Gwen’s review of Acheron (Dark-Hunters, Book 12) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal Romance released by St. Martin’s Press 5 Aug 08

Kenyon wrote this book in two parts, so I’ll review it in two parts.  Part I is the story of Acheron’s early life. (“Acheron” is properly pronounced “Ack-uh-RAHN” and we learn he’s westernized to “ASH-uh-rahn” or “Ash”.)  Part II is the story of his modern life and his love story.  I couldn’t review it in any other way than two parts.   I tried, and just couldn’t.  When you read the review, you’ll see why. 

Part I, Acheron’s Early Life [my name, not the author's]

Part I is the (long) tale of Ash’s birth and the first roughly 2,200 years of his life.  The focus is on his human days, before he’s re-born into his godhead. It centers around his step-sister’s journal for large portions – giving an interesting first person accounting of his most vulnerable moments.  Much of it is told in third person after his sister is sent to Apollo’s temple.

We learn more about his mother, his history, his family.  We learn just how badly Artemis treated him and why (that woman needs some serious counseling).  And we learned how totally screwed over he was and how little anyone cared about it – including his real mother despite all her protestations of love.

However, as interesting as all this was, I have to admit, I didn’t read all of Part I.  I skimmed and skipped sections.  It was really dull to me.  Perhaps I need to be more of a fangrrl to have slogged all the way thru it, but I just couldn’t.  After roughly 200 pages of reading what was roughly the same event, for what felt like the thirtieth time, I just skimmed and thumbed until I saw more dialog.  Then I skimmed and skipped until it looked like something might be happening.  Therefore, I can’t say I read all of Part I – perhaps I will by the time I stop thumbing thru it, but I can’t say I slogged all the way thru it and it was a slog for me.

That’s why my grade of Part I is…

Grade: DNF

Part II, Acheron Present Day

This part of the book is set in modern day and is the typical Dark-Hunter novel we all know and love.  Well, know at least.  This part of the tome would be the typical mass market paperback length, about 300 pages.

It’s no secret by now that Ash’s heroine is a character mentioned in the first Dream-Hunter novel – Megeara’s (“Geary’s”) cousin, Soteria (“Tory”).   Ash and Tory meet when Ash, in a very uncharacteristic move and to cover up the existence of Atlantis and what happened to him there, submarines Tory’s archeological peer findings presentation. Tory immediately decides she hates him.  Of course, the love story begins.

Tory isn’t what I expected for Ash.  Not at first, at least.  In many ways she grows into the part by the end of the book.  I enjoyed their love story and their HEA. I thought the chemistry between them was believable and sweet.  Hey – we also learn why he’s always carrying around that backpack and actually are told what’s in it.

I liked the secondary characters, even if I felt a bit of the Feehan’s Dark Celebration thing going on in part of it.  You know what I mean: trooping out all the old characters like a family reunion to no very good purpose, making a “kids perform in front of the relatives” kind of thing. It seemed a bit overkill there once or twice, given that Ash didn’t really need the help and how the bloody hell did all those guys manage to get in one place at the same time anyway.  Seemed a bit much to believe and felt a little disingenuous.

The last issue I want to bring up is what Kenyon seems to be doing to her heroes.  I think she’s trying to make them more “vulnerable” and less “alpha”.  In doing so, however, I feel that perhaps she’s taking them down the “woe is me” path too much.  I mention this in my reviews of a couple of her last few books.  Her heroes all are more than damaged – they’re damaged and wallowing in it.  I don’t like men (or women) who wallow.  Life sucks some most of the time – just pull up your big girl/boy panties and get on with it.  Now, mind you, going thru decades of torment might skew your view of the world for a few years, but 11,000 fucking years?  C’mon!  There’s a difference between caution and cynicism, over holding onto a grudge and self-pity. Learn it.  Live it.  I just thought Acheron would be tougher emotionally than he turned out to be.

The upshot is the second half of the (enormous) book called Acheron isn’t bad.  It’s not great – it’s a kind of middlin’ sort of Dark-Hunter book and was a little disappointing.  I expected a lot more.  Not sure what.  Just.  More.

Grade: C+

Summary:

The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly… or more fun.

Read an excerpt here.

LynneC’s review of Acheron (Dark-Hunters, Book 12/13) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal romance hardcover (UK version) released by Piatkus Books 7 Aug 08

SPOILER WARNING: I reveal his heroine’s name, but I think most people know it by now. I did this review before I read Devon‘s.

