Helpful Score: 7
This book SHOULD have been better - first off, the premise was actually fairly original...and as we all know, a new look at vampires is tough to come by in the genre, but the author added some interesting gargoyle-like progenitors of vamps who actually prefer livestock prey. It started well, but I felt as though, midway through, the author brought in a bunch of diverse and poorly developed themes and tried to integrate them all willy nilly - cancer/illness research, mad villain, power hungry political assassination, long tradition of vampire slaying passed down in a family, "ultimate weapon against evil", and "chosen ones". Also, as we rushed toward the conclusion there was a bit of an abrupt deus ex machina sort of ending. All this build up and then, "plop" goes the plot.
Anyway, it wasn't bad, and I guess I'm not sorry to have read it, but it was a bit disappointing since the author started out so well.
Anyway, it wasn't bad, and I guess I'm not sorry to have read it, but it was a bit disappointing since the author started out so well.
Helpful Score: 4
This book gets a very solid 5 stars over on Amazon. It's good, but not quite that good. It's fast-paced (lots of action) and the plot is a new take for vampires. Instead of the centuries old, long-standing vampire societies most in paranormals, this time we've got a group of people becoming vampires all on their own. There aren't any pre-existing vampire mentors running around, so everything needs to be learned fresh. Kudos for some originality!
The part that keeps me from rating this as high as the Amazon reviewers is that I never found myself especially emotionally attached to the characters. I didn't dislike them, but I just wasn't as tied up with them on a personal level. Come to think of it, there was also a little plot development that came off as a bit...convenient. Nothing that couldn't be gotten passed, but a teensy bit of an eye-roller from a critical standpoint.
Overall, fair read. Recommended to fans of the genre, but probably not a book I'd recommend to newcomers as the perfect introduction.
The part that keeps me from rating this as high as the Amazon reviewers is that I never found myself especially emotionally attached to the characters. I didn't dislike them, but I just wasn't as tied up with them on a personal level. Come to think of it, there was also a little plot development that came off as a bit...convenient. Nothing that couldn't be gotten passed, but a teensy bit of an eye-roller from a critical standpoint.
Overall, fair read. Recommended to fans of the genre, but probably not a book I'd recommend to newcomers as the perfect introduction.
Helpful Score: 1
Nice take on vampires. It's good to see it changed once in awhile. This is my first Popp book and I will be looking for more of hers
Helpful Score: 1
Book 1 of series. It was a different take on vampires. I liked it ok. I guess it intrigued me enough to want to read the next one.
Helpful Score: 1
I read about 100 pages of this book and still did not feel for the characters. I'm not sure why either. They were realisticly drawn and the plot was good. It had action, but still I just couldn't get into it. Maybe just me.
