Category: Dark

Amo Jones-Antichrist

OK, if you’ve read the blog for a bit, you know that I like dark and mindfucks. So when I say that this book fucked my mind over but good, trust me. And, boy howdy, is my brain still all in a tizzy over Antichrist. I often joke that I curse the name of the author when I get to the end of a book that just left me wow, but I really did say “WTF, Amo Jones, just fucking fuck you” when I read the last words in this book. My husband just looked at me with his eyebrows raised, since it seemed to come out of nowhere. But yeah.

This book does jump around in time a bit. It starts out 2 years in the future, then jumps back a few years in the past, then we get to the present time. We get flashbacks to the past throughout.

I’m going to start in the past. We start out with Meraki. She is hanging out with the guy she’s kind of dating, Luca, and her best friends, Niko, Cece, who is dating Niko, Ari, Niko’s twin brother, Jer, and Mira. They are all tight, but Meraki and Niko have a special connection. They can’t seem to stay away from each other, even as they are tied to other people. But something terrible happens, and Niko leaves.

Meraki ends up in an open relationship with Luca. We get the idea that it isn’t a perfect relationship, but she says she loves him and he says that he loves her. Meraki has no idea where Niko is. Jer moved away years ago. Ari is gone. She still has her good friends Cece and Mira. She also has her dream dance academy, and she uses it to help underprivileged kids to dance and to go somewhere with their life. Everything seems to be going OK, until all of a sudden it stops. She hears the roar of a motorcycle, and it’s Niko.

Niko, AKA Antichrist, has patched into the Seven Knights MC. He’s been in a different chapter for the last several years, but things have happened that means he has to come, and it’s an open secret that he is going to be the pres of the home chapter. He sees Meraki, and he’s as drawn to her as ever.

There is a lot that happens in this book. And there is a lot that is dark, and some that is very dark. There are some very not nice people in this, and Meraki and Niko both find themselves wrapped up in all kinds of things.

I like Meraki, overall. I think that she is very strong. She has had to be. She is also devious and secretive. I don’t think that she’s a good person or a bad person. She is just a person who is filled with flaws and foibles. It is hard to like or dislike her all the time, especially as the story unfolds and we learn more about her, her past, and her future.

You remember how I said Meraki is devious and secretive? Well, she looks like a neophyte when it comes to Niko. He holds all the secrets in the world and he will weaponize them, if necessary. He is tough to like, but I think that he likes it that way, and purposely makes himself unlikable. He is really interesting though. There is a lot going on in his head most of the time, and you can just see his brain working all the time.

Like I said. I cursed Amo’s name at the end, and if you read it, you will likely curse her too. The book is still in my head, and that ending was just… I still can’t completely define it.

OK, that’s all for this one. If you like dark and twisty, definitely go check this one out. Happy reading!

Dani Rene-A Death to Seek

It’s been a minute since I’ve had a Dani Rene book on my blog, so I think it’s time to fix that. A Death to Seek is the 3rd book in the Thornes & Roses series, and it’s the last one in this series. You could probably read this as a standalone, if you wanted. There are mentions of Finn’s brothers and their wives, which are the subjects of the first two books, but nothing that is really going to make it hard for you to get caught up in this book. Mostly any mentions of the prior couples have a small explanation around it for people who haven’t read the other two. You will, of course, enjoy this story more if you have read the other two.

I’m going to do something that I very rarely do. I’m going to give you a trigger warning about this series. Each book deals with a difficult subject, and they can be hard for people to read. The first book deals with self-injury, the second with addiction, and this one deals with suicide. Dani doesn’t glorify the subjects, but they are talked about, and they can be triggering for some people. Please be careful of yourself and read responsibly.

Finn is the youngest of the 3 Thorne brothers, but he is as broken as his other two brothers. The fact that his mother walked away from the family when he was young, which really hurt him since they were close. Then, he lost his first love in a terrible way. He was almost frozen until he met Jarred. Meeting Jarred was an amazing thing for him, because Finn woke up and realized that Jarred was everything for him.

