REREAD DATE: 07 april 2013FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★ “If I have to die, I’d rather die knowing someone cared about me, just once. Is that really too much to ask?""For us? Yes. It is. We are the gutter and the gutter is all we’ll ever be. Don’t reach out for the stars. They’ll burn you until there’s nothing left. ""Then let me burn.” Reread this because i needed to remind myself how much i love this series (i actually read all of the books and i am quite up to date with them, but i need to love them again). Not to mention how much i love all characters in it, especially Nykyrian, Syn and Darling & Maris ♥. I also cried again, little less then i cried the first time, but i also laughed like crazy woman on all those hilarious moments. My love for this series is huge, the characters are unforgettable, and it's the ability of Sherrilyn Kenyon to make them so loveable. I seriously love you woman! Oh, and one more thing! The author herself said that there were two versions of this book. The earlier one, which has "the" in the title...aka "Born of THE night", and it's different, so i suggest you search for this one (there is a short author's note on the beginning, saying the version is new one).____________________________________________ WORLD BUILDING AND THE STORY : ____________________________________________Sooooooo....let me start with the introduction to the world. ♦ There is the League. They are assassins and they are cruel, vicious and sometimes horrible. They are legendary, they are unstoppable, and they are some kind of law. ♦ The Sentella on the other hand is a organization made to keep the League in the check - but they are all criminals and they are crazy. In a positive way, btw. ♦ Andarions are the race who genetically come from humans, but they refuse to acknowledge it. They are fierce, they are vicious, and are predatorial race that sometimes fed on humans. They are long fanged, have red rimmed eyes, and they always have black hair. And they are scary as hell to regular people.They also value physical beauty only second to physical strength. ♦ There are also many planetary systems, some of them are populated with humans and are empires and such. For example,there exists Caron, a human system, and so on and on.... The story on the other hand is about Nykyrian, a former League assassin - he left the League a long time ago, and they still haven't killed him - because he kills them first. He is a member of Sentella. And then, one day, Sentella goes on a mission and Syn, one of them, finds Kiara and rescues her. Together with Nykyrian who is in disguise as Nemesis, the scarriest, the most brutal assassin Sentella has. After they rescued her, Sentella signed up to be bodyguards for Kiara until the danger on her life passes...____________________________________________ CHARACTERS : ____________________________________________♦ Nykyrian: Nykyrian...Oh Nykyrian... He is a hybrid of two races - he is half human and half Andarion. They are extremely rare, but the problem lies in the fact that Andarions think he is weak and therefore is an outcast, and humans fear him because they think he would eat them and therefore he had been outcasted again. If only it was an easy thing. He once had family, he had status, he had everything, until the day when he was a just a child, when he lost everything - and from that moment on, his life had been nothing but utter and complete misery, terror and suffering. He was trained to be the most vicious, the most lethal, emotionless assassin, until one day he decided it was enough and escaped. And then, he joined Sentella and became one of the most feared assassins, called Nemesis. But even he has a heart, and he has emotions, and deep inside, he is afraid of showing anything, lest he suffers rejection again. He never smiles, he is quite sarcastic and he is sometimes ironic as hell.And then...he meets Kiara, who changes his perspective on the world...or not. She also many many times misunderstands him, and therefore, she hurts him again, and again and again. But he couldn't help eventually falling in love with her (which took half of the book) and he decided that he could change...for her. But, he doesn't trust easily, he doesn't open easily and he certainly doesn't feel like he needs someone. He is so much used thinking that he was alone, that he doesn't see the truth; people care about him, Sentella members especially, but he doesn't notice it. “In your palms, I’ve placed my life, my secrets. I give you freedom to leave