Scan barcode
marcus_reads's review
5.0
haven't had much time for reading recently so it took me a while to get through this. really enjoyed it tho, 1 part near the end almost made me shed a tear.
cala_p's review
3.0
I'll admit I did a lot of skimming of this. It was just so...blahhhh.
First of all there was another one of those scenes: the ones where Aiden questions how his own daughter can love a vampire..and then proceeds to tell us: because she wasn't raised by him. And then he regrets that and then the scene always turns around and questions why his daughter isn't a hunter like him. There's been one of these scenes every book since he's been introduced. And every time, it's like BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T RAISE HER THAT'S WHY SHE DOESN'T HATE VAMPIRES. NOW SHUT UP. It's really annoying to read these scenes.
The first half of the book is a lot of the same and that's why I skimmed. Impending doom, Derek and Sofia wondering how they will be together. I'm getting tired of these books cause it's always the same with them.
The second half introduces/brings back an old character from before the beginning of book one: a certain witch. She was annoying because, like, obsessive much. The whining of how Derek doesn't love her was So. Annoying. Every chapter when she had him in her grasp was about this. That whole part of the book disturbed me. He remembered Sofia, then he didn't. Then he did and faked he didn't. Then he really didn't. Because she managed to put him under a spell which then he broke free of. Then back under. It was very hard to follow. And also through a lot of that they had sex. So basically he cheated on Sofia, sometimes knowing and sometimes unknowing. WHich he never ended up telling her.
I liked the ending the best. The way they found the cure was cool but also because they finally get married!! Whew maybe the whole "how can we be together" thing will stop now.
I want to finish of Sophia and Derek's story cause I do want to know how it ends but then I think I need a break from this series/author.
First of all there was another one of those scenes: the ones where Aiden questions how his own daughter can love a vampire..and then proceeds to tell us: because she wasn't raised by him. And then he regrets that and then the scene always turns around and questions why his daughter isn't a hunter like him. There's been one of these scenes every book since he's been introduced. And every time, it's like BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T RAISE HER THAT'S WHY SHE DOESN'T HATE VAMPIRES. NOW SHUT UP. It's really annoying to read these scenes.
The first half of the book is a lot of the same and that's why I skimmed. Impending doom, Derek and Sofia wondering how they will be together. I'm getting tired of these books cause it's always the same with them.
The second half introduces/brings back an old character from before the beginning of book one: a certain witch. She was annoying because, like, obsessive much. The whining of how Derek doesn't love her was So. Annoying. Every chapter when she had him in her grasp was about this. That whole part of the book disturbed me. He remembered Sofia, then he didn't. Then he did and faked he didn't. Then he really didn't. Because she managed to put him under a spell which then he broke free of. Then back under. It was very hard to follow. And also through a lot of that they had sex. So basically he cheated on Sofia, sometimes knowing and sometimes unknowing. WHich he never ended up telling her.
I liked the ending the best. The way they found the cure was cool but also because they finally get married!! Whew maybe the whole "how can we be together" thing will stop now.
I want to finish of Sophia and Derek's story cause I do want to know how it ends but then I think I need a break from this series/author.
lilyflor's review
3.0
A little absurd at times
Oh I wonder if Bella even bothered to double check her work as she tends to contradict herself so much. Also... seriously, vampires who sleep who blush. Who get tired? What kind of vampires are these?
However even with so many inconsistencies the story was successful. I'll finish the series but can't wait to move on!
Oh I wonder if Bella even bothered to double check her work as she tends to contradict herself so much. Also... seriously, vampires who sleep who blush. Who get tired? What kind of vampires are these?
However even with so many inconsistencies the story was successful. I'll finish the series but can't wait to move on!
ameserole's review
3.0
I hate love triangles. Why are they a thing??
A Blaze of Sun was interesting but annoying at the same time. Someone from Derek's past comes back into his life and tries to break him and Sofia up. It almost works. ALMOST.
Derek and Sofia's love grows more and more every day. They want to get married one day.. but once Emilia comes into their lives.. Derek tries to move that marriage up closer and closer. Something about this mysterious woman has his underwear up in knots. He doesn't know what it is.. but he can't trust the bitch one bit.
