Mona Lisa is off on her craziest adventure yet. She is somehow sucked into NetherHell. While there, she must rely on an enemy hidden insider herself for her survival. She rescues a gargoyle child, becomes coveted by a gargoyle king, and manages to make some allies in the most unlikely places. This one also bounces back and forth between Mona Lisa's 1st person POV and 3rd person POV of Gryphon and Halcyon, who travel to NetherHell to rescue her. She has some disturbing/touching moments with the two of them as well as some self relaization when it comes to Dontaine.I was so torn about rating this one. I wanted to like it so much more than I did. There were a few things that really bothered me. Someone else had mentioned to me that this one didn't seem to fall into the series...that it seemed out of place. She was right. It just didn't seem to follow the flow. Almost as if she were taking the same characters and placing them into a different genre altogether. Almost like she decided to take a sabatical from the already established story line. Also, there were a few things that just didn't make sense to me. My logic apparently didn't catch up with the emotional aspects of a few scenes with Halcyon, Gryphon and Mona Lisa. And there seemed to be an element missing from the end. I'm not sure. It just seemed so rushed.With how much I liked the last book, I was hoping this would follow along that line. But it seems it may have been just a fluke. I was also really hoping to see Dante in this one. I'm hoping he'll be back in Mona Lisa Smiling next year. Mona Lisa's Darkening is a wonderful continuation of the Children of the Moon series that moves this series from interesting and enthralling to riviting. Maybe it is because Summy has develped most of the characters and places well enough that she can really take you on a journey full detailed and intriguing places- introducing even more characters you grow to care about. I am sad to learn from the author that this is the last of this series- at least for now. I am going to read her new series (Lucinda) that is suppose to be it's own story, but still take place in the Monere universe. I am hopefully it is as good as this series has been.
What do You think about Mona Lisa Darkening (2009)?
So much happened, a little too much to follow but was still a good read.
—annadd21
Felt like she was winding up the story, but pretty disappointing.
—Existedzeus
Worthwhile read. not the best in the series though.
—jadz
Least favorite of the series. Just too much.
—Hann