Jarred had run away from home years before, and drifted around the country until he ended up in Thorne Haven, and was hired as a gardener by Finn’s dad. He saw all the very attractive Thorne boys, but it was Finn that caught his attention, and that was all she wrote.

Several years after Jarred and Finn started their relationship, it’s still going, but in secret. They are relatively happy in their relationship, but things are about to change. Finn’s dad has just told him that he’s about to get married. It’s an arranged marriage to a young woman named Zaria.

Zaria is just 18. Her father has just committed suicide, her mother isn’t emotionally available, and Zaria is expected to portray the perfect princess. She’s an influencer on social media, but she gets all kinds of horrible comments, and they are so hard on her. But, she just puts that all inside a little box, and tries to repress it, but it never works.

Jarred, Finn, and Zaria are all broken in different ways. They have each been abandoned in one way or another, and they are all afraid of that happening again. They all have walls, although Jarred and Finn have been together long enough that they have broken down some of those walls. Zaria is willing to work on breaking down her walls as long as they are going to work on breaking down their walls too.

There is some drama, because there is always some drama. But, there is also a lot of love, some really hot sexy times, and a lot of people growing up and figuring out who they are.

This was a great book, and it is was the perfect end to the series. It is a good series, and I do recommend it, just be careful of yourself if you might be triggered by the things that I mentioned. I’m not too proud to admit that while I read some dark, dark, dark stuff, there are things that trigger me, and I have to be careful sometimes.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

K. Webster-Triple Threat

K is back with the start of an interesting duet. Triple Threat features the identical triplets from the Cinderella books. You remember, the assholes who terrorized Ash? Yeah, that’s them. And I’m not gonna say that they aren’t still assholes.

So, after the events of last books, Scout, Sparrow, and Sully are living with their uncle and are now part of the Morelli crime family. They have to do whatever their uncle tells them to do, and some of them like that and some of them hate it. The latest thing that they have to do is to try and seduce a young woman named Landry. The catch is that the S boys have to do it as the same person. Scout, Sparrow, and Sully will all pretend to be Ford Mann, and see Landry at different places. Their goal is to make her fall in love with Ford.

Landry is the isolated princess in the tower. Her father has kept her isolated from everything. Even now, as a young adult, she doesn’t have the ability to do anything. Landry has no friends, doesn’t date, doesn’t go to college, doesn’t work, does nothing. All she really does is stay home and be perfect for her father, and try to stand in between him and her younger sister. Landry is counting down the days until Della is old enough that they can get away from their father, but she still has 12 years to wait. Their father hates Della because his wife died in childbirth with her. Della is Deaf and uses ASL to communicate, but daddy dearest isn’t happy about that.

Anyway, the books starts with dear old dad coming home from Tokyo. His company has just made a huge merger with a company in Tokyo. Now he wants to make some connections in town. He’s going to use Landry and marry her off to a scion of the family he wants to connect to. That’s what the S’s uncle hopes to derail.

Daddy dear has decided that Landry can go to college, and loosens up his control just enough to send her to college, which gives the first opening for Ford to contact her. The next Ford comes to the house to teach Della how to speech read. The 3rd Ford is actually working directly for daddy darling, and is going to try to derail things that way.

OK, remember how I said that Sparrow, Sully, and Scout were assholes before and I wasn’t going to say that they weren’t? Well, they both are and aren’t. Scout is a huge asshole, most of the time. Sparrow and Sully can kind of be assholes sometimes. They are all still tight, and they support their brothers no matter what, but they bicker and poke at each other. They are possessive and competitive with each other. But, you also get the real sense that is the 3 of them against the world, even if their uncle is right there.

Each of the guys has his own way of interacting with Landry. Even Scout, who isn’t ever supposed to really see her, does see her and interacts with her. It’s confusing to Landry, and I’m not surprised, because the silly boys don’t really talk to each other and tell each other everything about their interactions with Landry.

