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yeriwithaj_'s review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book a lot. I paced myself because I didn't want it to end but I was dying to get to the end. It contains hotness, romance, vampires and suspense all my favorite things. I recommend it to any of you looking for a hot romantic paranormal suspense.
paradoxicalreality's review
4.0
I will start this review by saying I was honestly impressed with this book, and not from a horror, erotic, or even PNR/fantasy perspective. I was highly impressed with how realistic I felt the characters to be, despite dealing with pretty strange circumstances, and I found all of them relatable. If I had a single issue, it would be how the plot was handled -- at times, it felt a bit rushed, but this is not some glaringly noticeable oversight. The characters are thoroughly engaging and as the author develops them they become very relatable. I will not lie; I actually went into this as about as closed off to the idea as I could be. I normally do not like the portrayal of PoC in many books of various genres, it is either too much one way or the other with no regard to the shades of gray in between; however, I’ve found a kindred spirit in Melanie (sans the whole vampire thing). This does not go to say that this book did not deliver in the horror, erotic, or pnr/fantasy areas – in some respects it did, to varying degrees.
Also, random, but I am in love with that cover art.
Spoilers ahead…
The book starts off with one of our main characters, Melanie Blue, having just finished a meal and detailing how she feels about it. She does not do this sort of thing for fun or without thought, it does not have to be this romantic ordeal or a bloody massacre, except sometimes she gets carried away. Melanie provided us with a mildly detached, analytical approach to things and is a wonderful foil to our other main character… Penley Greene.
We switch perspectives to dear Penley, who is our media/mass communication majoring protagonist, who happens to be of Filipino descent. He is quite the doll as he is funny, smart, practical, and down to earth. From this point, we are largely introduced to Penley, his life and upbringing, and his growing attraction to Melanie. Naturally due to this, we learn more about Melanie; for example -- she is black/African-American, a vampire, and drinks blood purely to survive. She does not have fangs and she does attempt to satiate her blood cravings with mint chocolate. (I found that to be adorable, also, cause I mean why not? Trying to curb a blood craving with mint chocolate and a Dr. Who series binge? Yes. Yes. Yes.)
While many of the chapters continue along that train of thought, the author brushes on the issues of race, stereotypes, and tensions – though in the lightest way possible. It is not some heavy issue that we are burdened with, in fact, most of it is dealt with through the various group members we are introduced to at the beginning of the book. It would seem that the author brought the subjects up and then handled them briefly and in the lightest tone possible; however, this was not a means of dismissal, it felt along the lines of “I’m going to leave this [subject] right here for you to think about while I continue the rest of this book” sort of thing. In between that, and the romancing of Melanie Blue by Penley Greene, we are given these occasional micro snapshots of our presumed antagonist via his internal dialogue. Through these we are given the notion that he is a stalker, he picks his victims carefully, and he does, in fact, murder them. We are not given much more than that to work with, he essentially reveals a little bit of himself via internal dialogue for most of the book until about 60% through (maybe 75%) when Penley finds a hidden camera in his room. He is alarmed because since Penley and Melanie have started dating they have been engaging in some rather sadistic practices that could get them both in a lot of trouble. Penley immediately suspects his technologically savvy roommate, Luis, and quickly goes to question him. This is the first real time that the author has addressed the antagonist in a tangible way, and that the protagonists and antagonist have had any real “interaction”. Things, plot wise, move fairly quickly from here as Melanie and Penley after a minor (and rather brief) falling out, decide to go and confront this attacker. This confrontation ends in Melanie vanishing from Penley’s life and (thankfully) Penley moving on from the incident; transferring to a college in New York as he moves on with his life and continues pursuing his chosen course of study. It is there that Melanie Blue returns to Penley, explaining why she had to leave him as she did and the novel ending with the two of them kind of tentatively speaking again.
My only issue would be how the author handled the plot. It was not a bad plot, however, I found that the main plot of this book (one of two or three different developing plot lines – that I can see) took a back seat to world building and character development, so that it was mentioned in brief snippets throughout and then was quickly brought to a head and then resolved towards the end of the book. This is not the first book I have read that muddled through plot to present characters to me. But, because the latter part (presentation of characters) was handled so well, it makes the aforementioned issue only an issue because as the book progresses you start to wonder when/what/how the author will address it.
I received this book at the Goodreads Lovers of Paranormal group for free in exchange for a fair and honest review!
Also, random, but I am in love with that cover art.
