Review:
*I received a free ecopy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I considered not even reading this once I actually opened it up because the main character’s voice just wasn’t for me, but in the end I was glad I gave it a chance. I don’t plan to continue the series, but it did have some good aspects. I’m going to start with what I didn’t like though because it’ll make more sense that way.
What I Disliked:
– Rebekah was almost 20 but sounded like an immature 15-year-old. I understood why she was frustrated and did agree with her, but the way she expressed her frustration in her thoughts and dialogue was the problem. So was the way she responded with, “Ew,” every time it was mentioned that any of her family members have sex.
– I think the book could’ve been significantly shorter had Rebekah’s thoughts not been so repetitive.
– The book was told from Rebekah’s 1st person present POV, which is a POV I already dislike, but it was made worse by the breaking of the fourth wall (i.e. it was like she was actually talking to the reader sometimes), something I dislike even more.
– The lack of contractions, especially in dialogue, sounded unnatural. I mean, there were some contractions, but not enough.
– If you’re considering reading this because you want a bunch of vampire-y goodness, you’re going to be disappointed. This may not be a negative thing for most people, but that was like half the reason I decided to read this book.
– Certain things in the plot seemed to work out a little too perfectly.
– There was unprotected sex. If that was a purposeful decision on the part of the author, or if the characters just didn’t have any protection and were in the heat of the moment, I can be ok with that. What bothered me was that it literally didn’t even cross Rebekah’s mind that they should be using protection.
What I Liked:
– As I mentioned above, even though Rebekah was immature, I did understand why she was frustrated and did agree with her in regards to most things in the story. I also liked that she stood up for herself and her brothers sometimes. And she seemed pretty clever. So she was likeable in some ways.
– I also liked Rebekah’s brothers and her love interest. Cyrus especially surprised me, and he was the most realistic since he wasn’t quite as gallant and protective as the others but did obviously care about Rebekah.
– The premise was interesting, what with the different families and Rebekah’s father being in charge, giving people immortality, giving them different body parts as a nod to the original Frankenstein story, etc.
– The story itself was also pretty good. There was a twist I didn’t figure out until close to when it was revealed, and I was interested in seeing what would happen. And the plot made sense and flowed well enough.
– The book didn’t fall prey to most of the usual paranormal romance tropes, so no instalove, alpha males or love triangles.
Overall:
This ended up being more of a typical paranormal romance than I was expecting in terms of the focus of the book and how typically romance-y the relationship was, and that just isn’t quite my thing. There were also certain things, mostly with the writing itself, that I just couldn’t overlook. I did enjoy certain aspects of the book though, and the series has potential. Other readers, especially paranormal romance fans, may like it more than I did.
Recommended For:
Paranormal romance readers who like/don't mind a young sounding protagonist.
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Thank you for your considered, careful review. It’s certainly an appealing blurb. How much do you think your lack of enthusiasm was influenced by your dislike of the viewpoint? I happen to really like 1st person present tense pov…
Honestly, I do tend to notice the breaking of the fourth wall as that annoys me, and I notice 1st person present if the character sounds immature (because, for some reason, that POV seems to come across that way often), but just the POV alone doesn’t affect my enjoyment if it’s written well. I usually don’t even notice what the POV is in most books. But it stood out to me in this one because of the issues I had with the character’s voice and the writing in general. The 4th wall thing seemed to die down after the beginning, but I guess it had already brought my attention to the POV too. So my lack of enthusiasm is really about all the issues I had combined. So if you’re ok with the other things I mentioned, it might be something you’d like. But if the other things I mentioned are going to bother you, then you might not enjoy the book.
Oh that’s a shame when you start a book and the voice doesn’t work for you. It does sound like it still had some good points as well, so that’s great you still gave it a chance. It does sound like an unique set-up with the frankenstein thing.
I enjoy getting to know a characters thoughts, but it’s annoying when it gets repetitive. I am not a fan of breaking the fourth wall either usually. And that just seems weird with how she was talking to the reader sometimes. And unprotected sex bothers me as well. And I end up wondering if we get an accidental pregnancy after that, as some books do go that route. I rather have they shortly think fo talk about protection instead of ignoring the issue as then usually I am aware of it.
Glad to hear there were some good parts as well, like how Rebakah could be likeable sometimes and the love interest. And yay for none of the standard tropes, that can be nice. It’s a shame that the story was good, but you didn’t enjoy it as much due to how it was written. Great review!
Yeah, it can be tough to enjoy a book when the voice doesn’t work for you.
Exactly, about the sex thing. I did consider the possibility that the author might have an accidental pregnancy planned for future books or something, but the character could still have the thought, “Oh no, I should really be using protection, but screw it, I’m too in the moment to even care right now.” Or maybe they couldn’t bring it up but neither has any protection so they just have sex anyway. I’d just prefer if they at least thought about it.
It did have some good aspects and the rest of the series might be better, but I do need to enjoy the writing in order to truly enjoy a book, so oh well, just not for me, I guess. Thanks!
I have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy a young-sounding protagonist, but I think with this one, the romance woulld put me off. I’m so sad though, this premise sounds aWESOME.
I get you, I’m a mood reader, so how much I can deal with a young-sounding protagonist probably does depend on my reading mood. But yeah, if you don’t like those kind of typical romance relationships, I don’t know if you’d like this since that aspect wasn’t quite for me either.