Customer Reviews

Dark Side of the Moon (Dark-Hunter, Book 10)

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(48)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I was pretty upset about this book. I am a huge Sherrilyn Kenyon/Kinley MacGregor fan and I love the DH series (hence the 1 star) but this book was a huge let down for me.

There were a couple of things that I had a HUGE problem with believing. First, I must have missed something because I do not remember Nick being Impervious to Ash's mind control. I was really uncomfortable with how the whole Nick & Ash relationship was portrayed in this book. Second, I just could not buy the humans & Daimons working together thing. I know that there are some stupid humans out there but I would like to think that we are a bit smarter than to ally with someone who could wipe out our entire neighborhood in an hour if we pissed him off. Third, Rayvn's character was not fully developed before he moved forward into a relationship with Susan (the most annoyingly sarcastic woman ever!). The love story here is hard to believe and I have a real problem with Rayvn remaining a DH as it is stressed throughout the DH series that Dark Hunters cannot have long term relationships. Lastly, WHAT DID YOU DO TO ASH???? Ash's development in DSofM was completely unbelievable to me; unless of course he is Daimon-possessed in this book and we don't find out until the next book in the series. That must be it because the Ash in this book is very different from the one portrayed in previous DH series books.

When I first started reading this series I was captivated by the range & depth of feeling the characters had. I hurt, cried and celebrated along with them because Kenyon's writing brought them to life for me. The last couple of books have lacked the character and story development I had come to expect from the DH series. For example, I could easily see what made Kyrian become a DH, I felt his gut wrenching anguish with him, experienced his absolute need for vengeance right along with him; by the time I finished his and Amanda's story I was breathless, I felt like I had been a character in the book and had been right beside them throughout. The last couple of DH stories have left me cold. The character development, story development, and eloquent creative writing that I have come to look forward to from this author have been missing and instead I am reading about new characters that are shallow and seem to be introduced for the sole purpose of adding a new angle to the series, bizarre personality changes to old, well-developed characters that are left unexplained in writing but seem to be added for the sole purpose of adding a new angle to the series, heroes/heroines that are starting to become very similar to each other i.e., very sarcastic, shallow, quick-witted to the point of annoying and all with the ability to think about sex pretty much in any situation and with people they just met.

Please, please, please Ms. Kenyon: I do not mind waiting a whole year for the next book if it means you will take the necessary time to develop the story and write the DH books like you used to. If I put any pressure on you in the past to get a DH book out quickly, please forgive me and know that I will not do it again. I really need a DH story I can escape into so I promise to wait patiently.

I can't believe I paid retail for this, Sherrilyn has had a few rushed books in the DH series lately, but for a hardcover edition DSOTM was a horror show.

Raven & Susan's story did not reel me in as many of the other DH/WH stories have, Susan was already unlikeable by playing the holyier than thou card at her job at a cheesy paper that her friend Leo had given her after her career was destroyed by 1 bad story.

I am quite sure it was supposed to make me understand her because she'd been a successful investigative journalist turned to writing for a paper that considered, "Aliens, big foot, etc." Their big news. You learn later a little about the history of the paper, but Susan's sarchasm fills the book at the most inappropriate times. Raven's view is that she amuses him, but her likeability felt forced.

The whole story was extremely rushed for the material involved in it. There is Cael another DH living among the Apollites and his love story with Amaranda this alone should have been a separate book. We find out about it, get a little information and then a shocking ending that is left unfinished.

Then there is Acheron/Ash the leader of the DH's who is busy with Artemis. Artemis who supposedly created DH's to protect the world against Daimons keeps him busy with her while things are going crazy in Seattle where this book is set. It made me cringe that her spoiled nature was more important than the life & death of the DH's & the people they are supposed to protect. A game she forces Ash to play in order for him to get loose long enough to find out what is going on with his people was pitiful. Ash is stuck and comes across so weak in this book. Missing important details because of the whims of the spoiled Artemis.

Possible spoiler although I won't name, names, but there are DH's dying in Seattle. No Ash because of Artemis and then he shows up for what seems like minutes instead of the hours he was supposed to be there for.

Nick Gautier who at one time was a squire and ran the Dark Hunter website and was once a loved character died in a previous book and Artemis turned him DH. He returns in this book via Savitar giving him over to Raven for training. But this isn't any Nick you've ever known he is blaming Ash for everything from his death to the hurricane Katrina incident. The DH series has been set in LA for several books so old and fans of the series know the Hunters love of New Orleans. Mentioning that the men were there helping, trying to rebuild, etc was enough, but to have a character blame another for causing it was just out of place and wrong to Nick he was angry & blamed Ash for it all. It made absolutely no sense yes it is fiction and these are Gods/Goddesses, etc, but it was just too off the mark. Nick was blaming Ash for everything being wrong with the world.

