Reviews

The Darkest King: William's Story by Gena Showalter

alexperc_92's review against another edition

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5.0

yup William found his match in Sunny!

srharris's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoyed this book. I know a lot of people where skeptical about William being with a Unicorn shifter, but i have read many of books where unicorn shifters are not all sweet and rainbows and Sunday was the perfect mate for William. She didn't take his shit and she gave just as good as she got. I loved her fire and her sass. The fact that she was able to change her appearance (hair color, eye color, even skin color) made her the perfect mate for him.

I am giving this series a 4.5 stars altogether because I enjoyed more books in the series than i didn't. I liked most of the couples featured in this series and the plot flowed smoothly from on book to the next.

I believe this was the final book in the series and everything was wrapped up nice and neat. We got all of our questions answered about William and his past and the war with Lucifer finally came to an end.

All in all, a great series.

wchappus's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 stars

raven168's review against another edition

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3.0

Much like Gillian's book, I had to give this one a go despite the negative reviews. I was never one of the ones that wanted William to end up with her, so I was definitely looking forward to him finding his woman. But then I find out she's a unicorn.... Okaaaaay. Okay, well, that's not what I was expecting. At all. But I still had check this out. I mean, how could I not. Let's just say I was much happier with Gillian's book than William's here.

I kind of sort of really disliked Sunday (WTF is up with that name?) for a lot of the book. Maybe half of it or so? Because she's a unicorn, apparently she has a duel personality. Which in and of itself I don't mind. But her "bad" side just annoyed the hell out of me with what she did and said. Being one of the last of her kind after Lucifer went and wiped them out, Sunny spends her days running from poachers, fighting demons, and trying to survive. Oh, and she harbors a huge grudge against William because when Lucifer slaughtered her people he was shouting out "for William!" Huge enough she actually thinks she can kill him.

Still on the hunt for the one who will break his curse, Keeley lets William know that the one who can actually read his book is also his mate. He's less than thrilled with the news and doesn't quite believe it. Until he finds Sunny and his whole world immediately centers on her. Still. He refuses to allow himself to fall in love with her no matter how much she calls to him. He will use her to break his curse and then discard her. First he needs to kidnap her and force her into decoding the book.

I'm not sure how I really feel about these two as a couple because it's practically insta-love and that always irks me. The two of them lust after each other from the moment they meet, both fighting the attraction the whole time. The more time she spends with him though, the more Sunny wants William to be her future.

Decoding the book doesn't actually go very well and we slowly learn that the curse isn't what was thought. Aside from the relationship forming between William and Sunny, we get William finally being able to piece together his past with Axel. Though Hades forbids William to interact with Axel, it's not like William can stop the guy from just showing up when he wants. Forcing Hades to make a decision that practically breaks William's heart. Then there's the finding of a crown that marks a new king of Hell. That also wasn't at all what everyone thought it was. It was actually better.

Of course we also get to see the conclusion to the war against Lucifer. Can I just say huge disappointment? It was such a small blip on the radar of this book. I seriously thought that most of the book would focus on this fight and not the relationship. I mean, it's something that has been building up for so long. But it was such a tiny percentage! It wasn't bad per se, but I was really expecting a lot more.

So all in all, while I absolutely loved learning of William's past and what he really is, I wasn't all that impressed with this one. I'll definitely be continuing on with the spinoff though.

dragonaion's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Of all the Showalter books, I found this one to be the most disappointing and a furious attempt to end the series as fast as possible. I loved Showalter's previous books, I devoured one overnight, because of the care, empathy, and understanding she wrote between the characters and the unique development of their relationship. Those traits were starting to go missing and turn into cookie-cutter fairly tales after The Darkest Touch (a spitting copy of Cinderella? Really?) and this was no exception. Congrats Showalter, the series is done. You did it. Yay. Thanks for an ending that made me want to put the book down... Firmly.

psychology4introverts's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

one of the better ones of the series, among the top five. as usual just steamy fun for some light entertainment and diversion

amkago2008's review against another edition

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4.0

This was not my favorite in the series but I still really enjoy it. I actually like that William ended up with Sunny. I thought they fit each other well. I also feel the series was tied up nicely. It looks like there will still be "spin-off books" but the core of the series feels complete now.

andreaphoenix26's review against another edition

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3.0

Que difícil puntuar un libro que he estado esperando por mucho tiempo y del cual no esperaba nada, aunque Sunny me cayera bien no fue del todo agradable, y William seguirá siendo por siempre de mis favoritos.
La mejor escena fue donde aparecieron los señores del inframundo. Fin.
Voy a extrañar a los señores del inframundo y su trama principal, aunque van a estar allí por siempre es difícil decirle adiós a una saga que he seguido por tanto tiempo, me genera nostalgia y un poquito de tristeza. Por siempre LOTU

athene_srq's review against another edition

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4.0

Was far from my favorite in this series. At points I put it down and went to another book. The conclusion was ok

pirosroka535's review against another edition

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4.0

To be honest, I was slightly disappointed with this, and I feel really bad for saying that because I really love this series and Gena Showalter... But it just felt incredibly anticlimactic to me. William has been one of the most built up and mysterious characters this whole series and I was expecting something epic from him, and in the end it was sort of like...really, that's it? We still don't even really know what he is. Like I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting from his back story, but I was definitely expecting more. I also found the final battle scene super blah. Both characters were so built up and it sort of left me feeling like that was it? I probably would give this book 3.5 stars. I still love William and Sunny is pretty cool. I just expected more. That's the issues with expectations and having a lot of hype, if it doesn't live up to it, it leaves you feeling disappointed even though it's definitely a solid book and enjoyable.