Review of Shades of Gray (KGI #6) by Maya Banks

Shades of Gray is the sixth book in the series KGI.

KGI, Kelly Group International, is a mercenary organization that chooses the missions it accepts and rejects based on the Kelly brothers' moral compass--one that not everyone shares.

P.J. and Cole have been playful rivals as the company's snipers and on the same team for years. After coming home from a mission, they fall into bed together, finally acting on their desires.

They're immediately called up for another mission--one that goes to hell. P.J. is devastated, and she walks away from KGI in order to not stain the organization with the mission she's taken for herself--revenge.

After six months, Cole has not given up on finding P.J. and helping her with whatever she's gotten herself into. Then the team finally locates her and mobilizes to assist her. To them, P.J. is more important than their bosses' moral compass, their jobs, and even their lives.

Content warnings: rape, child trafficking, gore, and PTSD portrayal including flashbacks.

This was probably the most brutal and violent romance novel I've read. However, I don't generally read dark romance. Though this was pretty dark.

The rape was mostly not from the woman's perspective (nor the rapists'), but it was pretty horrible to read. I'm normally very sensitive to reading rapes and sexual abuse, and this novel was one that I probably shouldn't have read, and I considered stopping when I realized what was about to happen to P.J. However, knowing Maya Banks's writing the way I do and knowing what I already did of P.J., I thought the book might be cathartic.

It was.

I was pretty much a mess for about a day, and my husband was pissed I'd read the whole book because it had obviously upset me greatly, but even while my emotions were all over the place, I was glad I'd read it. I knew things might be rocky for a couple of days, but after that I'd probably be fine. And within 36 hours of finishing the book, I was already feeling much, much better.

P.J. had already shown herself in the previous five books to be a pretty kick-ass woman who could handle herself. I loved her from the moment she was introduced in the first book. I also loved Cole, and spotting his attraction to her was pretty easy early on in the series. The continuation into this book with them as main characters was an extension of that earlier portrayal and expanded what we knew instead of rewriting the characters. I enjoyed that greatly.

The story was solid, though the implications of who the antagonists were and what they were doing, and what they did to P.J., was horrific. But I enjoyed watching P.J. utterly decimate them as the book progressed. She kicked ass, nearly single-handedly. And I loved it.

Despite the subject matter and its effect on me that first day, I'm glad I read the book.

Photo Credit: Joshua K. Jackson

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