Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Just when you thought doomsday was over...

Centuries ago Acheron saved the human race by imprisoning an ancient evil bent on absolute destruction. Now that evil has been unleashed and it is out for revenge.

As the twin to Acheron, Styxx hasn’t always been on his brother’s side. They’ve spent more centuries going at each other’s throats than protecting their backs. Now Styxx has a chance to prove his loyalty to his brother, but only if he’s willing to trade his life and future for Acheron’s.

The Atlantean goddess of Wrath and Misery, Bethany was born to right wrongs. But it was never a task she relished. Until now. She owes Acheron a debt that she vows to repay, no matter what it takes. He will join their fellow gods in hell and nothing is going to stop her.

But things are never what they seem, and Acheron is no longer the last of his line. Styxx and Acheron must put aside their past and learn to trust each other or more will suffer.

Yet it’s hard to risk your own life for someone who once tried to take yours, even when it's your own twin, and when loyalties are skewed and no one can be trusted, not even yourself, how do you find a way back from the darkness that wants to consume the entire world? One that wants to start by devouring your very soul?YOU DON'T KNOW STYXX

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If you've followed Kenyon's facebook page and devoured the excerpts and the Styxx related goodies then like me, you've been dying to read this book!...for the bromance!

Sadly it doesn't exceed my expectations, if anything Acheron's book was better. This only by comparison: Styxx's book starts from the beginning like Acheron's . The same beginning and the same story, only now from Styxx's point of view. It pretty much feels like 2/3 of the book is repetition, because everything that happens has already happened in previous books and the other 1/3 of the book with the new stuff is very little and felt rushed.

The writing is at times too detailed and corny! So damn corny! I suppose this is just a pet peeve  of mine.."no, honey"...."it'll be fine darling"...."you're amazing"...

Beth and Styxx, they both lie about who they are when they meet. They're fated to love each other. Bethany's awesome I guess, she's a goddess, a warrior. Has a bad ass father. Then she's all sweet and lovey dovey with styxx. It felt off at times...again this might also just be a pet peeve.

Oh and not to mention the son they "lost". Turns out Apollymi didn't kill their son (Styxx & Beth's).. He's alive....and it's Urian!! The revelation was freaking awkward....most of the emotional scenes at the end just felt awkward.

There are some funny bantering scenes and overly philosophical ones. And (I guess for me) some painfully cute scenes between Styxx and Beth.

Styxx gets Beth a dog: first this just annoys me because the dog adds to this "perfect'-ish lovey dovey picture..but the dog also added some comedy to things.

In the end, Styxx shows us the other side of the story. Now we have the whole picture of what happened to Acheron and Styxx. I found this to be discomforting, because I like Acheron; he's the leader of the dark-hunters and yet he made this major mistake. I get the message, emotions cloud judgement but..this is Ash we're talking about.

The book isn't without its surprises or question marks.

Styxx is a freaking Chthonian! A  godkiller....and he kills Archon.

Another thing that has me very piqued: if Archon  isn't Ash's dad..then who is?.....I'm thinking maybe Savitar? If it is...then there's going to be some more awkward scenes coming.

Waiting on Wednesday #3

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

I'm waiting on, Son of No One by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It's the 13th Dark-hunter book! I've read them all except for Time Untime (Ren's Book). If you're familiar with Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series ! This book follows new characters Cadegan and Jo (cousin to the  Devereaux's). I'm kind of bummed it's not Jaden's book or Savitar but let's face it ...we're not gonna get their books anytime soon. On the bright side since these are kind of new characters maybe this will be a better book than Styxx.

My favorite thing about this author is that she has a website dedicated to her characters with character profiles and  everything else; curious? go here -> Sanctuary 

Further more that cover is sweet!

Expected publication : September 2nd 2014

What are you waiting on? 

