Shaedes of Gray (Shaede Assassin, book 1) by Amanda Bonilla
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: Ebook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Shaedes of Gray (1)
"I'd learned the hard way that love is nothing more than the sharpest blade, and it can easily be turned against you. I refused to let anyone have that kind of power over me ever again."
Darian has lived alone for almost a century in the shadows of the night. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind—an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin.
Darian finds herself struggling to keep her employer, Tyler, at arm's length, especially since his seductive smile makes her want to break her rules about love. The work he offers is necessary to protect the innocent—and a welcome distraction. But when Darian's next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she has taken on more than her conscience will allow, but a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished.
Review:
Huh. This is the second start of a series where the lead of the book is a Shaede and assassin. Funny thing is they both came out in 2011. Shaedes of Gray came out just a few months after Shadow Kin. If I had to pick one, I might grudgingly give you an answer. But luckily for me I get to read both series.
Funny thing about the Darian, the lead, was that I didn't hate her. No it was annoyance. Sure she's mouthy, but it wasn't annoying. What annoyed me was she's been alive for a century and at no time did she go forth to seek answers. Nor when she suddenly realizes that she is not alone in the supernatural world she doesn't seek information. Not to mention when people start to finally give her answers, or opportunities to get answers, happen she either lets them brush her off or she literally runs away! No matter the logic you toss out there is no excuse as to why you wouldn't do everything in your power to get information. Especially as many people have used, abused, and controlled your entire life by using such information against you.
Darian's instant attraction to Tyler was overwhelming. Well, maybe it's not instant. They've known each other for five years. But I wasn't privy to those five years and there wasn't much basis presented here for readers to get a foot hold on them. Not to mention that he's pretty much betrayed her trust for those five years, and why can't he give her any information. So I wasn't really fond of him. I will admit though they were dynamite in the sack. By the end of the book their romance wasn't fully fleshed out, but by gosh they have heat.
The third wheel of the romance is the King of Shaedes, Xander. To be quite honest him being in love with Darian by the end of the book had no basis. There was absolutely no excuse of him interacting with Darian before hand to cover up that gap. Not to mention that he betrays and lies to Darian over and over. To a point where I was thinking: “If you open up your legs to this guy I am going to stab you in your drooling eyes!!!”
So that needs to be developed before I'm on board with that.
Oh, and her past love/lover. Yeah. She's had quite a long while to stew on him. I get that maybe she'd feel something. But I felt like she was still so obsessed with this guy. Not obsessed vengeance. Obsessed starry eyed stupidity. Even though she currently learned how much this guy played her. That maybe there was some real emotions there, but she was just a tool for him. That's why he found her and that's the thought process that brings him back to her. (No this isn't a spoiler. Come on. If you didn't see it coming—)
Lastly Darian is a special spirit. Not only is she different from the other shaedes at the beginning of the book. By the end she's a super special spirit magical shaede of specialness.
To be quite honest I clearly had some issues with this book, but they were all tempered by the fast pace and the things I enjoyed about the book. Yes, my above review seems like a total downer. But these are things that factor in. Despite all of those things I'm still really curious about what will happen to Darian, and I like the world. I'll admit this series could go bad fast, or just might take a turn for the amazing. Let's just not make Darian a more special spirit.
Sexual Content: Sexual humor, abuse, and a steamy sex scene.
2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out.
| Previous book(s) in series: | ||
| Reviewed on BW: | Amazon: | Goodreads: |
| Shaedes of Gray (1) Blood Before Sunrise (2) Crave the Darkness (3) Against the Dawn (4) Shadows at Midnight (5) | Shaedes of Gray (1) Blood Before Sunrise (2) Crave the Darkness (3) Against the Dawn (4) Shadows at Midnight (5) | Shaedes of Gray (1) Blood Before Sunrise (2) Crave the Darkness (3) Against the Dawn (4) Shadows at Midnight (5) |
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