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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
Read this in 1 night!
I stayed up all night to read this book! I'm too tired to write a lengthy review so I'm going to keep it short and sweet. I enjoyed the book for 2 reasons. The first was that the heroine is not a whiny little weakling yet you still see character development. The second reason is Derek, I mean who doesn't love a hot vampire pining after you lol. I can't wait to read the next book and see what happens next!
I stayed up all night to read this book! I'm too tired to write a lengthy review so I'm going to keep it short and sweet. I enjoyed the book for 2 reasons. The first was that the heroine is not a whiny little weakling yet you still see character development. The second reason is Derek, I mean who doesn't love a hot vampire pining after you lol. I can't wait to read the next book and see what happens next!
This is a story that will suck you in. No pun intended. The writing style kept me turning the page and considering how short the book was I was able to finish it in a few hours.
Plot: It is a lot like many other vampire book plots sad to say. It is the Stockholm Syndrome vampire type plot; girl gets captured against her will, she is told she is a slave for a vampire prince, they feel this odd connection/chemistry with each other, meanwhile the vampire coven is being hunted down by vampire hunters.
Characters: Derek, the vampire prince love interest, is like no other vampire I ever read before. To put it simply he is a "nice" vampire. Bland personality and all. When he woke from his 400 year sleep he was surprised by the fact that his coven captures humans for slaves...Really? I find it hard to believe that vampires didn't have human slaves back in the 1600's. Not only that but he fell for Sophie hard and fast. Even saying "I can't imagine life without you." in a less than 200 page book. I'd say that's too fast.
I know a ton of romance novels use the "we have this weird attraction toward each other" to speed up the romance process without actually getting the characters to actually know each other. This gets redundant and just seems like the easy route. On that note I would like to say I'm glad she denied his first kiss. Good for her for being aware of where it would lead.
I liked Sophia except there was one discrepancy that confused me. When she was captured she was walking along the beach at night in her swimsuit because she had plans to go swimming. Correct me if I'm wrong but a person with a supposedly high IQ (find that out later) would never go swimming at night in the ocean (shark food..?). Why have her in a bathing suit in the first place? What does that contribute to the plot and character development?
This gets a 3/5 for being too short and forgettable. I have a feeling if I got all the books that are out right now all at once and read them straight through I would rate it higher.
Plot: It is a lot like many other vampire book plots sad to say. It is the Stockholm Syndrome vampire type plot; girl gets captured against her will, she is told she is a slave for a vampire prince, they feel this odd connection/chemistry with each other, meanwhile the vampire coven is being hunted down by vampire hunters.
Characters: Derek, the vampire prince love interest, is like no other vampire I ever read before. To put it simply he is a "nice" vampire. Bland personality and all. When he woke from his 400 year sleep he was surprised by the fact that his coven captures humans for slaves...Really? I find it hard to believe that vampires didn't have human slaves back in the 1600's. Not only that but he fell for Sophie hard and fast. Even saying "I can't imagine life without you." in a less than 200 page book. I'd say that's too fast.
I know a ton of romance novels use the "we have this weird attraction toward each other" to speed up the romance process without actually getting the characters to actually know each other. This gets redundant and just seems like the easy route. On that note I would like to say I'm glad she denied his first kiss. Good for her for being aware of where it would lead.
I liked Sophia except there was one discrepancy that confused me. When she was captured she was walking along the beach at night in her swimsuit because she had plans to go swimming. Correct me if I'm wrong but a person with a supposedly high IQ (find that out later) would never go swimming at night in the ocean (shark food..?). Why have her in a bathing suit in the first place? What does that contribute to the plot and character development?
This gets a 3/5 for being too short and forgettable. I have a feeling if I got all the books that are out right now all at once and read them straight through I would rate it higher.
I was asked by the author to write an honest review about this book, well here goes :)
I really liked the story and the characters, but the book felt sort of rushed. I didn't really get the chance to fall completely in love with the romance between Derek and Sofia. The beginning was very abrupt and felt like we were dropped mid-scene (I like to imagine what the book would look like as a movie while I read). Maybe a bit more background story with Sofia and Ben would have been good, so we can understand why she likes him or how they are around each other as friends. This book would have been really great if it went a bit deeper into the background of the characters. I also missed the vampiric lore, usually you have at least some form of explanation about how these vampires came to be, or where they're from, how they were created, etc. But I didn't get much of that, except that apparently they have a witches, a prophecy and some have special powers like Vivienne.
I just felt that it was a bit rushed and that there could have been a lot more said regarding character background and the lore behind the creatures in the story. But apart from that it was still a great story. The cliffhanger at the end with Vivienne and the possibility that more about their history could be revealed was what made me want to read on.