Spoilers ahead…
The book starts off with one of our main characters, Melanie Blue, having just finished a meal and detailing how she feels about it. She does not do this sort of thing for fun or without thought, it does not have to be this romantic ordeal or a bloody massacre, except sometimes she gets carried away. Melanie provided us with a mildly detached, analytical approach to things and is a wonderful foil to our other main character… Penley Greene.
We switch perspectives to dear Penley, who is our media/mass communication majoring protagonist, who happens to be of Filipino descent. He is quite the doll as he is funny, smart, practical, and down to earth. From this point, we are largely introduced to Penley, his life and upbringing, and his growing attraction to Melanie. Naturally due to this, we learn more about Melanie; for example -- she is black/African-American, a vampire, and drinks blood purely to survive. She does not have fangs and she does attempt to satiate her blood cravings with mint chocolate. (I found that to be adorable, also, cause I mean why not? Trying to curb a blood craving with mint chocolate and a Dr. Who series binge? Yes. Yes. Yes.)
While many of the chapters continue along that train of thought, the author brushes on the issues of race, stereotypes, and tensions – though in the lightest way possible. It is not some heavy issue that we are burdened with, in fact, most of it is dealt with through the various group members we are introduced to at the beginning of the book. It would seem that the author brought the subjects up and then handled them briefly and in the lightest tone possible; however, this was not a means of dismissal, it felt along the lines of “I’m going to leave this [subject] right here for you to think about while I continue the rest of this book” sort of thing. In between that, and the romancing of Melanie Blue by Penley Greene, we are given these occasional micro snapshots of our presumed antagonist via his internal dialogue. Through these we are given the notion that he is a stalker, he picks his victims carefully, and he does, in fact, murder them. We are not given much more than that to work with, he essentially reveals a little bit of himself via internal dialogue for most of the book until about 60% through (maybe 75%) when Penley finds a hidden camera in his room. He is alarmed because since Penley and Melanie have started dating they have been engaging in some rather sadistic practices that could get them both in a lot of trouble. Penley immediately suspects his technologically savvy roommate, Luis, and quickly goes to question him. This is the first real time that the author has addressed the antagonist in a tangible way, and that the protagonists and antagonist have had any real “interaction”. Things, plot wise, move fairly quickly from here as Melanie and Penley after a minor (and rather brief) falling out, decide to go and confront this attacker. This confrontation ends in Melanie vanishing from Penley’s life and (thankfully) Penley moving on from the incident; transferring to a college in New York as he moves on with his life and continues pursuing his chosen course of study. It is there that Melanie Blue returns to Penley, explaining why she had to leave him as she did and the novel ending with the two of them kind of tentatively speaking again.
My only issue would be how the author handled the plot. It was not a bad plot, however, I found that the main plot of this book (one of two or three different developing plot lines – that I can see) took a back seat to world building and character development, so that it was mentioned in brief snippets throughout and then was quickly brought to a head and then resolved towards the end of the book. This is not the first book I have read that muddled through plot to present characters to me. But, because the latter part (presentation of characters) was handled so well, it makes the aforementioned issue only an issue because as the book progresses you start to wonder when/what/how the author will address it.
I received this book at the Goodreads Lovers of Paranormal group for free in exchange for a fair and honest review!
arkwen452's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted here on my blog. (May contain spoilers)
Like many of the New Adult narratives by [a:G.L. Tomas|14181072|G.L. Tomas|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1465936250p2/14181072.jpg], Wander This World offers unique and fresh character perspectives that go against expectations of the genre in the best way. For instance, an unconventional vampire, a creepy and (almost) darker character other than said vampire—that’s learned to curb her blood lust with mint chocolate—and Doctor Who.
I mean, need I say more?
Well, since you insist, I loved how this book had this dark and ominous undertone throughout the book that was entirely separate/independent from that fact one of the main characters is a vampire. Presented in both first and third person perspective, I think every reader will feel the horror/fear factor when it comes to the sadist, serial killer in this book. I mean I almost felt bad for him when Melanie turned on him—almost.
I thought that particular scene—the entire sequence actually—was amazing. If anything, I wish we had seen more of Mel’s dark side (puun!). I think she’s sexy-cool and it would be great to learn more about her life so far (or life as a) vampire.
On that note, I loved the fact that Mel’s character isn’t even presented as the typical, cookie-cutter idealization of the vampire in the narrative. She is who and what she is. I might be over using the word here, but again, I also loved that we find out her character not only chose her name and new identity, but her apparent appearance as well; as in her ethnicity!?.