Landry is in a helluva spot. There is so much more going on with her dad than we know. We get some hints of stuff that is happening or that has happened. And really, I just want to do horrible things to the man. Landry has a really loving heart, especially towards her sister. She is really protective. She’s also a consummate actress, which she has had to become, and that really sucks. She walks on tiptoes around just so that she can be seen as perfect all the time. I really like her, and I’m really pulling for her.

I like all the boys too, even Scout. There is a lot going on behind his eyes, and I can’t wait to find out more about him.

I really am dying for the next part of this duet, because the way that this one ended left me screaming.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Cari Silverwood-His Keepsake

Cari is back with a very edgy book. His Keepsake is all about consensual non-consent. Now, Cari’s books often walk the edge, but this one comes up to the line, jumps up and down over it, delicately crosses it, and then turns around to snort it. There are times when this book could be upsetting for people who have issues with nonconsensual sex scenes, so do be aware of it.

We start with Emme, who is kinky AF, but for whom most D/s and kink just doesn’t work. She is really into CNC, with it leaning a little more into the NC aspect than the C aspect. She wants to feel forced, to have that decision taken from her, and to have her power taken from her. So, she talks to her friend Charity and arranges for a Dom that Charity knows to abduct her for the week. Emme doesn’t know who the man is, but they have been texting back and forth so that they can set things up, including a code word he is supposed to give her when he first grabs her, so that she knows it’s him. The book opens on the night it’s supposed to happen. Charity and Emme are talking about it in a restaurant, but they don’t realize that Mr. Scott is behind them, listening to every word out of their mouth.

You see, Mr. Scott and Emme have something in common. They are both kinky AF and they both like CNC, with the emphasis on nonconsensual. He decided that he was going to follow Emme, just to make sure that some weirdo doesn’t grab her. Not because he’s interested in her, because no, that would be illegal. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in the Atacama Desert.

So, Mr. Scott decides that he’s going to grab Emme. She doesn’t know if it’s the guy who is supposed to grab her or not. He tells her he isn’t, but the mindfuck is part of what Emme wants, so surely he’s just playing into that, and he’s the guy Charity arranged. At least, that’s what Emme keeps telling herself. She’s not 100% sure that she believes it though. She really wants to, because that means that she’s going to be safe, but she just can’t be sure. And if she isn’t safe, that means that this is real and not some kind of super edgy role play.

I love that good mindfuck. A good mindfuck always makes for a good read for me. It is edgy, it is dark, and while we might know what is happening because Cari is telling us, it’s easy to put ourselves into Emme’s head and see everything through her eyes and see why she feels the way that she feels. I love her struggle to understand and to try and make things fit with the facts that she may or may not have.

There are places in this book that really skirt the edges and are very twisted. I’m not kinkshaming our characters or anyone, since CNC fantasies are really prevalent, especially among women, but there are a couple of places where it feels less fantasy and more real, if you can get the difference.

This was a really great story, and there really is a lot in there to dig into. Sadly for you, I won’t go any further into any of it because I don’t want to ruin anything. And I’ve already deleted a couple of paragraphs because I think they went a little close to the line. But, if you want a kinky good time, then go check this one out. Happy reading!

Skye Warren-Best Kept Secret

This is the last book in the Rochester Trilogy. The release date for Best Kept Secret jumped around, and at one point it was supposed to come out in January, but Skye worked through what was going on in her life, and managed to release it today. I’m grateful that she managed to do that, because I’ve been waiting and waiting for this one to come out. I mean, I was counting down the days from the second I finished reading the second one. So, let’s get to this one.

Since this is a trilogy, there are going to be spoilers in this, especially since this book picks up from right where the last one left off. If you haven’t read the other books and you are interested in them, you might want to put down my review and read the books and then come back. If you get spoiled after this point, you only have yourself to blame, because you have been warned.

