stefu1
Written on Jun 26, 2017
- ISBN10 1481280767
- ISBN13 9781481280761
- Publish Date 17 December 2012
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 296
- Language English
Reviews
goodnghtmoonx
Written on Apr 8, 2015
This books wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. No, it's not the greatest thing in the world, but it's decent enough. I don't really regret the dollar I spent on it, but I wouldn't have spent any more on it. So, saying that, I probably won't be finishing the series. (Honestly though, I'm not too sure how much story there is for these two, but nine novels seems to be a bit excessive. And I honestly didn't grow attached to them too much to continue going. Sorry, Bella, but you tried.) I feel like there was a lot of potential for this book, but it fell flat with what it could have been. There are just a few too many things that are left untold or unexplained, which might be a good marketing thing for picking up the subsequent novels, but more annoying for me than anything else. There's a so called prophecy that gets mentioned once I think, before it fades into the background so you can read about Sophia and Derek falling into a Stockholm Syndrome type love and a "love at first sight" bullshit. And with an odd triangle with the brother and her (former?) best friend/love interest. I don't even know...
Another twenty or so pages could have added to the ending to set up the next book, not just a 500 word epilogue that still makes no sense at all. The author wasn't that bad of a writer. Her pacing for it was rather well, and characters were decent, but there were still things missing out or never really introduced when they properly should have been (i.e., the prophecy, is it even that?). The story just mainly focuses on Derek and Sophia and everything else seems to fade away into the background until she needed to end the story. I still don't know much about the vampires involvement with the world, or about the other covens that seems to be begging for help but are only mentioned like twice. The Shade was written decently, but I'm still missing out on so much that could have been added and I feel like I missed out on a story that could have been a whole lot better.
bryannaleigh
Written on Apr 8, 2015
This books wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. No, it's not the greatest thing in the world, but it's decent enough. I don't really regret the dollar I spent on it, but I wouldn't have spent any more on it. So, saying that, I probably won't be finishing the series. (Honestly though, I'm not too sure how much story there is for these two, but nine novels seems to be a bit excessive. And I honestly didn't grow attached to them too much to continue going. Sorry, Bella, but you tried.) I feel like there was a lot of potential for this book, but it fell flat with what it could have been. There are just a few too many things that are left untold or unexplained, which might be a good marketing thing for picking up the subsequent novels, but more annoying for me than anything else. There's a so called prophecy that gets mentioned once I think, before it fades into the background so you can read about Sophia and Derek falling into a Stockholm Syndrome type love and a "love at first sight" bullshit. And with an odd triangle with the brother and her (former?) best friend/love interest. I don't even know...
Another twenty or so pages could have added to the ending to set up the next book, not just a 500 word epilogue that still makes no sense at all. The author wasn't that bad of a writer. Her pacing for it was rather well, and characters were decent, but there were still things missing out or never really introduced when they properly should have been (i.e., the prophecy, is it even that?). The story just mainly focuses on Derek and Sophia and everything else seems to fade away into the background until she needed to end the story. I still don't know much about the vampires involvement with the world, or about the other covens that seems to be begging for help but are only mentioned like twice. The Shade was written decently, but I'm still missing out on so much that could have been added and I feel like I missed out on a story that could have been a whole lot better.
thebookdisciple
Written on Jul 22, 2014
Linda
Written on Apr 11, 2013
The premise was nice, and I liked Sophia.
This and other reviews can also be found on my blog: (un)Conventional Bookviews.
*I received a free copy of A Shade of Vampire from the author in exchange of an honest review*
A Shade of Vampire starts with Sofia walking on the beach, alone, with her feelings hurt because she'd just seen Ben kiss someone else. She is kidnapped to a place where there are more vampires than humans, and Lucas is really not treating her very nicely. When Sofia wakes up in shackles, Lucas comes to see her, and he seems to be ready to drain her until his sister, Vivienne intervenes.
Angie
Written on Mar 22, 2013
The main thing that made me like A Shade of Vampire less than I was expecting was all of the suggestions of rape from Lucas. I normally enjoy the villains, but he just made me extremely uncomfortable. Yes, it added a level of horror and tension to the plot, but it’s not a subject that I want to read about. In fact, I actively avoid stories with rape, so I was quite put off, even though it never actually happens. It was the mere suggestion of it that causes the book to lose a star from me.
