and doesn't let you go even long after you've flipped the last page. I also loved how the plotline followed a more domestic, political approach. In the previous League books, I enjoyed the run while on the chase, the constant fights, the surprises,danger-at-every-turn and edge-of-your-seat plots. But the more confined approach she took this time with focusing on the Caronese Empire added to the focus on the emotional buildup and the chaotic turmoil that exemplifies Darling's life.
Sherri also adds incredible dynamic to other relationships other than romance, something very few authors manage to do so well. Darliing's friendship with Maris was so incredibly sweet and touching. It was the ultimate portrayal of true friendship and loyalty. The funny, witty comraderie is what we're used to with all other friendships in Sherri's books and it was present in this novel too. It's signature Sherri and adds caustic humour in just the right places. But rarely has she ever explored the true depth and love that friends have for each other beyond the banter and the mission runs that they have together. There was excellent contrast demonstrated between Darling and his friends in the Sentella (Nyk, Syn, Hauk, Caillen) and with Maris. With the Sentella crew, it's what we're used to with Sherri and the comraderie between the guy characters. They'll as readily insult you with every thing they've got as take a bullet for you. It's like that with Maris too, but there's a much deeper element to it than just that. While there are failures, mistakes, arguments and regrets when it comes to friendship, but when it comes down to it a true friend is one that stands by you through the test of all things, unflinchingly, right till the very last second.
"If you're going to hell, buddy, I'm driving the bus"
The same ges for family love, family can fail you too but sometimes you need to find the strength to push past the hurt and come through for the people you love. Ryn, Drake and Natale had jagged relationships with Darling for various reasons. But all of them found it within themselves to see through their arrogance, fear and anger to make peace with their inner demons. Darling's fierce protection for his siblings is just incredibly sweet and endearing.
And can I just say how much I love Darling? Despite what fate throws at him over and over again and the hardships he's forced to endure, he still manages to retain the humanity within him to demonstrate fierce courage, unyielding loyalty and passionate love. After being forced to pretend to be passive and gay against his nature, his resilient character is what makes him shine. His level headed patience and quick witted mind makes him an excellent politician and a governor to restore the Cruel's name and heritage. And add the fact that he's one of the most lethal bad asses out there and a trained assassin, is there anything that could possibly make him more perfect? Man, I wish Zarya would have gotten cold feet at the wedding so I could marry Darling myself.
Reading Born of Silence reminds me of why I love Sherri's books so much. No one's perfect. Everyone disappoints us at some point in our life. And when that happens, the betrayal and pain is crushing but it takes a far greater person to be able to get past the hurt that consumes us and to find the courage and strength to love again.
May 6, 2012
I have stated numerous times that I would read and love anything Sherrilyn Kenyon wrote up to and including a soup can. I read Acheron and was probably one of maybe 5 people worldwide who didn’t think it was too intense. That being said, Born of Silence devastated me. It was so intense, so dark so unbearably harsh that I almost stopped reading it. Fortunately my love of all things Kenyon took over and I was able to read this story.
In Born of Silence, Sherrie has mastered the art of the tortured hero. All of The League heroes have been battered and bruised, overcome tremendously horrid childhoods to become amazing men who fight for right and eventually find love. Darling’s story was the darkest of them all. Honestly the darkest of any of Kenyon’s Heroes, IMHO. And yet the sneaky Ms Kenyon pulls it off, it is still at its core, a love story between two people who have nothing in common except that they have everything in common.
Zayra, born into the aristocracy before her father was betrayed and named a traitor, her family destroyed she fought her way to the top and became the leader of the Resistance, determined to overthrow the corrupt Cruel family. *sidebar.. I love that The hero’s name is Darling Cruel it leads a sinister tone to the entire book.. and tells us so much about him, he is a darling from a Cruel family.. Ok back on track* Zayra is in love with Kere, one of the five founding members of the Sentella, the largest organized group against the League. One that stands for justice not corruption, greed and avarice. He comes to her cloaked in darkness and no one really knows what he looks like.
