Hello Everyone,

I hope you all are enjoying the start of the holiday season which most consider “the most wonderful time of the year”. It’s a time of family and togetherness. The start of the biggest holiday of the year. With Christmas coming, I think of the religious and commercial connotations. The chaos of shopping and decorating. Spending the morning with the family before the Christmas church service. All of this makes me think of family. Family is an unbreakable bond. Whatever the current year has brought you, your family is always there to see you through it and forgive you for any slights.

That’s what these books are to me. The epitome of family and forgiveness; redemption. Let’s review the relationship between two brothers. Identical twins separated by misunderstandings and traumatic experiences. To be honest the books are pretty f**king dark!

By now everyone should already know how I feel about novels by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I believe most of my reviews have been about her books. Of all her books, these two have struck the biggest chord with me. The story of siblings who hate each other in one book and find redemption in the second book.

I believe in previous reviews I expressed Acheron as my favorite character in the Dark Hunter series. Reading his much anticipated story just solidified my preference. Like many readers, I hated Styxx for how he treated my beloved Ash. I was elated when Ash found love and got out from under Artemis’ thumb. The trauma he went through as a child was so heart wrenching, I cried throughout the book; sad tears during the first half and happy tears at the end. I won’t give any spoilers, but he went through things because of his family and the woman who was supposed to love him that would have made the average person break. I wanted to murder everyone who did him wrong. Sherrilyn wrote Ash’s trauma too well. All the things that Sherrilyn alluded to in previous books about Ash’s past was finally explained. My heart alternately broke and rejoiced. But the most heartbreaking thing was the non-relationship he had with his identical twin brother. I abhorred the treatment Acheron received from Styxx.

Then I read Styxx’s story. To know he and Ash were both being traumatized was overwhelming. They were going through the same things at the same time. The difference is Styxx knew what was happening with Ash, but Ash didn’t know what was happening with Styxx. Ash hated Styxx and Styxx became disillusioned with Ash.

It took eleven thousand years for the brothers to forgive each other. These are the best books to read during the holidays. The question many may ask is who went through the most. For as bad as Ash had it, Styxx had it maybe twice as bad. Or maybe how they responded to the trauma made one’s seem more grievous than the others. All the same, there isn’t a measure on suffering. And when Styxx is willing to help in any way necessary, Ash finally sees his brother. They both had eleven thousand years of guilt to eventually reach redemption.

I can’t say enough of the writing in these books. The feels were real. The talent and love that goes into every word is…(insert adjective).

In the bustle of the holiday’s, when you can finally breathe again, read these books. I won’t lie, they will make you cry. They will make you feel things best left unsaid. But the end will make you feel redeemed for lack of a better word.

Happy Holidays,

The Book Diva