So, Beau has sent Jane back to Houston. He did it so that he can keep her safe, but no one is happy about it. When Jane gets home, she finds out that Emily, Paige’s dead mom, is sitting in her bedroom, waiting to talk to her. Emily says that she had to fake her death, because someone was on the boat with her and her husband. That someone shot her husband, and if she hadn’t screamed, the murderer would never have known she was there. Emily wants to get away from the murderer, so she jumps into the ocean, and hopes that she can swim to shore. Luckily, she makes it, but Emily also realizes that she has to stay hidden for her safety and Paige’s safety. As a mother, everything she does is to protect Paige.

Emily convinces Jane to go back to Maine. Emily tells her the sad story behind her death, and then asks Jane to help her convince Beau to help her. Emily isn’t sure that Beau will believe her. Poor Emily has spent so many years in a terrible relationship, so I don’t blame her for not thinking that anyone will believe her, especially Beau. After all, she tried to get Beau to help her before, and he didn’t.

When Jane gets to Beau and Paige, she is so happy and so are they. When Paige goes to bed, Jane tells Beau the whole story, and lets him make the next move.

I really like Beau and Jane together. I think that they are quite a team. They are good on their own, but when you put them together, I think that there is very little that they can’t do. I mean, they figure things out and how to make things work, and Jane is stubborn and smart, and she knows what she wants. Beau is smart and he’s willing to give Jane anything that she wants.

I was prepared to really hate Emily at the end of the last book, but we got to know her so much more in this one, and I don’t dislike her at all. I do feel sorry for her, because she is so damaged by her past. It’s really hard to get past all that damage when you are still living in it, and have no doubts about it, she is still very much living in it because even though Rhys is dead, she hasn’t been in a place, emotionally or physically, to try and heal from all her trauma. We get a couple of chapters from her POV, which is nice. It also looks like we are going to get a book for her sometime soon, so yay!

Jane Eyre is one of my favorite classics. I’ve always liked the character of Jane. I think that she is really strong and independent and she’s a survivor, all things that I like very much. I really liked Skye’s reworking of it and how she fleshed out the story without drifting too far from the core story.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

EJ Frost-Teddy’s Boys

Yes, I live! Life is interesting, to say the least. But, I never stopped reading, and I’m always around. And now I’m coming to you from my comfy bed, using my new bed tray and back pillow. I have made all kinds of comfy workspaces lately, and I’m almost done. Tomorrow I have some plants I need to switch to the hanging pots and get hung up, and some crystals to hang in the windows to make rainbows. With the dark season coming, I need the rainbows in the early morning. Anyway, that’s not what you came here for. You’re here, theoretically at least, for my reviews, and I actually have one today.

Have you tried Kindle Vella? I haven’t tried to figure it out yet, because I think I have to read it through Amazon.com and that’s just more than I tend to deal with, but I will be figuring it out this weekend. What brings this up is that today’s book, Teddy’s Boys by EJ Frost, started out on Vellaand then got put out as an ebook, and the sequel, Gabe’s Girl, will be following the same path.

So, this is a dark academy RHish. The world is a magical one, where magic is just a normal thing. I don’t know that everyone in the world has magic, but it is an important part of this world. Magic users can have the power of earth, air, water, fire, or a combination thereof. There are also fae and other magical types running around. The book primarily takes place in the US, but two of the main characters, Teddy and Charlie, are from Manchester, England, so there is a Manc dialect going on. Most of the time, the phrases are pretty explanatory, but there is a glossary in the back, just in case.

Teddy is an earth mage. She specializes in making powered gems and stones. She’s very powerful and very talented. She’s also very unlucky in her family. Her dad is a prick and so are most of her brothers. Instead, she runs her own crew and sells her work. But, her dad and uncle want her patch in Manchester and want her money. So, she ends up banished to a school in the US. Luckily, her old friend Charlie is at Bevington, so that’s where she ends up.

Charlie is super happy to have Teddy there. He’s always figured that they would end up together, and has even saved his virginity for her. She didn’t, and that does run into problems. But, they are still good friends.

