Customer Rating:  
Summary: Waiting for my Old DH series to return
Comment: I have loved Stryker's character since he first began in the series, but this book was a total let down. The series has become too full of otherworldly characters and lost that bit of human contact that made the series great.
Now, every time one of the lead characters fall in love there is an easy out their HEA(Happily ever after for those unfamiliar) Stryker's heroine is his exwife from 11000 plus years ago and not worth my time she was so unlikeable. The fact that she tortured one of the characters Jared that we fans know is to be another Arc of the story was just a yawn we just went through that with Ash for years dealing with Artemis.
War was the best part of the book and it became kind of bland in the end. There was a bit of interesting dynamic in which Stryker, Ash and Nick had to work together, but it was much too brief.
Also, Savitar another character I adore basically got his whole HEA set up with the basic love/hate thing S.K. has started to make her central theme with what I am sure will be his relationship with Ash's mother Apollymi.
There was promise but the story just seemed as if it was an after thought, as if the author, said, well since we are beginning a new section of the story let's just throw out the whole history of the series.
Unlike others I personally adored the once great play between the Dark Hunters, Dream Hunters, Were Hunters and now even the baddies like Stryker, I'll base this on the male leads but it seems to me that it was much better when the women they came across weren't all superwomen who all knew Judo, Karate or could kick butt with the guys. I don't have anything against it but it's almost like I preferred the opposites attract angle she began the series with like in the first 6 or 7 books. Although there was the supernatural elements the heroine wasn't always perfect. They had depth and I loved to find out what happened next.
In Stryker's story I found it hard to sympathize or even care of his relationship with Zephyra. Yes, they once loved each other and although a bad guy Stryker was always one to go by his Honor. But adding his HEA as a demonic hit woman for Artemis who keeps a slave to torture and do her bidding just was too unlikable for me.
Even the similar story line from Devil May Cry where Ash finds out he has a daughter with Artemis and now we have Stryker finding out the same thing was a big yawn. All, I could think was how pitiful it was to read about the basic story of Ash's life.
What would have been good? More of the history of Stryker that was mentioned the horrors that he went through. It was mentioned that he'd been torn apart or something similar and then never mentioned again, by who and when?
And Zephyra yes they loved each other, but she can't forget or forgive what happened those 11,000 years ago? Just too much of nothing. There was not much empathy to the book at all which was so prevelent in previous books.
Between Ash's miracle heroine Tori who became powerful too it's just too many easy outs for a series that was once wonderful with intrigue, twists and just a great spirit.
It always made me happy to read a Sherrilyn Kenyon book because even though I am not those characters the women in the beginning were likeable and unique.
One Silent Night like Acheron has fallen into what appears to be a fill in the blanks style of writing.
A. Hero is this and can't have a human love interest for whatever reason.
B. Female either is supernatural already or has to get great powers too.
I am not against the Gods, Goddesses and other otherworldly creatures getting their happy ending but make it exciting, wonderful, not just a repetition of old ideas.
Bad pun but bring back the magic. The days of Bride and Vane, Tabitha & Valerius, Grace & Julian, Zarek & Astrid, Talon & Sunshine and Kyrian & Amanda.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Yep...It was that Bad!
Comment: Yep. It really was that bad. When I finished this book, I threw it across the room. It was disjointed, silly, at times kind of boring, and really just a bad read.
In regards to Sherrilyn Kenyon, I find myself in an interesting dilemma. I've come to the conclusion that she is no longer capable of writing good stories. I really don't think I've enjoyed one of her books since "Night Play." However, because I've read the entire series, I really feel as if I'm invested. I genuinely want to find out what happens to Nick...and some of those other characters that she's forgotten about, like Cael (remember him from "Dark Side of the Moon?")
But her stories are a complete ripoff! In regards to the bad plots, now she's taking short stories and charging full-price for them. On this last story, the font was huge. The stories are NOT worth the time it takes to read the book. I refuse to waste any more money on this author. If I can't find these books at the library, then I won't be reading them.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Didn't buy!!!
Comment: When I saw this book was finally out, I picked it up but didn't buy it. The font and spacing were both larger making it a 150 to 200 page book. Since I have not read it I can't comment on the content but from reviews it doesn't look good. Since I really like the Dark Hunter & Dream Hunter series, I feel cheated.
Customer Rating:
Summary: hello? hello? any book here?
Comment: My first alarm bell went off when I saw the huge type. My initial excitement upon finding another book in the series and looking forward to a rainy weekend read turned into a book throwing, bored and confused experience. I kept picking it up again, thinking it would be getting better, different and more. Wrong. Sherrilyn, find better ghost writers!
Customer Rating:
Summary: She Doesn't Break the Trend!
Comment: Stryker (the villain in several previous stories) is finally given his own book and his own HEA. The book opens with Stryker plotting revenge against two of his biggest enemies: Acheron Parthenopaeus and Nick Gautier. To achieve this, he brings back some ancient beings that even the greek gods had problems destroying. Yet, when Zephyra, Stryker's ex-wife and one true love enters the picture, all of his carefully thought-of plans go awry. Her presence into his life and his current machinations, has the propensity to turn dangerous situations...deadly chaotic.
Sherrilyn Kenyon's "One Silent Night" has given us even more "beings" for an already overpopulated world. In earlier books, Sherrilyn shaped her world with a myriad of gods, dark-hunters, daimons, werehunters and "others" that created a comfortable balance of "good and evil." As the series progressed, Sherrilyn added even more powerful beings, blurred the line of "good and evil" and started to turn the series into something a "little confusing." Well...the "little confusion" has turned into "full-fledged disorientation," and there is no line between "good and evil." As someone who has read the series from the beginning, even I'm perplexed on the events and the hierarchy.
I did not like this book for several reasons. It didn't flow well. The transitions between scenes was really choppy and the pacing uneven. Unfortunately, that does seem to be a trend for many of Ms. Kenyon's stories. The language in these stories always throw me for a loop. These are people who have lived for thousands of years and yet they talk like teenagers, complete with bad slang. While the plot in this book was fairly original, it just wasn't enough to save this story. Something else that didn't change was the publisher's propensity to make this book seem longer than what it really is. While this book may have numbered 310 pages, it WAS NOT 310 pages. The font was large, and the spacing extensive.
The characters were also problematic: 1)Stryker, who was the villain in most of her previous books, was just not leading man material. Here is a man who killed his own son, and yet, we are to now view him in a different light. A light such as loving husband and doting father...uh, I don't think so. 2) Zephyra didn't inspire "warm and fuzzy" feelings either. She was so evil and cold-hearted that I found myself wishing that she DID NOT get a HEA.
Because I have followed these books from the beginning, I feel compelled to continue to read the series. But quite frankly, Sherrilyn has not written a good solid story in a very long time. I've read her last few books thinking, "Wow. She must have rushed to finish it, trying to beat some deadline!" Unfortunately, "One Silent Night" does not break the trend, as I thought the same thing about this story. I do not recommend it to any readers, whether you are a fan of the series or not.
|
