Sin Undone

Sin Undone, the fifth full-length installment of Larissa Ione’s Demonica series, picks up where events left off in the previous book. We started getting to know Sin and Conall in Ecstasy Unveiled. Sin is the full-blooded, twin sister of Lore, the hero of that book, while Con is a dhampire paramedic who works at Underworld General Hospital. This pair had an inauspicious beginning when they engaged in some sexcapades in a supply closet as part of a bet that Con made with his warg EMT partner, Luc. For various reasons, Sin and Con begin this story at odds with each other. They both have pretty intensely alpha natures, which leads to a lot of head-butting, but they also gradually find someone they can trust in each other, something show more neither has had an easy time with in the past. At the end of Ecstasy Unveiled, we also discovered that Sin had unintentionally created a werewolf virus with her “gift” that is decimating the warg population, and we get to see the fall-out from that in this book. A warg civil war breaks out between the borns and the turneds, complete with political intrigue, while Sin’s half-brother, Eidolon, races to find a cure for the virus. Plus everyone under the sun seems to be out to get Sin. It all made for another masterfully-plotted, edge-of-your-seat read in this series.

All Seminus demons have been males, making Sin the only female Seminus (or succubus) ever known to exist. She and Lore grew up not knowing what they were until their dermoire markings erupted in their late teens and they experienced a surge in their sexual hunger. When Lore also flew into rages and feared he might hurt Sin, he took off to protect her, leaving her alone to fend for herself. She was eventually found and enslaved by an assassin master for the next hundred years or so. Then in the previous book, she got free of him and became a master herself. However, all of her assassins covet her job, leaving only a handful of places where she’s safe from them possibly trying to kill her to take over. On top of that, after accidentally creating the warg virus, the werewolves are now out to get her as well. Eidolon still thinks she’s their best hope of a cure, so they have to keep her alive, but it won’t be easy. Then Con enters the picture. As a half-werewolf, he’s a carrier of the disease but isn’t infected yet, so Eidolon wants Con to feed from Sin so that he can study how Con’s blood reacts to hers in his effort to find a cure. Unfortunately, dhampires are prone to blood addictions and after only one taste of Sin’s blood, Con can already feel himself heading down that path, making him a danger to her as well. Eventually Con and Sin end up on the run together, trying to avoid all the people who are after them while also attempting to get ahead of the virus. Of course, as a Sem, Sin needs sex in order to survive, so Con, as the only male around, ends up with the pleasure of servicing her needs, leading to a gradual realization of their feelings for one another.

For the first half or so of the book, Sin is a pretty hard-ass female. She’s spent so long with no one to rely on but herself that she’s reluctant to trust anyone. Not to mention, the things she’s had to do to stay alive have hardened her as well. For most of her life, she’s killed for a living and sex is something she’s only done for survival but not for true pleasure. As a result, she’s had to shut down her emotions as a matter of survival, too. I often have trouble connecting with alpha heroines, and for a while that was true of Sin as well. Eventually the reader is shown some of the chinks in her armor as the deaths from the virus she created begin to take their toll on her psyche. When we learn more about her past and her vulnerabilities, I started to connect with her better. She’s still very different from me and therefore a little harder for me to relate to, but I at least felt like I understood what made her tick even if I didn’t always agree with her.

Conall is a dhampire – half-werewolf, half-vampire – who works as an EMT at UGH. I wasn’t quite sure what to think of him at first. After all, he did have sex with Sin on little more than a bet in the previous book, and he begins this book extremely angry with her over the virus she created that’s decimating his relatives. So initially he’s not being a very nice person. However, that all begins to change when he and Sin end up on the run together. Then he’s able to start showing her more kindness and gentleness. As he gets to know her, he realizes just how much she’s been through in her life and he feels some guilt for contributing to that. He also recognizes that Sin has shut down emotionally and helps her open back up again. As Con’s feelings for her grow, so do his protective instincts, and as his blood addiction for her strengthens, that means protecting her from himself as well. Admittedly, some of the time, Con was a touch too alpha for my taste, but he has enough gentler moments for me to generally like him anyway.

