I have been wanting Urian's story ever since he's shown up in this series. After reading this book, I had to sit on it for a day to ponder what I wanted to say about it. I usually like to write a review as soon as I finish a book to keep it fresh but this one was hard for me.

Was the book good? Yes, it was excellently written, as are all of Kenyon's books. Most of the book was a recap of the events in the series but showing it from Urian's POV. It was interesting to see his life growing up but I thought it really dragged out at times.

It dragged on and on and then the end flew by. It was crazy fast which made the romance totally suffer.

This series has taken a lot of twists and turns but the whole Avalon thing got thrown in, I became frustrated. I like the dragons but not the Avalon story. I know Sherrilyn Kenyon has a soft spot for the story since she wrote the Lords of Avalon series under her pseudonym Kinley MacGregor in the 1980s but I'm not a big fan of it.

I still loved this book and Urian is still one of my favorites - right behind Jaden. ( )

Up there in the series for great backstory, like Acheron and Styxx. Serious confusion if you read out of order, as scenes from the Dragon arc are skipped here instead of retold from Urian's POV. Which is ironic, because the Dragon arc recycled scenes mercilessly, not even bothering to change POV from the previous telling. This dropped a star off for me. ( )

I'm a huge fan of the Dark Hunter series. I enjoyed reading Urian's story in this one but there's a lot of repetition of previous stories. Stygian is good for readers who haven't read the entire series or those, like me, who need a refresher. I'm hopeful that future books are more like the typical Sherrilyn Kenyon work that I love so much. ( )

I wrote an even longer, spoiler filled post here. I was pretty disappointed in this book.

66 points/100 (3 ½/5 stars)

Urian was born different. He was left excluded by the Appolites. Grew strong enough to lead the Daimon's in battle. Wounded of heart, Urian lives on despite the obstacles life has thrown at him. He just has to figure out how to live with it.

I have major emotional damage after reading this. I feel so utterly drained right now.

Reading about Urian's life was hard. He was so lonely. He lost so much. I've read everything up until this point. I knew what was going to happen. Just when things were stable in his life, after deadening himself to the world, he met Phoebe. You know what happens there. I was shaking trying to contain myself as things were happening because I just was so wound up, emotionally. It was hard, but good.

That said, I'm a bit upset at this book. It feels like a rewrite. It was internally inconsistent as much as it was inconsistent with the rest of the series. It felt like Kenyon wanted a specific outcome, and had to change so much that she already written previously to make it work. Entire scenes that were in other books had a line or two added to make it consistent with this book. There were scenes in this book where Urian forgot major parts of his own life somehow, to make scenes from previous books make sense. It was just aggravating by the end.

And that is another thing. The last quarter of this book, easily, was word for word scenes from other books. They didn't even always come from Urian. They'd come from Savatar or Styxx or something. This is the second or third, and probably even fourth time I've seen some of these scenes now. I've actually lost count. There was no new perspective added on these scenes this time, nothing. They were just repeats. The last few books have felt this way. I knew it would happen in this book, but I didn't realise the end of the book was going to be to this extent. Honestly, I'm really getting tired of it.

The beginning of the book was amazing. It wasn't as brutal as Acheron or Styxx, but I consider Stygian the third book in an arc containing these three characters. But, the end didn't make up for it. I rely on these books, especially the ones with this family, to drag me down into depression, and then give me an overwhelmingly happy ending. This did not do that. I've still got this deep, clawing depression in my bones that I cannot shake. This wasn't a happy ending, it was a content ending. A way to end it without dragging it out longer. Yet, it really needed a happy ending after the hell it put me through.

Until Stygian, I was still enjoying this series. Now I'm a bit on the fence with it. I want to continue liking it. I was so excited for this one when I found out who it was about. I'm just worried about the future of the series.

To read more reviews, check out keikii eats books! ( )

"**SPOILER***
The jacket is going to make you think this book is about Urian and Phoebe and how he gets her back after he was betrayed. The jacked is misleading as hell.

This book is epic it starts 9524 B.C. and runs through to present day. Sherrilyn weaves Urian's story through most of the previous books, It will make you want to reread past books, especially Acheron, Styxx, Devil May Cry and Dragonsworn. Urian's story sheds new perspective on the Apollite history, Stryker's perspective, as well as many more. While there's definitely romance and love stories, this is more of a biography of Urian's life and how he finally finds love, acceptance and belonging."
( )