I really liked the story and the characters, but the book felt sort of rushed. I didn't really get the chance to fall completely in love with the romance between Derek and Sofia. The beginning was very abrupt and felt like we were dropped mid-scene (I like to imagine what the book would look like as a movie while I read). Maybe a bit more background story with Sofia and Ben would have been good, so we can understand why she likes him or how they are around each other as friends. This book would have been really great if it went a bit deeper into the background of the characters. I also missed the vampiric lore, usually you have at least some form of explanation about how these vampires came to be, or where they're from, how they were created, etc. But I didn't get much of that, except that apparently they have a witches, a prophecy and some have special powers like Vivienne.
I just felt that it was a bit rushed and that there could have been a lot more said regarding character background and the lore behind the creatures in the story. But apart from that it was still a great story. The cliffhanger at the end with Vivienne and the possibility that more about their history could be revealed was what made me want to read on.
I very much enjoyed this quick trip into classic vampire land. Sofia is a pretty typical plucky wallflower type, but her chemistry with the main guy is quite fun to read. He's quite well written and the author does a great job of drawing a delicate line between his blood-sucking needs and his remaining humanity. It's a short read and feels like the prologue it is to a much longer story. Luckily, most of that story seems to already be out on the shelves! I'm certainly looking forward to more.
I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
Sofia's life changes on her 17th birthday. One minute, she's thinking about her unrequited love for her best friend; the next, she's kidnapped and taken to an island known as The Shade, in order to serve a vampire prince in his harem. Life will never be the same.
This was a quick, enjoyable first book in a series. I liked that chapters alternated between Sofia's and Derke's points of view. I think without that, I would have had a hard time liking/connecting to Derek. I also liked that, while it is obvious that Sofia is a teenager, she's not overly whiney, as some YA heroines can be. This was very refreshing for me, as that is one of my biggest pet peeves in YA books.
One negative thing is that with the short length of the book, it felt like things progressed very fast for Sofia and Derek. It seemed like no time passed at all when all of a sudden they were in love. Time had passed storywise, but the reader didn't get to see much of that time, so it's hard to see why they feel the way they do. That being said, I still found myself very interested in the plot and am going to continue the series. I'm curious to see what happens next!
Sofia's life changes on her 17th birthday. One minute, she's thinking about her unrequited love for her best friend; the next, she's kidnapped and taken to an island known as The Shade, in order to serve a vampire prince in his harem. Life will never be the same.
This was a quick, enjoyable first book in a series. I liked that chapters alternated between Sofia's and Derke's points of view. I think without that, I would have had a hard time liking/connecting to Derek. I also liked that, while it is obvious that Sofia is a teenager, she's not overly whiney, as some YA heroines can be. This was very refreshing for me, as that is one of my biggest pet peeves in YA books.
One negative thing is that with the short length of the book, it felt like things progressed very fast for Sofia and Derek. It seemed like no time passed at all when all of a sudden they were in love. Time had passed storywise, but the reader didn't get to see much of that time, so it's hard to see why they feel the way they do. That being said, I still found myself very interested in the plot and am going to continue the series. I'm curious to see what happens next!
When Sophia's best friend Ben forgets about her birthday she goes to the beach to get her mind off of everything. How could he forget her 17th birthday?!? But now there is this extremely attractive man beside her so maybe it won't be so bad after all. Oh if only she knew. He has whisked her away to some kind of dungeon where he turns out to be a vampire. Just great. Oh and to top it off your a present for some sleeping prince vampire when he first wakes up. Greatest birthday ever. Hopefully you have a chance to escape.
Derek wakes up from a 400 year slumber and his sister greats him with his personal harem. Not the worst way to wake up he supposes but could he at least feed first? No sense in killing innocents. But one of them...she's different than the others. And the longer he gets to know her the more she means to him. Maybe she will be the one good thing about waking up...
Spend time in the treetops with Sophie and Derek as they try to find their place in this new world with only each other to depend on. Maybe Sophie will escape or maybe she won't be able to.
I was a little off-put but the main character being so young but it wasn't as bad as it could have been so I was pleasantly surprised in that manner. Honestly it has a great story line and am excited for book 2 which is one of the next on my TBR.
Derek wakes up from a 400 year slumber and his sister greats him with his personal harem. Not the worst way to wake up he supposes but could he at least feed first? No sense in killing innocents. But one of them...she's different than the others. And the longer he gets to know her the more she means to him. Maybe she will be the one good thing about waking up...
Spend time in the treetops with Sophie and Derek as they try to find their place in this new world with only each other to depend on. Maybe Sophie will escape or maybe she won't be able to.
I was a little off-put but the main character being so young but it wasn't as bad as it could have been so I was pleasantly surprised in that manner. Honestly it has a great story line and am excited for book 2 which is one of the next on my TBR.