Of course, he does a stupid thing. Mostly because he's a man and they are stupid and make stupid decisions. He agrees to go to her castle/world for a week. Of course, she has her own evil plan because she wants him to fall in love with her. She puts him under her spell and gets him to agree to murder Sofia.
This book frustrated me to no end. I hated how Derek and Sofia were apart. I hated how easily he was manipulated. Also, how did his dick magically fall into her vagina? Honest question that annoyed me to no end.
Luckily, in the end.. neither of them were murdered. They got their happy ending eventually but the ending of this book annoyed me too. Another guy is magically obsessed with Sofia. Can people stop being obsessed with Derek and Sofia?? Can they have a break for all of this? Please!
A Blaze of Sun was interesting but annoying at the same time. Someone from Derek's past comes back into his life and tries to break him and Sofia up. It almost works. ALMOST.
Derek and Sofia's love grows more and more every day. They want to get married one day.. but once Emilia comes into their lives.. Derek tries to move that marriage up closer and closer. Something about this mysterious woman has his underwear up in knots. He doesn't know what it is.. but he can't trust the bitch one bit.
Of course, he does a stupid thing. Mostly because he's a man and they are stupid and make stupid decisions. He agrees to go to her castle/world for a week. Of course, she has her own evil plan because she wants him to fall in love with her. She puts him under her spell and gets him to agree to murder Sofia.
This book frustrated me to no end. I hated how Derek and Sofia were apart. I hated how easily he was manipulated. Also, how did his dick magically fall into her vagina? Honest question that annoyed me to no end.
Luckily, in the end.. neither of them were murdered. They got their happy ending eventually but the ending of this book annoyed me too. Another guy is magically obsessed with Sofia. Can people stop being obsessed with Derek and Sofia?? Can they have a break for all of this? Please!
nzkiwishen's review
3.0
So when you're stuck in bed/on the couch, and want to read something that isn't too deep and is mildly entertaining, this series fits the bill. I'm enjoying it so far, but this book was so incredibly predictable. I sill liked it, but there was literally nothing that came as a surprise to me. There isn't really anything new about vampires in this series that I haven't read or seen in other series.
bibblanmadde's review against another edition
2.0
We not even gonna bring up the fact that Derek was cheating? Sure he was under a spell but I think they should at least talk about it.
dragon_lion64's review
3.0
A Blaze of Sun
By Bella Forrest
A Shade of Vampire #5
The last book ended in a way that really irked me. This whole series has been based on the love of Sofia and Derek. Derek was basically a monster before Sofia came along. They have gone through so much and were so in love but then at the end of the last book something happened that made me want to stop reading the entire series.
Borys Maslen, a crazed and evil vampire had grabbed Sofia and threatened to kill her if Derek tried anything. He took her into a room and started torturing her. Derek’s sister, Vivienne, who had been a victim of Borys before, offered herself up as a distraction for Borys. Derek didn’t want her to go into the room but when he heard Sofia scream, he told Vivienne to go ahead. Sofia and Vivienne ended up killing Borys.
When Derek heard the silence, he finally rushed to the room to see what was happening. On his way to the room, one of Borys’ female guards caught his eye and he noticed how beautiful she was. That pissed me off. His love of life is being tortured, maybe raped and possibly dead yet he is attracted to another woman? I have never held much love for Derek’s character but I had always bought into his and Sofia’s love. It was the one thing that he had going for him. Now, I don’t think he has even a small chance that I will ever like him.
After he sees that Sofia and Vivienne are okay, he tells his guards to arrest all of Borys’ guards and kill them if they resist. He comes out of the room and finds that only the “beautiful brunette” is still alive. She tells him that she knows he felt the immediate attraction to her as did she. She tells him that her name is Emilia and that she is the daughter of the darkness as is Derek and that the Original meant for them to be together. Then she disappeared into thin air.