As with all of the Demonica books, there are supporting characters aplenty. All of the original three Seminus brothers, Eidolon (Pleasure Unbound), Shade (Desire Unchained), and Wraith (Passion Unleashed) and their families appear. Of course the boys are playing over-protective big brother to Sin, while also working to help find a cure and keep the supernatural world from falling apart. Then there’s Sin’s twin, Lore (Ecstasy Unveiled), who is equally as protective of her. In fact, he still harbors some guilt over leaving her when they were younger. Con’s partner, Luc, who is a warg, is hiding out in an attempt to isolate himself from the virus. I think Luc may be even more alpha than Con, which is a tough feat to pull off. But he has to dig deep and find a little kindness when Kar, a woman from his past shows up, needing his help. I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of these two, as it’s looking like their romance may play out in secondary format in the same way Kynan and Gem’s did in the previous books. As leaders of the Aegis Guardians and the R-XR respectively, Kynan and Arik (Immortal Rider) make appearances. Then there are all the warg leaders who each have their own agendas and are doing a whole lot of political jockeying. Finally, we’re briefly introduced to the concept of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, along with the first of those, War, who will become the hero of the next book, Eternal Rider.

The strange thing about the Demonica series is that I don’t always relate as well to the heroes and heroines as I do to the characters in many other romances, but still I keep giving these books high ratings and coming back for more. Why is that, you might ask? Well it’s a testament to Larissa Ione’s superb writing skills. These books are always incredibly well-plotted with lots of edge-of-your-seat suspense. Many times throughout reading these stories, I’ve found myself thinking that the author has painted herself into a corner and all is certainly lost. Yet she always surprises me with a unique and interesting twist that gets her characters to that all-important HEA ending. On top of that, the world building is excellent as well, and relatable or not, there’s still something about the characters that make me want to see them again in future volumes. For all these reasons and more, I’m hooked on this series. From here, it appears that a new story arc is beginning with the Lords of Deliverance spin-off that is still considered part of the Demonica world. From the way things ended in Sin Undone, it’s looking like the entire world may be imperiled and on the verge of apocalypse, so I eagerly look forward to seeing what happens next. show less

Sin is the only female Seminus demon and she unintentionally created a virus that is killing off werewolves. One time lover Con, who is half-werewolf and half-vampire is slowly becoming addicted to Sin. But he also hates her for creating this plague. He has been given the job of bringing Sin in to face judgement. But she can also hold the cure, so he's gonna keep her safe as long as he can.

Sin Undone is a pure shot of adrenalin. Non-stop from page one, an action-packed ride. I loved every minute. Intense fight scenes keep you turning the page and the scorching hot sex scenes will have you reaching for a glass of ice water.

I wasn't sure I was gonna like this one, having a female lead this time. But each Demonica book has just blown me show more away. With Sin's story it was no different. Sin is one kick ass chica. Taking no bull from anyone, especially her brothers.

Demonica is such a rich and delectable world its hard not falling in love with it and the characters. The world isn't always shiny, but it's definitely exciting and leaves you on the edge of your seat. I can't recommend this series enough. show less

Really sorry to see this series end. This last book was just as fabulous as the rest. It had plenty of angst and sacrifice for love which I enjoy. And oddly enough, even though there are plenty of different types of magical creatures (which is a feature of some novels that I get impatient with), here I didn't mind at all. Each of the major demon and magical creatures was solidly identified and explained and any others were just mentioned peripherally, explained enough that you could visualize them briefly, and then let go. Throughout the series, LI made it easy to tell which demon sorts were important to remember and which were just colorful scene fillers. One of the highlights of the series is that the love of the H/h for each other show more showed through and made sense. Kudos to LI for creating a paranormal series with gigantic world building while keeping the focus of each book on the love story of the main characters. show less

I REALLY enjoyed this fifth edition of the Demonica series. Can (Canal?) and Sin were great main characters. Can is a half-werewolf, half vampire, and Sin is Lor’s twin sister, the only female Seminus demon. They make a great pair, especially since Sin reminds me a lot of Tayla and is a very active female lead, leading the assassin’s den at the start of the book. Of course, when everyone in the den wants to take over and the only way to do that is by killing the leader, you have problems. The additional conflict of the werewolf virus/epidemic Sin caused in the previous book was interesting and complicated matters in a great way as now all the werewolves want to kill her.

One thing I found really well-developed in this one was the show more intricacies of the world-building with regards to the various groups of werewolves. You have born-werewolves, turned werewolves, half werewolves of various mixes with other species… and they don’t get along particularly well, which when you’re talking werewolves, gets messy. All the politics and infighting was lots of fun to read.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

Sin Undone is the fifth and nominally last in Larissa Ione’s Demonica series. Nominally, because the author’s current series, Lords of Deliverance, is set in the same universe and apparently shares some characters – in fact, there is some overlap in this novel already, with one of the titular Lords making his appearance here, and thus ensuring a seamless transition between the series.

