Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Series: Dark Hunters #21; Dream Hunters #5
Blurb: (from Goodreads)
Dream-Hunter Lydia has been charged with the most sacred and dangerous of missions: To descend into the Nether Realm and find the missing god of dreams before he betrays the secrets that could kill her and her kind. What she never expects is to be taken prisoner by the Realm’s most vicious guardian…
Seth’s time is running out. If he can’t hand over the entrance to Olympus, his own life and those of his people will be forfeit. No matter the torture, Seth hasn’t been able to break the god in his custody. Then there’s the beautiful Dream-Hunter Lydia: She isn’t just guarding the gates of Olympus—she’s holding back one of the world’s darkest powers. If she fails, an ancient curse will haunt the earth once more and no one will be safe. But evil is always seductive...
Finally, the day of a new release in the Dark Hunter realm has come. I think I should've read slower, but here I am, about 10-15 minutes after I closed the book. The book was good, but like all the Dream Hunter books, this one confused me. I can't exactly decide if it takes place exactly after Retribution or it's way ahead in time. It could also be the fact that some of the details in the entire series are a bit lost to my memory (hence the Dark Hunter series reread I'm doing currently).
I loved this book for a number of reasons. First of all, Ms. Kenyon manages to create the best tormented heroes out there. All of her Dark/Were/Dream Hunters are scarred, all of them have painful pasts, but very few of them are truly tormented. So when I read Seth's story, I couldn't help but think about Acheron and Zarek. Seth's story is just as painful and heartbreaking as their stories. Even having all the goodness and kindness tortured out of him, Seth could still feel enough compassion for those his master told him to torture and beat. He also saved Lydia from having a very painful end at the hands of Noir and even gives her the one thing she craved most: her voice. Granted, he might have an ulterior, egoistical motive for protecting her, but he did it, even after all he's been through. I do believe he had a code of honor even before he met Lydia, otherwise he would've told Noir she was inside his domain.
Lydia was different than I expected. I think she's very insecure, so she lashes out very often. I would've liked to know her a little more. I think she kind of grows up with the story. She has a big sense of loyalty and she's willing to die for those she loves, but she also is very afraid of losing those she cares about so she keeps herself a little distant.
We meet Jaden again and I really want to know more about him. I feel like Jaden's a bigger mystery than Ash was and I hope we'll be getting his book sooner. We're also see Solin. I love that guy. I hope he gets his HEA someday.
The book was good, but it felt rushed at the end. Also the timeline confused me. Is this book right after Sundown's story or is this more in the future? Then again, I am rereading the entire series, so maybe after I've read them all I'll be able to have a better timeline and I'll understand more.
Next book in the Dark Hunter series is Time Untime and we have to wait until August, 2012 to read it *pout* But I'll have time to read the books slowly and thoroughly, so I don't really mind waiting this time.
All in all, I do think this is a great book and it's fresh and another of the reasons I love Kenyon's books. It's different, but I wasn't disappointed.
My Rating:
