format: ebook
target audience: adult
genre: urban fantasy
words: ~85000
series: descent, book 2
published: may 2012
publisher: red iris books

author’s site: sm reine

i got it from: review copy
add it on goodreads: The Darkest Gate

When Elise Kavanagh retired from demon hunting, she swore it would be permanent. But an attack from a powerful necromancer forced her back into the business, and now she’s trying to balance her normal boyfriend and normal job with everything supernatural.

Mr. Black is a demon hunter gone rogue. He’s enslaving angels and stealing ethereal artifacts in pursuit of forbidden immortality. An old grudge drives him to make his final stand in Elise’s territory. Destroying her life and killing her friends isn’t the goal, but it’s a definite perk.

A demonic overlord offers to join against Mr. Black and protect Elise’s loved ones. All she needs to do is ally with the demons she’s sworn to kill, at the cost of her morals–and maybe her immortal soul. But once she crosses that line, there’s no turning back.

Nothing is sacred when Heaven and Hell collide on Earth…

Cover

It’s an ok cover. Doesn’t make me go uuh and aah, but it works. Also keeps the style of the series.

My Review

I was lucky enough to get an e-ARC of this book. Since I finished the first book of the Descent-series, I’ve wanted to get more.

Reading sequels is like coming back to see good old friends. At least that’s how I felt when I picked up “The Darkest Gate”. The book begins with a scene in the past, when Elise is still a scrawny teenager and she and James are struggling with their everyday life. I love the peeks of the past, that continue throughout the book — they also entwine tightly with the plot, so they’re not fillers.

You don’t need to wait for the action in this book. We get tossed into life changing happenings from the start and see how well the characters can handle themselves in the midst of it all. I got to understand Elise much better in this book. I think she’s a character very different from your usual heroine, and I like it. First my brain tried to force Elise into a mold and I expected her to behave differently, so she managed to surprise me over and over again. When I was done with the book, I felt I knew Elise better.

James wasn’t my favorite in this book — he seemed a bit cold and trying to put a distance to Elise. I’ll be interested to see how all this will affect the third book, with all the happenings in this one. There was lots going on especially at the end, but you’ll have to read about that yourself for me not to spoil you. Anthony on the other hand is growing on me — he’s much stronger than he first appeared. Betty is pretty much the same, though she’s going through some hardship with the rest of them. And then there’s the mysterious Thom… I have my suspicions of him.

As usual, Reine is great at writing descriptions. She can make a battle so alive to the reader, you almost might be the one receiving the punches. We also got to know a lot of things in this book, that were left in the dark the last time, but there’s still things that were left unanswered and I believe will get and answer in the third part of the series. Personally I found it a bit frustrating, when Elise reveals something to Anthony, but it’s not revealed to the reader at that point. Overall the build ups in the book won’t let you hanging too bad, but just makes enough tension for you to keep turning pages.

It’s no secret, that Reine is one of my favorite indie authors so I have high expectations for her books. “The Darkest Gate” keeps up with the standard of awesome. This is the true urban fantasy style book, where the action tops the romance — there’s hardly any of the latter. So, if you’re waiting for this sequel, it’s safe to say, you won’t be disappointed. And if you’re not familiar with the Descent-series yet, but you love urban fantasy, I suggest you go pick it up. I believe this book should be up at Amazon anytime now…

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About the Author

SM Reine is an author of dark fantasy for teen and adult audiences. Her most widely known work is “Six Moon Summer,” which has been hailed as “fresh and fast-paced” and “captivating.” She lives in Nevada with her husband, the Helpful Baby, and too many black animals to count.
Author’s Website