The Darkest Lie (Lords of the Underworld) (vuoden 2016 painos)

hb ( )

Took me a while to get through this as I was down with the flu and then the scenes with other Lords and what they were up to threw me a couple of times so that I had to reread a few pages here and there.
But now I am healthy and have to say....GIDEON AND SCARLET ROCK!

Keeper of Lies meets Nightmares...could there be a better showdown. I love how quickly she learns Gideon speak and can actually joke with him and get him to laugh. And because he can not tell the truth without incredible pain she learns to trust and believe him fairly quickly. Gideon not remembering his wife and then his son...and when he learns the truth, his level of heartbreak and how he wants to protect Scar, slayed me. His vow to romance her and to make sure she knows how much he loves her. What a sweetie this Lord is, where's he been hiding all of that.

Now to the secondary stories...What the heck is Stryder up to? And Haidee...really, this should be interesting to see what develops there. Amun can not be lost to the Lords. Sure being in hell that long probably wasn't the best of ideas for him but he went wanting to help his friends. I absolutely love, love, love how Scarlet sticks up for Amun when the angels want to solve the "what do we do now" problem and tells them that the Lords will care and heal him. Torin is coming out up with some memorable one liners...loving it more and more.

Glad Gideon and Scarlet have their love story. Aeron will heal. Kane is just a walking prat fall. Amun will be fine, eventually. Torin...someone please love Torin. WIlliam and Gilly...is there something going on there that we need to pay closer attention to? Stryder, will he be the next Lord to find his forever love? ( )

WOW! this book was intense there was a lot going on, and damn scarlet was a pain in the ass for a long time there, but then things switched and yeah let's just say OH MY WOW! BUT YAY Amun's book is next I am so excited about it. ( )

The Darkest Lie
4 Stars

Synopsis
Gideon, the Keeper of Lies, has met his match in Scarlet, the Keeper of Nightmares, for he cannot tell if her tales of their marriage are true or false. While they try to work through their questions, Scarlet and Gideon are confronted with threats from the past that may destroy the future they seek together.


Review
Surprisingly refreshing and engaging.

The "Gideon Speak" takes some getting used to but it becomes easier as the book progresses. In fact, it is the repetitious and unnecessary translation and explanation of his true meaning that almost ruins the story.

Gideon and Scarlet are a cute couple and their romance is rather sweet and poignant. Despite his language difficulties, Gideon is a wonderful hero - sweet, open and, yes, honest. Scarlet is a strong and powerful heroine, and the descriptions of her traumatic life in Tartarus are heart-wrenching. She is, in many ways, the most dangerous and fearsome of all the Lords, and she is far more likeable than Olivia.

The plot, based on the theme of truth and lies, can be difficult to follow but the compelling twists and turns are exciting. As soon as you think you have a handle on what's going on, everything is turned on its head.

The developments in William, Sienna, Strider and Amun's stories are also intriguing and provide a necessary respite from the confusion of Gideon's speech. Moreover, the insights into Cronus and Rhea's characters and their motivation - the petty conflicts and jealousies - are true to the conventions of Greek mythology and add another interesting dimension.

Given the nature of Gideon's demon and the themes in the book, the writing is simply excellent and Showalter does an admirable job of merging everything together into a cohesive whole that mostly flows smoothly.

All in all, a good addition to the series and the next installment should be interesting to say the least.
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5 awesome stars to Gideon and Scarlet! My very favorite Lords of the Underworld now. Explosive chemistry, some very deep character development and plot twist after plot twist to make this one a hard book to forget. ( )