Back to Susan and Raven, Raven a DH who happens to be also be a wereanimal and she's allergic to his hair...

This was my least favorite book in the DH series. I didn't care for Susan, Raven's story was too scattered and not detailed enough. Of all the books their love story/lust story was faster than any that I remember. Susan's best friends are dead, Daimons want her & Raven dead, but all she can think about is how he makes her feel.

Scattered, Rushed & Irratic are the best way I can describe this book and my own review. I didn't know where to start with my review and this is the only way I know to end it.

I can only hope the next book isn't like this one or I'll probably lose my interest in S. Kenyon.

Like the previous reviewer, I was pretty upset about this book. I too am a very big fan of the DH series and have been reading religiously for over three years now, but this is definitely the worst of the series.

Susan is just way too sarcastic. Annoyingly so. In fact, I think that most of the heroines in the series are starting to become very similar to each other. Quick-witted, very sarcastic, and with the ability to look at a strange man (in an otherwise very tense situation) and think about sex. Seriously, although I love the big men/sexy vibes, I'm starting to get bothered by the seemingly unrealistic atmosphere that is being dead ending at Repetitionville.

Something that this book lacked was the true, heart-clenching angst. IE Kyrian or Zarek angst. I feel that these last few books, especially DSofM, really fell short in that department. That is one of the things that first had me hooked in this series.

Ash's developement has also made me flinch. What happened to the arrogant, cocky Ash we were first introduced to? His character has definitely changed, and it seems to me that the original Ash is different from the Ash we now come across in DSofM.

I know that the AG said that Ravyn was itching for his story to be told, but it appears with her writing that it was quickly put together. It lacks the heart that made me fall in love with the first few books. Storylines appear to be repetitive and unoriginal. I'm not sure if it's her love of the series that is making her drag on stories or the need to please her readers, but that's what these last stories seem to be doing: dragging on. Maybe it's both. But I would rather see her write one great book like the beginning ones than see five let downs like this one.

I gave one star because even though I was very disappointed with this one, my love for the series is deep. The second star goes to the little things hidden inside. The bringing back of other characters from previous stories is always a plus, especially in this series.

I hope that the future books will have that missing heart that the originals had. I would also wait for the softcover book instead of paying the $11-$20 for the hardcover. There really isn't a need to run off and buy this one. And you probably won't be able to read it in one sitting. I had to force myself to read through a lot of the pages and found myself skipping over a few paragraphs. The characters, especially the constant sarcasm, have ruined a lot of the story that could have otherwise been better.

I just bought this book, used, and am I glad I did. I have loved all of her other books, but the last one before this left me wondering, and then this one was hardbacked, so I waited.

As everyone else has reviewed this one to death, let me say I agree with them wholeheartedly. This is a soap-opera gone wrong. I found nothing redeeming about it. It left me with a bitter taste and I will not be looking forward to the next one.

1. We have a romance between Ravyn, a Dark-Hunter and Susan, a reporter. It was a very lukewarm romance compared to the others.

2. We have a DH married to an Appollite, who finally to save themselves are both turned into Daimons. Yuch!!! And I liked both of them.

3. We have that idiotic Nick Gautier hating Ash and being turned into something by Stryker, if this isn't the most perverse plot I have ever read I will offer myself to a daimon, free.

4. We have Stryker's sister as a handmaiden to Artemis, and she keeps him fully informed of the plots and ploys in Olympus.

Not to mention the feud in Ravyn's family. Or the fact that I find Artemis's escapades with Ash very disgusting.

They have turned into the people I avoid watching on the soap operas every day. This book is not worth buying even used. It is a total disappointment.

The book was ok but I was very glad that I read it through the library instead of buying it. I would have been very bitter if I had spent money on it. The few glimpses of Ash and Nick tie up a few things that I was wondering, it started a whole new thought process toward others, but Ravyn and his girl could have been avoided in the series. They were merely the ship that carried a piece of the REAL story that is being given bit by SLOW and SLOWER bit. (And if you're a fan of the series, you know the overall REAL story going on here. It's taking too long to develop.)