Darling Cruel, born to be king.. his father was betrayed by his jealous brother, leaving him in charge of Darling and his siblings. Darling has spent his life fighting for his family doing anything to make sure they are safe. He is determined to survive and rule his country. His one stroke of luck in his entire life was that his evil uncle hired a League Assassin to keep track of him and make sure he didn’t betray him. What good old Uncle Arturo never realized was that when he hired Nykerian, he had given Darling a friend for life. One who taught him more than how to survive but how to win. Finally, Kere has discovered a way to save his family, not betray his friends and marry the woman he loves.. instead...
Zayra and Darling have so much to battle through, they have to first and foremost forgive each other for some stuff. Although, I did tend to get a little irked at Zayra when she would get mad about how she was treated.. yeah, not gonna spoil it but... Besides forgiving each other they had to unite a world battered by years of being ruled by the scum of the galaxy, who ruled with a malicious heart born of envy and they had to fight both the resistance and the aristo’s. I did chuckle at Sherrie’s use of the media. Something anyone from this world would understand. Propaganda to the masses almost destroyed Darling more than once.
This story is hard for me to even write about. I couldn’t stop reading it and believe me I wanted to. Many times. I don’t think it was the torture itself but rather who was doing the torturing. It really gives an insight to how a good person can act like an animal in certain circumstances. It explains how throughout history, you hear stories of decent men raping and pillaging the innocent along the way. And yet it doesn’t excuse them or forgive them it makes you think.
We do get to catch up on the rest of the Sentella and there are a few kick ass scenes that seriously must be read. One scene where poor, beleaguered, effeminate Darling tossed Nykerian over his shoulder and across the room.. OOOPS. Another when Darling announces just who and what he is.. we also learn a lot about Maris and his family, the good (Maris) the Bad (Most of the rest of his family) and the Ugly (ok, they are all beautiful but they are way ugly inside).
I think in many ways this book has so much power to it because it really is about human emotions... Greed, Envy, Malice, Love, Loyalty, Betrayal, Forgiveness, Revenge... it runs the gamut and plays into pieces of ourselves. Throughout the intensity and darkness Sherrie throws us some of her trademark wit.. it is like a light in the darkness that is this story. All things said, yes you should read this book but do not expect a perfectly wonderful story.. or one where yes the hero has a tortured past but we are removed from it. We see it up close and personal and consequently fall deeply in love with this Darling man..
Shauni
For more reviews by Shauni go to
Tea and Book and
Bodice Rippers, Femme Fatales and Fantasy
In Born of Silence, Sherrie has mastered the art of the tortured hero. All of The League heroes have been battered and bruised, overcome tremendously horrid childhoods to become amazing men who fight for right and eventually find love. Darling’s story was the darkest of them all. Honestly the darkest of any of Kenyon’s Heroes, IMHO. And yet the sneaky Ms Kenyon pulls it off, it is still at its core, a love story between two people who have nothing in common except that they have everything in common.
Zayra, born into the aristocracy before her father was betrayed and named a traitor, her family destroyed she fought her way to the top and became the leader of the Resistance, determined to overthrow the corrupt Cruel family. *sidebar.. I love that The hero’s name is Darling Cruel it leads a sinister tone to the entire book.. and tells us so much about him, he is a darling from a Cruel family.. Ok back on track* Zayra is in love with Kere, one of the five founding members of the Sentella, the largest organized group against the League. One that stands for justice not corruption, greed and avarice. He comes to her cloaked in darkness and no one really knows what he looks like.
Darling Cruel, born to be king.. his father was betrayed by his jealous brother, leaving him in charge of Darling and his siblings. Darling has spent his life fighting for his family doing anything to make sure they are safe. He is determined to survive and rule his country. His one stroke of luck in his entire life was that his evil uncle hired a League Assassin to keep track of him and make sure he didn’t betray him. What good old Uncle Arturo never realized was that when he hired Nykerian, he had given Darling a friend for life. One who taught him more than how to survive but how to win. Finally, Kere has discovered a way to save his family, not betray his friends and marry the woman he loves.. instead...
Zayra and Darling have so much to battle through, they have to first and foremost forgive each other for some stuff. Although, I did tend to get a little irked at Zayra when she would get mad about how she was treated.. yeah, not gonna spoil it but... Besides forgiving each other they had to unite a world battered by years of being ruled by the scum of the galaxy, who ruled with a malicious heart born of envy and they had to fight both the resistance and the aristo’s. I did chuckle at Sherrie’s use of the media. Something anyone from this world would understand. Propaganda to the masses almost destroyed Darling more than once.
