I have some mixed feelings about Wicked Abyss. On the one hand, I love everything Kresley Cole writes and I couldn't put the book down even though it was 2 in the morning. On the other hand, I have some serious reservations with the relationship between Abyssian and Calliope. And now that I think of it, this seems to be a pattern in so many of her books which makes me a little uneasy in the grand scheme of things. 
 Let's start off with the stuff I liked... 
 The writing style still remains amazing. Kresley Cole writes in a way that you MUST know what happens next. Simply put: you just can't stop reading a Kresley Cole novel! Also, there is the signature IAD (Immortals After Dark) Series humor. So often there are these absurd things that are touched on in such a clever way that you can't help but laugh out loud. In Wicked Abyss there were lots of funny one liners often said by the resident dragon shifter king, Uther. I don't want to spoil the jokes but I will say there is a scene involving an actual bag of dicks that's pretty priceless. Finally, I really like Calliope quite a bit. She was a woman who got shit done. She never cowered in fear, she fought back. To quote her motto, she " figured it the fuck out." I loved that she was really smart which lead to her having a really smart mouth with entertained me endlessly. Here's a quote out of context in order to not be too spoilery: 
 "You locked me in a dungeon; I locked you out of our godsdamned house. In the immortal words of a very wise mortal: everything you own in a box to the left." 
 As for my biggest concern... 
 Wicked Abyss is an adult, paranormal, romance take on Beauty and the Beast. However, anyone with a brain knows that Beauty and the Beast, while romantic, is also a load of Stockholm Syndrome bullshit. If someone is abusive and cruel, you don't stick around to hear them out, start dating them, and then have everything be hearts and rainbows. What you need to do is run the fuck in the other direction. 
 Am I supposed to like that they end up together? Abyssian kidnaps Calliope and torments her because of something she did to him in a past life. Ten millennia ago some other woman broke Abyssian's heart so he now feels like he has the right to harm another woman who had nothing to do with it in some twisted revenge fantasy. THAT IS SOME SERIAL KILLER SHIT! Boo- fucking -Hoo! I don't care if a woman hurt your feelings a crazy long time ago. Nothing gives him the right to kidnap and abuse a woman. PERIOD. 
 After reading Wicked Abyss, I realized how many other books in the IAD series feature a similar plot line. Man kidnaps woman, acts cruel, eventually woman gets him to be nicer, they fall in love, and then a big old HEA. I don't really think this is a relationship archetype that should be romanticized. In a healthy relationship shouldn't the man treat the woman with respect and kindness? Why can't that be romanticized? 
 OK... rant over. Besides my misgivings on the nature of the relationship between Abyssian and Calliope, I was addicted to the story. Kresley Cole just has this writing style that I can't get enough of no matter what and I will always want to read the next book. As for the overall storyline in the IAD series, we are getting into the end game of the Ascension. I'm so interested to see what Nix has been setting up for all this time. Even though the end game with the Morior is really fascinating and breathing some new life into the series, let's not forget all those loose strings from before. There are a lot of the original characters that still don't have stories yet and I still can't wait to read them. Let's just hope that the romances going forward lean more toward the healthy side. 
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 OLD THOUGHTS BEFORE BLURB WAS PUBLISHED:Does anyone think it may be Furie's story? Maybe she finally gets rescued from the bottom of the ocean? We finally found her in Dark Skye!