Review" Bang, Echo AND Hush by E.K. Blair"

Review of the Black Lotus series (Bang, Echo and Hush by E.K.Blair) 

They say when you take revenge against another you lose a part of your innocence.

But I’m not innocent. 
I haven’t been for a very long time. 
My innocence was stolen from me. Taken was the life I was supposed to have. The soul I was born with. The ruby heart embedded in a life full of hopes and dreams.

Gone.
Vanished.

I never even had a choice. 
I mourn that life. Mourn the what-ifs. 
Until now. 
I’m ready to take back what was always meant to be mine.

But every plan has a fatal flaw. Sometimes it’s the heart.

Review

I've read this book after there romance author and reading event last year and till now I just wasn't able to write a review. A week ago, the second book came out so I decided (after reading Echo, the black lotus series part 2) to do a re-read and write both review. Warning this book will take you on an emotional rollercoaster. It also covers some pretty dark stuff and some things are pretty disturbing so if you can't take or aren't interested in that sort of things, this book might not be for you. And by the way when I say dark I mean dark.  So that might tell you something about my brain because I loved it. I just had to put the book down a view times, but never for to long. I really had to take in what was happening at some points during the book. It wasn't a boring flight home, I'll tell you that. 

What is this book about
I  don't even know where to begin. There is so much depth to this story .  I just won't be able to do it justice.
The story is about  Nina, she is the wife of Bennett Vanderwall, who is a very wealthy  business men. The first thing you have to know about this book. That's nothing is what it seems.  When you first see the married couple they look very happy but like I said nothing is what it seems. Nina's real name is Elizabeth. When she was 8 years old she got ripped away from her father and was put in several foster homes. In the last foster home she met her brother Pike. Pike and Elizabeth share a very strong and unusual bond. They say mutual trauma creates a strong bond between people. And the trauma they both went to is just horrible.   The story really takes a very dark and twisted turn. 
    And then there's Declan. He is a strong, dominating, alpha, very sexy Scottish business man. He get's what he wants and he isn't ashamed to go for it. He is unapologetic in his pursuit after Nina, and It's not for the reason you think it is.  Nina isn't planning to fall in love with declan, she has other plans for him, but plans aren't always going according to plan. 

What did I love about this book.
I love the thrill and the excitement of it. This book really kept me on my toes and It really kept me interested. But sometimes I had to take a step back and take it all in.  This book doesn't go in the way you might things it will go. There are many twist and turns. And the debt, story building and character development are amazing. 
There are some pretty desturbing things going on in this but, that made me question why I liked it. Not all of it but most of it I do.  If you like a dark romance themed book, this one is the one for you. And if you're not sure, pick it up and try. Oh and be warned, ek blair really ends her books with a bang. 

Declan and Nina 

It's been said the longest echo ever measured lasted 75 seconds, but I can assure you, this will last much longer. The bang deafened the world around me, muting everything into nullity, allowing the reflection of its destruction to live far beyond its intended life. 

It will follow me forever, destroying me—destroying you.

You want answers? 

So do I.







Review.

It is so hard to write a review for this book because I don’t want to spoil too much and this book has so much going on.  It is a very complex story with great debt and real characters. The way E.K. tells a story is magnificent. She manage to write about a gruesome and trilling subject and manage too make you fall in love with it. It teaches you that life isn’t fair, that bad and horrible things happen to people and that no matter how hard you try or how sorry you are, bad things will happen. But that doesn’t mean it can turn around, that there won’t be good things in life to. That people can (try too) forgive. It also teaches you that without hate there isn’t love and that there is a very very fine line between the two. That even though you can hate someone that doesn’t mean you can’t love them and vice versa.

I’ll try not to spoil anything but I won’t make any promises. So if you really don’t want to know anything about this book, I recommend you not reading my review.

So what is this book about

This book starts of where Bang ended. So you’ll understand that I was very frantic to read it.  Elizabeth is more broken than she already was. Not only did she lose her baby, her brother but also her lover. She feels like she has nothing left. She doesn’t know how to deal with her feeling and there’s no pike to take it all way.  Since there is nothing left for her, she decides to go to Scotland to see the place Declan begged her to move to with him. By doing so she hopes to feel closer to Declan.

Before she left matt called her, wanting to talk to her. Matt knows she killed Pike and he cleaned up the mess. That leaves Elizabeth in his favor. Not knowing what and when Matt will call in his favor Elizabeth leaves the country anyway.

