Review: Dark Descendant by Jenna Black

Title: Dark Descendant
Author: Jenna Black
Series: Descendants, #1
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Pages: 336
Rating:

Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . .

Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy.

But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . .

An adult Urban Fantasy novel about Greek Gods? I have been waiting forever to pick up a book like this. And trust me when your read the first chapter of this book you will be hooked in a way you never thought possible.

I cannot express how much I love Greek Mythology, so the concept of there being immortals called Liberi that are the children of a Greek god was so fascinating and also this story is so very action packed at different times too. I mean every chapter you're at the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen next? And we also develop strong feelings for characters we love and hate.

Nikki, our protagonist was quite an interesting character, but I took an instant liking to her immediately. She is your typical kick-ass urban fantasy gal. I think since the beginning of DARK DESCENDANT she has been through quite a bit and I look forward to her character growing more with each book.

Even though I loved this book, there was one thing that bothered me. There were a lot of trust issues throughout the whole book due to an incident at the beginning of DARK DESCENDANT and it really drove me crazy. I just wanted to shout out at some characters in the book, "haven't heard of until proven guilty, have you?" But I do think by the end of the book these trust issues have become a bit better.

"Anderson sent me to give you this," he said. "I believe the subtext was "kiss and makeup." This time I was sure I made a face. "I rather kiss a copperhead." I grabbed the envelop from his hand. He laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Don't worry. It was only a figure of speech." 

There's not really a romance in this story except for some secondary characters and I am okay with that. I love to read urban fantasy books only if they have romance, but this book rocked my world so much that I didn't mind that there was no romance and I think it would be awkward if there was a love story with Nikki.

Things do tend to get a little bloody in the world of the DARK DESCENDANT but these are immortals and they come back. I loved watching the threats, the "I'm a bad-ass" talk and the ass kicking. This was quite a crazy world, but also a fun one too.

I admit that this book is a bit darker than what I am used too, but I loved it all the same. I am completely new to author Jenna Black, and I like what I see. This is a definite read for urban fantasy readers.