This is how the first part of this book goes:

Emotional abuse.
Physical abuse (under the guise of caning).
Emotional abuse.
Underage Rape.
More Emotional abuse.
More underage rape.
Mental abuse followed by a healthy dose of physical abuse.
MORE SEXUAL ABUSE.
Happy moments.
MORE RAPE.
MORE EMOTIONAL ABUSE.
Happy moments.
DEATH.
Resurrection.
Isolation.

As a reader, if you haven't completely wanted to slash your wrists or cried your eyeballs out by the time Styxx story in Ancient Greece/Atlantis is over, I commend you for being heartless. Kenyon has once again demonstrated that she is the Queen of Angst among the writers I read, and she left me a visceral mess on my floor. Acheron's book was basically the same, but for some reason, Styxx really really left me hollow and numb inside by the time the first half was over. We knew Ash's history of human sex trafficking and being sexually molested and abused as a child up until he was an adult. It was heartbreaking and cruel, and it made you want to reach in and hold the 7 foot tall man and tell him it will be alright. Styxx's book took that feeling and made it the book it's bitch. There were a handful of scenes between Styxx and Galen and Styxx and Bethany that alleviated the heaviness of the first half, but good freaking Lord, the rest was just bogged down with so much sad and horrible stuff, it was like wading through quick sand a lot of the time.

Perhaps it's because we never got a hint of Styxx's story, just from Ash's point of view in his novel. We never see Styxx again for majority of the series accept a book here or there, but he is pretty unknown to majority of us as readers. It surprised me that out of all the Dark Hunters that she could bring into the series, she decided to write about Styxx. I was apprehensive. I wasn't sure how she was going to make me feel for a character I really didn't care nothing about, but man, was I proven wrong about 100 billion times. I should have known better. There has been very few times that Kenyon has left me uncaring after the book is over (I'm looking at you, Stryker) or just disappointed in the book all around (Darling's book in the League series). I should have had faith, because I was properly put in my place as I read about Styxx's awful, horrible no good very bad history.

There are many plot devices that are used and that have a tendency of being exploited more than actually serving a purpose. Child rape/sexual abuse is one of them. There were at times when it felt too much. It was as if Kenyon had to emphasize that Styxx was just as abused (if not more) as Acheron, that they were the same side to the exact same coin. It almost felt gratuitous, even if she never went into great detail about the rapes. I think what set it over the edge for me was when he was in Atlantis after Apollo dropped him off to be tortured by the gods, and they ended up raping Styxx even futher. That felt unneeded. It held no purpose at that point, just another way for the reader to feel completely sorry for Styxx (who would probably have sliced every single one of us open if he saw the pity on our faces). Styxx was raped and sexually molested by his uncle, Apollo, the Atlantean gods, his uncle's friends, noblemen, every body on the planet. I was so happy when he was placed on the Vanishing Isle. Not because he would spend the next 11,000+ years in complete isolation, but because I didn't have to read about his violation any more.

There was 600 pages dedicated to Styxx's history and abuse. There was 237 pages of his life in the present (or as present as you can get back in 2004) where he became the person he wanted to be out in Sahara. There was maaaaaaaaaybe 15 pages in total of him and Acheron actually interacting together in the present, and majority of it was Ash being a complete dick. There was very little discussion of what happened between them, how they became broken and left their families dissolve their brotherhood. 600 pages of watching their relationship crumble to dust, and less than 10 of it trying to be fixed. It felt a bit of a let down. Perhaps it was realistic to the point that over 11,000 years of anger isn't going to dissolve with memory jolts and cheap words like "I'm sorry." I wanted to punch Ash in the face more times than I could count, and I think that was another reason why this book was so much. You saw a side to both Ryssa and Acheron that completely blew your conception of them to bits. This isn't the kind beautiful Ryssa who helped our Acheron. This isn't the wise Ash that we were knew and loved. However, I have to give Kenyon credit, she does a beautiful job showing that not everything is black and white, and that emotions affect everything. No one is perfect, even if they're a god with all these awesome powers and has seen it all.

I will say that I really did love Bethany. She wasn't perfect, she had her moments of stupidity, but she never once lost sight of what was important to her. She was strong, could kick ass, and didn't need a man to protect her or save her. She and Styxx complemented each other beautifully, and I do like that they were together for years before deciding on getting married. They built that relationship (outside of knowing who each other were at first), and it was strong and lasted a few millennium.

Totally called Urian being Styxx's and Beth's son as soon as he thought about how he was drawn to the man, how he knew him but didn't. That should prove interesting on how it effects the rest of the overlying story. Also, I did like that Kenyon is tying into the changes from Nick's books into this series demonstrated by the change in time. I love how this is all going to end up tying together.

All in all, it was a beautiful book, if not a little heavy in places where it didn't need to be. Kenyon once again shows why she's as popular as she is, and why she's my favorite author period. I look forever to her next DH book. Next time, I'll be sure to leave my heart in a steel cage.