Well here it was. The book I wasn’t going to get until it came out in paperback. But it was on offer at Amazon, bringing it down to the price of a paperback, so, there you go. I wish the book had been lighter, or shorter, or something, because I’ve got to tell you, my wrists hurt from holding this sucker. But I manfully (womanfully?) struggled on. Oh, and the British cover? Hideous. I’ve added it for your delectation.  [Ed.: Amazon UK says this is book 13 in the D-H series, Amazon US says book 12 - you choose.]

I’m going to get picky, but I do want to start by saying that I really enjoyed the read. Kenyon has lavished a lot of love and thought into this book, and it shows. So get it, read it and enjoy it. This is the book diehard Kenyon fans have been waiting for, the story of the badass, humongously tall Acheron, the ancient god with the face of a youth and it doesn’t disappoint. But at the end of the book I wanted more, and I had to wonder why.

The first part of the book is Ryssa’s journal. Ryssa is Acheron’s sister, and this part is really well done. Interesting to see how Kenyon writes in first person. I think she should do more. Ryssa really came alive in these pages. And describing Acheron’s early suffering from a step away really worked. I would have liked a bit more about her feelings for their father, the man who could distinguish so well between his children and treat them in such different ways. Acheron’s father remains a shadowy figure, a bit of a stock villain who I couldn’t really believe in. External motivation was great, but I wanted more internal struggle.

The gods were described as members of society. Apollo and his sister Artemis were introduced as participating in the society of the time. That, too, didn’t really ring true for me, and I’ve always had issues with Kenyon’s depiction of Artemis. Perhaps I read The Golden Bough at too early an age, but I’ve always believed in the complex philosophy behind the Diana/Artemis cult. But, this is a novel, and I found it easy to suspend my disbelief in this regard. Novelists make stuff up. However, I never got a real feel for the ancient world, and there were anachronisms you have to ignore in order to keep the story going. At one point, Ash’s father’s “alienation” was discussed, for instance (in this sense, it’s a 20th century concept. Freud and his counterparts deliberately chose words that were already in existence but attributed different and new definitions to them). Ryssa’s journal was bound into a book, which was explained (why isn’t it a scroll, or tablets?), although I didn’t buy into the explanation. “It just is” didn’t work for me.

Told you I was going to be picky. Again, I wouldn’t have read this far if I hadn’t been enjoying it.

In the second part, we go into Acheron’s story. Interesting, but towards the end – enough with the torture, already! I did, at one point, exclaim, “Not again!” out loud, which surprised the people around me. I think there was too much. Although the descriptions were really well done, we never had more than a couple of emotions. I would have liked more depth of emotion, less gory description. Acheron suffered and despaired, and gave up, and was, to be honest, a bit of a wimp.

But nil desperandum, Acheron dies, is made a god, and gets a backbone. As well as certain of his body parts being returned to him. I got a bit lost here, wondering how exactly he made the godhead. Never mind, it didn’t bother me too much.

Then we got to the modern part of the story, and the bit most fans wanted. Who would be his heroine? There were a couple of candidates I really didn’t want it to be, and luckily, it wasn’t them. In fact, it wasn’t that much of a surprise. The story is the usual kind of Kenyon, vintage, you might say. Intellectual, scatty, vaguely dorky but tall woman meets god. Gets into trouble, is rescued by the deus ex machina, you know how it goes.

Very enjoyable, but I wasn’t sure how or why Acheron fell for this particular dorky intellectual. He’s eleven thousand years old and he hasn’t been touched emotionally before except for that one time? A lot was made of his love for Artemis and how she destroyed it, but eleven thousand years? I can’t begin to imagine how that must feel, to live for that long. Tofler’s Futureshock must have exploded in Ash and his Dark-Hunters. I wanted to understand but I’m afraid I didn’t. I wanted to know why Tory, what made her so special, but I never really felt it. A lot of it was that she happened to be there at the time, when Things happened.

I wanted more for Ash, but when I started to wonder what, I wasn’t sure. Just – more. Maybe it was because this book has been so heavily promoted and discussed before its release. But I have to say, I enjoyed it. The book took me out of myself and into the world of the Dark-Hunters for three days, and that’s all I can ask. Well done, Ms. Kenyon, you pulled it off!

Grade: B-

Summary:

The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly… or more fun.

