Tori's Review: Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione

Released: April 1, 2011 
Paperback: 432 pages
Price: $7.99
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing 
Source: Bought 
Genre: Paranormal Romance 
Series: Lords of Deliverance 
Buy: Amazon



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They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.

Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.

My Rating:

My Opinion:
I am a rabid fan of Larissa Ione's characters and worlds. Her writing has the uncanny ability to engross me within a matter of pages, and then I am doomed to remain glued to the book until I finish... and when I do finish, I'm upset, because I want to read more, but there's no more left. It's really a nasty cycle, and it happens every. single. time; ETERNAL RIDER was no exception.

When I first read the teaser at the end of SIN UNDONE, I was literally foaming at the mouth, dying to read what I knew would be an awesome HOTA series. I even pre-ordered this book the second after I shut Sin's book because I was that excited for it. And come on, Ares? I love the god of war, and while the Ares in this book was not the Greek god, he was still pretty cool.

It took a while for ETERNAL RIDER to gain momentum. I'd say about the first third/fourth of the book is dedicated to world building, and thus, was fairly slow to draw the reader in. One of my friends (who did not read the Demonica books first) thought that it was incredibly difficult to get into the storyline, and I can see why she had trouble with Ares' book. Once you adjust to the world, however, it's just like any of the Demonica books--you're doomed to keep reading until the very end... assuming you're a fan of Larissa's books to begin with. If not, then I don't know how you'll react ;)

All of the Horsemen were awesome, and I grew fond of them fairly quickly. Pestilence's character was reviling, and I loved that Larissa was not timid about making him a truly monstrous character. He had my skin crawling at some points, and I was freaking out during one scene with Cara and Ares.

Speaking of Cara: her character threw me off. I enjoyed her at the start and found her attitude around Ares amusing. Definitely got a kick out of her throwing Ares off his game because he needed someone like that...but then at some point later in the story, that feisty attitude got kind of boring for me and I grew tired of her character/her interactions with Ares. I have no explanation whatsoever for why I suddenly disengaged with the couple, but I did.

That is not to say that I grew tired of the story or any of the other characters. Quite the contrary, actually. Thanatos and Limos are two of my favorites, and I highly anticipate both of their stories (I'm in the process of reading Limos' book now, actually, and I am loving every minute of it). It was nice reacquainting myself with the Demonica characters also, though I did feel somewhat distant from them this time around. Guess that just comes with the territory.

All in all, while ETERNAL RIDER had a slow start, it finished strong and is another amazing book by the incredibly talented Larissa Ione. I highly suggest checking this series out--after you acquaint yourself with the Demonica series, that is. You won't regret it.


Series Order:
1. Eternal Rider
2. Immortal Rider (Tori's Review)
3. Lethal Rider (Tori's Review)
4. Rogue Rider (coming soon)