Nightshade by Keri Lake

3.75/5 stars

SPOILERS AHEAD

This started out as a strong 5/5 for me for the first 75% or so, but then I think we lost the plot a bit.

Truthfully, I couldn't read the first quarter or so of this book because all of the terrifying religious imagery and insanely gruesome murders that kicked the book off (girl literally got her spine ripped out??). The way Keri Lake writes can actually be quite haunting. Coming from a religious household, going to church every Sunday, going to a Catholic high school, and no longer associating with any form of religion (Happy Easter, lol), I think the imagery was a little extra creepy for me. Honestly though, the church and the Pentacrux being the most hypocritical, sadistic group full of sinners in this book did make me feel a bit of validation for how deeply I dislike the church in my real life. It is a little unnerving to think that if this was real, I would end up in Nightshade because that's where the non-believers go. We didn't get much of a look into Nightshade outside of the manor, but it kinda sounds like it might slay in a really creepy kind of way... aside from the rapists and murderers and whatnot.

I really liked the way that the book was set up, switching back and forth between Lustina, the baron, Farryn, and Jericho's points of view. I felt a bit like a detective who's gone slightly insane tying together a web of people and details on a cork-board on my wall between two completely separate timelines. I know a lot of people had issues with the switching back and forth, but I found that it kept me on my toes and made me really think about what was happening so that I could connect it to the other timeline.

That said, I am a little bit confused on what actually happened if I'm being completely honest. I don't really understand why. her dad wanted her to go to Nightshade so badly other than the Pentacrux coming to find her, but she never would have learned any of this or passed the curse on if she didn't go? I don't know that I was able to figure out a lot of the intricacies of her curse outside of her being Lustina reincarnated. I know she's supposed to be reincarnated to be sacrificed over and over but I just don't know why? Or how the curse even came to be? Why would Jericho going to the mortal world automatically kill Farryn? The Fallen, the Heavenly Ones, the cambion, all of the different kinds of demons and angels got a bit jumbled in my head. And to be completely honest all of these questions could have been spelled out right in front of my face and I just missed them, but it does seem to be a general consensus among reviews that no one really knew what was going on. However, as a mood reader and not an intellectual, I was just along for the ride and I still had a good time.

I really liked Lustina and the baron, but I don't know if I loved Farryn and Jericho centuries later. The love between Lustina and the baron felt more genuine, and I know that Jericho waited centuries for her to come back, but his possesion over Farryn was less hot, more creepy than the baron's infatuation with Lustina. It's very much a love vs. lust sitatuation. The baron I felt really did love Lustina, but I felt like as he got older and more cynical and jaded it became more of a lust/obsession that blew up when Farryn appeared back in his life. I understand that he's loved her for centuries, but the girl just learned that she's cursed to be a sacrifice and is the reincarnated girlfriend of the man who's house she's stuck in. Give her some time to process, not lock her up in a crazy sex dungeon.

I loved Remy, and I know full well that it's because I'm an absolute sucker for the goofy, usually blonde, side character. I was absolutely shook when Drystan popped back up as the detective from the beginning, and I was devestated when he cut off Remy's wings and turned him into one of those gnarly creatures for his army. I was even more devestated when Remy still remembered Farryn and gave her the piece of celestial steel for her to end his life. He was a good one, kind of dumb, but endearing all the same. A little Fallen golden retriever.

Where they lost me... the whole impregnation trope. First of all, I'm a baby hater so you're going to lose me there automatically. Second of all, the conversations about it were a bit icky and so unbelievably cringy for me. I didn't understand why it would save her life if she had a kid or why Drystan wanted to be the one to impregnate her, or honestly anything surrounding that whole situation. Like yes I know it's to pass the curse on and get it off of Farryn but what if she had a boy? And if it is a girl they're cool just condeming her the same way they did with Farryn?

I do think that Keri Lake is really good at writing characters that you can absolutely hate with your entire soul. Bishop Venable, Drystan, and the Lord of Praecepsia were so easy to loathe, and it adds such depth to the book when you can really cling to your hate for some characters. Especially when you get to see them meet a terrible end after having to sit through the whole book watching them torture and kill other people with no reprecussions. It's so satisfying.

In my opinion, it was a bit over the top for her to kill off Jericho but then bring him back so quickly. I know there's a bigger plot for all of this, like Farryn finding out who Lustina's angel father is and her damning her soul, but I think it would have hit harder to kill him and end the book, and then have this whole bring-him-back-to-life situation in the second book, or tie the ends up a little tighter and leave it as one book. And I know that it was part of the deal in order for him to go visit Farryn in the mortal world through that other guys body (not really sure how that whole thing worked....) but it felt like it was more for the shock factor than anything else. Which is fine, but if its's for the shock factor then at least make us sit with it for a little while.

Anyways, as Farryn said "I don't really understand it, to be honest". But I still love the atmosphere of this book and Keri Lake knows how to write creepy, so I will probably read the next book even though I think this could have been a standalone if some loose ends got tied up. So, tbd.