The Nitty Gritty: Anderson Kane has had enough. He wants Konstantin dead and he is going to use Nikki to find him. She is a huntress after all. Too bad Nikki has a thing about being a instrument of death.
Nikki tries to keep out of the hunting business, that is until her adoptive parent's house is burned down. Still she resists hunting the man that orchstated the rape kidnapping and rape of her sister, until he sets fire to her condo and kills three innocent people in the process. With their blood on her hands Nikki agrees to hunt down Konstantin, but is she just playing right into his hands?
Opening Line: "It's time Nikki," Anderson said.
What's the 411: I'm still waiting for the magic. Not literal Harry Potter magic, but I am just waiting for something. I just don't understand why these aren't adult demigods. I mean to me that would make for more exciting books than just a descendant of Artemis being tasked with finding the person that burnt down her condo. I've seen more excitement on Dr. Phil, certainly Jerry Springer can put together a better show.
Nikki is the descendant of a mythical huntress and she couldn't find north of her life depended on it. I mean come on Thalia Grace could teach her and thing or two about being a huntress.
The world building in this series is really starting to bug me. The opening blurb talks about the ancient gods giving their children seeds from the Tree of Life. But in this series we have Norse, Egyptian, and Greek descendants running around. If I'm not mistaken only Norse mythology has a tree of life. So is Black trying to imply that all the gods are the same? If they are all the same where did the Olympians get their attitudes from? And why are there multiply mythologies mixing in this book? And if the blood lines don't mix then how did they all come about?
I'm just really confused about this. Black seems to be in no hurry to explain herself as Anderson doesn't bother to make appearances till he wants something from Nikki. And Nikki herself never seeks him out for advice, instruction or just to give him a smile. I am sure the son of a fury could use a pick me up every now and then.
The Good: I can't really say there is much about this book that I found good. Well no I take that back. Emma dying was the best thing about this book. I didn't care for her in the first book, I grew to hate her in the second book and this book put the final nail in her coffin for me. Her death was the highlight of the book.
Well that and the fact that Sita hates Nikki and she spoiled the second attempt at a Jamal sexual encounter for Nikki. I will admit that I literally laughed out loud during that scene. Her love life is one more bad date away from being worse than mine. And that is saying something.
The Bad: For 307 pages this book had very little going on. I mean we get a condo burning down, a house burning down and then someone strangles Emma (thank you for that) and Nikki dies again. That's about it. Just not seeing how that takes 307 pages. Well Black did fill that space with Nikkie whining about not wanting to hunt Konstantin because she wasn't a killer. Give me a break honey.
I am so over her hang up about being a foster child. I mean seriously how many times in a day does a foster kid who was adopted by a good family think about when they were a foster kid? She still refers to the Glasses as Stephs parents which is really starting to get on my nerves. These people opened up their home and their hearts to a child that wasn't their own. They treated her like she was their daughter and she can't even give them enough to call them 'my mom and dad' its always Steph's mom and dad. That is beyond disrespectful. And what's worse they gave Nikki money and she won't spend it. They took their own hard earned money and gave it to her so she could have a better life and she won't spend it. They gave her a condo free and clear and she pays them rent. Why? Because she is stupid and still living her life like a foster kid. And she has the never to try and save someone else from their problems. Hello girlfriend fix yourself first before you try and save someone else.
Nikki's attitude that she alone can fix all the broken people in the Libri house is the most annoying thing about her. Jamal clearly wants to be left alone to work out his own demons but Nikki just won't take a hint. What's worse is that she refuses to understand where he is coming from. I think Black making Jamal a formal slave and then not fully understanding the dynamics of slavery and its impact on Black America was a mistake. No I am not saying that non black authors can't write black characters, but what I am saying is that you just cant write a minority character and just say 'oh well' when cultural clashes come up.
I'm not even sure Black understands the struggles that Jamal is going through with trying to have a funtioning sexual relationship with Nikki. I mean Nikki thinks is hot to touch Jamal's scars during sex. She knows he hates that but she keeps doing it! And then she gets all upset when he stops right before they have sex! Girl it is not that hard to keep your hands off the man during sex. Puhlease.
Well its Book 3 and still Nikki has no idea what she is doing as regards to being a huntress. I mean how hard is it to goggle Artemis? She has never just sat down and explored what it means to be a huntress. So she just relies on dumb luck to get her through things. Everyone thinks she is this great hunter and even fight to get on her good side and for 3 books she's done nothing more than zone out and get a feeling about something.
As being the herione of the series I am finding Nikki seriously lacking. I mean Dorothy Gale put up a better fight than Nikki has given us. Being a self proclaimed bleeding heart is one thing, but just sitting back and allowing a vicious dog like Konstantin the pleasure of roaming the earth because vengeance is wrong just make my balls itch. And I am a bonafide female.
There is a different between vengeance and justice is a fine line for sure, but Konstantin has never been innocent and he had never been called to task for any of his misdeeds. Its seems like to me Nikki thinks someone has to be caught in the act of doing something bad to be guilty of being bad. Her sister was raped and beaten yet she had a conflict about Anderson killing the man. I call BS on that. If a guy looked at my sister wrong I would rip his head off let alone rape her. I would have killed him myself and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
The characters haven't changed from Book 1. There isn't any growth going on. Everyone is still the same. Sure Jamal is more on a even keel but that is about it. Nikki is still blissfully ignorant to the cruelty of others. Anderson is still too cock sure to be true. Blake is..I'm not even sure what Blake is. In the first book Black made him out to be a sex god sort of player and then she clipped his wings by handcuffing him to Steph thus neutering him or any other really good side plot she could have written for him. I do like that his has history with Cyrus, but she never goes into that.
Where the hell is the mythology in this book!!?? I mean is it just me? Being a fan of Percy Jackson and the Olympians I will freely admit that I love mythology and I was expecting this book to be chocked full of it. I am still waiting for it. I mean Emma was a descendant of Nyx and all she could do was turn the lights out? And what are the Olympians doing? I mean what do they do all day? What do the Libri do all day? What the hell is their purpose in life. I mean hell Percy and his friends couldn't even drive and they were saving the world left and right. I mean we got Blake in his room knitting sweaters, Leo or whoever in his room checking the stock market. What the hell?
I mean I can't call it. Its a book about the descendants of mythological gods and goddess and the most magical thing in the book is a jealous tiger.
Final Thought: Ok I've given this series three books and it has gone absolutely nowhere and I am getting off the ride.
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