This story is hard for me to even write about. I couldn’t stop reading it and believe me I wanted to. Many times. I don’t think it was the torture itself but rather who was doing the torturing. It really gives an insight to how a good person can act like an animal in certain circumstances. It explains how throughout history, you hear stories of decent men raping and pillaging the innocent along the way. And yet it doesn’t excuse them or forgive them it makes you think.
We do get to catch up on the rest of the Sentella and there are a few kick ass scenes that seriously must be read. One scene where poor, beleaguered, effeminate Darling tossed Nykerian over his shoulder and across the room.. OOOPS. Another when Darling announces just who and what he is.. we also learn a lot about Maris and his family, the good (Maris) the Bad (Most of the rest of his family) and the Ugly (ok, they are all beautiful but they are way ugly inside).
I think in many ways this book has so much power to it because it really is about human emotions... Greed, Envy, Malice, Love, Loyalty, Betrayal, Forgiveness, Revenge... it runs the gamut and plays into pieces of ourselves. Throughout the intensity and darkness Sherrie throws us some of her trademark wit.. it is like a light in the darkness that is this story. All things said, yes you should read this book but do not expect a perfectly wonderful story.. or one where yes the hero has a tortured past but we are removed from it. We see it up close and personal and consequently fall deeply in love with this Darling man..
Shauni
For more reviews by Shauni go to
Tea and Book and
Bodice Rippers, Femme Fatales and Fantasy
February 4, 2017
Dnf at 33%
This book had WAY too much torture in it. Most heroes have tortured past, but this one has a tortured present. Good God, the hero went through so much shit, I was wincing for him in every page.
But the reason I stopped wasn't because of the hero. The heroine in this book is a straight up bitch. Of all the heroines I have ever read, she's the most whiny, self-centred and lacks empathy almost to the point of being a psychopath. She is the LEADER of the resistance movement. Her men captured the hero and put him through the most inhumane punishments imaginable. He had to be put into a coma for four months. His internal organs were all screwed up. She knows all of this and more. But what does she do when she first meets him?
The hero, in spite of the torture he went through under the hands of the heroine, decides to pay for her sister's education and sets her up in a boarding school along with his sister. He understands her sister has nothing to do with the resistance and is compassionate enough to help her out. Is the heroine capable of the same amount of compassion to the hero? Nope!
Are you serious?!
The hero, after being saved from torture, killed everyone from the resistance movement but spared the heroine. And she calls it being 'thrown away' and equates her pathetic pain to five months of the hero being muzzled and raped. I honestly wish someone killed her. The hero deserves so much better.
This book had WAY too much torture in it. Most heroes have tortured past, but this one has a tortured present. Good God, the hero went through so much shit, I was wincing for him in every page.
But the reason I stopped wasn't because of the hero. The heroine in this book is a straight up bitch. Of all the heroines I have ever read, she's the most whiny, self-centred and lacks empathy almost to the point of being a psychopath. She is the LEADER of the resistance movement. Her men captured the hero and put him through the most inhumane punishments imaginable. He had to be put into a coma for four months. His internal organs were all screwed up. She knows all of this and more. But what does she do when she first meets him?
Then what am I thinking now?” His tone held a fierce challenge it.
But there was no need in that. “I don’t know anymore. You never showed me this side of you.”
“And what side is that?”
“The aristo who treats everyone around him like they’re beneath him.”
He laughed bitterly. “Then we’re even.”
“How so?”
“You never showed me the ruthless bitch side of you.”
Now that set her temper on fire. How dare he! “That’s not fair.”
“Not fair?” He snarled those two words. “Not fair is watching my baby sister get shot in the back by a weapon I made for you.” He stormed across the room to tower over where she sat on his sofa. “Not fair is hearing a man I fought beside, tell other people I’d put my ass on the line for, that ‘the bitch’ is dead. That bitch is the same age as your sister, and I feel the same way about her that you do for Sorche. So don’t you dare talk to me about fairness.”
Her throat tightened at every angry word he spat at her. She heard and she understood. If that had been done to Sorche, she’d be out for blood, too.
