Review--The Wicked Within by Kelly Keaton

Her fate is not set in stone.

Having temporarily defeated Athena, Ari races to break the gorgon curse that has plagued the women in her family for centuries. Her one lead sends her on a quest for the Hands of Zeus, an ancient relic last seen in the charge of New 2’s ruling elite, the Novem. But if there is one thing that Athena desires as much as revenge, it’s the Hands of Zeus—and Athena always gets what she wants.

Before either can locate the Hands, the statue goes missing, and a trail of blood follows those who once protected the relic’s secrets. Ari knows that her city, her friends, Sebastian—her life—depend upon her finding the statue before Athena. And with rumors an ancient power is on the rise, that may not be her only concern…

The Wicked Within is the final book in the Gods and Monsters trilogy by Kelly Keaton aka Kelly Gay, and it was absolutely superb!! Granted my memory of this series has been spotty! I read the first book as an ARC before its February 2011 release and only read the second book in this series earlier this year...so yeah, we're talking really bad memory going on!

But for the most part I was able to keep up with the story. I knew who was who and what was going on in their lives as it's told. I wasn't really lost. Guess because I read the second on and this one in the same year! So moving on...

As the trilogy winds down, we know that Ari is going to have to do something to appease Athena and that is in fact reversing her baby's curse. The baby has been turned to stone many, many years ago and Athena wants Ari to change him back like she did for Sebastian. Athena, of course is still hellbent and a more than a little scary. She knows if she can't get Ari to do the job, someone else will...and that's moreso of finding the baby that's still in Zeus's stoned hands. It's been missing from the library for some time and Athena has offered up her own powers to anyone who brings her the baby.

Ari has a lot to deal with this time around. Not to mention the whole issue with Athena. But there's a new terror wreaking havoc in New 2 and it's possessing people wanting someone to "free" it. It becomes clear that this is a powerful force and it leads Ari to wonder if this is perhaps Athena's lover whom she had the baby with.

Then there's also issues going on with Sebastian. He's a newly awakened vampire and is struggling to get use to the new him. Which means he's keeping Ari at arm's length, just when things between them were going somewhere positive. He starts pushing her away.

It was kind of upsetting to see the newly turned love crumble so quickly. True, it came up fast, a fact Ari recognizes. But as she had said, during her storytelling, she and Sebastian have gone through so much so fast, things most people would likely never go through in life, and the feelings just sort of grew and blossomed between them fast. Of course, she didn't use the "blossoming" part, I just threw that one in there!

The action in this one was pretty intense, it was fast moving. It seemed like the whole events took place in less than a week. Can't be sure exactly of the day count, but things were moving quick. And the city of New 2 is practically in chaos for the last chunk of the book.

The series ended nicely I thought. Most everything was wrapped up and answered. There are still some questions that popped up with a few of those answers, but it doesn't seem likely we'll get answers to those questions. They weren't burning ones, so perhaps that's why things are left open-ended. Like the upcoming Blood Wars that are approaching. All we ever know is that they are coming, we don't know when or how and likely will never know. Unless Kelly decides to do another trilogy series that depicts them! Who knows!

The ending was pretty freaking awesome too! A new plot twist came in at the end that totally blew me away! Which I might have noticed hints of it coming had I read the books all closer together, but still, I enjoy surprises so maybe my waiting to read books in a series with others in between has that kind of benefit at least!

This trilogy has been a fave of mine since it's beginning! I loved the idea of mixing Greek mythology with our modern day supernatural lore of vampires, magic and all things creepy! I'd say this was the first I read of that kind based on its initial release date in 2011 and having read it in 2010. Combining by two of my favorite things the supernatural and Greek mythology. It would be interesting to see how the characters move on from this ending point in a novella or a sequel series of a different kind, yet based in the same world. But I'm, still left with the feeling that they're all okay for now. Things have settled down and maybe they'll get a nicely deserved break before the next crisis hits!


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars