Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Tuesday Review: STYXX (Sherrilyn Kenyon)

OMG, I loved this book! The Dark-Hunter series is so freaking awesome--and I think I even love Styxx's story even more than Ash's and--

Let me back up a second. This book isn't for everyone. I'm the second willing to say that (I imagine Sherrilyn is first). One, it's a paranormal/fantasy setting--and if you get tired of mythology rather quickly, it won't be your gig; two, if you love Ash and you cannot bear to see him as anything less than a perfect god, you should stop reading the series...probably a couple books back; and three, boy is it graphic.

Rape. Torture. Brutality. Gods that play in the lives of humans to devastating effect. Brothers who hate each other. And like ingredients in a stew, those that are listed first are in greater amounts than the others. So the reviews on Amazon don't surprise me, having the hero raped repeatedly by a god and tortured by other gods, hardly seems the stuff of romantic novels.

But it's so good. The story, obviously, not the rape.

This is like my version of the Game of Thrones series--complex, action packed, people betraying each other all the time, but whereas George likes to kill characters willfully, Sherrilyn kills them very judiciously, so eventually you know, despite how awful the situation is, eventually, eventually, these characters will have a happily ever after of some kind because by God, they deserve it. This isn't to say she hasn't sacrificed a Dark-Hunter or two to show just how perilous these guys live. BUT it's logged as a romance, so hey, you have a trump card that says, "These two people work out SOMEHOW." No matter what.

This is not to say you won't question the happy ending over and over during your time reading the book. You'll be reading along, realizing you have about 50 pages left, and everyone is in extreme mortal danger. Hell, the main character has just been killed. How are they going to resurrect the guy anyway? Somehow Sherrilyn makes it work out without you ever thinking, "Oh, that was so easy." It's never easy. It's an earned HEA.

Who will love this: those of us who love dark, emotional dramas.

Who will hate this: those of us who read to escape dark, emotional dramas.

Whichever one of these you are, that's my recommendation.

What are you reading?

4 comments:

  1. Sorry Hellie.
    Afraid I can't share your enthusiasm for Kenyon's paranormal.

    I do like some paranormal where the characters and situations can be seen as linked or evolved from known reality. For example I loved Anne McCaffrey's dragons in her Pern series. But these dragons were genetically engineered to assist humans to explore and survive on a remote planet.

    More recently I enjoyed Sophie Jordan's Firelight series with its 'evolved' dragons. I also like tales of developed psychic powers as in McCaffrey's Rowan series. There is plenty of evidence for telepathy, remote viewing, healing at a distance etc to imagine these psychic skills becoming highly developed, thus giving the stories plausibility.

    However vampires, werewolves, demons and other immortals seem too far from reality to have any real plausibility for me.

    I have just finished Jojo Moyes's 'Last letter from your Lover'. It's a heart rending love story, brilliantly written with a HEA (Hopeful ever after) ending.

    I also finished Sarah Morgan's 'Sleigh Bells in the snow'. Liked it so much that I'm now trying another of hers 'Destitute yet defiant'

    I liked your review Hellie. If my mind wasn't already blocked off I might have succumbed to your persuasive powers .... perhaps next time! LOL

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  2. Don't you love when you find a series that just sucks you in and gets you so excited for each installment? That is such an awesome feeling. I've never gotten into Sherrilyn Kenyon but I can relate to the excitement!

    I finished that time travel story I told you about last week and really, really enjoyed it. Had a great ending. I wish it had gone on a little more or had an epilogue. I hate when the ending is when the H/H finally get together. It was awesome the way she wrapped it all up, though. So, I would highly recommend MARIANA by Susanna Kearsley.

    I'm reading Brenda Novak's newest Whiskey Creek installment now - TAKE ME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. So far, so good. I'm really liking this one. Can't put it down. I've got Kristan Higgins latest and the new anthology with Sarah Mayberry, Emilie Richards and Janice Kay Johnson waiting on my Kindle. It should be a very good reading week.

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  3. Q, I completely understand! I have those books too--everyone else raves and I'm like, "That's okay. I'll pass." *LOL* The Jojo book sounds amazing. I'll have to give it a looksie!

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  4. Irish, exactly. We've all got that series that does it...this is just one of mine. :) I do like a bit more of an ending than them finally getting together. (Terri will kill me--and I love how Sid's book ended with a "F-- yes!" but at the same time, I wanted a bit more too, you know? I just wish the book was longer.)

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