Review: Ravaged

Ravaged by Elisabeth Naughton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit that it’s been a while since I read one of the Eternal Guardians books, but I’m pretty sure you could read this as a standalone if need be. This short story throws you back into a world filled with mythology, curses, heroes, and romance. If you enjoy any of those things, this series is worth a shot.

We begin with Daphne, a nymph who is still trying desperately to become a siren. After losing her family at a young age, she is determined to make her own family out of the sirens, if she could only pass her last test. It seems like a blessing when Zeus assigns her a replacement task and guarantees her a spot in the sirens at its completion. With Zeus, however, things are rarely that straightforward. She’s just got to kill an Eternal Guardian who has been deemed a madman. Oh, and she’s got to seduce him, too. Zeus was a little weak on the rationale there, but I guess when you’re a god you can pretty much do whatever you want.

Ari went as far as faking his own death to make sure he was truly isolated in his new life. Plagued with blackouts and the murderous need to kill sirens he encounters, he is just trying to live out his days killing daemons. When he rescues the beguiling Daphne, he knows it will bring nothing but trouble. Somehow, though, Ari just can’t let go of his need to do good. The fact that she and he have an undeniable attraction might also have something to do with it.

There are revelations, reconnections, and the typical god backstabbing plays, and all of those things made this feel like a full length book instead of a short story. Usually short stories leave me a little unfulfilled, but this one really delivered.


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