Damnation Marked (Descent #4) by S.M. Reine – Bout of Books 13 Review

There’s something in the earth deep below Elise Kavanagh’s territory. A shadow is devouring demons and harvesting their souls, and it’s coming for Elise next.
The Union has an easy way out. They want to send Elise into hiding again with James Faulkner, a powerful witch and the man she’s loved for most of her life. All she has to do is surrender the territory and trust that the Union can protect the ethereal ruins, the dark gate, and the city she’s come to know as home.
Greater powers have other plans for Elise and her fabled power as Godslayer–plans that mean surrendering her life and blood to the most powerful demon alive. But if she descends, there’s no turning back. Once she gazes into the abyss, it will gaze back into her…and Elise will be damned forever.

So yeah, you already know that I’ve read the books in this world totally out of order. I didn’t pick up the Descent series until I started the Ascension series. For the record, I don’t recommend reading the books that way. I see a major re-read in my future – from beginning to end. So much happens in each and every one of these books and they all intertwine with each other. My bad reading habits can’t be done though, so I’ll just keep plugging along discovering what I missed. 😉

I think it’s safe to say that Damnation Marked changed pretty much everything. I’ve read a few books in other series since I finished the Ascension series and I forgot how intense things got when Elise and James were together. I doubt if I forget that again.

Damnation Marked switched POVs between several different characters, but the focus was Elise and James. It also switched back and forth between time frames. That may sound confusing, but it wasn’t. For one thing, both James and Elise were totally different people in their present than they were in their past. The story follows Elise and James in a time that they formed a magical bond that made them stronger to a time that that same bond was pulling them apart and making them weaker with the distraction.

There were several revelations in Damnation Marked. James discovered a secret hidden from him for years and it became pretty clear that he’s hiding something dark from everyone he’s close to. Elise spent most of the book dealing with the guilt she carried for causing so much pain and destruction. She also discovered secrets from a past that she really didn’t want to remember. Her final decision on how to make things better for everyone was gut wrenching… and then….

Okay… so can you guess which book I purchased as soon as I could once I was finished Damnation Marked? You guessed it. Dire Blood is now ready and waiting for me on my Kindle. Once again, if you haven’t read any books by S.M. Reine, you need to. Especially if you’re a fan of Urban Fantasy. Descent is dark, violent and intense and Reine sugarcoats, NOTHING. Don’t expect a HEA either… at least not yet. The writing is smart, the descriptions are detailed and the characters are as witty as they are intense and broken. Definitely broken… My first love in this world were the wolves in Seasons of the Moon, but it didn’t take me long to discover why James and Elise fans are just as loyal to them.