Then there’s Gabe. Teddy doesn’t like bullies, one bit. One day she heard some guy getting beat up, so she popped up and made it stop. Mostly by kicking ass and not asking names. She tells Gabe that they are going to be “bezzies” and that she will always be with him. She makes sure that the guys who are beating on him, one of which is named Darwin, know it too. And they become more than just best friends. They end up boyfriend and girlfriend. Their relationship is something special, and Gabe really just gets Teddy in a way that no one else does, I think. He really sees her, and she sees him.

The final boy is Darwin. He’s part fae and a right asshole. He’s also Gabe’s ex, and he continues to cause Gabe no end of problems, including getting him beat on. He also likes to poke and prod at Teddy. He keeps trying to get a reaction from her, he wants something from her, and she’s just not willing to give anything to him. Like I said, she doesn’t like bullies.

I will freely admit that this book made me ugly cry. It broke me, a lot. I have actually gone back twice now and reread the last couple chapters. It’s not that I missed anything, it’s that the events lived in my head and I just had to live them again. I may reread the entire thing this weekend. Like I said, it’s not that I missed anything, it’s just that Teddy, Gabe, Charlie, and Darwin (boo hiss) live in my head so much. It is not often that I do that with a book. In fact, I think that in 45 years of reading, I can only come up with maybe 5 books that I have ever done that with. The book has to have a real effect on me to get me to do that.

I can’t wait to read Gabe’s Girl. Since this book killed me right down dead, I’m hoping that Gabe’s Girl will resurrect me. According to EJ, it is supposed to be on Vella sometime after the middle of this month, which is why I need to figure out it.

Really, go read this. You won’t regret it.

Hailey Turner-A Veiled & Hallowed Eve

This is the 7th book in Hailey’s Soulbound series, and it is absolutely, positively NOT a standalone. You 110% have to have read the other 6 books in the series before you read A Veiled & Hallowed Eve. I highly recommend this series, I mean, very highly. It’s an MM series that has shifters, dragons, mages, and gods who walk among us. The world that Hailey created is beautiful, deadly, and feels oh so very real.

OK, so we have Patrick. He’s a combat mage who survived a previous god war. Because of damage taken in that war, he is no longer in the military, but works for a branch of the government now. It’s like the FBI, but for supernatural things. He’s based in NYC, with his boyfriend, wolf shifter Jono.

The past 6 books have been one battle after another. Each book has had its own unique battle, but they are all tied together in one overall storyline. And now, we have come to the end. I am going to be very careful with spoilers here, because pretty much everything I say could be a spoiler, so the synopsis is going to be really broad. Go read the books, trust me, all the ins and outs are worth it.

It’s nearly Samhain, the day that the veil between this world and all others is thinnest. It’s also the time that the Dominion Sect is going to make their big move. It has to be Samhain when it happens, because the bad guy wants to turn himself into a god and bring all the hells to Earth, and the hell dimensions will be closer that day.

Jono and Patrick are both exhausted. They’ve been fighting for such a long time, and right now they are fighting a war of attrition against hunters and demons. And it’s still weeks until the big day.

I really like Patrick and Jono, together and apart. Patrick is a very good man who has had a bunch of shit handed to him in his relatively short life. He’s been taught and trained as a weapon, and been used as that for the majority of his life. He’s self-sacrificing and the majority of the higher powers and authorities in his life have taken advantage of that fact. People have lied to and for him for most of his life. There are reasons why many of those lies have been told, but that doesn’t mean that the truth isn’t going to hurt him when if/when he finds out about it. I understand the reasoning behind why they have done what they have done, but it doesn’t mean that they ever had Patrick’s best interests at heart. Frankly, I think that there is only one adult in Patrick’s younger life who had his interests at heart, and I think that person kept him centered as much as they were able to.

