This is book six of this series, and I received it free through Net Galley in exchange for feedback. In fact, this book is what started me reading the whole series, so I would not be reading out of order.

Madeline Black is back, and this continues from where book five ended. Each book so far in the series seems to almost always, start moments after the previous one. It's amazing how any one person could handle the situations presented in the story, in the time frame they occur, but then again, our main character is half-Fallen, and half human. In this installment, Maddy has the Retrievers (supernatural beings that take care of those that quit/retire, or just plain mess up,from the Agency) sent after her, for visiting the realm of the dead without permission. This leads into the whole story, with includes subtle machinations of Lucifer, Puck, and introduced in this volume, their two other brothers.

Though currently the last book in this series (as of this date) I could see possibly another book or two being released. I felt the writing style in this one had changed a bit ... seemed more bogged down with descriptions than actual action, at least in my comparison with the other novels. The actual story was interesting, as the characters seem to grow and learn more about themselves, even as we learn more about them. I just didn't seem to enjoy this one as much as the first five. Perhaps because I read them pretty much non-stop, in order, whereas I maybe should have taken a break after each one or two. Either way, I would be interested in seeing where the Christina Henry may take the story from this the end of this book. ( )

this was, without a doubt, the best installment so far ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Maddy has been through a lot lately. Now, with the Retrievers after her, she escapes to a foreign planet full of fae who hate Lucifer. Here’s hoping no one discovers one of his relatives has just showed up in their world…

Opening Sentence: “You have to get out of the house – now,” J.B. said.

The Review:

Since starting this series, I have thought that every book gets better than the last. Unfortunately, that pattern seems to have broken with this installment. While it’s still good, it just wasn’t as addicting and fast paced as the previous books have been. I found myself sometimes having to force myself to read, and that has never happened before with this series. Thankfully, the last half of the book was much more entertaining than the first half. While I still gave this 4 stars, it’s more like a 3.5 star book in my opinion.

Life has gotten increasingly more complicated and dramatic for Maddy. Still reeling from the majority of her friends walking away from her in the previous book, she now has to deal with the Agency sending the Retrievers after her. Convinced that the only way for Maddy to survive is to leave this plane/world for a time, Nathaniel creates a portal and sends Maddy into it. Now, Maddy has to navigate a foreign planet in order to find her way home. Did I mention the planet is full of fae who hate Lucifer? Yeah…life is never easy for Maddy.

For me, a big weakness of this book is the first 50 percent of the story, in which Maddy is totally on her own, trying to find her way home from this foreign planet. Maddy has always been the weakest part of the series for me. I much prefer the secondary characters and with their absence, I became more and more aware of the issues I have with Maddy, especially now that she’s exploring her “dark side.” She can at times seem very full of herself, thinking that she knows best, and her friends are in the wrong with their constant chastising of her. Her attitude can get old very quickly. Being in Maddy’s head with no reprieve made the first part of the book really drag. Once the secondary characters showed up again, the pace picked up, and I found myself much more entertained. Beezle, as always, made me laugh and lightened up a lot of darker moments. Nathaniel also continues to grow on me, and I’m very impressed with the growth and change his character has undergone since being introduced in book one.

Another issue I had with this installment is that it doesn’t feel like much happens until the very end. It almost feels like a filler book whose only purpose is to get us to the next installment. That factor also didn’t help the pace. When the action started though, it certainly didn’t let up until the very end. I didn’t see the final events coming, and I was definitely engrossed once everything got underway.

All in all, this seemed like a weaker installment than previous books in the series. My favorite aspects of the series were missing, which made the plot drag. Once I got past the halfway point though, everything picked up, and this was once again the series I have grown to love. I hope that this was just a stumbling block and that the next book returns the series to the quality I have come to expect.

Notable Scene:

The Cimice’s voices rose as one as they screamed their anguish to the sky. The spell plowed forward, knocking the Cimice down one by one, squeezing their hearts until they stopped.

I felt them die, their agony in their final throes, and the pain brought me to my knees. I hadn’t calculated this. I hadn’t considered the possibility that I might feel sorry for the monsters. But there was no stopping it now, and in any case my purpose was still clear. They meant to kill innocent humans at the behest of the Faerie Queen. I couldn’t let that happen.

This was preventive medicine. It was necessary.

The spell went deep into the heart of the cavern, to where the vast majority of the Cimice were. I gasped as I felt the presence of all of them. There were not hundreds, or thousands. There were millions, stacked up on one another in a vast hive.

My spell was killing them all, and I could feel every one. I closed my eyes, covered my ears, tried to drown them out. But I couldn’t drown them out. They were inside me, their screams and their pain. I couldn’t escape the truth of what I had done.

I believed I had done this for the right reasons. But there was no disguising this darkness. This was a shadow on my soul, and it would stay there forever.

I thought it couldn’t get any worse. I thought my body was numb to what was happening. Then the spell hit the hatchlings.

They were just little monsters, I told myself. They weren’t children screaming.

If I hadn’t done this, there would by children screaming – human children. The Cimice hatchlings would grow up to be just as ruthless as their parents.

“They’re just monsters,” I said over and over. “Monsters.”

But what are you? a voice in my head asked, and that voice sounded a lot like Beezle’s. You keep justifying what you do, but when do you draw the line that’s not supposed to be crossed?

FTC Advisory: Ace/Penguin provided me with a copy of Black Heart. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

The book starts immediately after the previous one. The Retrievers are breaking in to take her back to the Agency for her rule breaking and Nathaniel is able to open a portal and send her to safety. Of course it turns out to be a place that she has never been to and of course Lucifer isn't well liked. While she is there she finds Puck hiding among the elves and also figures out how to kill all the monsters that Titania is somehow breeding there. She also gets help from another brother of Lucifer that she hadn't met before. By the end of the story Maddy finds out more about herself and that once again she has been a pawn all along and vows to end that happening to her. Will that happen or will we see more books where she is doing nothing more than reacting to events instead of trying to make things work for her.

Digital copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley ( )

I love this series. There is so much going on all the time. And this book is no different. Maddie is killing and burning as usual. And she is still pregnant. But in this book she is also spending a lot of time pondering whether she is actually evil or not. Let it go Maddie. And have that baby already.

Actually I think this is one of those books that happen in series when there needs to be a transition to start a new storyline or whatever. It left me with a lot or questions but that is not always a bad thing. It did leave me wondering what all this setup is about. The next book better have some awesome disclosure or I am going to be bummed. Now I have to wait another year. Dang! ( )