I was pretty disgusted by the whole thing. I was ready to just quit reading the whole series. I do not like love triangles and rarely tolerate them in books. Either you love one person with all your heart or you don’t love them at all. The only thing that made me want to go on reading this series is that I thought maybe there was some kind of magic going on to trick Derek into thinking he was attracted.
Luckily, I was right.
After their encounter, Derek is feeling guilty that he was attracted to the woman named Emilia. He started dreaming about her and started avoiding Sofia who is still living in the Catacombs with the other humans. This bothers me because I think the author forgets that, as readers, we know the characters pretty well and we aren’t dumb or forgetful. His father, when he was king, enforced a law that said once a human had been in the Shade for a year, he or she had to either be turned in a vampire or sent to the Catacombs with the other slaves to be put to work. Derek has never shied away from declaring new laws whenever he feels like it so, now that he is king, why doesn’t he declare a new law that humans don’t have to be turned or be sent to the Catacombs after a year?
But enough of my rant and back to the story.
Vivienne, the seer, tells Derek that he has to find the cure soon to vampirism. It is the key to the prophesy that says that Derek, along with his true love, will find true sanctuary for his kind.
The humans on the island have come a long way from the beginning of the series to now. At the beginning, they were slaves. There were two types of humans, Naturals and Migrates. Naturals are human slaves who were born on the Shade and Migrates were the teens who were abducted from all over the world who ended up being given to certain vampires to be put in their harems. Migrates didn’t usually last more than a week because they vampires used them as food and as toys and either the humans died from torture of from being drained of blood. Somehow, the author thinks that we have forgotten that all but maybe two or three of the vampires callously disposed of humans like they were toilet paper that they wiped their asses with and flushed down the toilet. We are now supposed to believe that in the span of a year, all vampires have changed. Now, the humans are rioting in the Catacombs where they live because they are afraid the vampires are going to start attacking them for blood since blood supplies are low.
There is a new big and bad in the story. The author always has mentioned that Derek went into the darkness but when he is around Sofia, the darkness is held at bay. I always got the feeling that the darkness was like a separate entity and I was right. Bella Forrest is good at insinuating something and hoping that the reader will catch on to it. The darkness comes from the Original vampire, something that the vampires on the Shade just assumed was a myth. The more evil someone lets into themselves, the more the Original can come to them or persuade them to do more evil. He used to have control of Derek but since Sofia has come into his life and shown him the light, the Original has lost control of Derek and he is not happy.
Emilia was turned by the Original who she calls the Elder or her father. She hints that Derek knew her before and that she is supposed to be with her instead of with Sofia. I immediately guessed who she was based on the previous stories.
The Elder and his vampire children, who are much stronger than other vampires sired by his descendants, attack the Shade and start annihilating everything. Emilia puts Vivienne into a sleep that could last hundreds of years and she takes off the protection spell that keeps the island hidden from the hunters and keeps the Shade dark 24/7. Emilia takes over the Sanctuary and uses her magic to lock everyone out…even the witch Corrine isn’t strong enough to fight it. She lets Derek in and tells him that she will call off the attack if he goes with her to the Elder’s castle called the Blood Keep for one week so she can prove her love for him. Explosions keep happening so Derek says he will agree if Sofia agrees. Sofia has no choice if she wants everyone on the island to live so she agrees as long as Emilia takes the sleeping spell off of Vivienne, puts the protection spell on and returns Derek in one week without hurting him.
Emilia does all those things except for the darkness spell which wasn’t part of the original protection spell. After the helicopters with the super vampires leave and Emilia poofs Derek and herself off of the island and into the Blood Keep, the sun starts to rise. Everyone races to the Catacombs which are located inside the mountain to avoid the sunlight. Corinne and Vivienne tell everyone that Emilia is Cora, the original witch of the island who was Derek’s best friend.
Cora had been in love with Derek who only thought of her as a friend. Obviously, she took it a little far and went to the Elder to turn her into a vampire. The Elder is using her to turn Derek to the darkness again because he knows if they find the cure, it could destroy him.
