Addison is back with a new book. The Relic is either the 2nd or 3rd book in this series, depending on how you want to look at it. It started with Pearl in Catacombs, then we had Jade in Cathedral, and now we have Pearl again, this time it’s with Vladislav. This is a real change from the other 2 books, and it was fucking amazing. I have so many, many, many things to say about this one.
So, we met Vlad in the last book. He came and dealt with his son, Darius, and set up his granddaughter, Jade. Vlad is basically the oldest living, or unliving, thing anywhere. Malcolm came to him and told him about Pearl, so Vlad went down and rescued her, his wife, his soul, from the crypt in which Darius had bricked her. So, now, he has to convince Pearl to love him again.
Pearl is… well, she’s not in good shape. She has a long, traumatic history before she even got to Darius and before he did what he did. She has all these triggers and all these damaged areas, plus her memory is all fucked up because of Darius. So, when she has this powerful creature telling her that he loves her, that she’s his wife, she, well, she just doesn’t do all that well. And, you have to remember that she was trapped by Darius in the 1920s, and now it’s 2020, so there’s all kinds of instant culture shock.
I absolutely adore Vlad. He’s incredibly powerful and incredibly ruthless. In fact, he’s so ruthless that I think that there needs to be a better description for it. He’s violent and might be just a wee bit psychopathic. In short, he just ain’t right. And I mean that in the best possible sense. He’s also got a really interesting sense of humor and is terrifying toward everyone but Pearl. There’s just something about him that’s just so visceral and that I like so much.
Pearl is so delicate, but at the same time, she’s not. She just has to find that bit that isn’t so delicate. I think that she hasn’t figured out that she has that strength, but she had to have had it so that she could handle everything that she was dealing with when it came to Darius, and then when it comes to everything else that she has to deal with. She will be utterly terrifying when she realizes all of her power, I think. I know that I don’t want to mess with her, because I think she’s rather terrifying now.
OK, here’s where we are going to get into my opions. It may be spoilery, so I’m going to put it all under the picture. Before I do that, I’m going to say that this isn’t tremendously dark, but it is definitely and Addison read.
So, go check it out! And see below for my opinions.
OK, so as I was reading this, I saw how much Vlad loved Pearl. And as I was reading it, I was just impressed with how tender this tremendouly terrifying demonic ancient creature was with this poor broken soul. Then, as I read more of Vlad’s back story and thought about the book after reading it, I started to wonder. And what I wondered was is it really love or is it obsession.
This is always one of the things that I think about when I’m reading Sigil’s story, because I have the same questions when it comes to how Sovereign feels about Sigil. I don’t doubt that Vlad has deep feelings for Pearl, it’s obvious by how he treats her. What I do doubt is that it’s love. Well, sort of. I think that he’s dangerously obsessed with her and it’s obsessive love. Which fits his personality and his back story perfectly.
Vlad is going to do anything he has to, ANYTHING, in order to make sure that Pearl is happy, even if it means that he has to mess with her mind or fuck her on the ground at her daughter’s wedding.
I would like to see a book set in the future, because I have a feeling that history may repeat itself.
In Between the Pages 