THIS STORY!
I’ve been dying to read Cillian’s story since we met him in The Hunter. No one, and I mean NO ONE, writes alphaholes like LJ Shen. They are in a class of their own- perhaps even deserving of a new label. Shenholes. And, in this Hades and Persephone retelling, Cillian may be the new King of the Shenholes.
But here’s the thing about Shenholes: no matter how extreme they are in terms of their behavior, they are always capable of growth and redemption—at least in relation to their leading lady. And that’s one of the many things that makes them so irresistible. In this book, the Villain’s struggle is unique, but Hades, no matter how dark and cold he wants to be, has the ability to feel. He just needs the right goddess/queen to spark those feelings to life.
As the story begins, we are introduced to Persephone, or Persy, and her unrequited love for the cold, ruthless billionaire Cillian. Persy is serving as a bridesmaid in Sailor and Hunter’s wedding, and weaves a crown of bleeding heart, a heart-shaped flower, as an accessory. What she doesn’t realize is that the beautiful bloom is poisonous to the touch, and she goes into anaphylactic shock. Cillian, albeit reluctantly, helps her. She glimpses a cloud in the sky and decides to take a chance. Years before, Persy’s beloved aunt passed away, on her deathbed assuring Persy that she would be there for her in the form of a cloud, and she would grant Persy a wish, just once, when she needed her most. Persy, with full faith in her Aunt’s promise, tells Cillian she wants him to fall in love with her. She is devastated when he snubs her, coldly, making a promise of his own: he will never love her.
Persy, fanciful though she is with her belief in the wish-granting powers of cloud-aunts, is also practical. She moves on almost immediately, marrying the good-looking, fun-loving Paxton. The story picks up three years later, and Paxton has skipped town due to gambling debts, leaving Persephone penniless and at the mercy of dangerous men. To save her own life, she turns to Cillian for a loan. He counters with a proposal. Cillian, who has recently taken the reins of his father’s company, has pissed off a lot of people, and needs to rehab his image, stat. He tells her he will bail her out if she will do the same for him—by marrying him and producing a Fitzpatrick heir.
It’s hard for me to write much more without giving away spoilers, so I’ll just stop there and offer some character commentary. One of my absolute favorite things about LJ Shen’s books are her three-dimensional characters. They are multiplicities, embodying what makes us human–the many contradictions of self, the ways that we can be several things at once, things that don’t even seem like they would make sense or be possible to exist together in one body, but somehow they do. Persy is simultaneously whimsical, yet pragmatic; fiercely independent, yet ready to sign her life away and resign herself to a loveless existence. She is determined to find cracks in Cillian’s walls, willing to take big risks, and able to take quite a lot of Cillian’s unfeeling remarks and laugh at them–yet at other times, she gets discouraged and hurt relatively easily. But what else would we expect from a woman who is cast as the mythological Persephone, who was at once the Goddess of the Springtime and the Queen of the Underworld?
Cillian is more of an enigma than many of Shen’s previous characters. He really is unfeeling and apathetic in the extreme, a coldly cruel workaholic who seems completely willing to throw Persy to the wolves. Throughout the book, I found myself muttering “this MF!” multiple times at the horrifying things he puts Persy through, the things that come out of his mouth. Yet nearly from the beginning of the book we get glimpses of Cillian’s humanity, flashes of something that might be feeling–despite his desire to be made of stone–making it clear that all is not what it seems. Again, not wanting to spoil, I won’t give much detail about what that is, but I will say that it had a personal resonance with me and I was struck by Shen’s inclusion of an issue that is widely misunderstood and I’ve honestly never seen written about in a romance novel. And, as always, Cillian’s excessive jerk behavior through the book makes it that much more satisfying when he is vanquished by his queen of darkness/goddess of springtime.
Hands-down my favorite read of the year.
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Popular Highlights in this book
“You drive a hard bargain. Welcome to the dark side, Persephone. Leave your heart at the door.”Highlighted by 1,837 Kindle readers- The villain who broke my heart without even noticing my immortal existence.Highlighted by 1,418 Kindle readers
- “You’re hurting me,” I hissed, narrowing my eyes at the mirror in front of us. “That’s what you get for having a bleeding heart.” “The flower, or organ?” “Both. One is a fast poison. The other slow, but just as destructive.”Highlighted by 1,390 Kindle readers
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About the author
Another Intoxicating Read from LJ Shen
L.J. Shen has a way with words. She’s able to evoke so many emotions through her detailed and fine-tuned writing style that is becomes effortless to be consumed by the story. While you’re reading, it feels like your eyes are closed as the story takes place around you. You can feel it deep within your soul. I think this is what keeps me coming back for more. Not just the amazing characters she creates or the scenes she drags us into, but the way she tells a story. The Villain is the second novel in Shen’s brand-new series that readers (like me) are raving about. If you enjoy an enemies-to-lovers trope or one that reminds you of the authors former book/character VICSIOUS then you won’t want to miss this captivating read. Not only does Shen give us a novel that will have us gasping for air (for many reasons) but one that hits deep into the emotions. These two absolutely stole my heart. Sure, it took some time to love them TOGETHER (the road was quite bumpy) but it’s the journey that makes it epic. Believe me, you won’t want to miss this one. Shen is a master storyteller. 𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2020
