2 ½ Stars: Liked it, some really great elements but not executed to my pleasure enough for 3 stars. Close but not quite there for me, though I do plan on continuing the series.
First thing that drew me to this book was the cover. Just look at it; isn't it beautiful?
Loved:
-The Twists, secrets and reveals
-the history, the beginning of this world. it seems really different than what I've read
- paranormal creature not normally included
Liked:
-as I kept reading I grew to like the characters more and more
Meh:
telling, not showing often. (I liked it to be more descriptive.)
the beginning; hard to get into, didn't connect with the characters very well
insta-love that seems very 'Twilight like' (that is not a compliment...) at first, it does change as the story goes
Didn't Like:
-the repeating prologue (I liked that passage just not the fact that it repeated. Made the story feel circular and pointless.)
-the repeating phrases like describing vamps almost every single time as 'long forgotten enemy' and one man is only described again and again as tiny and/or old. (Other than mentioning his hair upon meeting there’s nothing else (face, body, posture) described of him.)
-minor things :
how convenient the failure of telepathy was a times (never seems to work when they need it but always fails for story progression.),
how apparently these people don't use the bathroom or anything (we get detailed day to day yet there's no breaks. After being knocked out for 12 hrs a human is going to need to, yet they keep rolling like there's no need for hours.),
how it was overlooked when someone was naked (I mean, come on no one at all noticed/commented/acted differently afterwards because of this? Not even the naked person? Not even with the love story going on? Note: Not a sex scene or anything like that.)
kept wondering how “they” have missed finding a giant stone face at the edge of the woods after searching for so many years and all that.
This book and I did not get along at first. I was a struggle to get into it, and connect to the characters. There was a lot of action and things happening but I didn’t really care. I wasn’t wowed or found it interesting. I was fearing this would be a medieval fantasy Twilight. I was worried when Angeline was all but drooling over the man kidnapping and her hostage when she was wondering if that same man murdered all her guards no less. Oh, boy. .
The good news: Angeline is no Bella. Connor is not Edward. Sad fact that books in this genre with male vamps and human woman is now automatically compared to Twilight. (Can we go back to using the Buffy Standard please?)Angeline holds her own while fighting her attraction to Connor and I like what I see from her. Connor does have a bit of the Angel complex going on and I keep hearing Searon in the voice of Spike. (These are good comparisons.)
The thing is I do like these characters. They are solid, dynamic, interesting people and I want to get to know them better but I still didn’t connect personally. I only care because they are the players in the game, the overall story that I want answers too. As I went on reading I got more involved and started caring. By the end, I’m looking forward to the sequel, which I think I’ll enjoy more since I already have a feel for these characters. (Plus, royal court drama!) I really do want to find out what happens to Angeline, her kingdom and what else is going to be revealed. Still don’t really care about the romance aspect since it’s insta-love and I don’t see the attraction/point. I mean, it’s not like there’s a soul bond or anything magical to describe it so jumping straight to love just doesn’t work for me.
I like the prologue for getting to know Angeline (though it does kill the mystery/suspense aspect a bit knowing part of the outcome). Without it I think she wouldn't have come across so well to me at first. That prologue does explain a lot for who she is, but maybe if it was omitted and just repeating in the back it would have the effect of a character arch. Or keep the prologue and at the end don't repeat it all just maybe at snippet from her and the rest from the other point of view. Something different. As it stands, with the repeating it felt, well, circular. We don't have a full idea how Angeline got to where she was at the end and after all that drama to just end where we were....just well, sucked. Not satisfying at all. Of course, the sequel has been out for awhile now so you can just jump into the next book. I do think it was a good cut off point but the repeating is what really killed the ending for me. I can't even re-read books I read 10 years ago because I become bored with them. (Seriously, going back to re-read, my recall is so great I can't stand it.)
There's a bunch of little things that bothered me along the way that stood out particularly since I wasn't in "love goggle" mode with the characters. Most of it is really inconsequential but still it detracted since I was stopping to highlight every 10 or so pages (sometimes more often).
I ultimately enjoyed it, will continue the series and recommend it (especially since I’m sure the minor things that bugged me won’t bug most people). It’s action packed young adult romantic suspenseful medieval fantasy only 200 pages long. The main thing with this book and why it felt lacking is that I wanted more. More descriptions to flesh out the scenes so I could really get into it and just more from it, because I really like the base elements - which cause higher expectations.
Examples:
pg. 76,
They both turned, and a small wizened man stepped out from behind a tree. He had a huge tuft of white hair on his head that matched the long beard extending from his chin, and he looked like he was well over a hundred years old.
That’s it. That’s all the description we get for him. Angeline just continues to call him “old” and “tiny” after this.
pg. 169,
"Even in the dim light of the lantern, after running for miles and no doubt being scared out of her mind, she looked lovely."
HOW? How does she look lovely to you? By this time so much as happened I've even forgotten what she's wearing (lots of costume changes due to the action happening).