The hero, in spite of the torture he went through under the hands of the heroine, decides to pay for her sister's education and sets her up in a boarding school along with his sister. He understands her sister has nothing to do with the resistance and is compassionate enough to help her out. Is the heroine capable of the same amount of compassion to the hero? Nope!
Licking her lips, she kept coming back to the one thing she couldn’t deny no matter how hard she tried. “Gods spare me the agony, but I still love you.”
He raked her with a repugnant glare. “And I hate you in a way I’ve never hated anyone. Not even my uncle.”
The acrimony in his tone tore into her like knives and shredded her heart. “Why would you say something so mean?”
“Because it’s true. I always knew where I stood with him. He hated me from the moment I was born. But you…” His scarred voice carried the full weight of his disgust. “You made me believe a lie. And then you kicked me in my teeth and rammed it down my throat. When I needed you most, when I was being brutalized by the people I stupidly thought were my friends, I heard you laughing on the other side of the door every day with the same people who were torturing me. Every moment of that horror, I kept hoping and praying you would come in and help me. And every day you disappointed me until the only thing I could think about was ripping your callous heart out of your chest and eating it whole.”
Zarya wept at what he described.
But what hurt the most was what he hadn’t thrown in her face…
When she’d finally gone into that room, she’d slapped him. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t you dare cry.”
“Fuck you, you sanctimonious bastard! At least I didn’t throw you away… twice!” She got up to leave again.
Are you serious?!
The hero, after being saved from torture, killed everyone from the resistance movement but spared the heroine. And she calls it being 'thrown away' and equates her pathetic pain to five months of the hero being muzzled and raped. I honestly wish someone killed her. The hero deserves so much better.
January 8, 2022
Everything about Kere/Darling Cruel’s (a name that leaves a smile on your lips) life is a lie. He pretended to be gay as a cover for his mother, his assistance to the rebel force, he allowed himself to be a punching bag for his power-hungry uncle and he even hid himself from his lover, Zarya. While his friend Maris knew most only the Sentella knew the whole truth.
But the day before Darling’s was to put his plan in action to unseat his usurping uncle, he’s captured in his ‘real’ persona, Darling is immobilized, hurt and brutalized for months at the hands of the rebels Zarya led and held in her stronghold. Meanwhile, Zarya searches for Kere unaware he’s being ‘interrogated by her soldiers.
Moments before the Sentella arrives to rescue Darling from the Rebel’s ‘tender ministrations’, Zarya begins to suspect the prisoner she thought had been released is actually her love. The Sentella isn’t nice but even combined they are not as cruel as Rebels when her punishment is doled out. The ‘healed’ Darling is so different from the man he was, no one’s sure they will ever get him back.
This reader loved the Darling in previous stories and wanted to protect the Darling here and didn’t have enough love or forgiveness in my heart to want him with the sanctimonious Zarya, there are characters even Kenyon can’t redeem. But Maris was quite the ‘hero’ for this read to my taste. The brutality even outstrips the usual and the action is on par.
Rating: 4.75stars
But the day before Darling’s was to put his plan in action to unseat his usurping uncle, he’s captured in his ‘real’ persona, Darling is immobilized, hurt and brutalized for months at the hands of the rebels Zarya led and held in her stronghold. Meanwhile, Zarya searches for Kere unaware he’s being ‘interrogated by her soldiers.
Moments before the Sentella arrives to rescue Darling from the Rebel’s ‘tender ministrations’, Zarya begins to suspect the prisoner she thought had been released is actually her love. The Sentella isn’t nice but even combined they are not as cruel as Rebels when her punishment is doled out. The ‘healed’ Darling is so different from the man he was, no one’s sure they will ever get him back.
This reader loved the Darling in previous stories and wanted to protect the Darling here and didn’t have enough love or forgiveness in my heart to want him with the sanctimonious Zarya, there are characters even Kenyon can’t redeem. But Maris was quite the ‘hero’ for this read to my taste. The brutality even outstrips the usual and the action is on par.
Rating: 4.75stars
May 25, 2012
OMG this is such a heart wretching story.
Darling has endured so damn much pain and emotional battering.
I could hardly read it and at the same time I could not put this book down.
