Sunday, November 20, 2011

Review: Dark Goddess


Dark Goddess (Billi SanGreal #2)
by Sarwat Chadda
376 pages
Published January 25th 2011
by Hyperion Book CH

Summary:
New enemies, new romance, and new horrors,
Billi's back, and it seems like the Unholy just can't take a hint.
Still reeling from the death of her best friend, Kay, Billi's thrust back into action when the Templars are called to investigate werewolf activity. And these werewolves are like nothing Bilil's seen before.
They call themselves the Polenitsy - Man Killers. The ancient warrior women of Eastern Europe, supposedly wiped out centuries ago. But now they're out of hiding and on the hunt for a Spring Child -- an Oracle powerful enough to blow the volcano at Yellowstone -- precipitating a Fimbulwinter that will wipe out humankind for good.
The Templars follow the stolen Spring Child to Russia, and the only people there who can help are the Bogatyrs, a group of knights who may have gone to the dark side. To reclaim the Spring Child and save the world, Billi needs to earn the trust of Ivan Romanov, an arrogant young Bogatyr whose suspicious of people in general, and of Billi in particular.
Dark Goddess is a page-turning, action-packed sequel that spans continents, from England to the Russian underworld and back. This is an adventure of folklore and myth become darkly real. Of the world running out of time. And of Billi SanGreal, the only one who can save it.


Thoughts:
I’ve read the first book in the series a while ago and fell in love with the main character; Billi SanGreal the only female member in the fabled Templar Knights. I was so looking forward to the second book but was really disappointed. Maybe the death of Billi’s love interest in the first book got to me. Without Kay or even the mysterious bad boy; Mike everything seems..well kind of bland.
Battle scenes after battle scenes and the Templar Knights are clearly outnumbered. And then the plot thickens and the Templar Knights are forced to travel to Russia to rescue a gifted child;Vasilisa from being the victim of an age old goddess.
Now this is where things get too weird for me. The book changed from being an urban fantasy to being a Russian mafia novel with the introduction of the Bogatyrs. Okay so the writer tried introducing a love interest in the form of another gorgeous stranger and a long lost Russian prince too; Tsarevich Ivan Romanoff but for me there’s no chemistry at all between Billi and Ivan. It’s like forced romance or something. (Yup, I’m babbling here).

Likes
Not much really. Maybe the exotic locale is interesting. Would love to visit Moscow someday just not during winter. I’m not good with freezing my ass off. But Elaine’s crush on Lance; the new Templar is kind of funny. Cougar alert!

Dislikes
So many. But the ending really left me hanging. I mean..what just happened here? Is there going to be another book? Nothing is really resolved in the end. So did Billi end up with Ivan? I have no idea.
Let’s just say the first book; Devil’s Kiss is very different from this one. This is darker and filled with action from the get go. But not really my cup of tea.
Verdict: 2 stars.

1 comment:

  1. I read Devil's Kiss a while back, and I wanted to read this one, but now I'm not sure if I should, do you think it would be a good idea for me to read about Billi again?

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