Review: Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon

      

        
            
  

      

  

      

 

Title: Born of Shadows
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Released: 26 April 2011
Source: Grand Central Publishing via netgalley
Reviewed by: SapphiredDragon
SapphiredDragon Rating:

***1/2

Pre-order/Buy: Amazon/ The Book Depository

Synopsis (via Goodreads):

Just when you think you have it all figured out, life belts you to the ground. And when Caillen discovers a truth he'd never suspected about himself, everything in his life is turned on its head. 

Desideria has a secret of her own- one that could end her life if anyone ever learns it. The last thing she expects is to meet a criminal in her sheltered world never mind find herself marooned on a hostile colony with him while his enemies try to kill them both. 

And as they struggle to survive, her father's favorite curse resonates. "May you get exactly what you want and live long enough to regret it."

Review

First up I have a small confession to make.  I haven't actually read the first three books in the The League series.  This was actually my first foray into the Sherrilyn Kenyon's writing. While I do think this may have put me at a small disadvantage as obviously I didn't recognise characters from the previous novels that both featured in and were alluded to, I was still able to enjoy the story that was being told in this book without this. 

To start with, Kenyon's main characters of Caillen Dagen and Desideria are extremely well written and likable and Kenyon gives you time to get to know them even while pushing the story along.    They are by no means perfect but this doesn't matter as you still find yourself invested in what happens to them and the journey this takes them and the reader on.

I also enjoyed the chemistry between them.  While occasionally the dialogue between them seemed a little contrived and forced, on the whole you believed them as a couple which is essential with any good romance. 

However this is not just a story about a romance.  There is action a plenty from the first scene onwards as Caillen and Desideria unravel murder plots and escape hostile aliens trying to kill them.  As reader, I felt like I was close to the edge of my seat the whole time wondering just what would happen next as they seemed to escape from one extreme situation to the next. 

I didn't predict the ending which is always a good thing and Kenyon throws in enough twists and turns that you are never sure if you have the whole answer until the end.  The only trouble I did have was that towards the end things got a little confusing and it wasn't always clear who was speaking or being spoken about and it took me a couple of reads of the last few chapters to try to get my head around exactly what had happened

Overall though I give this story a 3 1/2 stars and thoroughly recommend this to all Sherrilyn Kenyon fans. To those who are new to this author, I would recommend you start with the first three books in the series as I think if I had started with these first, I would have been able to give this book a four star rating.

Sapphired Dragon xx