I have loved Sherrilyn Kenyon since her very first story in this series. (Julian: Fantasy Lover) I hated paranormal romance and she made me a believer. When I read Kyrian's book...I was completely enthralled. I read Talon's, then Zarek's and I was even more in love. To this day I don't get how Wolf's book was published but in the scheme of a series, there always has to be "building books" that move things on to the next level. Even the Harry Potter series has had two "building books" that help the reader move on to the action of what is coming. Valerius' story was magnificent and it kept me reading even when Vane's story just didn't quite live up to expectations. She was on a hot streak and the series was going strong.

BUT...

Even while I was reading and loving the series, something started becoming very evident. Sherrilyn Kenyon loves this series so much that she's going to run it into the ground before she's done. She doesn't want to let it go. With Vane and Wren's book it is evident. With Alexion's it's very VERY evident. Mrs. Kenyon, we as readers don't need every character you've ever mentioned to have a story about them. I meet hundreds of people a day walking down the street, going to the 7-11, or just stopping for gas. Do I need to know all of those people's life stories in order for my life to make sense? No. I don't. I don't need every single Dark Hunter/Wolf Hunter/Dream Hunter/Sister/Dog Sitter/Best Friend's cousin's first boyfriend's tale or life history for me to enjoy a series or get a story out.

I've been a viewer of her website for a while now, and every time I go there I shake my head at what she has "planned" for this series. She has planned too much. She says that there's a story for almost every character. A BOOK for almost every character. While I love the series, while a lot of readers love the series, I don't think they want to read every single story of every single person. It's just too much. It's already too much.

Focusing on the New Orleans crew and the squires should have been enough. They are the main focus of interest and they are the ones that people care about. They are what started the series. Now people are starting to wonder if the series is being stretched for the all mighty dollar. The more books that come out, the more we stretch for that all important Ash book, the more we tease and tempt...the more money that is made.

From the reviews it looks like readers are getting tired of it. They look to be searching for what made them fall for the series to begin with. They are searching for ends to be tied and for the characters they love to come together so that this series can complete with some satisfaction. All series must end and all series must complete. This one will be no different.

What will be different is who started with the series...and who had the patience to hang around until the end.

I might not be. And that is very very sad.

I was hooked on the DH series from the very first book I picked up. I had been reading Christine Feehan's Carpathian series and kept hearing about the Dark-Hunter stories. I happened to see "Seize the Night" in the library so I got it and was hooked. I immediately got online and had the whole series (starting with the prequel Fantasy Lover) shipped to my house. It's funny. It's snappy. The whole series flows from one book to the next and you can tell that it's building up to some monumental climax - which should be Acheron's story - and which should be really good.

This particular episode is not the strongest. It's really slow in comparison to the other books. It drags. I kept wanting it to hurry up and finish. But I would still recommend it to a fan of the series who wants to know what's going on. I wouldn't recommend it to a first time DH reader.

I think the feeling of frustration that comes across when you read this book is actually part of the sequence of the overall story. Many of the previous reviewers are floored by the "change" in Acheron. But I didn't find any change in his character; just a reflection of his mood of total frustration at having to pander to Artemis' selfish carnality when people's lives were at stake. I found it to be totally in character for him and definitely for the "heifer-goddess" to be that selfish.

Remember, the DH books overlap one another with some of the stories happening at the same time or very close to it. In "Night Embrace" when Talon was dying Acheron gave his word to Artemis to give her two weeks of "total submission" in exchange for Talon's soul. What we're seeing in Dark Side of the Moon is what happens to Acheron during those periods when he's forced to remain with Artemis. Ash is still Ash but he was bound by his word to stay with her - until he found a way to get out of it, that is.

Another commentor was shocked by the change in Nick. Again, these changes flow with the overall story. Nick's character is angry. He became a Dark-Hunter by default in "Seize the Night" when his mother was killed and he shot himself to try to force Artemis to give him an act of vengeance against Desiderius. However he couldn't recive vengeance because he killed himself. Atermis only made him a DH because she didn't want to upset Acheron by letting him go to hell. So Nick lost his soul for nothing and he blames Acheron for what he feels are good reasons. Thus he is angry and embittered and no longer the happy-go-lucky wise cracker that he was in the first few books.

So, I do agree with the other commentators that this is the slowest book in the series and that Ravynn and ??whatsername are not as compelling (or memorable) as the main characters of the other books. However, I don't believe that there was any great change in the carry-over characters from other books like Ash and Nick. They are changing with the development of the storyline and flowing wherever Ms. Kenyon is taking the series.