The Elder turns out not to be a sentient being but he is able to grab hair, bite into skin, give lashes and give horrible pain to people who have darkness within them. He tortures his Emilia and his other “children” on a regular basis. He never allows them any kind of happiness because happiness lets light into their lives.
Emilia only has one week to get Derek to love her. She and the Elder use magic to try to make him forget Sofia. At first, he still remembered her but his body and voice were out of his control. I found my stomach turning when he had to have sex with Emilia because this was rape. The author has had at least two women characters force sex on men in this series so far but has not outright had a man rape a woman. It has been inferred but hasn’t been blatantly stated…in fact, the word rape really hasn’t been said at all. But that is what it is. I think that some people think that a man can’t be raped or that a man being forced to have sex with a woman isn’t as bad as a man forcing a woman. I don’t agree. And I’m not criticizing the author for including rape in her stories because it shows just how depraved a character is who can commit it but I am questioning if she thinks women committing the horrible act is less horrible than if a man commits it.
Oops…another rant.
Two new characters are introduced in this book, Clara and Kiev. They are two more of the Elder’s children or vampires who the Elder turned. They seem just as demented as Emilia. Derek is forgetting Sofia and starting to believe all that Emilia has been telling him. When Emilia lets Derek out of her room, they run into Kiev who has a redheaded human with him who looks similar to Sofia. He tells Derek to take a bite of her and Derek does to the horror of Emilia who is screaming for him not to do it. Derek starts to remember again. But Kiev didn’t off up the human to Derek out of the kindness of his heart. He did it to be taunt Emilia. Emilia is so mad a Kiev that she rips the girl apart and kills her.
While Kiev and Emilia are rolling around on the floor fighting, Clara comes up to Derek and tells him that ever since Kiev has heard about Sofia and how in love she and Derek are, he has been obsessed with the redhead who Emilia just killed like he wants what Derek has. Then she tells Derek that the reason he is remembering things is because the redhead was an immune (a human who cannot be turned into a vampire and whose blood is sweeter than other humans and seems to have some sort of power in it) just like Sofia. In fact, almost all of the humans at the Blood Keep are immunes. Derek doesn’t know why she offered up this information but he got the feeling Clara was playing some kind of game.
I have a feeling, we will be seeing more of Clara and Kiev.
It seems like the plot has taken a turn…well, I think it was always heading this way but I think the story is revving up for some change. The vampires are no longer the biggest and baddest creatures around and life is going to change for them…and not for the better.
I am glad that Bella Forrest did not go for the love-triangle angle (giggle at myself for the use of triangle and angle together which is probably not that funny to anyone else) as I originally thought she was aiming to do because the love of Sofia and Derek has been the backbone of this series. If Derek would have truly been attracted to somebody else without magic behind it, I would have lost interest in the series because the whole basis of how Sofia calms Derek and brings him into the light would have been pointless.
I’m excited to see where the story is headed.
www.paranormalromanceslut.com
By Bella Forrest
A Shade of Vampire #5
The last book ended in a way that really irked me. This whole series has been based on the love of Sofia and Derek. Derek was basically a monster before Sofia came along. They have gone through so much and were so in love but then at the end of the last book something happened that made me want to stop reading the entire series.
Borys Maslen, a crazed and evil vampire had grabbed Sofia and threatened to kill her if Derek tried anything. He took her into a room and started torturing her. Derek’s sister, Vivienne, who had been a victim of Borys before, offered herself up as a distraction for Borys. Derek didn’t want her to go into the room but when he heard Sofia scream, he told Vivienne to go ahead. Sofia and Vivienne ended up killing Borys.
When Derek heard the silence, he finally rushed to the room to see what was happening. On his way to the room, one of Borys’ female guards caught his eye and he noticed how beautiful she was. That pissed me off. His love of life is being tortured, maybe raped and possibly dead yet he is attracted to another woman? I have never held much love for Derek’s character but I had always bought into his and Sofia’s love. It was the one thing that he had going for him. Now, I don’t think he has even a small chance that I will ever like him.
