Reviews

The Dangerous Ones by Lauren Blackwood

evansee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

jayishino's review

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Jerusalem is a Saint, basically a super human monster fighter. She's paired up with Alexi, a really old vampire. They set out to put an end to a shared enemy. Here we have what I suppose is an enemies to lovers, but Alexi is already in love with Jerusalem from the very beginning of the book, and since they train together and work together, they're not exactly enemies.

I had a hard time with this book. First of all, the world building wasn't great. I didn't actually believe they were in the 1800s based on the way the characters spoke. I didn't really like Jerusalem nor did I like Alexi either, and since they were the POV characters, this was a struggle. The love story was mediocre at best. I didn't feel any passion in their exchanges. All in all, I wanted to like this book, but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Angel Pean and Jay Ben Markson were fine narrators, but as I said, I just did not enjoy this book in the end.

kordidarling's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

ahhhmanda's review

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

adalton's review

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

bitteresspresso's review

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

I feel bad having this rating so low. I was really excited to read this book! My problem with it was that I felt like it was juggling too much. I liked the vampires but I felt like the saints added too much and the information we got about the world was just a lot to take in. 

mweis's review against another edition

1.25

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I had really enjoyed Blackwood's debut Within These Wicked Walls, so when I saw this and read historical fantasy romance featuring vampires in Pennsylvania 1863 I knew I had to read it. Unfortunately, I really did not love this.

For one, I really have no clue what was happening with the prose here. There were moments that felt like it was trying to stay in line with the Civil War era, but 99% of it was written in modern slang. Like there was a "that's rough, buddy" a la ATLA and a variety of "asses" including "stank-ass", "lazy-ass", and "a whole-ass battalion". At one point Alexei literally thinks "As beautiful as my body was, I could see how it might be distressing for a woman traveling alone." I could not handle it. I'm sure there is an audience for this, but it wasn't me.

And the romance? I have questions. There is nothing that makes me believe they actually love each other, or even like each other. I'm a hard sell on vampire/human relationships, or any kind of immortal and human relationships because of the age/maturity differences generously present, and this is no different. Alexei is 300 years old and Jerusalem is 18. And that's not even taking into account the interracial aspect of the relationship.

There's a moment early on where their talking about Confederate vampires and mention Jasper Whitlock which is when I should have DNFed because from there on I just kept thinking of this as a side story in an alternate universe Twilight fanfiction. 

rkelly76's review

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I had a tough time with the book constantly saying things that took you out of the time period. (Ex. “Dumbass”) That was the first thing I noticed as I began to read. 
Going further along in the book, I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character constantly beating up on her “love interest” even if she was wary of him as a vampire. It just seems like a recipe for a bad relationship and I could see how that depiction could give someone the idea that it’s cute when it’s not.
It is a very fast read (I finished in two days.) I don’t know that this one will stay in my collection  but I’m glad I got it as part of a book subscription box because the gifts that came with it made it worth it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship and War

cj_lovesbooks's review against another edition

3.5

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. The whole concept was really cool … vampires & the American Civil War. But the execution wasn’t quite there. 
It tried to do some flashbacks with the timeline but I wish it was told consecutively (except for the 300+ year flashbacks). We only know Jerusalem and Alexei after they’ve become friends

and they ARE friends despite the bickering that they aren’t.

I would have liked to see their friendship develop linearly instead of through flashbacks. By doing in this way, I think it lost a lot of the impact and potential emotional tension. 
Also Jerusalem’s narrative voice was great. I loved how it was written and think really added to her character. But Alexei fell flat to me. He seemed lovesick and that was all. 
I understand the balance between world-building and plot but we are suddenly introduced to

werewolves and Sasquatch's with very little reference.

It felt a bit too much without even hinting at it priorly. It was hard to tell what basis the story has in the Civil Wars besides some minimal links. 
I did like it but thought it could have benefited from some more edits.