Review:
*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*
I struggled with how to rate and review this book because it had potential, a good story, and decent characters… but it was so hard to get into because I spent so much time being confused, rereading paragraphs, just trying to figure things out. So I’m just going to make some lists.
Things I Disliked:
– My main issue was how confusing the writing was. It kept jumping or describing things in a way that threw me off, and sometimes I just felt like I was missing something. Other times, someone would say something or Nate would think something, THEN he’d explain. Like, the first thing would confuse me because it had no context yet or was missing a step in between from the last thing that happened. I needed the context first. I also needed more dialogue tags.
– All the deep conversations about Ben’s control were lost on me. I didn’t understand what Nate was trying to get Ben to do or feel in regards to that, I didn’t understand why his control was a bad thing, and it seemed odd that they literally just met and slept together and then Nate was suddenly an expert on the psychology of Ben.
– The blurb tells you almost the entire plot and is a little misleading since it makes it sound like there will be menage romance, but there’s not (just one menage sex scene).
– The first 18% was basically just sex, and it fell flat because I didn’t know the characters yet. Also, I enjoy sex scenes as much as the next person, but I wanted to get to some actual plot already.
– I don’t know what the setting was supposed to be. The future? An alternate version of our world? They seemed to have some pretty high-tech stuff, and people all knew about the supernatural, but I don’t recall it being explained (though it’s possible I just missed something).
– This is nitpicky, but I hate to think someone would see it and think it was accurate. You can’t get tested for STDs the day after you have sex and expect an accurate result. Unless this was a highly advanced test (which maybe it was since I don’t know the setting), there’s a length of time you need to wait.
– At one point, Nate described his brother as an “obsessive compulsive weirdo.” I don’t know if the brother actually has OCD (he seemed to me like he might be neurodivergent), and I get that it’s a realistic thing a person might say, but that comment sounded offensive to anyone who does have OCD and maybe anyone who’s neurodivergent.
– It was never explained why Ben in particular couldn’t compel Nate. That was very deus ex machina, unless it’s explained in later books.
Things I Liked:
– Vampires! (No sexy biting though.)
– Nate’s abilities were interesting and unique, something I’d never read about before. That was my favorite thing about the book. *SPOILER* He could command plants and was kind of part plant himself. There was one part where his mind went full plant even and he forgot he was human, so that was really unique to read about. *END SPOILER*
– The book got more gripping in the second half when the villainous necromancer really came into the story and more stuff started happening.
– As I said, the plot seemed pretty good, and the characters weren’t bad.
So overall, the writing in this book was confusing for me, but I did still enjoy it somewhat, and maybe the confusion was entirely a “me” issue. At least I got to read about some interesting supernatural abilities, and maybe other people will enjoy this more.
Recommended For:
Anyone who likes vampires, M/M romance, lots of sex, and unique supernatural abilities.
Sometimes when I can get into a book, or I can’t understand it, I kind of feel intimidated and wonder if I am just not intelligent enough to be getting the book *g* Then I get over it lol, but you’re not alone. I am pleased this book got rescued somewhat, it does sound GOOD!
Yeah I looked at other reviews, and no one else seemed to be confused, so idk lol. At least there were some good things about the book though!
The things you liked sound really cool – too bad there wasn’t more of that. there is nothing worse than being confused while reading a book and having to go back to figure things out.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
Yeah, I really did like the supernatural abilities. But it’s definitely frustrating having to go back and figure things out so much.
“The first 18% was basically just sex” Now what’s wrong with that? lol I hate it when books don’t take the time to develop their characters before throwing them in the sack. It makes the sex so boring. And 455 pages? That would’ve scared me off.
Lol exactly, when the sex comes too soon, I just don’t feel any connection to the characters. I didn’t even realize it was that long!
I feel like setting has to be at least kinda understandable if I’m going to “get” a story. I don’t want to have to guess! Doesn’t mean I want to be spoon fed, but I need something… Interesting abilities of Nate’s too, that’s a new one for me!
I can see where that throwaway line about OCD might offend someone who actually HAS OCD, too.
Hopefully the next book cleans up some of the ambiguity a bit… glad you enjoyed it somewhat though!
Yeah, I don’t want to be spoonfed, but I need *some* explanation. The abilities were new for me too though!
The line just didn’t sound good, and it really wasn’t necessary.
I mean, I’m not planning on continuing, but hopefully it does explain some things more for anyone who does!
This sounds really strange actually. I love vampires but I hate being confused or not know who is speaking. I think you did better than me-I think I would have stopped at the “spoiler” part. Thanks for sharing!
