Friday, November 20, 2015

Book #Review: Darkest Before Dawn by Maya Banks

Book Title: Darkest Before Dawn  ( KGI #10)
Author: Maya Banks |WebsiteTwitterFacebook|
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series/Standalone: Series Book 10
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Cost: $7.99
Pages: 378
How I got it: Published  
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Publisher
Publication Date: October 27, 2015
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Synopsis:
The enigmatic Hancock has been both opponent and ally to the KGI teams for as long as they’ve known him. Always working a deep game, Hancock’s true allegiance has never been apparent, but one thing is for certain—he never lets anything get in the way of duty. But now, his absolute belief in the primacy of his ultimate goal is challenged by a captive he’s been ordered to guard, no matter how much she suffers in her prison. She’s the only woman who’s ever managed to penetrate the rigid walls surrounding his icy heart, but will he allow his perplexing feelings for the beautiful victim to destroy a mission he’s spent years working to complete or will he be forced to sacrifice her for “the greater good.”
I came into this series blind, I actually haven't read all the other books that come with the KGI books, and the two I have read are in the random order so I went into this one kind of blind and missing key information. Not the best way, since this is kind of written as if you have read the other stories and know who all the other people are and why this mission is so important.  It is easy to pick up on the information because several times within the story the characters go back over information and share with you how and why it's relevant.

Sadly this story echoes so much of what is going on right now and especially after what happened in the past week in Beirut, Nigeria and Paris, this group echoes way too closely with that dreaded group in real life, so this took me a little longer to read because i kept thinking how close to real life this was.

I liked the story and the build up, however I have a few questions as to why Hancock didn't see any other alternatives, even as his team tired to point out to him that saving a few doesn't save them as much as delaying the inevitable because there is always someone willing to be evil and be scary for a dollar.  Hancock had tunnel vision when it came to taking down the big bad and scary and he used whatever was necessary to get the mission done.  This is why this book hurts, because the mission was king and that meant way too many were hurt in the process of making the mission come to fruition.

Honor at times was an awesome character and then she would say something that makes you want to shove her out the car, why tell the people who are risking their lives to save yours that as soon as you are safe you're going right back into the fray??? Not even in say a place you aren't a wanted and hunted woman, but like right back where you are trying to leave?? If it was me I would stop the car, take a picture of you have you call your family then leave you behind because eventually you're going to die so why risk my team and countless others??  She really cant be that naive can she??  NOBODY is that selfless, it's against human nature, if we all acted like that we would all be dead already, it's one thing to want to help it's another to put others at risk so you can feel like you have a place in the world.

The story was a bit slow and repetitive at first and then the action kicked in and it flew by.  So many things happened that I both understood, and didn't especially when it came down to the team,  I think if I had read all the books in order I would have understood even more what each character means to the story arc and they wouldn't just be names on a page to me.  I did like the way the story was building and how we got to where we were, even if at times I wanted to look at some of the characters and be like Really?? You think now is the time for this?? And how unrealistic is this??  Especially Honor at times, like really girl? I need some answer.

In the end of the book when Honor is talking to her brother Brad, I kind of felt like that was a jab at women who when faced with the same problem but make a different choice than she did. I commend any woman who can make Honor's choice, however Honor has the option because she knows that even though in the end it sucked, her condition came about as part of her choice whereas for many other it isn't a choice they made so why should they suffer???  I understand what Honor was saying but it still felt like a judgement on those who don't follow her thinking.

Overall if you are a huge fan of the series you might find it a great read, however having not read the entire series, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  I wasn't a fan of the characters in the end because they didn't seem to know who or what they wanted to be, so if you can't decide then how am I supposed to know??  It was a great action packed read, and then it focused once again on the romance closer to the end.

I kinda felt like this was missing the signature Maya Banks writing, I didnt feel as connected to the characters as I used to when reading her books and so this wasn't a great read for me, it was unfortunately kind of meh.
 ★★★☆
Happy Reading


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