I just finished this book and I really enjoyed it. I have read another of her books before and didn’t care for it much (to be fair it was the writing style more then anything lacking in the plot in that case) but I let the cover art lure me into this one and I’m glad I did. The story is very, very clever. I loved the whole “well we couldn’t find the box so we’ll just use you guys to hold these evils” concept. I also liked how she was able to portray the Lords as non-human. A lot of time an author will say a character is not human but portray them in a human way. The Lords are feral and wild, and they stay that way even with the introduction of human women into their lives.

Finally, Maddox's extra curse was ingenious. I loved how it affected not only him but two of his companions, showcasing how cruel the gods could really be. It also did a lot to draw me into the characters of Reyes and Lucian who might otherwise have faded into the background with Paris and Tolan.

That being said I did have some issues with the book. I never felt Ashlyn and Maddox grow close together. It went from “Oh! You scare me! I hate you!” to “I’m going to stay here forever!” far too quickly and without any real reason. Lust at first sight I buy, love at first sight? Not so much. It left me feeling empty and rather apathetic about their relationship. It would have been better if she had gradually grown into it, perhaps over Ashlyn patching Maddox up in the morning? There were a lot of plot elements in place for Ashlyn to gradually warm up to Maddox. Pity over his curse, admiration over his continued camaraderie with the men responsible for carrying out his curse every night, etc. I felt the ball got dropped on that. I understand that when you're writing a novel you're eager for the pair to fall happily in love but I felt it was rushed in this case.

In addition I felt more needed to have been with the Gods as well. It would have been fine if the gods were going to stay as an omnipotent outside source but by calling Wrath and giving him a duty brought them into the plot and I feel they needed more of a presence. Even if it was just to occasionally pop into some heads and tell the Lords to quit their bitching and get to the job at hand or vague threats. I felt they just needed to be there to seem like a bigger threat. They’re GODS and, more importantly, new gods who have just taken over so I somehow doubt they’d let the Lords just put them off for a couple of days. Aside from the whole “you’re not doing what I told you” issue you’d think someone who just took power (and wanted to keep it) would be kicking some underling butt into gear at the slightest hint of insubordination. Again, I don't buy the gods giving the Lords a duty and then just sitting back and waiting for them to get around to do it (or figure a way out of doing it).

Finally there was the whole Anya thing. It came out of nowhere. I know its always nice to have a big surprise at the end of your story and some mystery but there is a BIG difference between revealing a surprise twist and pulling some random thing out of nowhere at the end. The surprise twist leaves me going “Oh!”, the random thing leaves me going “Eh . . . what?” We needed some hints that something else was at play. Even if it was something we might not notice initially. Again, there was ample opportunity to do this. Perhaps by insinuating Tolan (Disease)'s attention was drawn to the security machinery in the beginning for some reason such as a shadow or a sound luring him to it. Perhaps a weird feeling or nagging voice urging him on. Later on Doubt (Can’t remember his real name, sorry!) could have mentioned that strange dreams or unexplained missives alerted him to the Hunter's whereabouts and so bringing the two groups together, thus causing us to realized Anya's had her hand in the shaping of the events since the beginning and giving us that “Oh!” moment at the end. (If the author had REALLY wanted to be evil she could have even had Anya behind the Hunters learning the location of the Lords and thus truly setting up all the events so that she could get what she wanted in the end, which would have fit nicely in with the whole “sometimes immortals are cruel and sneaky” thing)

Personally I don't think these things are necessarily the author's fault. She already knows the whole story and who is doing what before the first word is even written down so I know how easy it can be for an author to think everything makes sense and is fleshed out when, in reality, the audience needs more information. I believe a proof-reader or editor should have caught these things and insisted on a bit more explanation or suggested a better progression of events. Their job is not just to check for spelling and grammar errors and I suspect a lot of them begin to forget that.

So, all in all, a good read! I haven't read the other two books yet so maybe there's more going on then what I'm aware of at the moment but those were my impressions!

For me I would have rated this as a solid B. Not a novel that will be the end all and be of its kind but definitely one I will remember and will feed my imagination for awhile!

Then trying to keep track of all five warriors and their respective demons was quite the task. Finally when I think I am getting the hang of them, another group of warriors show up! Eye-yie-yie!

But, I am willing to let all that go and see if the next book improves. I understand that will first books much of the plot has to go towards setting up the world.

The world building was complicated, but I always forgive 1st books for this. The book was heavy on the “tormented hero” but saved itself from being overly morose with the laugh-out-loud parts… such as Gideon and his inability to tell the truth, and Paris and his wicked “Hello, Heaven.”

Yep, I look forward to the next one.

I agree about continuing to read the series Jia, it’s a new series and a lot can be forgiven in the first of a new series as it builds the characters and the world they live in.