Dark Descendant (Descendants #1) by Jenna Black -- Review

 

Dark Descendant (Descendants #1)

by Jenna Black

Synopsis (courtesy of Goodreads):

From the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books comes the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress.

Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . .

Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy.

But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . . 

Review:

I was hoping for and expecting a better book by this offer, given that her Morgan Kingsley series is amazing. Yes, I know that this book is YA, while the other book series is adult/paranormal(/edging on erotica?), but I thought Dark Descendant just didn't deliver. It took almost 3/4 of the book to get the background and introductions in place, and then left so little room for developing the story.
I don't know if I will read the sequels to this, though the concept of Olympic descendants is interesting... 

I guess we shall see.

Rating: 2 / 5 Stars

 

Night Star (The Immortals #5) by Alyson Noel

Night Star (The Immortals #5)

by Alyson Noel

Synopsis (courtesy of GoodReads):

After fighting for centuries to be together, Ever and Damen’s future hinges on one final showdown that will leave readers gasping for breath. Don’t miss this explosive new installment of the #1 bestselling series that’s enchanted millions across the world!

Haven still blames Ever for the death of her boyfriend Roman, no matter how hard Ever’s tried to convince her it was an accident. Now she’s determined to take Ever down…and destroy Damen and Jude along the way. Her first step is to tear Ever and Damen apart—and she has just the ammunition to do it.

Hidden in one of Ever’s past lives is a terrible secret about Damen—a secret that illuminates new facts about her relationship with Jude, but that’s so dark and brutal it might be enough to drive her and Damen apart once and for all. As Ever faces her greatest fears about the guy she wants to spend eternity with, she’s thrust into a deadly clash with Haven that could destroy them all.

Now it’ll take everything she’s got—and bring out powers she never knew she had—to face down her most formidable enemy. But in order to win, she must first ask herself: is her own survival worth dooming Haven to an eternity of darkness in the Shadowland? And will learning the truth about Damen’s past hold the key to their future?


Review:

I still love Alyson Noël’s writing style that has been continuously awesome throughout the Immortals series. It flows well, in terms of character dialogue, Ever’s inner monologue and the telling of the actions/events in the story.

I must say that the storyline was a lot better than the previous book’s. I was totally relieved that Roman is now no longer an ever lingering problem for Ever and Damen. BUT, instead now Haven has taken on that role. Her dramatic change in character, from accepting herself as Ever’s good friend and not popular in school to queen bee bitch was a little over the top. I think I would have rather liked to see a more gradual change in Haven’s behavior. I thought Noël did a great job depicting Haven’s self-destruction/ deterioration into her struggling addict behavior. To be honest, I was sick of Haven from the start of this book, and it only progressed as the story unfolded.

Happy news = Miles is back. I love Mile’s character for his wittiness, total-flaunting-ness, his approach to figure out what’s the big secret all of his best friends are keeping from him, and how he accepted answers and secrets given to him.

I was aggravated by Ever continually falling for the taunting instances of her enemies, like Roman with putting doubts in Ever about her fate and future with Damon, and now in this book, Haven with taunting Ever about knowing more about Damon and his past than she knows. She freaking so easily takes the bait, and blows things out of proportion, when she could have just calmly, collectively approached Damon about the issue and get the honesty and trust from him.

Also, UGHH – Ever and Damon still can’t touch because her touch/transfer of her DNA onto Damon will kill him. There were attempts and plots to figure out/steal the antidote for Damon, but like always, it seems to fall through. It’s kind of getting old – let them touch for real already.

Rating: 3 / 5 Stars