Bookake

After the last couple of bad eggs, I told myself I was going to give up on this series. Yet here I am reviewing the 5th book. And I know exactly why I went and read it; When I first got into Paranormal Romance, and got completely addicted to the genre. The Lords of the Underworld was one of the first series I got hooked on. And in Book 1:The Darkest Night, Aeron was my favourite secondary character. So now that we're on book 5 (not counting all the inbetween short stories), and it's finally Aeron's story, I decide to cave in and read it.

Fortunately it wasn't actually quite as bad as the previous ones.

Aeron is the keeper of the demon Wrath, which means that he witnesses visions of people's sins, and is compelled to enact punishment upon them in keeping with the manner of their sins. So he's the one that murders the murderers, beats up the wife-beaters and tortures the psychopaths. (I'm not sure if he ever had to rape a rapist, luckily that never came up). To remind himself of all the horrific acts he's been forced to commit, he's had them tattooed over every inch of his body. He has violet eyes (like his brother Maddox), and he is rarity among the demon-keepers in that he has wings.

Olivia is an Angel who has been charged with killing Aeron, as punishment for all the atrocities he's commited. (Which I find difficult to get my head around considering he only enacts punishment upon bad people, but then I suppose Angels think they have a monopoly on divine justice). Olivia has spent a long time secretly observing Aeron, and grown quite attatched to him, so she refuses to kill him. She ends up having her wings removed and falling to earth in order to pursue him as a mortal. But if she won't kill him, you can bet that some other Angel has already been charged with the duty.

Yet again, I find myself somewhat disappointed in a series that doesn't live up to my expectations. As I was writing out the little summary, I found myself thinking 'Wow this sounds good, why isn't it this good?' I just think, perhaps Gena Showalter's writing isn't quite up to doing justice to her own ideas. Which is probably cruel of my to say so, but I'm sorry it's just how I feel.

Although there is a marked improvement over the last book. I think it's mainly because Olivia is less annoying character than say Bianka the harpy. She's not preoccupied with texting or constantly talking like a dumb teenage bimbo. Yet at one point she does go for a slutty makeover. Urgh.

Originally in the first book Aeron was also described as having eyebrow piercings, unfortunately no piercings mentioned in this novel, not sure where they're supposed to have gone. Call me shallow, but thats a chunk of Aeron's appeal lost in writers limbo.

One of the things that does irritate me is that despite being somewhat individual to begin with, Gena Showalter's characters all end up exactly the same once they're having sex. Every female and every male are alike once they get down to it, and all characterisation is just out the window. And why do all her female characters start thrashing their heads around when they're having sex? It's like they've got epilepsy. not sexy.

In conclusion. Not as bad as some of the others. But oh how do I wish the writing was as good as the concept. I wonder if I can stop myself from reading the next one..

See my other reviews of the Lords of the Underworld series:
← #4.5 The Darkest Angel (Dark Beginnings) | #6 (to read)