Then there’s Jono. Jono will always make sure that he has Patrick’s best interests first. He will make sure that Patrick will take care of himself even if he doesn’t want to. Jono makes Patrick a better person, in all the best ways. Jono’s life hasn’t been perfect, but he had a better start than Patrick, and he’s determined to make sure that Patrick knows how valued and valuable he is and how much he is loved. Jono is a loving, caring person, who is very loyal to his friends. He will make decisions based on that loyalty so that he can protect those who are important to him. I think that he and Patrick really complement each other quite well.

I have loved every book in this series. They have all kept me right on the edge of my seat, and I gobbled them up. I was really sad to see this series end, because of just how good it was. Because we follow one main couple and their friends and family through the whole series, we really get to know Patrick, Jono, and all their associates.

This one has a lot going on. But it’s not an overwhelming, even though there is a lot of action. It does nicely tie everything up in a very satisfying way. When I was done reading it, I just sighed a very happy sigh, because I was really happy with what happened.

K. Webster-Dragon

K is back with her newest RBMC book. This is a MM book. The previous 2 are MF. You don’t strictly have to read the other two before reading Dragon, but I would definitely recommend it, because you are going to have a better understanding of what is going on in this book. OTOH, if you just want to read a hot MM story that is really intense, this is definitely the one to read.

So, Cove and his twin sister were rescued in the last book. Cove has decided that he’s now going to prospect with the RBMC. It’s the only place where he feels safe now, and his older sister is already associated with the MC. Cove is gay, and there are a lot of really nice looking guys around. He sort of fools around with a guy named Nick, but that’s coming to an end. Then, there’s Dragon. Cove is pretty sure that he hates Dragon and that Dragon hates him. But, there’s just something about Dragon that keeps pulling Cove’s attention. Cove is totally aware of when Dragon is around, because there is just that draw.

Dragon has been through some seriously fucked up shit in his life. It has broken him. He is totally a different person than he was when he was a teenager, in the before times. His family thinks he’s dead, Dragon thinks that it’s better that they do, but he keeps track of them anyway. Dragon is the go to man when the RBMC needs to have some seriously fucked up shit done. He doesn’t want to have a relationship, but then there is Cove, Baby Prospect, BP. He doesn’t want to want Cove, but he’s just fascinated by him.

When the two of them get pulled together, with this seriously massive magnetic pull, it really is intense. They are really good together, and their relationship is just really intense, just the two of them together. Dragon is one of those people who has a very intense focus, and when he focuses in on Cove, it’s obvious and wow.

The overall story is a continuation of what we’ve been seeing, but ramped up times 1000. Mostly that’s because Dragon is so involved in the beginnings. In fact, he really is the beginning of the story. Or at least when the RBMC comes into it. And that’s what broke him. He really does have a huge dose of PTSD, which, well, yeah, he would.

I actually do like Dragon. Yeah, he’s more than a little fucked up, and he has a really messed up POV on life because of what happened to him as a teenager, but he is also incredibly loyal to his brothers, both the RBMC and his actual blood. He doesn’t go to see his family, because he doesn’t want his darkness to touch them, but he does keep track of them and wants to make sure that they are safe. I think that if he ever heard that his family was in trouble, he would be there to fix the problem. He probably wouldn’t let them see him, because Dragon doesn’t think that he really deserves any love or anything good in his life. But I really do like him so much. There is just something about him.

Cove may not have had the same kind of fuckedupness that Dragon does, but he does have his own issues. And again, I don’t blame him, he went through some stuff too. A good therapist would make bank dealing with this chapter. I like Cove too. He does still have a little of that new guy shine on him, which does make him a little naive sometimes, but not a whole lot. OK, naive may not be the right word. It may be more like he’s still new and is still learning the ropes, so sometimes he trips up.

Dragon is definitely my favorite of K’s RBMC books. When I was done reading it, I just kind of sat in a sort of shook silence. It was very intense and I just had to catch my breath from it. I had a hard time starting a new book until the next day, because this one was just so much in my head.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Nia Farrell & Claire Marta-Blue

Nia and Claire have just released the newest Guarded Hearts book, Blue. This is the second book in the Hell’s Fury MC books. These guys are still gargoyles, but they mate singly, instead of in pairs like the original guys. And being an MC, they are a lot freer than the original guys. So, let’s talk about Maverick and Blue. If you haven’t read these books, you will be lost when you read this, because a lot of stuff is referenced and you won’t be sure what is going on.