The Dark-Hunters, vol 4 by Sherrilyn Kenyon

I finely got my hands on one of the
Dark-Hunter manga's , although I had to let the person borrow my Bleach manga. This way I'm going to have to give him his book back( not that I had any bad/criminal/thieving intentions)

Dark-hunter,vol 4 is the second part of Talon and Sunshine's story. Based on book 2 from the dark-hunter novels (Night Embrace). I've read all the dark-hunter novels  and enjoyed them immensely. They're funny,action packed and have great memorable characters.So it was a different experience for me to read Talon's story in manga form, with him saying lines from the book and seeing facial expressions from him , Sunshine and other characters. 

Talon's depiction in the manga is pretty young looking. Although when he's angry he has a more mature facial expression.

Acheron's depiction is great. It's dark and brooding ,just like it's suppose to be.

Further they got Fang's personality down right and Zarek's. Although Zarek is missing his goatee. Zarek!! I love that psycho and Nick's sarcasm. Vane's expression when he sees Bride for the first time. 

The manga is for ages 13  and up. 
This is an actual manga and not a comic. The pages of this book were created in the traditional japanese right to left manga format but don't worry Simi' will help you if you'r new to reading manga's.
Sexual content : kissing scenes. 

I'm happy that they didn't include sex scenes from the book because it would make me feel like I'm reading one of those smut manga's. Dark-hunter is so much more. *my opinion

Minus points would be when some of the character's go "gah". Yeah they actually say that "gah". I freaking hate that! even in the books. It ruins the effect of things. Some of the scenes depicted were weird for me, like bad acting. Sunshine gets kidnapped ,Talon's pissed but then he's calm.

I really loved this, although it's the second half of the book. I think each book is split into two parts.If that's the case then I can't wait to read Zarek's story in manga form.

Grade: 

O

Review: Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

In the Ichidian Universe, The League and their ruthless assassins rule all. Expertly trained and highly valued, the League Assassins are the backbone of the government. But not even the League is immune to corruption . . .

Command Assassin Nykyrian Quikiades once turned his back on the League—and has been hunted by them ever since. Though many have tried, none can kill him or stop him from completing his current mission: to protect Kiara Zamir, a woman whose father’s political alliance has made her a target.  

As her world becomes even deadlier, Kiara must entrust her life to the same kind of beast who once killed her mother and left her for dead. Old enemies and new threaten them both and the only way they can survive is to overcome their suspicions and learn to trust in the very ones who threaten them the most: each other.

After reading the dark-hunter books I needed more Kenyon,so I decided to check out her League series. At first I wasn't really interested because it was science fiction and I was looking for more paranormal and more of the dark-hunters. But people kept talking about how great her other books are so I had to check them out and The League really is worth it. It's action packed, funny and gruesome.

The  first cover I saw of Born of Night was pink and not very attractive but the new one is better and thank god when I bought the book I got the new one and not the pink one.

Nykyrian has had a really rough life. He was abandoned in an orphanage by his grandmother because he was half andarion half human. He grew up hating his mother and his adoptive father who made his life a living hell. But his redemption shows up in the form of a little dancer named Kiara,who shows him that life isn't as ugly as he sees it.


The other characters are just amazing and I love their names. Dancer Hawk and Darling Cruel. You can't but love their never-ending banter, they act as if they hate each other but they're quite loyal friends. Hawk is always threatening to eat Darling. Before I read Born of Night, I thought it was stupid to name a character Darling but after reading this book I realized the guy makes the name work. I eagerly anticipate their stories.

Then there's Syn , best friend and brother of Nykyrian and a drunk. All the guy ever wanted was to have a normal life I think and he had it all. A wife and a son but then his past came back to bite him in the ass and he lost everything he ever loved. So he found his solace in drinking. It was funny how throughout the book Nyk was always trying to get Syn to drink orange juice and how Syn was almost always drunk .

I couldn't help but look for things to link Born of Nigh to the dark-hunter series. I was always reading Kyrian instead of Nykyrian and Thinking of Sin from DH. I'm not saying Dark-Hunter and The League are the same ,they're not obviously. Dark-hunter has more of a fate/destiny theme while the league has a justice kind of theme (my opinion).