Short, but a decent read. Not quite your typical vampire romance. Reading this one made me want to read the second to see what happens next!
I am a contemporary girl at heart, but I have a soft spot for a good Vampire book. There is something so incredibly appealing to me about Vampires. I think they have a beauty and seductive quality about them. Maybe that's just me, but there you go...
I never once imagined that my life would play out the way that it did. To be fair, I guess I could say that life never really unfolds the way we expect it to.
Walking along the beach on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Sofia Claremont is approached by a handsome stranger whose intent on kidnappping her for the sole purpose of making her a part of his brother Derek Novak's harem. Sofia wakes, bound and chained in a dungeon on an island of vampires in the middle of nowhere. Upon meeting the vampire prince, Derek, Sofia finds that he is drawn to her and takes her under his wing. It doesn't take her long to realise that the safest place for her is in the care of Derek. But there comes a point when she isn't even safe from evil there.
A Shade of Vampire is told from the perspective of both Sofia and Derek. I loved having the story told from such different perspectives. Sofia, the strong willed human whose need for survival is what first draws her to Derek. She is thoughtful and considerate of others feelings and needs and it doesn't take her long to notice the charms of Derek. And Derek, the vampire who feels such a strong draw and connection to Sofia and he will do anything to make her happy and protect her. He is compassionate, caring, loving, remorseful and he has a conscience.
The main evil comes in the form of Derek's brother. He takes a liking to Sofia. But his needs are very different to Derek. He wants her blood and he doesn't hide that fact from Sofia. He really takes great delight in rattling her.
I found myself unable to pry my gaze away from Derek Novak, wondering about all the fuss surrounding him. He was what every teenage girl would most likely describe as hot, which was rather ironic considering how pale and cold he looked.
As for the romance, while it is there in the book, it's delivered to us mostly through the characters thoughts rather than their actions. I liked that there was no instant love. There was a connection and an unlikely friendship. The possibility of realising their feelings mixed in with getting to know the characters.
I would have to say that what I loved most about the book was Derek. I really want to know more about him. I want to spend more time with him. I loved all aspects of his nature. I want to experience more of his connection to Sofia. I loved that he had different aspects to his personality... His desire for blood and then his desire to protect Sofia.
I really loved the world of The Shade that Bella Forrest has created. A really original concept of having this world of vampires that sits in amongst the world of humans yet completely hidden away from most human eyes.
I really enjoyed the writing of Bella Forrest and look forward to reading the next book in the series. I'm also looking to have a greater connection to Sofia in book two. There is so much to look forward to because the ending in book one was a doozy!!
I never once imagined that my life would play out the way that it did. To be fair, I guess I could say that life never really unfolds the way we expect it to.
Walking along the beach on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Sofia Claremont is approached by a handsome stranger whose intent on kidnappping her for the sole purpose of making her a part of his brother Derek Novak's harem. Sofia wakes, bound and chained in a dungeon on an island of vampires in the middle of nowhere. Upon meeting the vampire prince, Derek, Sofia finds that he is drawn to her and takes her under his wing. It doesn't take her long to realise that the safest place for her is in the care of Derek. But there comes a point when she isn't even safe from evil there.
A Shade of Vampire is told from the perspective of both Sofia and Derek. I loved having the story told from such different perspectives. Sofia, the strong willed human whose need for survival is what first draws her to Derek. She is thoughtful and considerate of others feelings and needs and it doesn't take her long to notice the charms of Derek. And Derek, the vampire who feels such a strong draw and connection to Sofia and he will do anything to make her happy and protect her. He is compassionate, caring, loving, remorseful and he has a conscience.
The main evil comes in the form of Derek's brother. He takes a liking to Sofia. But his needs are very different to Derek. He wants her blood and he doesn't hide that fact from Sofia. He really takes great delight in rattling her.
I found myself unable to pry my gaze away from Derek Novak, wondering about all the fuss surrounding him. He was what every teenage girl would most likely describe as hot, which was rather ironic considering how pale and cold he looked.
As for the romance, while it is there in the book, it's delivered to us mostly through the characters thoughts rather than their actions. I liked that there was no instant love. There was a connection and an unlikely friendship. The possibility of realising their feelings mixed in with getting to know the characters.
I would have to say that what I loved most about the book was Derek. I really want to know more about him. I want to spend more time with him. I loved all aspects of his nature. I want to experience more of his connection to Sofia. I loved that he had different aspects to his personality... His desire for blood and then his desire to protect Sofia.
I really loved the world of The Shade that Bella Forrest has created. A really original concept of having this world of vampires that sits in amongst the world of humans yet completely hidden away from most human eyes.
I really enjoyed the writing of Bella Forrest and look forward to reading the next book in the series. I'm also looking to have a greater connection to Sofia in book two. There is so much to look forward to because the ending in book one was a doozy!!