August 10, 2012

Review : Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Title : Retribution
Author : Sherrilyn Kenyon
Reading Dates : 15 Jun - 17 Jun 2012
Total Pages : 416

Dark-Hunter, Were-Hunter, Dream-Hunter, Hellchaser series
From Amazon :
Hired gunslinger William Jessup Brady lived his life with one foot in the grave - until the day he finally found a reason to live. In one single act of brutal betrayal, he lost everything, including his life. Brought back by a Greek goddess to be one of her Dark-Hunters, he gave his immortal soul for vengeance and swore he'd spend eternity protecting the humans he'd once considered prey. Orphaned as a toddler, Abigail Yager was taken in by a family of vampires and raised with one belief: Dark-Hunters are the evil who prey on both their people and mankind, and they must all be destroyed. Brought together by an angry god and chased by ancient enemies out to kill them both, William and Abigail must find a way to overcome their mutual hatred or watch as one of the darkest of powers rises and kills both the races they've sworn to protect.


Book Review of Retribution.

It is a bad sign when I think the best part of a book is the bonus scene at the end. And one which has no relevance to the story being told at all.

Retribution was a poorly executed recycling of past plots in the Dark-Hunter series. Like some of the characters in the story, it appears I’ve been through one apocalypse too many. No wondering at the lack of panic shown by the powers that be, be they of the supernatural or ordinary kind. Really why bother sending in the cavalry for a couple of plagues. Why none of the characters thinks to look up one of their many omnipotent allies to stop the end of the world is beyond me. Surely, they can’t all be expectant fathers, can they ? And forgiveness being divine and all that, why should the heroine be punished much less chastised for causing the death of untold hundreds right ? “Oops, I killed the wrong people. And now I’m causing hundreds of innocents to die. I’m really sorry”. “Don’t worry about it. We all make mistakes. The important thing is to move on.” Maybe I’ being vindictive here, but there are some things which should not be so easily forgiven. What do you think ? Am I being too harsh or are the justifications given too simplified ?

But I digress. The plot and the characters are poor imitations of the earlier books in the series. I kept wondering where have I read that before every time the main protagonists start to describe their thoughts on each other. Even the relationship between Sundown and his squire felt like it was copied from a standard protocol of how a Dark-Hunter and his squire’s relationship should be. The jokes made by the main characters felt tired and used. The only laughs came from Sasha who barely played a part here.

As a fan of the Dark-Hunter series who has invested a lot of time and money, I can only say what I’m feeling right now is despair. I definitely need a break from the series or to revisit my favourite books in the series. Just to remind me of the reasons I fell in love with the Dark-Hunter series in the first place.

My conclusions :

  • Would I re-read the book ? Not for a very, very long time.
  • Would I want to read the next book in the series ? I'm not sure. I don't want to give up on the series yes, but this book makes me want to just toss it.
  • Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Only because its part of the series.
  • Who would I recommend this too? Not really.
  • For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Borrow it.

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