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book_lover_97's review
5.0
This is wonderful and engrossing collection of Vampires. Each story is steamy, dark, thrilling and unique.
Nikki Landis's Cursed is an incredible and addictive read. I could not put this book down. Very well written with great suspense and action. I really like reading the development of Piper and Salem's connection.
I am voluntarily leaving a honest, unbiased review.
Nikki Landis's Cursed is an incredible and addictive read. I could not put this book down. Very well written with great suspense and action. I really like reading the development of Piper and Salem's connection.
I am voluntarily leaving a honest, unbiased review.
sometimesleelynnreads's review
3.0
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Silver Dagger Book Tours and Knox Publishing for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.
Blood, Gore, Death, Violence
So of course, when you have vampire novels, you would have to watch out for any blood, gore, death, violence, stuff that vampires are supposed to be known for. While that content warning may seem a little redundant due to the anthology being about vampires, I feel like it should still be included just in case.
Now, I haven’t had much experience with anthologies except for maybe one, and I liked it but felt like all of the stories left me hanging. Is that the goal? Possibly. With this anthology, I was so keen to find out what happened next with each story that I was left wanting more and didn’t end up getting it. It pretty much killed me! In a good way though.
I felt like all of the stories in this novel really did a great job of opening up the vampire world beyond what’s seen in the mainstream media. To me, vampires aren’t always romantic tortured souls that are looking for a love to last them lifetimes. No. Vampires are lethal predators that will kill someone without hesitation or remorse, and those are the kinds of vampires I like to see. Sure, nothing is wrong with seeing vampires having a moral dilemma after living for centuries and questioning their life choices, but sometimes I just wanna see a vamp that gives no craps.
But there were also some aspects of the vampires that had some sort of humanity left in them, and sometimes that made them a little bit more… worthy of my love and attention. Or at least my sympathy. I don’t know if I’m using the right word, but I feel like the authors that had vampires have some sort of humanity involved with them used it in a way that wasn’t cliched, that wasn’t overdone, and that made me care about them more than if they were just a lovesick puppy.
Are puppies even lovesick? Where did that phrase come from, anyway?
Don’t ask me what my favorite was because I liked them all for their own reasons. I don’t like picking an absolute favorite in an anthology (because I have experience with this, right?) and I clearly can’t make a decision on that right now so ask me again in a couple weeks or so. I will say that I will have to check out more paranormal novels from these authors in the future because I liked what I read from them in this novel. Like I was saying before, by the time each story ended, I was feeling like a piece of me was missing and it needed to know how that story ended. It was great!
Blood, Gore, Death, Violence
So of course, when you have vampire novels, you would have to watch out for any blood, gore, death, violence, stuff that vampires are supposed to be known for. While that content warning may seem a little redundant due to the anthology being about vampires, I feel like it should still be included just in case.
Now, I haven’t had much experience with anthologies except for maybe one, and I liked it but felt like all of the stories left me hanging. Is that the goal? Possibly. With this anthology, I was so keen to find out what happened next with each story that I was left wanting more and didn’t end up getting it. It pretty much killed me! In a good way though.
I felt like all of the stories in this novel really did a great job of opening up the vampire world beyond what’s seen in the mainstream media. To me, vampires aren’t always romantic tortured souls that are looking for a love to last them lifetimes. No. Vampires are lethal predators that will kill someone without hesitation or remorse, and those are the kinds of vampires I like to see. Sure, nothing is wrong with seeing vampires having a moral dilemma after living for centuries and questioning their life choices, but sometimes I just wanna see a vamp that gives no craps.
But there were also some aspects of the vampires that had some sort of humanity left in them, and sometimes that made them a little bit more… worthy of my love and attention. Or at least my sympathy. I don’t know if I’m using the right word, but I feel like the authors that had vampires have some sort of humanity involved with them used it in a way that wasn’t cliched, that wasn’t overdone, and that made me care about them more than if they were just a lovesick puppy.
Are puppies even lovesick? Where did that phrase come from, anyway?
Don’t ask me what my favorite was because I liked them all for their own reasons. I don’t like picking an absolute favorite in an anthology (because I have experience with this, right?) and I clearly can’t make a decision on that right now so ask me again in a couple weeks or so. I will say that I will have to check out more paranormal novels from these authors in the future because I liked what I read from them in this novel. Like I was saying before, by the time each story ended, I was feeling like a piece of me was missing and it needed to know how that story ended. It was great!
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