I love vampires too! But yeah, I don’t love being confused. I’m not much of a DNFer though!
Wow… this would not be my usual type of read but the review sure is interesting.. the points you make sound to be so completely valid. Point 2 of the dislike list for example is a brilliant example of what’s simply completely unrealistic and testing for STDs the day after sex? wow… Great review!
Oh… the plant thing sounds interesting though!!!
Yeah, I never understand when characters who don’t actually know each other well are somehow experts on the other person. And I’m just concerned someone might read that in the book about STD testing and think they can do it that way too! The plant thing was definitely interesting though! Thanks 🙂
You stuck with it longer than I would have! If I have to keep reading the same paragraphs over and over again, I stop. I want a story to flow and make pretty pictures in my head. My mind movie is constantly interrupted if I can’t figure out what the author is trying to say.
I do like the cover–his body as a backdrop against a cemetery, plus the swirls of stars. It’s lovely!
Do You Dog-ear?
I’m not much of a DNFer lol. I prefer my stories to flow too, but it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t get through it at least. I never looked very closely at the cover until now lol. It is kind of pretty!
I used to be that way! I felt compelled to finish a book no matter what, but that’s when I stopped enjoying myself. Now I give a book around 50 pages before calling it quits. I feel like that’s enough time to determine my general feelings for a book.
For me worrying about DNFing just causes more stress. Sometimes I do, when I know that I just really can’t stand the book from the start, and the thing I can’t stand is something I can tell won’t get better (like the writing style). But I’ve had too many books that actually did get better as they went on, and when I DNF, I feel like the time I already invested in the book was wasted.
I can see that. It’s one of the reasons I only give books about 50 pages. If I don’t like it by then and stop, I don’t feel like I’ve wasted too much time on it. It’s just a personal preference. I also have a lot of books I want to re-read!
Yep, it’s definitely something that works differently for each person, and you just gotta find what works best for you!
Oh this one sounds so good. Sorry it didn’t live up to the potential for you. It’s rough when a book is so confusing you can’t enjoy it. I hope your next read is way better! :o)
Thanks, it did sound really good, but it’s hard to get into a book when you’re confused. Thanks!
I love vamps – but I’ve noticed that I read a lot less of them now when I used to. I think it’s maybe because I don’t have the patience for sub-standard (imho) vamp books. I’ve found the same with urban fantasy, and a lot of other genres too. Reading a lot spoils you for less developed books I guess!
I’ve gotten pickier too, I won’t pick up any book just because it has vampires, although vamps do make me more interested. But I think just reading more in general, especially in one genre, does make it harder to find books that really impress.
ugh this seems like something my dory brain would not be able to handle with all the confusion! and I’m not into very steamy reads lately. Not even in February LOL
Yeah, maybe it was my Dory brain that caused me to be confused in the first place since other reviewers didn’t seem to have this problem. Not a good book for us brain-fogged people, I guess lol.
Whoa, an escort to vampires! Talk about a potentially dangerous job. Sounds like this one was a bit all over the place. I definitely know what you mean about dialogue tags: if there are too many they’re annoying, but if there aren’t enough then things make zero sense!
Right? Lol. But I did have some issues. Yeah, it’s ok to leave some dialogue tags off, but there were just times in this one when I couldn’t tell from context who was talking or it was written confusingly, and I just needed more.
This book sounded like it was going to be kind of interesting and then I read through the cons and I totally get why you had issues with this book. It sucks that it ended up being so confusing when you were reading. By the sounds of it, I would have had to abandon reading. Especially as it was both confusing and you didn’t connect with the characters with all the sex going on at the start. Oh well, it is just one of them.
Yeah, it did sound great, but it was just too confusing for me. And not connecting to the characters was a problem too. Yep, can’t love every book!
I feel like my confusion takes away from the enjoyment of reading for me. Sometimes the confusion is just negative because I feel like I should know what is going on – kind of like your feelings with this one. But sometimes the confusion is because I’m just not getting it even though I can tell the book is brilliant and is very intelligent. Then I just don’t feel smart enough for what I’m reading 😛 I’m sorry you couldn’t enjoy this one so much. I don’t think I would’ve been able to finish it because although I do like a good sex scene like the next person, when the beginning is JUST that and nothing else I get bored. There’s no plot or character connection to engage me…
Same for me. Sometimes it’s me, sometimes it’s the book, sometimes I can’t really tell. But it does take away the enjoyment sometimes :-/ But yeah, I really just wanted to get past the sex already lol.