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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Another one of those books I debated a lot on how to rate. It was a quick read, and I was interested all the way through. I liked the tone and the atmosphere, and the characters were fairly good. I haven't read enough Anne Rice to make a good comparison, but boy is the Twilight influence showing in this one. I would dare to call this the POC Twilight since it does have a lot of non-white characters.
The more I thought about it, the more this really does seem like Twilight. We have our main character who was living with her father and has an absent mother. She gets the attention of two guys (for some reason) who end up being rivals. There's some kind of pact between these two rival families. I'm almost sure they are vampires and werewolves. "Celine" is a nickname. She has human friends she distances herself from to protect them once she realizes she's a target for the supernatural. One of Bastien's group can see the future, but it's not definite. I guess the biggest differences are that these vampires do actually kill people and drink blood, and they burn in sunlight.
It's a little weird how completely lacking in details this world-building is. I finished the book and I still couldn't 100% explain who all of Bastien's Court are and what they do. He gives a vague description of their skills, but that doesn't tell me anything. Most of them are so in the background I barely knew who they were. One of them ends up being a villain at the end, but I felt nothing at this reveal since his character was barely focused on. It made me want to go back and see if there were any clues in the narrative. The same could be said for the first-person bits. The identity of the speaker is revealed, and I only didn't see it coming because I don't think I was given any hints.
I didn't hate the romance. Their banter was fine and they spent enough time together on the page that I could believe they were developing chemistry. It was a little weird when Celine was like "don't fall in love with me" the day they formally met, but it wasn't the worst. I don't know if I bought their story enough for the ending to be justified, but I guess we'll see what happens in the sequel. I would have almost liked it better if the ending went darker. But maybe that's just my cynical adult mind.
Celine was an interesting character. There were times when I wished she would shut up and stop trying to pick a fight, but at least she wasn't boring. Making her a murderer was a new angle, but it gets a little murky when she only killed in self-defense. I can understand the complexity of feeling like a monster for taking a life, but not feeling sorry since she was defending herself. I just wish the author didn't take that angle. I just don't know how to feel about it, considering she was almost raped by the guy she killed. I get it was the times, but the narrative sure did focus a lot on how people viewed Celine's body and she was saying she's been dealing with this since she was twelve. It made me really uncomfortable.
But like I said, I did like the characters enough. Odette was a delight. I would have liked more development from the rest of Bastien's group, and I feel like Michael could have done with some fleshing-out, too. The scene with his family was pretty delightful, though. Who doesn't love a spunky grandmother? The pacing got a little slow at parts, but I kept turning pages and I was interested enough to make it to the end. I'll probably be checking out the sequel, too, just to see where it's going.
The book was good enough. Not anything great, but fine for what it was: Twilight mashed with Anne Rice vampires.
The more I thought about it, the more this really does seem like Twilight. We have our main character who was living with her father and has an absent mother. She gets the attention of two guys (for some reason) who end up being rivals. There's some kind of pact between these two rival families. I'm almost sure they are vampires and werewolves. "Celine" is a nickname. She has human friends she distances herself from to protect them once she realizes she's a target for the supernatural. One of Bastien's group can see the future, but it's not definite. I guess the biggest differences are that these vampires do actually kill people and drink blood, and they burn in sunlight.
It's a little weird how completely lacking in details this world-building is. I finished the book and I still couldn't 100% explain who all of Bastien's Court are and what they do. He gives a vague description of their skills, but that doesn't tell me anything. Most of them are so in the background I barely knew who they were. One of them ends up being a villain at the end, but I felt nothing at this reveal since his character was barely focused on. It made me want to go back and see if there were any clues in the narrative. The same could be said for the first-person bits. The identity of the speaker is revealed, and I only didn't see it coming because I don't think I was given any hints.