Darling is everything I expected him to be and all the suffering he has endured did not change the man he grew to be. His strength and determination are qualities I couldn't help but love.
I loved every word on every page; I fell asleep thinking about him and he was the first thing I thought about when I woke up.
He is beautiful inside and out.
I loved the fact that all the characters I've come to love, shared in his story and shared a lot of page time with him.
And how about Mari, he was awesome. How could I not love him.
This book is off the charts people. You won't be able to put it down; you'll choose to read instead of sleeping, or cleaning or making dinner. It's all you'll be able to think about. I'd put the damn book down to take a break and turn right around and go back to it.
An absolute MUST read.
Ms. Kenyon never let's us down. Love you girl.
A guaranteed, must have it, must read it book.
ROCK ON!
HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Darling has endured so damn much pain and emotional battering.
I could hardly read it and at the same time I could not put this book down.
Darling is everything I expected him to be and all the suffering he has endured did not change the man he grew to be. His strength and determination are qualities I couldn't help but love.
I loved every word on every page; I fell asleep thinking about him and he was the first thing I thought about when I woke up.
He is beautiful inside and out.
I loved the fact that all the characters I've come to love, shared in his story and shared a lot of page time with him.
And how about Mari, he was awesome. How could I not love him.
This book is off the charts people. You won't be able to put it down; you'll choose to read instead of sleeping, or cleaning or making dinner. It's all you'll be able to think about. I'd put the damn book down to take a break and turn right around and go back to it.
An absolute MUST read.
Ms. Kenyon never let's us down. Love you girl.
A guaranteed, must have it, must read it book.
ROCK ON!
HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
May 14, 2012
This series in itself is hit or miss for me. Perhaps it could be the time difference between when the first books were written and when the newer ones were. This book was unbelievable to me. Her heroes always have heartbreaking pasts and Darling Cruel was no exception. I just couldn't get past the torture when the resistance held him captive. It was beyond depraved and I understand that it happens, but it was still too much for me to believe that he could come back from that so easily. Sure he went on a killing spree of all those who have wronged him, but who could blame hime? The willingness in which he accepts and changes when Zarya is back in his life is too fast tracked to be believable. This book also felt like it was less a book about Darling and more of a set up book for Maris. There was too much background that we didn't need to know. The scene where Gera explains the history or mistresses is too long and uneeded. Pip's death was too easy. The gerents got off way too lightly for how they treated him and the acceptance of Darling's mother's behavior because she saved and gave him his father's ring?
February 19, 2013
With this book, Sherrilyn Kenyon has lost me as a reader forever.
I read the entire book, and felt so unclean by the end that I wanted to bleach my brain.
I have nothing against the existence of torture in a book, just as I don't have a problem with sex or violence, provided it serves a purpose in developing the characters or forwarding the plot. I may cringe, or feel uncomfortable, but I can deal with it and still enjoy the book.
Nothing, nothing justifies the torture contained within these pages. It was pure, straight up torture porn that existed only to titillate.
And it made me sick.
Shame on you, Ms. Kenyon.
I read the entire book, and felt so unclean by the end that I wanted to bleach my brain.
I have nothing against the existence of torture in a book, just as I don't have a problem with sex or violence, provided it serves a purpose in developing the characters or forwarding the plot. I may cringe, or feel uncomfortable, but I can deal with it and still enjoy the book.
Nothing, nothing justifies the torture contained within these pages. It was pure, straight up torture porn that existed only to titillate.
And it made me sick.
Shame on you, Ms. Kenyon.
May 8, 2012
I was very disappointed in this book. I fell in love with this series when I read the original, back before she rewrote them and when they were spread across publishers. I was really disappointed in her one-dimensional gay characters. Apparently, the author gets all her information on gay men from 1980s sitcoms. The editing was terrible. Words that should have been plural were possessive, words that should have been possessive were plural, and some words were misspelled. I also didn't buy the magical, overnight personality changes and easy forgiveness for torture and slavery.
not-for-me
January 27, 2017Not a review, just a reminder to myself why I do not wish to read this.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Thank you October. I have finally decided not to read this one.
I don't think I would be able to take the heroine.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Thank you October. I have finally decided not to read this one.
I don't think I would be able to take the heroine.
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