Review: Evenfall ~ Sonny and Ais

[nia_kantorka]

Be aware Evenfall is a book for mature readers! It's the first part of the In the Company of Shadows series.

After WWIII. Most of the big cities have been destroyed, the stratosphere is filled with ashes and the temperature is lower than before. Humankind has been depleted and the balance of political power is disturbed. Activists and terrorists are powerful forces against governments. One secret organisation fights against terror more often unfair than fair. Not many people know about it and the few who know call it the Agency.

Long black hair, dark colour, green almond-shaped eyes, tall, thin, strong - Sin (28).
Since the age of 14 Hsin (Sin) Lui Vega has been the best, dangerous and notorious assassin of the Agency. Nobody is as deadly and as perilous as Sin. They call him crazy, monster and freak. His former four partners are dead, one doctor is a drivelling wreck and if Sin freaks out no one is safe, neither friend nor foe. At the moment he lives in a box on the Maximum Security ward...

Blond long hair, honey brown eyes, short, thin, pretty - Boyd (19).
Since 'the incident' Boyd Beaulieu lives in a void. He doesn't care if he dies or feels nothing. Boyd vegetates. When the Agency wants to reactivate Sin, Vivienne Beaulieu, second in command of the Agency, recommends her good-for-nothing son as Sin's partner. Surprinsingly Boyd wins out over the other attendees and becomes Sin's partner. The odds are not in Boyd's favour...

Evenfall. Wow, a tough story that takes place in a rough world. From the beginning I was hooked. One sentence did the trick:

"Officer Luke Gerant had seen several cells in Maximum Security but none of them were quite like this, which had been built specifically for the highly unpredictable man inside."

After that I met Sin for the first time and nearly drooled over my e-reader:

"Are you hungry?"
"No. After six months on a liquid diet, I'm watching my figure."

Then I finally met Boyd and fell head over heels in love with this story. It was so fascinating. How they first met, how they interacted, how they became friends, how they lusted after each other (and couldn't do a thing right), how they became lovers after what felt like an eternatiy, how they talked or acted mostly at the wrong time or the wrong place. Even the long inner monologues of them both couldn't lessen my elation.
It was a rollercoaster and I wanted to punch Boyd and Sin so many times. I screamed at them, cried angry tears and cursed like a sailor. I love these guys but they are so annyoing.

The story is not for the faint of heart. There are not only the assassinations which are part of their job description, but the reader has to deal with a lot of psychological violence too. Some of it put me into an emotional turmoil, especially meetings with Vivienne, Boyd's mother. I dispise her like I dispise Umbridge (my worst female character ever). I thought the worst mother figure so far has been Evelyn D'Amato from Close Protection but she is a lightweight compared to Vivienne Beaulieu. Urgh, this woman makes me sick.




Of course Sin is one of the most fascinating and interesting characters ever. Anyhow it is Boyd I love a bit more than Sin. Yes, he is emo, does so many stupid things (although considered his age Sin is quite bad too) and his thoughts are running in depressing cicles but I can't help myself. Boyd reminds me not only of my own teenage years, he is imo the character who changes the most over time. Nonetheless he drove me crazy with his self-flagellation in this book. At the end of Evenfall Sin's and Boyd's relationship is still in flux. Be prepared for some more shit coming their way...

Around the date this review was first published (May 2014) one could search for a new version of Evenfall. Sonny (Santino Hassell) and Ais have edited the book and cut it in two parts. If I read it correctly this 'Director's Cut' should have around 300 pages less per book. (The first part is already published.) It's a good thing because this version contains extended descriptions of thoughts and places which aren't all essential. I'm planning to compare both versions. Yes, In the Company of Shadows is definitely re-read material.

Pic by Serrival on devianart.

If you love action, m-m, some gorgeous MCs and a dark story, give this series a try. Highly recommended.