I'm hooked on the Dark-Hunter Novels. I'm really hooked on the were-hunters since "Night Play". "Dark Side of the Moon" tried to merge both. I got the magick and sizzle of both. Dark Side held my interest. I finished the book in one day and ready to reread for the details. OK, "Night Play" and "Seize the Night" are the 5 stars. But "Dark Side of the Moon" is well worth reading. Ravyn and Susan sizzle under the pressures of clearing themselves of murder charges and outwitting the vengeful alliance of humans and demons targetting them.

I thought I may not have been the only person to feel this way. This installment of Kenyon's DH series was terrible. I wanted to finish it quickly, because it was painful to read and so that I could move on to the rest of my Summer reading. I discovered the series in the Summer of 2004 and have been waiting patiently for each book that came out since. I ahve never been disappointed, but this time I was and I am sad about that! Here is why this book had me clutching my heart in agony (spoilers ahead):

1) Susan was sarcastic ALL THE TIME even in tense and romantic situations to the point she had no other redeeming qualities.

2) There was no real depth to her painful past. Sure losing your career and family is sad, but I felt nothing real even when Jimmy and Angie were killed.

3) There seemed to be no real attraction between Susan and Ravyn in the beginning. It seemed superficial and they both also seemed to have their minds elsewhere. In the other DH books, the attraction was almost instantaneous and the story crackled with tension from it from beginning to end.

4) I don't like the fact that this story was set in Seattle and not in New Orleans. I understand the premise with Katrina and all, but the story was set 9 months after the hurricane. This new place, with the new characters threw me off. I missed Wulf, Kyrian, Valerius and all those great guys! She could have found a way to keep them in New Orleans.

5) Ash...has become a sap. I know we are trying to better understand who he is and his relationship with Artemis. But the guy needs to regain his backbone.

So here is where I am - I'm waiting on the next book in the hopes that it will get better. Meanwhile, I'm following up her other series Lords of Avalon (as Kinley MacGregor) and I also found a new vampire series that is HOT, really, really HOT - J.R. Wards's Black Dagger Brotherhood. Those should keep me busy.

Like all the other reviewers before me--I waited (not to patiently)for this book to be released & then spent the money & bought it in hardback BECAUSE I LOVE SHERRILYN & THE DARK HUNTERS!! What a waste!!! The characters were weak (Susan--the "heroine) is annoying. She is certainly not stupid, and a lot could have been done with her character. Ravyn (love the name!!) is your typical tortured DH but WHY IS HE WITH THIS BIMBO?? It makes me wonder about his mental state. As for the characters of Nick & Ash--what is going on?? I realize that Nick is "upset" with Ash--but he is still alive--sort of--he needs to get over it. As for Ash & Artemis--whatever!!! She is a cow & Ash should kill her--he has more patience then I do apparently.

The last couple books have been very disappointing. I hope Ms. Kenyon reads these reviews & gets "her groove back". I hope all this is leading us somewhere. I'll buy the next one--but I'll wait for the paperback.

I don't even know if I can review this book. I love all of her books... and I'm not saying I didn't like this one, because it was okay. But, I am starting to seriously wonder if Kenyon has someone else writing for her. In her first few dark hunter books, her characters had a lot more depth. When I read about their past trials, I cried right along with them, now it seems as though we just get a basic background description. It's very odd.

And as far as the villains of her stories go, I really don't think they should get so much "air time!" It honestly felt as though the H/H shared half the book with everybody flipping else! I really CAN wait for everyone else's story, I wish she put more effort into developing the H/H and not this world that I used to find fascinating, now I'm just extremely annoyed.

And yes, we get it. Poor, poor Ash, it's all getting ridiculous. I personally don't care anymore. Why the suspense, I'm bored already. In fact if I have to read through another scene with him and Artemis I'll scream.

I'm so frustrated I think that I better stop writing. I feel the need to go back to "Fantasy Lover", or Kyrian's story to get this awful taste of what has become of this series out of my mouth. I honestly can't believe that this was her first Hardcover, there's something very wrong with that. I will say that I did like the H/H a lot. He had some awesome abilities, and after they meet, they sit a bit on the back burner while we wade through the other 8 or 9 subplots and characters to catch glimpses of their romance. And how I struggled to get through this book I'll never know. I usually read 2-3 a week. This one took me 3 weeks! I'm done ranting, sorry. I will say I'm still loyal, and have hope for the next, if you can believe it. 3 stars because even at her worst she can still spin a good yarn.