Acheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12)

Acheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Acheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12)
List Price: $7.99
Our Price: $3.76
You Save: $4.23 (53%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.95 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-31
ISBN: 0312949413
Number of pages: 816
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780312949419
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of Acheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12)

Book Review: So much to say
Summary: 3 Stars

I did not start reading Sherrilyn Kenyon's series at the same time most people did. I came across this series after eighteen books had been released and started reading from the very first one. Since the second book, Acheron has become my obsession. I ate up all the other books to finally get to his story, which means I read 14 books as fast as I could. I was really afraid it would be a huge disappointment and maybe that's why when I finished it I didn't have a fit.

Considering that this book can be seen as two in one, I'll talk about them separately. The first one I'd rate as 5 stars, the second would get only 1 star. That's why I marked 3 here.

This review may contain spoilers, so if you freak out when you read one (like me) stop right here.

--

The book one brings Acheron's human life. The first 21 years of his existence and I think Sherrilyn Kenyon did an amazing job with it. I felt such anger while reading it that I was snapping every time someone interrupted me. I wanted blood for the things done to him, wanted justice desperately. The pain, abuse, injustice, it was almost too much to bear. The background was amazing as always, even though her descriptions of eleven thousand years ago looked a lot like something that would have happened three, four thousand years ago, but since she's talking about Atlantis, she has the right to create it anyway she feels like (she even explains it before the book starts).

Besides Ash, we already had met Styxx (his twin), Artemis (the heifer-goddess lol), Apollymi (Ash's mother) and Apollo (in a very short appearence then). I found Ryssa (Ash's sister) an annoying, too naive creature. Yes, she loved him but since the first time she came into contact with the horrors done to Acheron she should have understood what her brother and father were like. Her stupidity only made things worse for Acheron every single time. And the fact that she was really the best thing in his human life says a lot about the existence he had to endure.

Artemis needs a beating so badly that even Kenyon's best efforts to make us understand the goddess's actions couldn't shake that feeling. I won't even comment Apollo, Styxx, Estes or the king, whose name I can't remember.

The surprise for me was that I was with Apollymi every step of the way, she started in the series sounding like an enemy that would be hated but I actually like her very much and understand her motivations for everything she does.

After these twenty-one years and Ash's "transformation" into godhood, the story leaps forward two millennia and this first book ends with the short story about the creation of the Dark-Hunters that had already been published earlier. Kenyon did not add anything to Ias/Alexion's story. She also told nothing of the nine millennia between present time and the end of book one.

--

Book two is where the problems begin. Not for Acheron, mind you, his life gets exponentially better from this one on, the problem is how Kenyon chose to do that. First, Acheron is not a regular character. He captured the attention of every single fan of this series, he's gorgeous, he's a god - and a very powerful one -, with the first part we learn he's damaged, traumatized, compassionate and loyal beyond understanding. With all that we expect the best romance in the series but that's definitively not what we get.

Problem one: Tory, Ash's love interest. Tory could be the heroine for any dark-hunter, were-hunter or even a dream-hunter, but not for Acheron. She's nice enough, understanding, clever, even cute but that's not the kind of woman we all expected for Ash. The whole "I knew you were the one fated to be with him" (that Apollymi says) is just too weak an excuse for the choice. In eleven thousand years he's been dealing with humans, he's helping people all the time and I'm absolutely positive he's met thousands of other women just like her. She doesn't have a single quality that stands out. What she does for him - understands his past, doesn't judge him, accepts him for what he is - I bet 99% of the girls reading this would do the same. That's just the way decent people are. I could take any kind of supernatural creature for Ash, maybe even a human like Kenyon chose, but Tory is just too bland for him.

Problem two: the plot. Yes, it makes sense for Acheron to want his past hidden (even though I don't buy all dark hunters turning on him if they learned it), he's ashamed of it and has every right to want it buried. But the way things unfold is just sad. "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should" is Acheron's motto, but do you honestly expect me to believe he would be chased by cars with demons shooting at him in broad daylight, jeopardizing the safety of many bystanders and not use his powers to stop the pursuers? He'd just put a shield around himself and Tory and damn the rest? Come on, we're talking about an all-powerful god who's protective of humankind here. And that's just one example. It's like he forgets he's a god.

Third and last problem: the romance. I felt I was reading something Stephenie Meyer would have written. No offense to her fans, but I didn't know this was supposed to be young-adult. He sings for her in a bar? He goes see her at the university and all the girls just die in envy? He's her first? He overhears her gossiping about his body with her friends as they giggle? Next thing we know, he'll be played by Robert Pattinson or Zac Efron in the movies. COME ON! He's an ELEVEN-THOUSAND-YEAR OLD ATLANTEAN GOD!

I could still complain about other things, like Artemis getting away with everything she does, but I think I could have accepted that if the rest had been better. I'm happy Acheron found peace but the way it happened and the woman chosen for it didn't rise to my expectations. Even with all the changes Tory goes through by the end of the book, I find that Acheron still deserved better.

Summary of Acheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12)

Eleven thousand years ago, a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. But the strongest steel is forged from the fires of hell?

Acheron?s human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, he became the sole defender of mankind. Only it was never that simple. For centuries, Acheron has fought for our survival and hidden a past he?ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence. Now his survival?and ours?hinges on hers, and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both. War has never been more deadly...or more fun.

Literature & Fiction Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Women ImageLittle Women
by Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops: $5.00
The Killing Ground ImageThe Killing Ground
by JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowning ImageSaving Fish from Drowning
by Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancy ImageLife Expectancy
by Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princess ImageConstant Princess
by Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1) ImageWolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)
by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Sahara ImageSahara
by Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy) ImagePerelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)
by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.67
Price in other shops: $10.50
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towers ImageThe Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towers
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Mars ImageRed Mars
by Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
No Mercy (Dark-Hunter) ImageNo Mercy (Dark-Hunter)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2011-03-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops: $7.99
Bad Moon Rising: A Dark-Hunter Novel ImageBad Moon Rising: A Dark-Hunter Novel
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2010-03-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.85
Price in other shops: $7.99
Sins of the Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 8) ImageSins of the Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 8)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2005-06-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.21
Price in other shops: $7.99
Upon The Midnight Clear (A Dream-Hunter Novel, Book 2) ImageUpon The Midnight Clear (A Dream-Hunter Novel, Book 2)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2007-10-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.45
Price in other shops: $7.99
Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter, Book 11) ImageDevil May Cry (Dark-Hunter, Book 11)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2008-04-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops: $7.99
One Silent Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 13) ImageOne Silent Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 13)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2008-11-04; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.18
Price in other shops: $6.99
Seize the Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 7) ImageSeize the Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 7)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2004-12-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops: $7.99
Unleash the Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 9) ImageUnleash the Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 9)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2005-12-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.57
Price in other shops: $7.99
Dark Side of the Moon ImageDark Side of the Moon
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2006-11-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops: $7.99