Series: The League #5
Published by Grand Central Publishing on 1 May 2012
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Suspense
Pages: 614
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Blurb from Goodreads
Death Stalks Them All... Kere is the second most infamous member of the shadow organization known as Sentella. An explosive engineer who strikes terror into the hearts of the League, the bounty on his head is truly staggering. No one knows his true identity. The daughter of a traitor, Zarya Starska grew up hard on the back streets of hell- her family hunted to the brink of extinction. But Zarya dreams of a different life and a different world. A world where the harsh hand of the Caronese emperor doesn’t destroy his subjects. As a Resistance leader, her goal is to topple the government that needlessly ruined the lives of her family and comrades-in-arms. In this deadly quest, the only person she can trust is a mysterious man known only as Kere. By The Light Of Day... Kere has a dark secret and a brutal past. As he aids the Resistance, he’s actually working to bring down his own family- the Cruels- so named for the viciousness in their blood that runs so deep, no other name would do. Born and bred from one of the oldest and noblest families in the United Systems, Kere’s real name is Darling Cruel...
The League series is always filled with surprises, amazing fights and a real love story. Born of Silence follows the other books in the series, and the characters from all the other books are present in this volume, to my great delight.
There were a lot of new revelations in this book, and I felt so bad for Darling, it almost hurt to read about his childhood. Then, again after he was taken by the insurgents and nobody realized who he was, I have to admit my heart was breaking into a million pieces. I don’t know how he could get through that at all. Of course, Darling wasn’t completely sane after that for quite some time, but when he did get his mind and soul back together again, he was even more amazing than he’d been before.
I love most books by this author, so I’m sure most of you who know me are not surprised that this one got a five, but it really deserves all those stars! What I love the most about the League series is that it takes place on other planets than earth, all the characters aren’t of the same species, and some are colored very differently (blue for example) and not all are humanoid in appearance either. I love that they have even more differences to overcome than we do as humans. We can come from different countries or continents, and we come in different sizes and colors, but here they come from different planets as well. I love the fantasy/sci-fi elements that are a part of the series, and at the same time, there is all the fighting and the romance that Ms. Kenyon knows how to share well with her readers.
The relationship between Zaraya and Kere/Darling has to be the most complicated relationship I’ve ever had the pleasure to read about! The misconceptions, hidden identity, missed opportunities and misunderstandings are astounding. From the time Kere proposes to Zaraya, everything that can go wrong does go wrong, and both of them suffer alone.
Some scenes when Kere is imprisoned are very hard to read, if you are squirmish about torture and very bad treatment of other people, you have now been warned. As I said before, it’s amazing that Kere/Darling even survived, and the details of what was done to him are painful to read about. At the same time, I think these details are actually necessary for the understanding of his character, and also for the plot as a whole. It also made it possible for the readers to understand more about the political system in Kere/Darling’s world, and how he had always had to fight to keep his family safe. Finally, even with all he’s been through in his life, the hard scenes showed the readers that the friends he has are true friends, and that some people will always have his back, no matter what happens next.
Needless to say, I recommend this book, in fact this whole series to my fellow readers 🙂
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