Review: The Eternity Key by Bree Despain

The Eternity Key by Bree Despain 

Into the Dark #2

Fan-favorite author Bree Despain continues her modern-day romance trilogy inspired by the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades with this second book in her Into the Dark series.

Haden Lord, the disgraced Prince of the Underrealm, has chosen love over honor and will do everything in his power to protect Daphne Raines, the human girl he was supposed to bring to the Underrealm. Haden’s choice is put to the test as the Skylords and a figure from his past arrive in Olympus Hills with a plan that could destroy all of the realms.

Embracing her destiny as the Cypher, Daphne begins to understand the immense power of her musical ability to control the elements, but she must come to terms with her feelings for Haden and what she must sacrifice in order to protect him and her friends.

Believing the Key of Hades is the only thing that can stop the Underrealm Court from releasing the monstrous Keres on the mortal world, Haden, Daphne, and their friends set out to find the Key before Persephone’s Gate opens again on the spring equinox.

I have mixed feelings about this one. The romance is really off kilter in this series, at least for me. And considering how romance driven I am with my reading choices, this one frustrated me a good bit. At the end of the first I had high hopes that things would turn around in the department, but unfortunately the romance was just more of the same in THE ETERNITY KEY. I can tell that there's supposed to be this epic draw between them, if not more on Haden's part considering all he sacrificed for her. I just didn't feel it, especially on Daphne's end. Her reasoning for keeping away from him ring hollow at this point, leaving me more frustrated than not. The other problem with the romance is that it slowed the plot down due to all the focus on it, which would have been okay if there had been any real kind of progress. Frankly put, the romance doesn't work in this one, but despite saying this before, I have high hopes again based on the ending events for the next book, but only time will tell.

I think the biggest thing that keeps drawing me back to this series is the Greek mythology aspects. They are so unique and one of my favorite mythologies. Bree Despain has really created a fascinating and unique world that I really enjoy reading despite my romance and pacing issues. I think that ironically makes things a bit more frustrating as since I love the world so much I just want the romance and everything to fall in line to make this a fantastic read. Granted, it still was a pretty good reads and I enjoy the characters and the overall plot, so take my ruminations with a grain of salt. After the cliffhanger ending I am pretty impatient to get my hands on the next book to see how things turn out. 

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     a GREAT read
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     1. The Shadow Prince

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Release Day Review: The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain

The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain

Into the Dark #1

Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills High—a haven for children of the rich and famous—Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.

Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High’s prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father’s mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn’t the only student in Olympus who doesn’t quite belong.

Haden and Daphne—destined for each other—know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers’ lives collide. But Daphne won’t be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended—he’s fallen in love. Now to save themselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.

I'm a huge fan of mythology so as soon as I read the blurb for THE SHADOW PRINCE I knew I would be picking it up. I was really impressed with the different aspects of that mythology in THE SHADOW PRINCE. They were rather unique, but still close enough to the traditional Greek path I know and love. From the Underlords to the Skylords, there were more than a few twists and turns in this book, which I really loved. And Hades and Persephone? Probably one of my favorite tales of all.

I'm very romance driven when it comes to my reading choices, so of course the couple in a book is generally the first thing I look at. In THE SHADOW PRINCE, the romance worked mostly well, if just a bit off kilter, but I think that had more to do with the plot line than anything. Daphne was a bit all over the place as her background and extremely sheltered upbringing didn't quite lend to her handing everything the best. And Haden, well he just isn't human, nor exposed to anything we consider normal, so to say he doesn't quite handle things well. So, it made things a bit awkward and a bunch of two steps forward and one and a half back. But by the end things did seem to start heading towards the sweeter end and had me rooting for them. There's obviously a long road ahead of them, but they get my vote.

One thing I really need to learn to do is not overshoot my expectations of a book just because it's about a subject that I love as it seems more often than not things don't quite live up, and that was somewhat the case here. Yes, the book was enjoyable, and the mythology interesting, but not to the extent to meet what I had hoped. But again, a lot of that is probably due to my admittedly high expectations rather than a true fault on the book. Still, the pacing was a bit slow, and I'm still not overly sure of the plot line. I mean yeah it slowly became clearer, but it was a long time coming. Considering how long this book is, it made for a rather slow read. In fact I think a good bit could have been cut out or condensed down at least and that's the biggest reason aside from the early stilted romance this one earned a 3 rather than a four from me. That being said, I will definitely be continuing on with the series.

(Received a copy from the publisher via Edelweiss)

Rating:

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Other reviews:
     a GREAT read
     The Reader Bee
     The Blair Book

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