After he sees that Sofia and Vivienne are okay, he tells his guards to arrest all of Borys’ guards and kill them if they resist. He comes out of the room and finds that only the “beautiful brunette” is still alive. She tells him that she knows he felt the immediate attraction to her as did she. She tells him that her name is Emilia and that she is the daughter of the darkness as is Derek and that the Original meant for them to be together. Then she disappeared into thin air.
I was pretty disgusted by the whole thing. I was ready to just quit reading the whole series. I do not like love triangles and rarely tolerate them in books. Either you love one person with all your heart or you don’t love them at all. The only thing that made me want to go on reading this series is that I thought maybe there was some kind of magic going on to trick Derek into thinking he was attracted.
Luckily, I was right.
After their encounter, Derek is feeling guilty that he was attracted to the woman named Emilia. He started dreaming about her and started avoiding Sofia who is still living in the Catacombs with the other humans. This bothers me because I think the author forgets that, as readers, we know the characters pretty well and we aren’t dumb or forgetful. His father, when he was king, enforced a law that said once a human had been in the Shade for a year, he or she had to either be turned in a vampire or sent to the Catacombs with the other slaves to be put to work. Derek has never shied away from declaring new laws whenever he feels like it so, now that he is king, why doesn’t he declare a new law that humans don’t have to be turned or be sent to the Catacombs after a year?
But enough of my rant and back to the story.
Vivienne, the seer, tells Derek that he has to find the cure soon to vampirism. It is the key to the prophesy that says that Derek, along with his true love, will find true sanctuary for his kind.
The humans on the island have come a long way from the beginning of the series to now. At the beginning, they were slaves. There were two types of humans, Naturals and Migrates. Naturals are human slaves who were born on the Shade and Migrates were the teens who were abducted from all over the world who ended up being given to certain vampires to be put in their harems. Migrates didn’t usually last more than a week because they vampires used them as food and as toys and either the humans died from torture of from being drained of blood. Somehow, the author thinks that we have forgotten that all but maybe two or three of the vampires callously disposed of humans like they were toilet paper that they wiped their asses with and flushed down the toilet. We are now supposed to believe that in the span of a year, all vampires have changed. Now, the humans are rioting in the Catacombs where they live because they are afraid the vampires are going to start attacking them for blood since blood supplies are low.
There is a new big and bad in the story. The author always has mentioned that Derek went into the darkness but when he is around Sofia, the darkness is held at bay. I always got the feeling that the darkness was like a separate entity and I was right. Bella Forrest is good at insinuating something and hoping that the reader will catch on to it. The darkness comes from the Original vampire, something that the vampires on the Shade just assumed was a myth. The more evil someone lets into themselves, the more the Original can come to them or persuade them to do more evil. He used to have control of Derek but since Sofia has come into his life and shown him the light, the Original has lost control of Derek and he is not happy.
Emilia was turned by the Original who she calls the Elder or her father. She hints that Derek knew her before and that she is supposed to be with her instead of with Sofia. I immediately guessed who she was based on the previous stories.
The Elder and his vampire children, who are much stronger than other vampires sired by his descendants, attack the Shade and start annihilating everything. Emilia puts Vivienne into a sleep that could last hundreds of years and she takes off the protection spell that keeps the island hidden from the hunters and keeps the Shade dark 24/7. Emilia takes over the Sanctuary and uses her magic to lock everyone out…even the witch Corrine isn’t strong enough to fight it. She lets Derek in and tells him that she will call off the attack if he goes with her to the Elder’s castle called the Blood Keep for one week so she can prove her love for him. Explosions keep happening so Derek says he will agree if Sofia agrees. Sofia has no choice if she wants everyone on the island to live so she agrees as long as Emilia takes the sleeping spell off of Vivienne, puts the protection spell on and returns Derek in one week without hurting him.
Emilia does all those things except for the darkness spell which wasn’t part of the original protection spell. After the helicopters with the super vampires leave and Emilia poofs Derek and herself off of the island and into the Blood Keep, the sun starts to rise. Everyone races to the Catacombs which are located inside the mountain to avoid the sunlight. Corinne and Vivienne tell everyone that Emilia is Cora, the original witch of the island who was Derek’s best friend.
