The Darkest Lie [Mass Market Paperback]

I've been a monster fan of Showalter's LotU series since first spending time with Maddox, but I have to admit, after book six, I'm a little befuddled. In The Darkest Lie we see the development of the relationship between Gideon, keeper of Lies, and Scarlet, keeper of Nightmares, plot threads with Galen (Hope), head of the Hunters, and Mnemosyne, Rhea's sister and Cronus' sister-in-law, not to mention the threads with other Lords, Strider (Defeat) in particular, but also a quest with Amun (Secrets), Aeron (formerly Wrath) and William (not a Lord, but still). I gotta be honest, as much as I totally love the series and commend Showalter on her imagination and originality, I felt there were way too many balls up in the air in The Darkest Lie, to the detriment of the development of Gideon and Scarlet as individual characters and together in their relationship, and this is the first book of the series that, as a whole, didn't quite knock it out of the park for me.

Believe me, I'm hesitant in saying that, because honestly, I liked the book, and there were parts that I enjoyed much better than in the two previous books (the ending in particular). I love Gideon - always have - and I enjoyed Scarlet's character very much (other than having a slight issue with the repetition of her inner dialogue in relation to Gideon). Showalter did an excellent job on her personality and the originality of her demon, though man, Showalter is tough on character backstory! The torment Scarlet has lived with through thousands of years would have demonized a lesser immortal, that's for sure. Still, she is fiery, contradictory, tenacious, stubborn, and strong willed, and I felt she was the perfect match for Gideon, who has always been one of my favorite Lords. I loved their scenes and all of their interactions - the pair were even one of the high points in the last book. The problem is that there weren't enough of their scenes or their development, and that's becoming a familiar issue with the series.

The trend of meeting a Lord's HEA character in books prior to that Lord's actual story is one that's not sitting well with me. I'm not sure what's niggling me about it, but it's making the romance aspect seem almost anticlimactic. It's also at least part of the reason that I haven't felt there's been enough development with the featured couple in their own books lately. It would definitely prevent a new reader from joining the series at this point. These are no longer and in no way stand-alone books, not that the first few would have been completely successful as such. Now, though, there's way too much going on to allow for enough exposition to bring a new reader up to speed. Hell, there's no time for enough exposition to remind readers already familiar with the series about what's going on.

Also, a couple of things started to wear on me while I was reading, most notably, the latter books are virtually unrecognizable from the earlier books. Does anyone remember the war between Hunters and Lords? Lately the series is more about godly politics and machinations - and I don't enjoy that as much. Plus, I'm all for a series growing and developing, but there are so many different characters and plot threads involved in The Darkest Lie that there was more than one point in the book that I had to stop and think about how everything is supposed to connect. And I failed to make some of those connections. Not to mention, while I was originally of the opinion that the addition of the pathos of the Titans and Greeks was interesting, it's starting to weigh down the overall arc.

What did happen to the fight between the Lords and Galen's Hunters? There was a scene or two tossed in here, but it was more a nod given than actual story arc progression. And I think Showalter has started too many threads with too many characters that provide too many teasers without any sort of resolution. What is/was William? What is Ex? How will Gilly's issues with William be resolved? What's Sienna going to do now that she's burdened with Wrath? Will Atlas be joining the fray with his mate now that his name's been brought up, as was alluded to in his short story? What the hell is Strider (Defeat) doing making blanket decisions about the cloak?

Here's my big question: What happened to a paranormal romance book that introduces the romantic lead pair, develops their characters and their relationship, and gives them a hard-earned but deserving HEA in one book, with the overall series arc developing alongside, occasionally overlapping, but never overshadowing that relationship? That question is currently going unanswered in The Darkest Lie and the LotU series. I'm still a fan of the series. I still love Showalter and her stories. The book is well written in technique, with all the aplomb Showalter always exhibits. But if I'm to be completely honest, the non-relationship plot threads are overwhelming the relationships in these books lately, and it's lessening my enjoyment of the stories. 3.5 Stars.

Originally reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.

Oh Boy.......where in the world is this series going?

As a lover of paranormal romance, I long for the day when a series can stick to a common vision/goal/path. I feel like the norm now-a-days is for a series to start out great and then loose steam as the author begins to try to add plot lines, new characters, new conflict, until the reader is left saying "Hey, what's going on here?" That is the point that I feel I'm fast approaching with this series.

I loved this couple. They have a past and those are my favorite kind of love stories, but they got a severe shaft in page count in this book. There is so much going on in this "world" that I think the romance and couple developing is beginning to take a huge back seat. I'm all for plot, but please don't mess with my romance.

Another problem with this book that I feared would be a problem was Gideon himself. Being the keeper of Lies, it became annoying (as it has been in the past) to constantly have to reverse everything he says to understand what he means......"you are so ugly" means "you are so pretty"....blah blah blah. It became all to annoying and without the couple development that I long for...ultimately unsatisfying.

Gideon and Scarlet have a history together. They don't simply meet by happenstance and fall instantly into lust and decide to try and make a relationship work. In all the previous novels, the women have been strangers to the Lords, and I like that in Gideon's case there is much more present in their interactions than simple physical attraction.

Gideon himself is hard not to adore. He so badly wants to just once tell a woman she's pretty instead of ugly, call her "angel" instead of "devil", and scream at his enemies that he wants to kill them instead of kiss them. The Gideon Speak does take a little getting used to however. Trying to decipher what he's saying slows the plot down a little, and every once in a while you can't help but take what he's saying at face value and are left slightly confused.

Scarlet I find to be a little frustrating. I genuinely feel for her as her past is revealed, and empathize with her plight to find Gideon after they were separated when the Lords were kicked from the heavens, but her constant inability to commit to a decision lessens my opinion of her. She's extremely naive with regards to her feelings, and though Gideon has given her no reason to doubt otherwise, she refuses to believe he truly cares for her and therefore constantly pushes him away thinking his life will be better without her in it.

Because she continually recants on this decision and comes back to him, poor Gideon is forced to deal with the repercussions of having his feelings taken from one extreme to the other. She loves him and is going to stay, then she can't possibly stay because she's hurt him enough already, then she can't imagine her life without him, then she fears her staying will result in godly wrath so she must go. Gideon, as a result, is happy one minute and then constantly trying to make peace with her decision to go the next. Phew, that is a lot of decision making in a short period of time.

I still truly enjoy these books and will of course be continuing the series. Amun and Strider are next, so I can't wait to see what's in store for Secrets and Defeat.

Rating: 3.5/5

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