The book has a happy ending, yeah Nykyrian almost died and has kind of a limp now. But he also has a little dancer for a wife and a daughter and a son. And he found out he's family didn't really abandon him, they really did love him and never forgot him .

I give this book 4 stars and I'm happy I bought it because it enables me to visit the Ichidian Universe whenever I want.

<- this is the old cover. See it's PINK!

Review: The Guardian by Sherrilyn Kenyon

I finally got to read The Guardian by Sherrilyn Kenyon after having to wait for 3 long weeks.
Of course because  I couldn't wait and I was going crazy , I went looking for spiolers and other news and found a sneak preview of the first 4 chapters online ( at heroes and heartbreakers.com) well it made me even more impatient. Then I found the extra scene on the same site which made me even more gaga, because my book was delayed by a whole week!!

But of course the book!
What I expected from The Guardian.
1. What Kenyon was gonna do with the Egyptian mythology
2. Who's Seth
3. Getting to learn more about Solin and Jaden
 4. Just the enjoyment of reading another Dark-Hunter (dream hunter novel)

So the guardian wasn't as great as the other DH novels, it is also not one of my favorites but I do like it. I'd give it 4 stars.

The books is about the key of Olympus. Seth is charged with the task of finding the key for Noir. The only person known to be in possession of the key is Solin. Seth kidnaps Solin and tortures him,  but gets nothing out of him. That's when Lydia comes in. She, a dream/werehunter (jackal), somehow finds a way into Azmodea to save Solin, who of course when he sees Lydia tells her what an idiot she is and to leave. But does she listen "of course not". So she ends up getting caught as well  by the guardian (Seth). Who then uses her as leverage against Solin. Solin has to give Seth the key in exchange for Lydia.

Seth is the son of  the Egyptian god Set which makes him a demigod.  We  also find out later that he's Menyara's nephew. We also meet Maahes another Egyptian god, who has hair like a "lions mane". Kenyon didn't really get into the Egyptian mythology, other then the mention of other Egyptian gods (my opinion at first))
After reading the book again (when I should have been studying for exams). I realized I forgot about the swallow and it's significance in Egyptian mythology and how the author incorporated that into the book.Seth has a tattoo of a swallow on his chest. The swallow (according to Egyptian mythology) is associated with death and sorrow. And if you read the book you'll really like what it is to Seth and how he got it.

Seth has a really tortured character. He's suffered a lot, actually too much . I mean come on?!
Although he's suffered so much and tries to be all bad and evil, he's still retained some goodness in him. A lot of goodness in him. Noir and Azura are indeed assholes and like Lydia I can't wait for them to get theirs.

As for Solin, I've learned a lot. He was in love with a were-hunter, who after she finds out what Solin is. Shuns him. Here's the catch. They have a daughter together. Who's the daughter . LYDIA (the heroin).
I can't say if I like her character or not. I can say I find it annoying all the random endearments she used for Seth, but I generally hate that, so maybe that's not an argument.

And Jaden! Lydia did some of us fans a favor and asked him what he was . To which he answered "fubar".
I read that and was like "whats a fubar". If you've read Acheron and know what "BPD' is, then you won't be disappointed. Since I've come across Jaden's character I've been trying to learn more about him. His mismatched eyes intrigue me. And that's one of the mayor reasons I so desperately wanted to read The Guardian. *somebody betrayed him that's why his a slave to Nior? and he can leave, he can kill Noir and Azura but then somebody he cares for will suffer? who damn it?! who?! and this other guy Verilyn, who has the same eyes as Jaden but in reverse. Whats going on??

Overall impression of the book. I liked it. I don't think there are bad/good books. There are stories. and stories are just stories. You either enjoy them or not.   I enjoyed this story with the new characters and the old ones. When Seth and Lydia found some iota of trust between them at the last 50 so pages that did bug me, was the story going to end so fast?! I guess, I now understand what some readers mean by the "rushed ending" thing. and all this time I was thinking they were "annoying crazy people". My apologies.

* if I spelled anything wrong, or bad grammar My bad