Wow. Ok, a lot to cover here. I've been waiting for this book.
As you can probably guess, this is Acheron's book. And it is a doozy.
So, lucky for us, Kenyon takes pity and doesn't make us relive the vast majority of Ash's horrific life. Most of the worst part is through his sister, Ryssa's point of view. She only finds out about what happened to him from 7 to 17 once she rescues him at 17. Thank god we don't have to experience it with him.
It's super sad and hard to deal with regardless.
For one, every time his sister, Ryssa, tries to help him, she makes it worse. You know she loves him and wants desperately to save him, she just can't seem to make it happen. Being a woman doesn't help either.
For Apollymi too. I can't imagine a mother having to deal with the loss of a child like that. Not giving him up, exactly. Or at least not only that, but not wanting to and knowing there's no way you'll never see him again. Never hold him again. I can almost forgive her for wanting to destroy the world. Almost.
But here's my holy shitballs moment: Ash's love is Tory!!
OK, you have no idea who Tory is. I know.
Remember Greary and Arik from Dream Hunter? Greary's teen cousin was Tory. I honestly thought Ash would end up with someone entirely new. I never even considered a 14 year old.
Obviously, she's not 14 anymore. Remember Dream hunter was in 1996. As you will remember Greary gave up the hunt for Atlantis once she knew what was at stake. Of course they didn't tell the teen genius what was really going on, so now Tory's all grown up with her own hunt.
Ash discredits her at a speech and she hates him for it. Then he helps translate one of Ryssa's journals, after he reads it and makes sure there's nothing that could expose his tormented past. I can't blame him for wanting to keep it a secret, but I do hope he finally understands that it's not his fault and he shouldn't be ashamed of it. Abuse isn't something anyone likes to shout from the mountain tops, but a victim should never be ashamed of people finding out. The people who abused should be the ones ashamed.
If we learn about Ash's past, that has to include Artemis, too. You do feel kinda bad for her. She's abused by her brother, Apollo. And no one really seems to care about her. but that just does not excuse her behavior. When they first meet, there is love between them, but it's like junior high love: selfish. Well, at least for Artemis it is. Ash only gives, never takes, never asks.
Unfortunately it's a junior high relationship lasts forever and stays in it's immature state. They're stuck together. And not just by Kat. Artemis tied Ash to her when she brought him back from the dead. Now he has to have blood to survive and not turn into a bloodthirsty demon - literally. And of course she's the only one he can get it from.
Speaking of Kat, I was kind of disappointed that she's never tried to help Ash. She might be the only person Artemis might listen to, and she's never gotten involved. I might have been able to understand that when she was a child. Or even when she was still naive about Artemis' character, but she knows now. And she must know how Artemis treats her father. She's over 11,000 years old! I think she can stand up to her mother. Or at least try.
Loving someone doesn't mean you don't stand up to them.
Nick makes an appearance as well. Satara kidnaps Tory in an effort to get one of Ryssa's journals back. Ryssa had written about Apollo and Artemis and how they could be killed (apparently - I'm skeptical). Satara encourages Nick to rape Tory. Nick ends up killing Satara and helps Tory escape, along with Styxx's help. Nick's still pissed at Ash, but he clearly hasn't lost his morals. At the end Artemis asks him to be her "friend," just as she asked Ash once upon a time. God, that's a train wreck waiting to happen.
Wouldn't a Nick/Artemis couple blow your mind?!
Artemis is obviously pissed about Tory. And if Ash is tied to her by blood, it makes it even worse. So, how do they get around it? Well, Tory becomes a goddess of course! She also gives Artie a bit of a smack down. Artemis' finally play? She tells Ash that she'll never free a Dark Hunter again. She almost gets him with that one - he hates the suffering of others - but Tory is there to tell him they'll find a way.
I'll be happy to see how they do that.
And I do hope Artemis finds love and happiness.
As Ash would say, everybody deserves it.
Tory becoming a goddess supports idea of Ash's pantheon. For refugees. Like the Isle of Misfit Toys! Look, you have Sin and his brother who don't have any one else from their pantheon; all the dream gods (Arik, Xepher, Leta, the M's we've met in passing) w/ emotion; Apolites; daimons who don't prey on innocents; the Were's who want peace (Vane, Fang, Amiee, Wren); immortals he's created/helped (Kyrian/Amanda/family, Valerius/Tabitha, Zarek/Astrid, Talon/Sunshine, Wulf/Cassandra, Ravyn/Susan). There's a ton of 'em! And really, someone needs to put Zeus and some of the other Greeks in their place and on their ass.
One thing I considered was if Stryker was Ash's nephew. Ryssa was the mistress of Apollo killed by the Apolites to get them cursed. She and her son. But I thought the story went that Apollo replaced his son in the womb and had his son raised in his temple. So, I thought maybe Stryker was the son who was removed. However, I think now maybe the son that was removed was the one born to the Atlantean queen who ordered Ryssa's death. That still makes them slightly related though. But it would have been an awesome twist for Ash to be Stryker uncle!
Acheron, Sherrilyn Kenyon
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