GL, that was way cool. :-)
Also, as a Whovian, I really enjoyed all the Doctor Who references in this book and Mel’s love and connection to the Doctor. I garner that the little tidbit about her choosing her appearance was influenced by the show as well. As she is the last, only and first of her kind in the entire world and universe. (Sorry. I got existential there for a second)
The little dance between Penley and Melanie was cute and the two played off of each other really well, but I found that I saw his character as too much of a freshy (freshman) for a majority of the story.
Nevertheless, I liked how quickly his character came around when he discovered the truth about her and accepted her as she was. If you love vampires/ vampire romances and that ever-present fear factor when you’re reading, you should definitely check this book out. :-)
Like many of the New Adult narratives by [a:G.L. Tomas|14181072|G.L. Tomas|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1465936250p2/14181072.jpg], Wander This World offers unique and fresh character perspectives that go against expectations of the genre in the best way. For instance, an unconventional vampire, a creepy and (almost) darker character other than said vampire—that’s learned to curb her blood lust with mint chocolate—and Doctor Who.
I mean, need I say more?
Well, since you insist, I loved how this book had this dark and ominous undertone throughout the book that was entirely separate/independent from that fact one of the main characters is a vampire. Presented in both first and third person perspective, I think every reader will feel the horror/fear factor when it comes to the sadist, serial killer in this book. I mean I almost felt bad for him when Melanie turned on him—almost.
I thought that particular scene—the entire sequence actually—was amazing. If anything, I wish we had seen more of Mel’s dark side (puun!). I think she’s sexy-cool and it would be great to learn more about her life so far (or life as a) vampire.
On that note, I loved the fact that Mel’s character isn’t even presented as the typical, cookie-cutter idealization of the vampire in the narrative. She is who and what she is. I might be over using the word here, but again, I also loved that we find out her character not only chose her name and new identity, but her apparent appearance as well; as in her ethnicity!?.
GL, that was way cool. :-)
Also, as a Whovian, I really enjoyed all the Doctor Who references in this book and Mel’s love and connection to the Doctor. I garner that the little tidbit about her choosing her appearance was influenced by the show as well. As she is the last, only and first of her kind in the entire world and universe. (Sorry. I got existential there for a second)
The little dance between Penley and Melanie was cute and the two played off of each other really well, but I found that I saw his character as too much of a freshy (freshman) for a majority of the story.
Nevertheless, I liked how quickly his character came around when he discovered the truth about her and accepted her as she was. If you love vampires/ vampire romances and that ever-present fear factor when you’re reading, you should definitely check this book out. :-)
feywildfiction's review against another edition
1.0
Even though I had no trouble in finishing this, it just didn't really do it for me. I'd still recommend it to certain folk because of it's representation--this is the first book I believe I've read that had a non-binary character and as a protagonist at that. I struggled with knowing the timeline in the book. There would times where the narration gave the impression that weeks had gone by only to follow-up with a line that stated it had only been one week.
I wasn't impressed with the ending. I felt there should have been a real confrontation between Penley and Melanie after what happened, especially with her ghosting him for nearly half a year. Perhaps it's because I can hold a grudge like nobody's business. But the ending was lacking and I was very surprised at how abrupt the ending felt.
I didn't have a real connection to Melanie or Penley, which in a book like this, the characters are the driving force. All in all, it was just very underwhelming for me.
I wasn't impressed with the ending. I felt there should have been a real confrontation between Penley and Melanie after what happened, especially with her ghosting him for nearly half a year. Perhaps it's because I can hold a grudge like nobody's business. But the ending was lacking and I was very surprised at how abrupt the ending felt.
I didn't have a real connection to Melanie or Penley, which in a book like this, the characters are the driving force. All in all, it was just very underwhelming for me.
onmyown's review
4.0
4.5
I loved this book. Vampire gore+ DW references+Latinx and Philipino undertones= me, intrigued. It's different, it's fun, it doesn't have a genre-determined route. And, as weird as that may sound, Mel is relatable as hell. Ps: now I seriously wanna try Venezuelan cooking, though.
I loved this book. Vampire gore+ DW references+Latinx and Philipino undertones= me, intrigued. It's different, it's fun, it doesn't have a genre-determined route. And, as weird as that may sound, Mel is relatable as hell. Ps: now I seriously wanna try Venezuelan cooking, though.
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