Cora had been in love with Derek who only thought of her as a friend. Obviously, she took it a little far and went to the Elder to turn her into a vampire. The Elder is using her to turn Derek to the darkness again because he knows if they find the cure, it could destroy him.
The Elder turns out not to be a sentient being but he is able to grab hair, bite into skin, give lashes and give horrible pain to people who have darkness within them. He tortures his Emilia and his other “children” on a regular basis. He never allows them any kind of happiness because happiness lets light into their lives.
Emilia only has one week to get Derek to love her. She and the Elder use magic to try to make him forget Sofia. At first, he still remembered her but his body and voice were out of his control. I found my stomach turning when he had to have sex with Emilia because this was rape. The author has had at least two women characters force sex on men in this series so far but has not outright had a man rape a woman. It has been inferred but hasn’t been blatantly stated…in fact, the word rape really hasn’t been said at all. But that is what it is. I think that some people think that a man can’t be raped or that a man being forced to have sex with a woman isn’t as bad as a man forcing a woman. I don’t agree. And I’m not criticizing the author for including rape in her stories because it shows just how depraved a character is who can commit it but I am questioning if she thinks women committing the horrible act is less horrible than if a man commits it.
Oops…another rant.
Two new characters are introduced in this book, Clara and Kiev. They are two more of the Elder’s children or vampires who the Elder turned. They seem just as demented as Emilia. Derek is forgetting Sofia and starting to believe all that Emilia has been telling him. When Emilia lets Derek out of her room, they run into Kiev who has a redheaded human with him who looks similar to Sofia. He tells Derek to take a bite of her and Derek does to the horror of Emilia who is screaming for him not to do it. Derek starts to remember again. But Kiev didn’t off up the human to Derek out of the kindness of his heart. He did it to be taunt Emilia. Emilia is so mad a Kiev that she rips the girl apart and kills her.
While Kiev and Emilia are rolling around on the floor fighting, Clara comes up to Derek and tells him that ever since Kiev has heard about Sofia and how in love she and Derek are, he has been obsessed with the redhead who Emilia just killed like he wants what Derek has. Then she tells Derek that the reason he is remembering things is because the redhead was an immune (a human who cannot be turned into a vampire and whose blood is sweeter than other humans and seems to have some sort of power in it) just like Sofia. In fact, almost all of the humans at the Blood Keep are immunes. Derek doesn’t know why she offered up this information but he got the feeling Clara was playing some kind of game.
I have a feeling, we will be seeing more of Clara and Kiev.
It seems like the plot has taken a turn…well, I think it was always heading this way but I think the story is revving up for some change. The vampires are no longer the biggest and baddest creatures around and life is going to change for them…and not for the better.
I am glad that Bella Forrest did not go for the love-triangle angle (giggle at myself for the use of triangle and angle together which is probably not that funny to anyone else) as I originally thought she was aiming to do because the love of Sofia and Derek has been the backbone of this series. If Derek would have truly been attracted to somebody else without magic behind it, I would have lost interest in the series because the whole basis of how Sofia calms Derek and brings him into the light would have been pointless.
I’m excited to see where the story is headed.
www.paranormalromanceslut.com
meganmreads's review
5.0
A Blaze of Sun was yet another amazing addition to the Shade of Vampire series I love so much. The book began where the last one ended. Everyone was back at the Shade learning to deal with one another. Derek and Sofia were back together, ruling the Shade and desperately hoping to keep it protected and trying to find the cure.
Like I’ve said in other reviews for this series, it’s so difficult to predict how it will all work out. I’m just as stunned and surprised as the characters are and the solutions are never obvious. The added points of view in each book give me a ton of perspective and I learn what motivates some of the other characters. I’m always hooked to the story, unable to put it down, and my head always reels with the various possibilities and outcomes!
