Review--Black Lament by Christina Henry

As an Agent of Death, Madeline Black deals with loss every day. But when tragedy touches her own life, Maddy will have to find the strength within to carry on…

Devastated and grieving, Maddy unexpectedly finds hope with the discovery that she is pregnant. But Maddy’s joy is short lived when Lucifer informs her that he wants the baby, hoping to draw on the combined power of two of his bloodlines. Maddy is determined that her grandfather will never have her child, but she’s not sure what she can do to stop him.

Being pregnant is stressful enough, but Maddy suddenly finds herself at odds with the Agency—forbidden from meddling in the affairs of the supernatural courts. When a few of her soul collections go awry, Maddy begins to suspect that the Agency wants to terminate her employment. They should know by now that she isn’t the sort to give up without a fight…


WARNING: SPOILERS FROM BLACK HOWL AHEAD!!

I managed to finish Christina Henry's Black Lament in under two days really and it was pretty great! I don't know why I didn't just read this one right away after it released, especially after the ending of the last one!

After Gabriel's death at the hands of her father Azazel, Maddie is distraught, depressed...all the feelings that come with grieving the lost of loved one. Then when Lucifer tells her she's pregnant, she realizes that it is in fact true. She is carrying Gabriel's child, the last little piece of him that she has left. And she will do anything and everything in her power to protect her unborn child, even from Lucifer himself. It's unclear why really Lucifer wants the child so badly, other than that it is a child from two of his children. Power reasons, I suppose.

Maddie is in for a lot of trouble in the days to come. And hardly any of it deals with pregnancy issues. She gets a few would-be assassins making attempts on her life. But luckily, or unluckily, she has a protector...Nathaniel. Nathaniel has taken to obeying Lucifer these days after the fallout of Black Howl and Lucifer has deemed him to be Maddie's protector. He is to ensure that Maddie lives, no matter the cost. Maddie is not overly thrilled with this idea at all, as is warranted. Nathaniel has time and time again broken her trust by always siding with Azazel and remaining under his thumb. Even though Nathaniel says he's there under Lucifer's orders doesn't summon confidence since she knows Lucifer has his own ulterior motives.

Jude is back as well, and Samiel as usual. Maddie asks Jude to help her out with a few things in the beginning because she doesn't trust Nathaniel and Jude agrees. I struggled to remember what Jude was like when we first met him. I could only remember some distrust, likely hostility and of course his true identity from the past, Judas. But I have to say I love Jude's character. He is so loyal to Maddie, despite her not being a werewolf in his pack, which is where were's loyalty tends to lie. But I love that he and Maddie have come into a friendship of sorts now.

The many attempts on Maddie's life, leads her and Nathaniel to Faery. It seems Oberon and Titania have been sending the assassins. There at the Faery court lies a whole new set of problems for Maddie and the outcome is deadly. There will definitely be more repercussions from this debacle in the next book I think!

After the Faery fiasco, Maddie gets back to the heart of the matter...trying to find daddy dearest so she can kill him. But the Agency is constantly blocking her. She butts heads with the Agency a lot more than usual in this one. When Agents have gone missing, Maddie's first instinct is to find them and rescue them, but the Agency forbids it. Naturally, Maddie isn't too good at following orders.

Azazel has his own evil plan going on, I am not sure what he wants from the end result, but Maddie is determined to stop him.

The ending was stellar! Shockingly good! Of course I knew a piece of it already from glimpsing a peek at the next book's description, but still...seeing it happen was awesome! But Maddie's problems are far from over! Oh no, they are just beginning! It's definitely going to be interesting to see what else happens in this series. I cannot wait to find out what Christina has in store for us! Hopefully, no more surprises like the one from last time.

The pacing to this one was definitely pretty good! I finished it in less than 2 days, because the reading just flows so easily, and the storyline just kept moving. There was Maddie's grieving moments, which were a tad slow, but necessary. Those moments helped motivate her to do what needed to be done.

Obviously, there wasn't any romance in this one. Or even romantic tension or anything like that. Maddie will be in the grieving stage for awhile I believe, but it does make me wonder if Christina has something planned for Maddie so she's not alone by the series's end. I am definitely curious as to who that might be. I don't feel like I can make any good guesses at this time yet. Maybe by the next book.

Overall, this was an incredible edition to the series! I know a few readers have had issues with this. But again I stress, that's the fun of reading and blogging! We all get to share our opinions on books and they are all different. I for one, love this series! Maddie is just witty and funny, although this time she is more morose with the grieving, but she her grief starts turning into vengeance. She is definitely a person you do not want to mess with any longer!


Overall rating 5/5 stars