Book Review – And With Madness Comes the Light by Karina Halle

And With Madness Comes the Light (EIT book #6.5)
This review isn’t really all that “spoiler-y” but for those new to this series, you *might* want to skip this. Although… you may fall for Dex just on this review alone. 😉 Tee hee!! But I ADAMANTLY recommend this series ’cause it’s one of my favorite series of allllll time!! You can start from the beginning (book #1 is free right now)
—> Experiment in Terror Series Reading Order

Right off the bat, I’m giving this “Dex POV” novella 5 stars!! To be afforded the opportunity of re-living many key scenes from the Experiment in Terror series since that big crazy moment at the end of book #4, that put us all in a frenzy? I’m going to say it’s perfect. P-E-R-F-E-C-T. Any time I can spend with Dex I. Will. Take!! And, to go through some of that really hard stuff in the mind of the one I was SO mad at… is an interesting perspective for sure.

His thought processes, his perception of things, his reactions that were opposite to what he was feeling. And then his incredible downward spiral. We went through that agony with Perry… as Perry, but to live it through Dex hurt me just as badly.

That was the ball-sucking thing about heartache. It didn’t follow logic or physics or any sort of rules. It wasn’t that you started off with grief and then slowly got better. It was a roller coaster of emotions. From hate to love and back again.

Even though I already “know” what happens (well… so far, anyway), to re-live it through Dex’s eyes (especially, when at one time I had no idea what was up with him…) is simply icing on the cake of this awesome series.

And what I love about this author, is how true to her characters she remains. Dex is always and forever 100% Dex, no matter where you are in the series. Pompous and cocky (and quite funny in his sarcastic ways). He’s brash, unapologetic but so outgoing. It’s as if he “should” be the brooding bad-boy type, but he… isn’t. Okay… he is. And he isn’t. 😉

“I don’t need anyone’s help getting laid. I never have.” I didn’t need to brag but… okay, yes, I totally meant to brag. I pulled back the sleeve of my t-shirt. “And look at these guns.” I eyed Dean. “Don’t you dare show off yours, cuz that’s not fair. But seriously, with these guns and my face and my d$ck, women are completely powerless.”

Tee hee!!! *excuse me while I fall for his arrogance again*. Gah! I’m SUCH a sucker!! I’d probably be one of those “powerless women”… *hangs head in shame*

Every moment of his bad attitude makes me swoon. Oh yes… my brain goes UGH!!!!! But I crush on him even more. I know. That’s pretty bad that I love it when they’re jerks. But no. He’s NOT a jerk. He just can be, and seems to just shrug it off whenever it suits him. And I love every moment of jerk-Dex. Not your typical knight in shining armor (heck no!!), but in his own way… better.

We get to know the other “true Dex”, and my crush on him is justified. Amplified. There’s so much more to Dex than meets the eye… nothing perfect or outrageous. Just him. A real guy with a 50% sweet side. His sincere heart frequently shines through his egotistic persona (no matter how hard he tries to stifle it). Egotistical yet genuinely sweet. Both are 100% him. He believes his own hype, and so do we. It’s hard not to, as hot and self-assured as he is. He’s a smart-ass and he’s funny, but he can be angry, too.

For the first time in a while I was able to ignore the heartache- the extreme, gut-wrenching betrayal-as anger came buzzing through me like kamikaze pilots. I was mad. I was livid. I was enraged.

Like all of us, he has a certain darkness about him…

I welcomed the anger with clenched fists and open arms.

Insecurities and pain that he hides well, but are just as much a part of him.

I felt like I was choking. My words came out hoarsely as I gasped for air, as I allowed myself to feel. “It hurts more than I know what to do with. I can’t handle this. I can’t.”

To know Dex is to love him. And every once in awhile, Karina Halle totally indulges us and let’s us have him. Everything that went through his mind in this one, ran through my heart.

Boom.

I was sucker punched right in the heart. Right in the mother%&king heart. It stopped. My lungs stopped. Everything stopped, hanging in the room with those words.

Oh WOW… that scene…

Okay yes. This series, as a whole, is about much more than just Dex and the realistically angsty love story of Dex and Perry. After all, there’s all that craziness going on that makes them who they are… er… ahh who am I kidding? All that “extra-scary” stuff is exciting, and fun, and creepy, and all that, but really? Yeah… it’s all about Dex and Perry (and us!!). *grins*

An entire series that teases us over and over, gives… and takes back. And every once in awhile… you get a POV like this.

Have I told you how much I love this series, lately? 😉

I am a Dex addict and he will forever be one of my #1’s. Yep. THAT is how deeply he affects. Little by little, book by book, and in no time, you will be in the same boat as all of us Dex-fanatics. You cannot escape it. And you will be thrilled! Am I right, girls?

At the end of all that, instead of feeling guilt and shame that I normally felt, I felt alive and determined. Maybe I was growing up. Maybe.

5 STARS!!!

For more about what I’ve written on the Experiment in Terror series, see below (lots, right? haha. I LOVE this series soooo much):

• Karina Halle – Experiment in Terror Series Reading Order
• The Experiment in Terror Series – Intrigued Readers Want to Know…
• Behind The Books – Interview With Karina Halle
• Book Review – Darkhouse by Karina Halle
• Book Review – Red Fox by Karina Halle
• Book Review – Dead Sky Morning by Karina Halle
• Just Finished Reading Lying Season by Karina Halle & I’m Freaking Out!! The Torture Is Just So Gooood!!
• Book Review – Lying Season by Karina Halle
• Book Review – On Demon Wings by Karina Halle
• Book Review – Old Blood by Karina Halle
• Book Review – The Dex-Files by Karina Halle
• Book Review – Into the Hollow by Karina Halle