I didn't hate the romance. Their banter was fine and they spent enough time together on the page that I could believe they were developing chemistry. It was a little weird when Celine was like "don't fall in love with me" the day they formally met, but it wasn't the worst. I don't know if I bought their story enough for the ending to be justified, but I guess we'll see what happens in the sequel. I would have almost liked it better if the ending went darker. But maybe that's just my cynical adult mind.
Celine was an interesting character. There were times when I wished she would shut up and stop trying to pick a fight, but at least she wasn't boring. Making her a murderer was a new angle, but it gets a little murky when she only killed in self-defense. I can understand the complexity of feeling like a monster for taking a life, but not feeling sorry since she was defending herself. I just wish the author didn't take that angle. I just don't know how to feel about it, considering she was almost raped by the guy she killed. I get it was the times, but the narrative sure did focus a lot on how people viewed Celine's body and she was saying she's been dealing with this since she was twelve. It made me really uncomfortable.
But like I said, I did like the characters enough. Odette was a delight. I would have liked more development from the rest of Bastien's group, and I feel like Michael could have done with some fleshing-out, too. The scene with his family was pretty delightful, though. Who doesn't love a spunky grandmother? The pacing got a little slow at parts, but I kept turning pages and I was interested enough to make it to the end. I'll probably be checking out the sequel, too, just to see where it's going.
The book was good enough. Not anything great, but fine for what it was: Twilight mashed with Anne Rice vampires.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
i was expected this to be bad IT WAS NOT
like the writing was dense but not too much, i’ve read from the author before though so it was fine for me .
It left me guessing literally the entire book and i still didn’t guess it
i was actually intrigued that it was unique, especially about vampires
there still so much more i want to know so i can’t wait to read the next one
i hope she don’t get too involved with the enemy though
like the writing was dense but not too much, i’ve read from the author before though so it was fine for me .
It left me guessing literally the entire book and i still didn’t guess it
i was actually intrigued that it was unique, especially about vampires
there still so much more i want to know so i can’t wait to read the next one
i hope she don’t get too involved with the enemy though
AHHHHH Okay.
This was, surprisingly, really really good. I never had a doubt that the writing would be spectacular, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the book a lot. It felt... dark, like you had to whisper in case there were any monsters lurking around.
I like that this felt like a murder-mystery type of book, with a few chapters in between of the "killer".
My only gripe with the story is that I wanted to see more about the vampires and other lore creatures out there. Because the book focuses on Celine, who doesn't know anything about them, we don't really see a lot about them. It's not until the end of the book that we finally get bigger glimpses at these creatures and what they can actually do. The sequel promises to do more of that, so I absolutely cannot wait.
Also, can I say that I SCREAMED when I found out the love interest had Taíno heritage and grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico?? I really really hope we see more of that in the sequel as well, it's not often we see Taíno mentions anywhere.
Anyway, I do still recommend this book. It wasn't too... flashy, but it was entirely captivating and brings something new to the table. There's also a wonderful cast of characters and great dynamics to explore.
This was, surprisingly, really really good. I never had a doubt that the writing would be spectacular, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the book a lot. It felt... dark, like you had to whisper in case there were any monsters lurking around.
I like that this felt like a murder-mystery type of book, with a few chapters in between of the "killer".
My only gripe with the story is that I wanted to see more about the vampires and other lore creatures out there. Because the book focuses on Celine, who doesn't know anything about them, we don't really see a lot about them. It's not until the end of the book that we finally get bigger glimpses at these creatures and what they can actually do. The sequel promises to do more of that, so I absolutely cannot wait.
Also, can I say that I SCREAMED when I found out the love interest had Taíno heritage and grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico?? I really really hope we see more of that in the sequel as well, it's not often we see Taíno mentions anywhere.
Anyway, I do still recommend this book. It wasn't too... flashy, but it was entirely captivating and brings something new to the table. There's also a wonderful cast of characters and great dynamics to explore.
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just really don't care. Historical fantasy is not for me
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was a little confused on the ending, but I suspect there must be a sequel in the works. Overall, good book!
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No