me at any time. I’m not easy to love. No one ever has. All I ask is that you always keep your silence, if not for me, then for the families of the others you’d destroy.” Reading about his past always destroys me. I seriously wonder how he stayed sane through it all and how he turned out to be a seriously wonderful, gentle and sane person... It's a wonder. ♦ Kiara: Kiara has everything - she is rich, spoiled, she has normal family, she is loved, she is famous, she is a dancer. But then again, is she good human being? Yes. She is, though sometimes she can be utter and horrible bitch (still i don't blame her). She doesn't think about the things she says, she thinks she knows it all, and she is quick to judge. I wanted to strangle her - and i wonder how Syn didn't do it already xD “Everyone has a choice. (Kiara)No, princess, they don’t. Choices aren’t always up to us. Life and circumstances can shred even the stoutest soul. No matter how pure and untainted you think you are, I promise you that you, too, can be shoved into the darkness, just like we were. (Syn)” But, then again, she is wonderful, she is nice and she is total match for Nykyrian. She falls in love with him slowly, especially after she slowly cracks his shell... She finds out that life can be a bitch, that not everyone lived the same way as she did and it made her understand how happy she actually was and is in her life and in her skin. “I wish I could take away your pain. I wish I could go back to when you were born and take you somewhere safe. Far away from all the people who’ve hurt you.”His eyes were liquid emeralds. “You’re doing that now.” ♦ Sentella members: The Sentella memebers are unique. They are all criminals, that is true. But - they are good - they are never bad and they have never been bad, but it doesn't make them less criminal. Everyone judges them before they even met them, and all of them hide some deep and traumatic pasts (not sure about Hauk though). They are batshit insane and crazy and funny as hell. “What the hell was that action?” Syn asked him.“I think it’s something called ‘paternal concern.’ ”Syn scowled at his bland explanation. “What . . . ? You sure? I thought that crap was a myth.”Nykyrian shrugged. “No, really. I watched it once in a documentary. It was fascinating. Believe it or not, there are people out there who actually have feelings for their progeny.”“Get the fuck out. No way. You’re screwing with my head again, aren’t you?”“No. I swear. You just saw it with your own eyes. I did not make that shit up.”Syn shivered. “Yeah but it’s really messing with my concept of the natural order of the universe. Paternal love? What’s next? Limb regrowth? Genetic splicing reversals?” Hauk is an Andarion, he is funny, scary and awesome (he is not interested in humans). Syn, one of my fav characters is crazy SOB who drinks himself almost everytime, not to mention that he considers Nyk his best friend, and he was always there for him. And his sense of humor is fascinating. Darling...oh god..Darling - i fell in love the moment i first read about him. He is a redhead(yes i had to say it), he is scarred, and he is...well...just fantastic (especially after you read his book). I always hated his situation with his family, and it hurt me every time :(( ♦ Other characters: All of the families in this series are insane! We have some overprotective fathers, dead mothers, dead sisters and unknown daughters, ignorant parents, psychotic brothers and lots and lots of killers. Well, let's just say, there is a long list of people/charaters i wanted to slaughter. ____________________________________________ OVERALL : ____________________________________________ Anyway...I fell in love with the dancer and the assassin. Just reading the synopsis for the first time grabbed my attention + it was Sherri, so could i ask for more? I think i love this series more than i love her Dark Hunters. And also, her ability to produce tortured heroes is amazing (even heroines). If you like science fiction, with good world building, romance, action and hotness, and if you love tortured heroes and great characters, than this series must be read.The rest of the league books...Bring it on!!!____________________________________________● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●____________________________________________ MY THE LEAGUE REVIEWS: ◉ Born of Night (The League, #1) ◉ Cloak & Silence (The League, #6) ◉ Born of Fury (The League, #7) This review can be found on my blog: infinity-of-time.blogspot.com also known as...