I won’t spoil any of the plot, but the woman we all met in A Shadow Of Light made a return and served to make things incredibly difficult between Derek and Sofia, as we all kind of figured she would. (But before anyone freaks out, have a little faith in Derek!) And of course, with the addition of Aiden and Ingrid at the Shade, things got pretty interesting. Kyle, the vampire who turned Ashley, got a viewpoint in A Blaze of Sun and I loved seeing Anna through his eyes. Anna began to work with Corrine to help her regain some of her former self and both Kyle and Ian protected her, even though there was some obvious tension between of the two of them. Sofia and Derek are my favorite couple, but I really enjoyed watching some other side plots and side romances in the series.
Some parts of A Blaze of Sun were absolutely agonizing to read. I think I read parts of the book screaming “NO NO NO! This can’t be happening!” inside of my head. Not to worry, though, because I read other parts screaming “OMG! Omg! Yes, this is totally happening!” I couldn’t put it down and I needed resolutions when I was reading, so I couldn’t just put the book down after a chapter when so much was hanging in the balance. While some of the book was heart breaking, other parts were absolutely incredible. I think other Shaddicts and fans will love the events and be just as excited and surprised and floored by them! It was the most amazing roller coaster of emotions.
As always, I’m hooked to the series and I am impatiently waiting on the next book. I absolutely love this series and I am convinced more than ever that it would make a fabulous TV show, so someone should get on that ASAP! =) Each book in this series gets better and better. I’m hopelessly addicted and invested in the story. It’s a must read for any fan of paranormal romance (YA or not) and fans of vampires.
Review originally published at Love, Literature, Art, and Reason book review blog
Like I’ve said in other reviews for this series, it’s so difficult to predict how it will all work out. I’m just as stunned and surprised as the characters are and the solutions are never obvious. The added points of view in each book give me a ton of perspective and I learn what motivates some of the other characters. I’m always hooked to the story, unable to put it down, and my head always reels with the various possibilities and outcomes!
I won’t spoil any of the plot, but the woman we all met in A Shadow Of Light made a return and served to make things incredibly difficult between Derek and Sofia, as we all kind of figured she would. (But before anyone freaks out, have a little faith in Derek!) And of course, with the addition of Aiden and Ingrid at the Shade, things got pretty interesting. Kyle, the vampire who turned Ashley, got a viewpoint in A Blaze of Sun and I loved seeing Anna through his eyes. Anna began to work with Corrine to help her regain some of her former self and both Kyle and Ian protected her, even though there was some obvious tension between of the two of them. Sofia and Derek are my favorite couple, but I really enjoyed watching some other side plots and side romances in the series.
Some parts of A Blaze of Sun were absolutely agonizing to read. I think I read parts of the book screaming “NO NO NO! This can’t be happening!” inside of my head. Not to worry, though, because I read other parts screaming “OMG! Omg! Yes, this is totally happening!” I couldn’t put it down and I needed resolutions when I was reading, so I couldn’t just put the book down after a chapter when so much was hanging in the balance. While some of the book was heart breaking, other parts were absolutely incredible. I think other Shaddicts and fans will love the events and be just as excited and surprised and floored by them! It was the most amazing roller coaster of emotions.
As always, I’m hooked to the series and I am impatiently waiting on the next book. I absolutely love this series and I am convinced more than ever that it would make a fabulous TV show, so someone should get on that ASAP! =) Each book in this series gets better and better. I’m hopelessly addicted and invested in the story. It’s a must read for any fan of paranormal romance (YA or not) and fans of vampires.
Review originally published at Love, Literature, Art, and Reason book review blog
readingwithemmett's review
2.0
Although I have enjoyed the rest of this series, I just did not like this book as much as the rest. I'm not sure if this is how all the books have been and I just finally noticed, or it was just this book, but it felt like the story was being told than actually occurring. When it switched to a certain character's point of view, it seemed like that character was telling the reader about how they felt and the events that were happening. I honestly did not find that to be enjoyable, and felt like most of the book was glossed over. A lot happened in this book, however, it almost seemed like too much. I would have much rather read two books, or a longer book, so the author could have gone into more detail about what happened. Overall, I wish I could have enjoyed this more, and I hope the next book is better.
raven168's review
3.0
Emilia plays a big part in this book. It was so easy to figure out who she was after the first page or so though. Then it just became wanting to figure out what went down for a such a thing to happen. So because of her we learn a little more about this original vampire called the Elder. He's basically evil incarnate and has his sights on Derek and Sophia for different reasons.
