Reviews

The Dark Heroine: Dinner with a Vampire by Abigail Gibbs

allyreadsromance's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

What's better than vampires...British Vampires! Quick and fun read. Gritty and naughty.

annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Na het lezen van heel veel goede recensies dit boek gekocht en er eigenlijk geen seconde spijt van gehad. Je wordt onmiddellijk middenin het verhaal gegooid en de opbouw van het verhaal was helemaal mijn ding. Mysteries die langzaamaan ontrafeld werden, leuke personages en sprookjesachtige gebeurtenissen met een duister randje. Het boek is verre van zoet, zonder de romantiek te vergeten. Het heeft iets rauws, bekends en toch origineels. De karakters zijn interessant geschreven en doordat er gebruik wordt gemaakt van het perspectief dat het beste uitkomt krijg je precies de informatie die je als lezer nodig hebt.

Bij vlagen is het boek vampier-gruwelijk, bij vlagen passioneel-bloederig, bij vlagen mysterieus, soms romantisch, tegen het einde een klein beetje zoet...voor mij was het eigenlijk het perfecte boek. De wereld die beschreven wordt heeft iets sprookjesachtigs, wat mij aansprak, vermengd met de gevaarlijkheid en de rauwheid die zo bij vampiers hoort en onmisbaar is. Ik heb van elke bladzijde, van de eerlijkheid van elk woord en van alles met volle teugen genoten. Zelfs van Prins Kasper, hoewel hij echt mijn type niet is ;-)

Een aanrader dus voor veel mensen in mijn omgeving, ook als ze niet zo van de kleffe romantische zooi zijn, want dat is het in elk geval niet en de zeldzame momenten dat het dat wel is, is het niet lang en niet overheersend. De twee hoofdpersonen zijn ook niet het type voor kleffe romantische momenten.

nicole_readsalot's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

4.5

mbfeeney's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

*Disclaimer - I haven't fully finished reading this book yet, but I will*

"The sexiest romance you'll read this year" - I highly doubt that.

I was told about this book by a friend on Facebook. I admit to being impressed when I found out that the author is only 18 and that she wrote the book when she was 15, and I was also a little jealous (who wouldn't be knowing she'd been picked up out of obscurity after posting it on a story sharing website?)

I picked the book up the week it was released yet didn't start reading it straight away. When I did start, I really struggled to get into it.

Firstly, let me say that I am impressed that a 15 year old was able to weave together a story such as this. The whole history of the vampires that she has conjured up is actually brilliant. She hasn't slipped into the trap of relying on other author's ideas of vampire lore.

I have to admit, that's where my admiration pretty much ends. I've finally worked out why I am struggling with the book. Violet Lee, the main character. I really don't like her. She's spoilt, mouthy, and a bit of a brat. I understand that she's had a fairly privileged upbringing as the daughter of a prominent politician, but that's no excuse to act the way she does.

Yes, she's taken away from her life 'against her will', but she felt very 2 dimensional to me. Also, Stockholm Syndrome. Really? After just a few months. From what I've read about the condition, it takes YEARS for that kind of attachment to develop, so I found that very unbelievable.

Kaspar... to me, he's Edward Cullen with royal blood and a libido. He looks down on Violet, yet is incredibly attracted to her. Again, very 2 dimensional, and I felt I had come across this type of character before.

The overall feel of the book makes it very obvious that it has been written by someone quite young. Like i said, the paranormal side of the story is very well done, in my opinion, but the interaction and the romance is very stilted.

I can understand why Gibbs has so many "fans" over on Wattpad and was chosen to be published, but I feel the editors needed to do more with the story as it came across as a young girl's ideas of romance that don't have much substance through lack of experience. (Obviously, I don't know the author so this is mere speculation).

I know this is the first in a series, but I doubt I will read the rest. Unfortunately.

*Read this review and others over at http://michbookreviews.wordpress.com

stephxsu's review

Go to review page

Yeah, no. Melodramatic, unpolished writing, plus that cliched YA paranormal belief that being a vampire excuses a character from being a halfway decent human being. And that was just in the first one percent of the book. I thought about reading more to see if this train wreck could supercede the special effects of the really dragged out one in the movie Super 8, but then I remembered that I am trying not to be a glutton for punishment.

rachelcdm's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

I blame Twilight for the spawn of a whole genre of books like THIS;

"Dinner With a Vampire"

KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!

This book is AWFUL. The blurb sounded promising, it gave the impression of a dark, alternate world that a young girl finds herself trapped in - DO NOT BE FOOLED. It is the latest in Vampire fiction, and (dare I say it?) The worst one yet. The protagonist is a pathetic girl who falls for the Vampire "Prince" who captures her.

What the male lead IS NOT:

- Sexy.....no, no, no....no.

- Charming. (Far from it, he threatens to RAPE her - yeah because that's totally swoon-worthy and not a reason to stitch up your own vajajay.)

- Mysterious (She hears him have sex with other vampires on a frequent basis, kind of takes the "mystery" out of him.)

- Funny -_-


What the female lead IS NOT:

- Interesting (She gives Bella Swan a run for her money in the whining department.)

- Intelligent (If she were intelligent she would know that threatening RAPE is not a form of foreplay!)

- Funny -_-


I genuinely think the author was high when she was writing this.

This book ticks off every mind-numbing cliche and after finishing the first 400 pages I just couldn't bring myself to drag myself through the last 100. At least this way I can convince myself that the "heroine" died tragically while her love-interest was trapped in his own bondage. Far more satisfying.

Awful. Just truly, truly awful.



EDIT!!
I just found out that the author began writing and posting this novel at fifteen before publishing it three years later. For a fifteen year old the writing shows a lot of promise, that being said after accepting a publishing deal she should have fine-tuned her book A LOT. I still don't think that the threat of rape should be thrown around so lightly in a YA novel and generally this new information doesn't change my opinion all that much.

daynamurko's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

I've read this book twice and both times I read it I thought it was amazing. I absolutely fell in love with the characters (especially Kaspar) they seemed like people (or vampires, if you will) I'd actually hang out with. I love when that happens, as in many novels that I've read, the characters are so not my type. I like that I could actually relate to Violet in the sense that she isn't afraid to say what she has to.

One of my favourite books and most likely will be apart of my favourite series when Autumn Rose comes out!

5/5 stars for being amazing

And those people who gave a crap review, you wouldn't know a good book if it hit you on the nose.

pammeesaurus's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

3.5 stars

lamom77's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I really loved this story. I only gave it 4 stars because the writing style was difficult to follow at times and I found myself rereading passages because I wasn't quite sure what the author meant to say. It was a unique, fun vampire story. Can't wait for Book 2!

jqduskrose's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

this book was awesome i love it so much. ughh the characters were amazing and what i loved most is the struggle she was having with herself it was very interesting it captured who she was.
and what i loved most about this book was how the vampire society was defined, it was very sophisticated and very cultured.
i also loved the whole dark heroin prophecy that was going on.
i really hope that this isn't the end and that there is another book because i really feel that it was a bit of a cliffhanger ending because i still have a number of unanswered question. anyway over all the book was awesome and i highly recommend it...