I’ve been a huge fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s writing ever since I first discovered the Dark-Hunter series and that amazing hero, Acheron. When I heard about the re-release of The League series, I was thrilled until I learned it was Sci-Fi because I’m really not a big fan of the genre. Truthfully, the only other Sci-Fi book I have ever read and really liked, loved in fact, was The Host by Stephenie Meyer. The Host, like Born of Night was pretty light on the techie stuff which is why it worked for me. The time period, the locations and everyday living were given enough attention to detail that there was no mistaking the book’s futuristic setting, yet at the same time I didn’t feel like I needed a degree in rocket science to understand what was happening. And while this has nothing to do with the genre, in the beginning there were so many characters being introduced, relationships explained and back-stories given, that I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to fully follow the story. However once I got into the book and became familiar with the names, I had no problem whatsoever. Keeping in mind that this was Sherrilyn Kenyon’s debut novel, something minor I want to mention is that I know that sometimes when we buy a book for the author’s name, we expect it to be at least as good as their last book we read. I ran into this recently when I began reading some books that were written by one of my all time favorite authors, J.R. Ward, writing as Jessica Bird. The Bird books were excellent, but didn’t have the same “feel” or “flawless flow” as the Ward books do and while Born of Night is a great story, I could see a slight difference in the writing refinement. I’m truly not trying to be critical, merely pointing this out for readers who may not be aware that these books were written years before her Dark-Hunter series was released and might wonder about the difference in writing.However, all that said, I’m very impressed by how well written this debut novel is. The plot is believable, the characters well defined and with a depth of moral character that I couldn’t help but be proud of these "criminals" who are consider to be low life scum by the “important” people, the ones who supposedly matter.Overall, I really enjoyed this book and adored Nykerian! As for Kiara - meh - she was annoying as all get out and I really didn’t see how I’d ever come to like her enough to want to see Nyk saddled with her for the rest of his life. Indeed, oft was the time that I silently urged Nykie to put her rear end on the first asteroid out of the galaxy, however, as only an author of Ms. Kenyon’s caliber can do, she took the irritating traits, flaws and weaknesses inherent in Kiara and explained them all so well that in the end, I had found it in my heart to forgive her and yes, even like her, and was very happy with the match.If you find yourself tempted, yet hesitant to read this book because it’s Sci-Fi, I’d really encourage you to take the chance. What have you got to lose?
What do You think about Born Of Night (2009)?
First book in Sherrilyn Kenyon's The League series. Science fiction romance. Nykyrian Quikiades aka Nemesis was once an assassin working for The League but now he works against them for The Sentella. He is a hybrid Andarion/Human. His current job is to protect princess and dancer, Kiara Zamir. A woman who doesn't want protection. It was a little slow at times but overall a good read for me. I loved the hero, Nykyrian, but I wasn't overly fond of the heroine, Kiara. I didn't hate her but I found her to be a bit annoying at times. The world building was done in a comprehensible manner for me. I enjoyed reading about the secondary characters and their potential stories. I found this and the next few in the series at my local library so I'll be able to continue the series at least through book 3.
—Pamela(AllHoney)
3 StarsI haven't read much fantasy/other world romance before so this was different for me. After a bit of a slow start, I did enjoy it. I'm honestly not sure I could articulate the world building aspect of the novel as I'm not sure I understood all of it. That could be on me more than the author though since I was anticipating the romance more than anything. I enjoyed the two main characters but was sometimes a little lost in the details of all the other side characters that actually played a very large role in the story. As much as I loved the H/h's love story and watching it unfold, at times I think it become a little too formulaic. I also felt like some of the conflict resolution took the easy and most obvious way out so that it always nicely resolved. The ending also seemed a little too hearts and roses for a character who endured such unspeakable tragedy.I did think the author did an excellent job character building. Many of the heroes traits were very well scripted and felt so real I could feel his pain and anguish. I'm very interested to see where the rest of the characters go from here. With such tragic back stories, the men in this series need to find love and peace and I can't wait to see how it happens.
—Paige Velthouse
This book did not start off well for me. The author has a really bad habit of over describing everything. Every reference to something was like it was the first time. We had to hear the exact description all over again. Also, I really, really hate when an author has a character think something then immediately qualifies it. Like: he didn't have time to humor her, but he ached so badly inside with the need to comfort her. That was my own example, but crap like that happened constantly. Also, Nyky
—Catherine
