3.5 stars

This felt like one of those reality tv type scary movies to me. It switched POV often. Weird things kept happening. There's lots of mystery. After a murder, the band is just trying to figure out what's going on around them. Stygian has an excellent spooky factor. I wasn't sure what was real or imaginary, and I couldn't tell what the villains were. With all the gothic and creepy stuff happening around them, it's also about the working of an indie band. Some are attracted to each other. All have baggage. Feelings are high and all tangled up. I enjoyed it, and I love this cover. ( )

3.5 stars

This felt like one of those reality tv type scary movies to me. It switched POV often. Weird things kept happening. There's lots of mystery. After a murder, the band is just trying to figure out what's going on around them. Stygian has an excellent spooky factor. I wasn't sure what was real or imaginary, and I couldn't tell what the villains were. With all the gothic and creepy stuff happening around them, it's also about the working of an indie band. Some are attracted to each other. All have baggage. Feelings are high and all tangled up. I enjoyed it, and I love this cover. ( )

So, I like going into a book knowing very little. I like the unknown and being open minded about what could happen. And I love being knocked off my feet when one smacks me upside the head. Nothing better than a good mindfuck. Unfortunately here I was smacked upside the head and I didn't enjoy it. This could very well be it's me, not you". I have no clue.

My review may get spoilerish. Even on this point I'm clueless.

This book has what I think is the perfect combination for greatness...

• An author who completely draws a reader in by creating imagery so vivid you can't help but not become completely immersed.
• 4 members of an up and coming rock band who all love dick, lol
• A summer at a creepy Louisiana plantation
• Murder
• Intrigue

And intrigued I was. But...

• The only character I liked was Hunter and I did not like Kennedy
• There are two big reveals I figured out early on
• I don't like love triangles and especially ones that use manipulation by both men to get at our Lead character
• The use of "kid" drove me batshit crazy
• Many times I had to reread scenes multiple times to figure out who said what. While some authors overuse the word "said", I could have used this a few more times. This left me frustrated.

I love the movie "The Skeleton Key". The setting and creepiness of this book reminded me a lot of that movie, but for me this book could have drawn more from Louisiana's history of witchcraft and voodoo much like this movie did. Or better yet just go with crazy and fucked up...because I could totally have gotten around these two characters being all that and more.

Overall, I was left a little unfulfilled and still wanting Hunter. Yeah I'm weird.

Now if your looking for romance, don't expect it here. And maybe I was...so let down I was.

Now this was my first Santino and I'm very interested to see what else this author has to offer...so hopefully his writing once again captures me and smacks me in the head for the better next time.
BR with Teo, Marte, Nathan and Teri on Friday, January 15th " ( )

I received a copy of this book from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book. The atmosphere was unsettling and mysterious with the perfect creep factor. All the characters were so dynamic I felt like they were jumping off the page. And the romance was fantastic! The paranormal aspect was understated but done very well. Definitely recommended. ( )

I may have a thing for romances featuring bands. But this book is so much more. The characters - every last one of them - are as interesting, real and dark as I expect from Santino Hassell. The story gripped me and I felt everything along with Jeremy. So mostly I didn't know who to trust, didn't know who are the good and who are the bad guys. I'm still not entirely sure of that last aspect to be honest.

The atmosphere is so unbelievable creepy... I have to say I'm happy, I didn't read this at night. I'm sure otherwise I would have looked over my shoulder more than once. Especially with that ending...

Most of the time stories like this are.. not exactly boring, but they sure as hell aren't new and exciting. You kinda know what to expect . which is great, because you get what you want. But I felt that Stygian's a little bit different and I really liked that. ( )