As a result, Sin Undone does not convey much sense of an ending – sure, there is an apocalyptic plague that threatens to wipe out not just the werewolf population, but possibly all life, demonic and human alike. But our protagonists of course prevent that from happening (with a little help from characters from previous novels), and overall it feels show more very much business as usual for the series – another instalment in the ongoing saga rather than its epic culmination.

Which is not to say that the novel reads at all like a routine effort – it has the same mixture of twisted plot, steamy sex scenes and bizarre, over-the-top worldbuilding that made the rest of the series so much fun, and is every bit as enjoyable as the first four. I was just hoping for a bit more closure than “Now everyone in the family is happily partnered”, kind of more of a bang and less of a whimper (although I suppose it’s rather a moan, and a long and lustful one, at that). In the end, though, this is just a very minor niggle, and it likely won’t be too long before I start on reading Eternal Rider, the first novel in the follow-up series… show less

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

I don’t know why I’ve put off listening to this audiobook for so long because it’s hands down the best DEMONICA installment yet! Sin’s story is an emotional one full of highs and lows with plenty of toe curling sex scenes along the way. It took a while for me to get used to Ava Camille Edwards’s narration; ultimately she did an ok job I guess, but I was a little annoyed by this series’ ever changing voice even though it does fit the writing. I enjoyed the main romance as well as Luc & Kar’s side one, and loved the way Larissa Ione wrapped-up this series while also laying the building blocks for LORDS OF DELIVERANCE.

Sin’s tale was the most unique out of the Seminu demons because well, she is one of show more a kind after all. Her past is rather heartbreaking, and she clearly demonstrated on multiple occasions that being a succubus isn’t as fun as it sounds. Imagine not knowing that you’re a sex demon, and then on your 18th birthday unquenchable unexplainable horniness hits, and you go from being a virgin to a nympho. As a result, Sin’s only ever done the deed to feed, and has been missing out on the finer aspects of love making such as foreplay and deeper connections. She’s a very conflicted character, and I enjoyed following her growth throughout this story.

This novel’s plot revolved around Wargs which are this author’s version of werewolves. Sin’s responsible for a deadly virus that’s sweeping the globe, and instigating a civil war among the furry. I loved learning about the differences between born vs bitten Wargs, Feast Wargs, & Dhampires. Conall, the male lead, falls into the latter category, and his reasons for avoiding relationships at all costs were just as disturbing as the assassin’s. But, when these two broken characters get together they become two pieces of the same whole. The sex scenes are plentiful and HOT, not to mention creative! At one point there’s even a snowball involved…

I struggled a little with Ava Camille Edwards’s narration at first, but once I got into the story I was better able to overlook her monotone delivery thanks to Ione’s superb writing. She wasn’t bad per say, however it felt like Edward’s was straight-up reading the book instead of bringing it to life. The differences between her character voices were minimal, and her rendition of the spicy scenes left something to be desired. In my opinion, her voice is better suited for a younger POV, not a sultry succubus. She was hands down my least favourite narrator in this series.

I’d recommend reading SIN UNDONE over listening to it, but otherwise I enjoyed the conclusion to Larissa Ione’s DEMONICA world. It was great seeing all of the characters one last time, and now I’m psyched to meet the four horsemen! show less

Mind blowing, heart wrenching...a perfect end to the series. I loved every minute of this crazy ride!

With Sin Undone we finally get the story of Sin. She's a master assassin, creator of a deadly warg virus and the only female Seminus in exsistence. I knew she and Con would burn up the pages since their first encounter in Ecstasy Unveiled but boy this story burnt up the pages and scattered the ashes to the four corners of the planet.

The action is off the charts heart stopping. Everyone in the demon world seems to want Sin dead and Con is the only thing keeping her safe from wargs, demon jailers, assassins and a mysterious man on horseback. Not that she wants his help. Sin is a loner and doesn't need or want anyone to take care of her. show more

This is one steamy book. Sin and Con are blindingly hot together whether they're fighting or well...you know. As they slowly fall for each other and break down each other's walls it seems outside forces from all over are bound to keep them apart. In true Ione style, our lead couple is put through the wringer both phsyically and emotionally bringing them closer and closer until an undeniable bond is formed.

All of our past characters pop in for an appearance in Sin Undone and we get introduced to War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse who kicks off Ione's next series called Lords of Deliverance.

The Demonica series has been one helluva ride since Tayla first appeared in Eidolon's emergency room. There's been traitorous humans, revenge filled brothers, angels turned evil and even an attempted apocalypse. There's also been breath catching, toe curling, lip biting love scenes that will live in my memory for quite some time.

Thanks to Larissa Ione who created this special world that lives on in my dreams long after the last page has been turned. show less