I was less than impressed with Amanda Bonilla. Not because I didn't like the book. I loved the book. It completely broke the awesome scale. But that bloody woman had me biting my nails! I stopped doing that when I was in grade 7. Eight years worth of restraint and maturity down the tubes in the space it took me to read one book!
Moving on now... Wow. This book was so good! I'm noticing a trend in my reading lately: I love them all. But this one was super awesome. I loved the characters (or loved to hate them), there was suspense, there was action, there was some romance on the side. All completely epic.
So let me tell you about the lead. Darian is the leading lady and she's a wee bit... prickly. Yes, I think prickly is a good word for her. Darian is a Shaede and she also happens to be an assassin, which you could probably get from the name of the series. Shaedes are kinda humanish, and they have the power to sort of... evaporate? I don't know how else to describe it. I imagine them to become shadows like the Dementors did in the Harry Potter movies. So they become shadow which, given Darian's profession, is a plus. I really liked Darian. She's a strong heroine who has been through the wringer. She's about one hundred years old and she's become used to relying on herself. This is because, one way or another, the people in her life have let her down. Her parents couldn't wait to marry her off to any random, well-to-do stranger. This well-to-do stranger, Henry, was an abusive asshole who beat her. The abuse only stopped when this Shaede, Azriel, saved her. They did the couple thing for twenty odd years until he bailed on her without a word. Darian had assumed that he was dead because there was no way he would have left her otherwise... right?
So, given all the crap that Daian's been through, it's no wonder she has trust issues. In fact, there is only one exception to her "trust no one" rule. And that is Tyler.
What a wonderful man. I adored him! He was so patient, and sweet, and kind. Even when Darian was being a prickly pain in the butt. He was always there for her when she needed him, even when she didn't realise she needed him. Also, Tyler isn't an average Joe. You want to guess what he is? C'mon, guess. Have you guessed yet? Alright, I'll tell you. He's a genie. How awesome is that?!?!
Next we have the mysterious Xander Peck, the king of the Shaedes. I actually liked him, despite the fact that he was all kinds of arrogant. He is super fine but too charming. I didn't trust him. Not even a little. Xander has hired Darian to carry out a hit for him but he doesn't think her skills are quite where they need to be (So why didn't he hire someone with the skills he needed? You'll have to see).This is where his brother, Raif, comes in.
Despite Xander being all swoon-worthy, I liked Raif more. Raif is awesome! He acts as Darian's trainer. Because while Darian is fully capable of kicking some serious ass, she needs to be a hundred times better than what she already is. They both seem determined not to like each other but eventually become (grudging) friends.
Azriel is a jackass. I took great pleasure when Darian handed the ass whuppin' he so badly deserved.
I liked Delilah, the Oracle. She seemed way helpless but that couldn't be further from the truth.
This book was a hundred different kinds of awesome! It went from really good to super awesome towards the end. Expect humour, action and some serious twists and turns.
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