∴ Three Trials (The Dark Side #2) by Kristy Cunning ∴

Synopsis:

So, I’ve checked off some life goals and added a few new ones to my list.

Goal #5: Get out of hell’s belly without letting my ungrateful charges die.

Goal #6: Get a new name that’s more badass.

Goal #7: Stop wasting my breath on lectures and start annoying the quad hell squad every time they annoy me. Fight fire with fire. Ha! Another hell pun.

Goal 8: Find out who the hell killed me.

I’ll add more. I don’t want to overwhelm myself before I even finish checking off my old goals. But seriously, I really do need a more badass name, considering how much I have to keep saving my damsels in distress.

I probably shouldn’t call them damsels, since they’re a little murderous and all.

Maybe I should add seeing a hell-certified psychologist to my list of goals.

**Sexual situations/content
**Reverse Harem
**Dark humor galore
**Language warning

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

You loved so hard, you did the impossible.”

MAJOR SPOILERS THROUGHOUT:
After the last book, I thought that this series couldn’t possibly get any better. I. WAS. SO. WRONG. This sequel was phenomenal, heart pounding, absolutely shocking, and one hell of a ride.

Keyla/Paca- Oh. My. God. Could I love her character more? I don’t think so. She is badass, hilarious, and a straight up awesome character. Her thought process intrigues me and always has me laughing. I live for watching her figure things out and I highly enjoy whatever reaction she chooses to have. She makes this series for me and doesn’t let the male characters out shine her. She is a flawed anti-heroine, and I love her more for it.

“My feelings were only getting hurt in the beginning. When it was all of you against me. Ezekiel is my special boy because he was the first to gift me with hope. Kai is like a willful drug, because I truly enjoy the attention he pays me, even when he’s so surly he couldn’t possibly have a gentle bone in his body. Gage is my current favorite because I know without a doubt he finally sees me as what I am.”
He turns to me, his brow furrowing. “And what is that?”
“All of yours,” I state as though it should be obvious.

*sighs* I just loved that part!

Jude- Jude grew on me a little in this book. He has definitely progressed and he has finally gotten past the “treacherous treasure” thing… He’s still an asshole though. I would have liked to see a little more guilt from him after the Lake thing.

Ezekiel- Ezekiel, my precious, War baby, Ezekiel. I love him so much and, even though I got a little frustrated with him at the beginning of this book, I still find him incredibly endearing. I really appreciate how he will sit down and just listen to Paca. I feel like this series would go a lot more smoothly if all the guys did that.

Kai- I will admit, I didn’t like Kai at first and I definitely had less than nice things to say about him in my last review. He was selfish and pompous in the first book and I stand by that. In this book though, he was an absolute sweetheart who finally tore his head out of his own ass. Praise the Lord!

Gage- I went into this book with a rather neutral opinion of Gage because I didn’t really know that much about him. After reading this book however, I know all I need to know… which is that I love him. He pushes Paca and challenges her, but he isn’t an asshole about it. He will support her when she needs it, but he will still ask the hard questions and voice his concerns. That is absolutely fantastic and I think Jude needs to stop and pay attention to that a little bit more. He would get farther with Paca if he did.

Lamar- I knew-I KNEW!-That he would play a bigger role than Manella’s “damsel in distress” lover! I had no clue what role he would play and I couldn’t have been farther off from the truth, but that’s not the point. He was Paca’s supportive and loyal best friend and I am all here for it. I can’t wait to get more information on their past lives together.

Lake- That little traitor can go to the dark heart of hell. I knew that she would be trouble from the moment that her name was mentioned and when she actually showed up, I was utterly convinced. I said in my last review that the guys should trust less people and now look where it got them?! Paca was killed for crying out loud. I’m honestly still a little upset about that, to be honest.

Lucifer- Okay… so I’m not really sure where he stands. I don’t think he killed Paca and her men. I could be wrong, but I really don’t think he did it. There has to be someone else pulling all of these strings behind the scenes.

What I Liked- Uh.. Everything! This book was perfect. But, let’s focus on my favorite part: That plot twist. It was absolutely epic and I did not see it coming. From around the 70%-80% marks, my mind was getting blown again and again. The layers it took to weave that together were done so thoroughly, I never even saw it coming! That is how you write a plot twist, people! I also really love how the author keeps tying in historical events/people like Cleopatra, Hera, or Jack the Ripper into the story. It makes things really interesting and I am so curious to find out more about these people.

What I Didn’t Like- Nothing really. Though, I am still a little confused how this purities/impurities balance thing works. I wish it would have been explained a little bit more thoroughly.

Overall, this book was great and I highly enjoyed it. Of course I will be continuing the series. I can’t wait to get my hands on Two Kingdoms and to start reading!