Even though both Derek and Sophia are back together in The Shade, things are still hectic. They hardly see each other anymore and it's starting to get to Sophia. She understands that Derek is busy, but she can't help but feel that he's avoiding her. And that's because he is. Ever since his encounter with Emilia, he can't get her out of his head or his dreams. Which makes him feel guilty and frustrated. Just when they decide to spend some time together, the covens attack. Despite overwhelming odds, somehow The Shade wins. With Emilia surrendering as captive.
Her presence on the island is wreaking havoc with Derek's mind so he finally comes clean with Sophia about it all. Derek kicks Emilia off the island only to find her washed back up on shore shortly after and looking near death. But it was all just a show to get what she wants. And that would be Derek. Backed into a corner with the hunters on their way and the island exposed, Derek does the only thing he can think to save his people. Go with Emilia to the Blood Keep for a week.
A week that turns into one of the longest of Derek and Sophia's lives. Derek is basically a puppet the whole time with his body and his voice controlled. The only thing he fights to keep is his mind and thoughts of Sophia. But with Emilia's power taking over more and more he eventually finds himself in love with her (even though he's terrified of her) without a single memory of Sophia. While he's gone, Sophia tries to maintain order but it's almost impossible. She's running low on hope until something happens to Kyle that gives it right back to her. And she hardly wait to figure it out and tell Derek.
Before she loses control over him, Emilia takes Derek back to the island before the week is up so that he can do as he promised and kill Sophia. Despite what Derek does, or maybe because of, things do not go as she planned and Emilia is doomed. Wracked with guilt over what he did to her, Derek puts off going to see Sophia again. But soon enough they're a happy couple on their way to get married with the cure a real possibility. Of course, their happiness is extremely short lived with the hunters showing up and ready to destroy the island.
I just want to say that I'm kind of getting tired of all these guys crying all the time. Not a very endearing thing for a male in general, even less so for a powerful vampire one.
Even though both Derek and Sophia are back together in The Shade, things are still hectic. They hardly see each other anymore and it's starting to get to Sophia. She understands that Derek is busy, but she can't help but feel that he's avoiding her. And that's because he is. Ever since his encounter with Emilia, he can't get her out of his head or his dreams. Which makes him feel guilty and frustrated. Just when they decide to spend some time together, the covens attack. Despite overwhelming odds, somehow The Shade wins. With Emilia surrendering as captive.
Her presence on the island is wreaking havoc with Derek's mind so he finally comes clean with Sophia about it all. Derek kicks Emilia off the island only to find her washed back up on shore shortly after and looking near death. But it was all just a show to get what she wants. And that would be Derek. Backed into a corner with the hunters on their way and the island exposed, Derek does the only thing he can think to save his people. Go with Emilia to the Blood Keep for a week.
A week that turns into one of the longest of Derek and Sophia's lives. Derek is basically a puppet the whole time with his body and his voice controlled. The only thing he fights to keep is his mind and thoughts of Sophia. But with Emilia's power taking over more and more he eventually finds himself in love with her (even though he's terrified of her) without a single memory of Sophia. While he's gone, Sophia tries to maintain order but it's almost impossible. She's running low on hope until something happens to Kyle that gives it right back to her. And she hardly wait to figure it out and tell Derek.
Before she loses control over him, Emilia takes Derek back to the island before the week is up so that he can do as he promised and kill Sophia. Despite what Derek does, or maybe because of, things do not go as she planned and Emilia is doomed. Wracked with guilt over what he did to her, Derek puts off going to see Sophia again. But soon enough they're a happy couple on their way to get married with the cure a real possibility. Of course, their happiness is extremely short lived with the hunters showing up and ready to destroy the island.
I just want to say that I'm kind of getting tired of all these guys crying all the time. Not a very endearing thing for a male in general, even less so for a powerful vampire one.