So, Maverick saw Blue, a wolf shifter, fighting in an underground match a few months ago, and there has just been something about her that he has been drawn to since. He can’t get her out of his mind. When his brothers have to go on a rescue mission to save the mother of another brother’s mate, Maverick goes along. He’s there to help rescue Maria, the mother, but he is also going to rescue Blue, although no one knows that except him. He’s set up a cell in the basement, next to the one that Lilith has been staying in. Maverick has done what he can to make it all nice and homey, but still, it’s a cell in the basement. He finds Blue, sedates her, and brings her to his clubhouse. Which of course, pisses off his Prez, which ends up with him getting punished by having to be a bouncer at their bar.

Meanwhile, Blue wakes up in a cell, in a strange place, with a strange man looking at her. He tells her she’s safe, but the jackals who owned her before have spent too many years mistreating her for her to trust anyone. The only good thing is that Maria, who has kind of acted like a mother to her is right there with her. There are a whole lot of bad things, primarily the fact that her twin brother, who the jackals also run as an underground fighter and pimp out as necessary, isn’t there. He wasn’t at the clubhouse when Blue and Maria were rescued, he was out on a fight. All she can think about is the physical pain she’s in and the fact that her twin isn’t there, and she needs to get him. Maverick keeps telling her that he will save her brother for her, but she doesn’t trust him. He’s another biker, after all, and bikers lie.

I think that Maverick was a little Pollyanna Sunshine about what was going to happen. I think that he was also a little naive about some things. He really did everything with a good heart and with good motives, but I don’t think that he necessarily thought about everything that was going to happen. I just don’t think that he was prepared to handle Blue’s feelings, and how everything that has happened to her in the past has formed who she is right now. I think that he kind of pushed her too much at times. Like I said, I think that he did it with all the best intentions, but you can still fuck up and cause damage with all the best intentions.

I don’t blame Blue for not trusting anyone except Maria. I wouldn’t either. She’s basically been through hell, and now she’s been “rescued”, but she’s still in a cell. I mean, she doesn’t stay there all the time, but it’s long enough. Then there’s what her wolf does and how Maverick reacts to it. I was kinda mad at her wolf part because of that, because it’s not OK. And I thought that Maverick should’ve acted differently about it.

OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!

Eris Adderly-The Mortal Coil

Before I start this review, I have 3 facts to tell you. 1) I love, love, love Greek mythology. 2) I’ve been playing a lot of Hades, so I knew who Asterion was before he explained himself in the book. 3) I had to live with The Mortal Coil for a couple of days before I could talk about it. I had feelings and thoughts to process about it.

So, this is the story of Perseus and Medousa. (Note, if you see familiar names spelled oddly, I’m spelling them the way that Eris did, and since she’s the Greek goddess of strife and discord, let’s go with it.) Now, in the myth, Perseus slew Medousa, and used her head to petrify the Kraken, and save Andromeda. But, that would probably be a short book if that’s what happened here.

We open with Medousa laying broken on the stairs to one of Grey Eyed Athena’s temples. She’s just been raped by Poseidon Pelagaios. She tells Poseidon that she was never his prize and she told him to stop. But, yeah, he doesn’t go for that. He did the whole you were gagging for it thing. When he leaves, Medousa curses him, whereupon Athena appears. Medousa appeals to Athena and says look what happened to me on your stairs. She wants vengeance. Medousa asks the goddess to let her turn men into stone, and the goddess agrees, but exacts a price, Medousa’s wings and immortality. (Note the second, the Gorgon sisters had wings, snake bodies from the waist down, and snakes for hair, and they can turn into a woman.)

