Elisabeth Naughton - Twisted

Nick –Leader of the half-breeds and the last true hero. He’s spent his life fighting a dark pull toward the gods. A pull he now knows is linked to his father Krónos and the Titan’s plan to escape from the Underworld.
But Nick’s hidden powers are coveted by more than just his father. Imprisoned by Hades, Nick battles every form of torture imaginable as the sadistic god schemes to break him. Only one thing is keeping him sane. One woman who gives him the strength to fight the relentless darkness. She has a dangerous plan of her own, though, and as Nick’s powers grow stronger, even she might not be enough to alter his destiny.
As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, Nick’s allegiances are tested. And no one knows whether he will choose to fight for good or succumb to the sinister lure of evil. Not even him.

Comment: I've been a fan of the Eternal Guardians for years and this installment is the most recent one the author has published. I was quite eager for it, not only due to the promising story expected after the end of the previous book, but also because it's Nick's story, a character with mystery and darkness and I was curious about him.

Nick has been an interesting character since we first met him. He had a secret agenda concerning the misos, the Argolean's and Human's mixed half race and people he protects because he too was prejudiced in Argolea, thus he makes it his life aim to protect and guide those who were put aside.

But Nick isn't a humble warrior only, he has a dark past, darker origins and a really bad lucked present. After a sacrifice, Nick faces torture, but the person in charge of it isn't someone he fears. Cynna has a secret agenda as well and strange and surprising news about her childhood, something that will change Argolea once again. But is their bond strong to face it all?

This book is better read if one has already read the previous books. Same for the reviews, as many details are related to other books. This is one of those series we need to read in order to really understand many things.

I was very curious about this story. Since Nick showed up I was immediately curious about him and his position in the story and how important he could actually be in the whole series. His importance proved important indeed in this book for his real place in the hierarchy of things isn't what we expected at all. On that level, I think the author did well.

This book starts where the previous ended, with some months passing in between, if I remember correctly. Nick has been tortured, not only physically but mentally when he thinks about the woman he loves and his brother.

However, Nick is also distracted by Cynna, his torturer, someone who isn't vicious and resembles a person imprisoned as well. Things seem weird often but the torture keeps up. At the same time, in the palace, a new danger threatens Isadora's life and at this point, I confess things weren't going a path I thought was the best.

Then, we see Cynna isn't just some poor girl there to oppose Isadora, she has importance and the personal solution found to break up Isadora and Nick was quite smart and well done. Easy to accomplish too, despite the drama everyone faces before that happens.

This story had its share of darkness and drama but I admit it wasn't a heavy as I thought. The drama was intense yes, but not exactly the way I imagined and I have to say some parts were starting to feel like useless and needless and annoying to bear. But the author solved it all well and I'm glad for it.

The romance wasn't as wonderful as I imagined because of the hint of love triangle we've seen since Isadora's book. Cynna and Nick's connection had its moments but apart from the expected but annoying sexual relationship at the beginning and the little sugary scenes almost at the end, it was basically what one would imagine. But, personally, I think two characters who were described a certain way, they didn't act always in accordance to what I think they should, based on personality. Sometimes their actions would feel like too different from the expected to better suit the plot. I can understand why that happened but it didn't mean I liked it.

All in all, many good things, plot related. The author did  good job on that front. But the main couple's personality and some relationship's dealings weren't as well done as I imagined. Still, solution and news were abundant, so on that level, I was pleased.

I wonder who's next.

Grade: 7/10