Read an excerpt.

Devon’s review of Acheron (Dark-Hunters, Book 12) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal Romance released by St. Martin’s Press 5 Aug 08

I credit Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunters series with getting me reading romance after a long hiatus. For the first few books in the series I could be found stalking the bookstores prior to release date, hoping the book had been put out early. The world she created was fascinating, the men dreamy, the romance hot. But over time my ardor cooled, as the rules changed, and the characters grew repetitive and bland. The primary love story never seemed as interesting as Dark-Hunter leader Acheron’s developing stories. Indeed, I never even read Devil May Cry until a couple of weeks ago, and skipped the Dream-Hunters all together. To my surprise, I found myself getting very excited over the release of Acheron. Could it stand up to expectations? Read and find out. Warning: It’s going to be a long review.

A friend joked that Acheron’s story was going to be “torture porn”, and she wasn’t far off the mark. The first 300 plus pages of this book (I read it in html, so I can’t be exact) are difficult to read. Ash’s early life was awful. He suffers horrific physical and sexual abuse by family members, strangers and Artemis. Even as he prayed to die, I prayed he would die also, so we could get on with the next half.

I am not one to think that difficult subjects should be shied away from, but I really found the detail and repetition of Ash’s abuse to be gratuitous and rather disturbing. The night I started the book, my hands were shaking, and I had to get up and walk around. To be fair, I was angry at the characters, not Kenyon, so my emotions were definitely engaged. The writing was powerful (and quite different from her usual style). Although there is no doubt the writing was compelling, there was no good reason for it to go on as long as it did. Feel free to skim, I would have if I hadn’t been reading to review. You’ll get the gist.

My enjoyment definitely picked up once Ash died and we get to see how he came to lead the Dark-Hunters. Then the book moves forward to present day. Finally, some happiness for Ash! The second part of the book is pure vintage Kenyon. Kenyon’s writing can border on cheesy: she tends to use certain phrases and clichés over and over, things can get overly sentimental, and the humor tends to schoolyard taunt rather than witty banter. But when she’s on her game, as she is here, her books suck me in like nothing else.

The heroine (is it okay to say who she is now?) is pretty much standard Kenyon. Intelligent, not classically pretty, sassy to the point of being annoying, deeply empathetic and understanding of her brooding man. In other words, fairly likeable. While she was more well drawn than some Dark-Hunter’s heroines, I wasn’t sure why Acheron would be so attracted to her. Their relationship does get off to an entertaining start, and develops well over all. I just wanted Acheron to be happy dammit. I was glad she was a plain old human though.

This section of the book moved fast and was very entertaining. Have to warn y’all about the cheese, though. There is a serenade, of Nickelback no less, waaaay too many pop culture references (Shia LeBeouf? “10, 000 BC”? “Fergielicious”?), and one hilariously dorky moment. I don’t want to give it away, but it happens right before Acheron goes to rescue his heroine and it involves characters from previous books. Some will find it heartwarming, but I groaned. But it’s Sherrilyn Kenyon, master of cheese, so I always momentarily cringe then dive right back in.

Although I enjoyed this section of the book, it felt a bit too quick, given all that had to be resolved — Acheron’s relationship with Artemis, his relationship with Nick, and his twin, and his mother. Some things were resolved, and some things were set up for the next arc of the story, which I’m looking forward to. If you ask me, 200 pages or so of Acheron abuse could’ve been cut and given over to his present and love story.

As you can tell, I’m all over the place with this book. Hmmm…gotta admit, I think I’d read the second half again. Despite my criticisms, I enjoyed it and was happy to see Ash happy. I wouldn’t read the first half again if you paid me. Thus my overall grade. Don’t bother with this one unless you’ve been following the series. If you are a Dark-Hunter fan, you are likely to be happy. But skim the first part, unless gratuitous abuse turns you on. Fingers crossed that this marks the beginning of a new and fresh direction for the Dark-Hunters. Stryker’s up next.

Grade: B

The Summary:
The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly… or more fun.
Read an excerpt here.

Total Coolness!  The Acheron trailer is out and it’s way cool.  Click on the more link to see it…

GAH! I CAN’T WAIT! AUGUST 5TH!!! 736 PAGES  OF Dark-Hunter GOODNESS!  Sorry, Sybil.  But SQUEEE!!!  14 Days and counting!

The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly… or more fun.