Fast forward many years, we have Perseus, Son of Olympos. His father is Zeus, his mother is Danae of Argos. Zeus appeared as a shower of gold, knocked up Danae, whose father locked her in a chest with her baby, and then threw them in the sea. We meet Perseus when he is fighting the Kêtos, so that he can rescue Andromeda. He can’t take her to her home, since her father is the one who had her pinned out for the Kêtos to eat. Perseus was going to take her to a friend, but the friend can’t take her. While they are the friend’s location, a man tries to rape Andromeda, but is turned to stone by the Bane of Men. Then Andromeda is invited to an island where there are no men, where she can be safe. She chooses to go to with Perseus, who decides that he’s going to take her to his mom and to the man he considers his father, Diktys.

When they get to Perseus’ home, it turns out that the king, Polydektes, has taken Danae and has held her for weeks. Perseus goes to the palace to get it, but then he finds out that Polydeketes, who probably should be named Poly-dick, isn’t going to give her up, and he’s planning on marrying her. He tells Perseus that the only way to get her back is to bring him the head of the Bane of Men, Medousa the Gorgon. As he’s walking out, Asterion runs after him. Polydektes sent Asterion to go with Perseus, so he can bring back Perseus’ dead body. We also find out that these two guys are cousins, and Asterion wants to help Perseus.

There is a lot that goes into this book, a lot that happens, and there are a lot of things that were really painful to read sometimes. While we don’t see all of Medousa’s rape, we see the end of it, and we also get to see the fall out from it, and really experience the raw emotions of Medousa afterwards. We also get to see her emotions, thoughts, and actions over the years after the rape.

Perseus is neither a bad man or a good man. He has a lot of good and some bad in him, which makes him very much just a man. I think that he’s honorable, at least by his standards of honor. I also think that in a lot of places, he’s very much a man of his times, and he doesn’t get all that introspective all that often. He’s a mercenary, he’s relatively good at it, and he wants to be seen as Perseus, not Son of Olympos, or Golden Son, or Destroyer.

I like the way that Perseus changes over the story. I think that he truly becomes a better person through his journey. He grows, a lot, and thinks about a lot of things that he experiences during the story and looks at his past through new eyes.

Medousa has a very similar journey, I think. She is extremely honorable. She has developed rules that she follows scrupulously, even when her sister Sthenno, who is more than a little bloodthirsty, urges Medousa to break all her rules. But, she won’t, because while Athena told her to rule herself after the curse was placed upon her, the only person holding Medousa to that is herself. I liked watching her questioning her mind, her actions, and her behaviors.

Like I said, I love Greek mythology, and I love how Eris handles the mythology in this book. I think that she is pretty close to the myth, but in another way, she’s really far away from it. Which sounds really weird, but it really does work. She also really makes the myths human and accessible, and gives them a real explanation vs. what the myth says, if that makes sense. For example, we get Asterion’s story. He’s the Minotaur, and we find out what really happened when he was conceived. The myth is that his mother was so enamored of a sacred bull of Poseidon that had been given to her husband, King Minos, that she gets Daedalus to make a hollow cow for her to hide in, and she entices the bull. Of course, the story is different when Asterion tells it.

I’ve always kind of had a soft spot for Medousa. I think that she got a raw deal from history. I honestly cannot tell you how much I love Eris’ take on the Medousa and Perseus story, because I think that she finally gets what she deserves. It also kind of just turns the whole myth on its head, which is always good.

If you like Greek mythology, or just love an incredibly strong female character, you need to read this book. I can’t do it justice in my review. There is just so much in the book that it would take me days and days and days to talk about it. I can say that Perseus and Medousa are going to live in my head for a good long time, and that’s a good thing.

So, go check it out! Happy reading!

This is my favorite statue of Medousa. She’s supposed to be holding Perseus’ head, as a reversal of the famous statue of Perseus holding her head. Instead, I prefer to think that she’s holding Poseidon’s head, and has gotten her vengeance against him.

Medusa With the Head of Perseus

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