Now for the good stuff. The Shade is wonderfully creepy and interesting. On this island it’s always night time thanks to a witch’s spell. It’s home to many vampires, so of course they want to avoid the sun if they can. Sofia is kidnapped and brought here to be a human slave to the vampire prince, Derek. She’s expected to live in his home, keep him, company, teach him about modern conveniences (he’s been asleep for 400 years), and generally please him. Derek’s penthouse is pretty awesome, too. All of the residences of The Shade are built in the tree tops and have every luxury you can imagine. It’s actually not a bad place to be, except for the whole slave thing.
I do have mixed feelings about Sofia. I liked how she was determined to escape in the beginning, and was not willing to “please” any vampire no matter what they did to her. However, soon enough she falls to the undeniable allure of the island, and even develops feelings for her captor. Sure Derek is not like his siblings and the other vampires. He still has some bit of humanity in him, and wouldn’t purposely harm Sofia, and she knows this. I just don’t buy her feelings changing that quickly.
The ending is a cliffhanger, but I think I know where the next book is going to start off. I am curious about the conflicts that the vampires on this island are facing. There’s something about a prophecy that Derek is a part of, and I’d love to learn more about it and what it means for this society. While I’m not sold on the romance aspect, I do want to continue the series and see what becomes of Sofia and Derek’s relationship.
Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.
celinenyx
Written on Mar 21, 2013
Sofia gets abducted on the night of her birthday by a vampire covenant. She is to be the slave of the most powerful vampire at the moment. Will she be able to escape, or will Derek win over her heart instead?
I get that this is a short read and I get that it's intended as one, but for me it just didn't work. There was such a huge lack of detail that many parts of the story were just illogical, others I just didn't care for and overall it made the entire story fall flat. The lack of detail works through at every part of the story; we only know Sofia because of what we're told, not by what she does. Derek is even worse - he is supposed to be this vampire that has been asleep for over four hundred years, and still he talks like a modern American teen. He uses words like "jerk", while on the other hand never having watched TV or know what a counter is. At no point of the story did he ever feel ancient, just a bit alien because he's a vampire.
We barely see them spending time together, we just get told that they spend time together most of the time. Sofia also has some fellow harem-slave-girlfriends that she apparently has a lot of fun with, but they never get more screen-time than a short mention of said fun. It's a shame really because I'd love to see more of them. At one point one of the harem-girls gets killed but I didn't even bat an eyelash because I only heard her name at one point and I didn't give a single shoe about her.
The ever-old rule of "show, don't tell" summarizes my entire attitude to A Shade of Vampire. Sofia is called someone that is so in tune with her senses that she notices everything in her proximity, up to the point that it overwhelms her at times. I didn't see anything of that reflected back in the prose. Her point of view is written in first person which would be a great opportunity for us to see what it's like to be in someone's head that notices all - sadly she notices nothing. Not even when she finds the dead girl's body do we see a bit more detail. She finds her, sees her, goes sit in a corner, and that's it.
I was quite looking forward to read this book, especially because it was so short, but that seems to have worked in my disadvantage in the end. Plot-wise A Shade of Vampire is quite interesting, but the writing completely turned me off. I seem to be the only one feeling like this though, so you might feel differently as well.
Kelsenator
Written on Feb 13, 2013
The author sent me a copy of this for an honest review, thank you! If you know me, I'm not the biggest fan of vampire books, I'm not partial to those kind of paranormal creatures, but I wanted to give this a try and help the author out!
I had some things I liked about this book, and some things I thought it was missing, but nothing that I really hated. I liked the characters such as the sweet but strong Sofia, and the powerful vampire Derek, who seems to regret what he is. He really missed his humanity, and because of a simple act by Sophia, he becomes intrigued by her. This starts a romance between the two as time goes on, which I thought was cute at how they compliment and understand each other eventually.
The first thing, is that I would have loved if it was longer and went into more detail about certain things. How Sophia adapts to the Blood Shade where she's staying, or to show more interactions between her and Derek, so their romance spans longer than it does. I really would have loved to learn more about the vampire hunters in this, but according to the book there's going to be a second installment so hopefully there's more in that one. They also mention that she has a mental issue, nothing extreme, but I would have liked to see more of her dealing with that too, in case it could help others who may have it or raise awareness like I've seen in other books.
So in all, I enjoyed the book and the characters, but I wanted more to happen in this book, it just felt a bit short and lacking, but luckily the series does continue for those interested. If you like vampires and want a cute romance that has hints of battles to come, check this one out. I'm still not in love with vampires though.