In Scotland Elizabeth finds out that her little con is nothing compared to the web of crimes she finds herself in. Nothing is what is seems and Elizabeth is stuck in the middle of money washing, gun trafficking, human trafficking, prostitution and what not. She finds out things about her family she might not want to know. But in her sadness, grieve, and pain she finds love again. That doesn’t mean it’s the kind of love she had or was looking for.  After all it takes time to forgive someone after a massive betrayal and even then it’s not a certainty you will be trusted again.

What did I love about this book

I loved every second of it.  There aren’t many things in books that shock me (yes it turns out I have a very twisted mind haha) but E.K manages to shock me at some point. When you think poor Elizabeth has had the worst, EK proves you wrong.  This book has everything in it and it’s so well written and planned. It has love, forgiveness, hate, betrayal, horror, mental breakdowns, real reactions to events, emotions, so much emotions, pain, happiness, and hope.

E.K wouldn’t be E.K if she didn’t leave us hanging and guessing at the end of this book. In my opinion it isn’t as bad as the cliffhanger in the first book but it’s a big cliffhanger none the less.

Quotes from the book

This was the moment I discovered my new drugs. It no longer came in the comfort of Pike or Declan. No. It came from the devil’s hand,-my hand- and in that moment, I felt a sense of power in my ability to state off the misery with a blissful brutality that births an endorphined high

“Because I do hate you. More than anything on this earth. I hate you with every pump of blood my heart proffers. I want to punish you in the worst ways, make you suffer and hurt. But god help me…. I love you."

“I never claimed to be right-minded. I know I’m screwed up. I know I’m so far beyond damaged I’m irreparable. But I also know that you want find the same amount of satisfaction in punishing anyone but me." “Why do it then? Is it to make yourself better for what you did?” “Partly” “And the other part?” “Because I love you? “ “ You shouldn’t” "But I do. I never thought anyone could have the power to make me feel as safe and clean as you do. You have the power to make me feel worthy of living. That somewhere out there, life just might have a purpose for me” “ Then why did you leave me? Why didn’t you stay and call the medics? Why did you leave me to die?"

“I don’t know if I’m going to get over this- if I’m ever going to get to the point where I don’t want to punish you for what you’ve done. But I need you to understand something: I need you to know that even though you may feel pain, I will never hurt you. I will do everything to give you what was taken from you. I’m going to make you feel safe, I promise you that. No one will ever lay a hand on you again”

“I’ll never forget how beautiful she looked at the grand opening of Lotus, standing across the room along, midnight-blue gown. She was confident, snarky, and so sure of herself, and in this very moment, I vow to give all those qualities back to her.”

I've come to learn there is no escaping your past.

It doesn't matter what you do, it will follow like a phantom--haunting you--reminding you.

Review

I was so excited for this book! I couldn't wait till I got my hands on this book. I devoured it in one sitting.  I do feel like this book isn't the best in this series. And i'll tell you why later.  I really had to think about this book before I wrote my review

What is this book about?

This book is the last book in the black lotus series. To say that I love this series is a understatement. This book takes of right where Echo ended. We immediately find out who the person is that elizabeth saw coming of the plane. I won't tell you who it is but hell yeah I was right haha. 

            While the other books were going like a 100mph this book took it's foot of the gas and when 50mph. It really focuses more one healing and Elizabeth and declan's relationship. After all they have allot they have to get over.  Elizabeth is still suffering from depression, and hallucinations and Declan is still struggling with what he has done. 

             The past is still catching up with them and with the trail of declan's father and the murder declan committed in the previous group there is a risk of elizabeths crimes getting exposed. Will declan and elizabeth get away from there past and get a HEA or will their past catch's up with them?  After all not everybody get's the same happy ever after......

What did I like about this book. 

I loved this book right until the end. But I have to be honest my first respond to the epilogue was a feeling of disappointment  and disbelieve . I really wanted them to have the happy ending I envisioned.  After I had the time to think about it, it is fitting for Elizabeth. It's a HEA that works for her. I'm happy that they are happy even though it isn't what I wanted. I mean reality is that they wouldn't have gotten away with what they have done in the long howl. I wanted them to get married, have kids etc. but in their situation It wouldn't have been realistic I think. I mean I would have loved that don't get me wrong, I really must applaud E.K for that. It really takes balls to do what she did. Not everybody is going to like it, and some people really spew hate. They even send hate messages to e.k her self :0 I  find it disgusting that people do that but it does tell you that this book will make you feel allot of things. 

Some people say that the book would be better without the epilogue but I don't agree with that. I needed that epilogue to know that elizabeth and declan are happy (together, don't worry). I get why people didn't like it, it was different but it seems fitting to me.