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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
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!!
Think it's Twilight? Think again!
I was a little apprehensive at first about reading this book because I thought it would be another cheesy terribly written version of Twilight. Man was I mistaken! The first book flowed perfectly and didn't give too much away in the first book that would make the subsequent books worthless and a waste of time to read. I can't wait to see what happened next!
I was a little apprehensive at first about reading this book because I thought it would be another cheesy terribly written version of Twilight. Man was I mistaken! The first book flowed perfectly and didn't give too much away in the first book that would make the subsequent books worthless and a waste of time to read. I can't wait to see what happened next!
Hmmmmmmm........
First of all, Derek fell in love with Sofia the moment he saw her. I just couldn't buy it at first, but later on I started to do it. The romantic part in the book, wasn't the best but enjoyable most of the time. In the end it felt like it was a love-square ( can I call it that?). After all I knew that the romantic would disappoint me.
Now over to the story part, which I obviously liked more. It's not hard to understand that the first book in the series was an introducing part, and I know that the story is by far not over, it's only the beginning. One thing that I really wanted to know more about was the island and its people. The book didn't tell so much but I hope I'll get to learn more in the sequel.
The characters, hmmmmmm.... The characters that was suppoused to be the bad ones, I liked them more. The reason why is because the story about them was really interesting comparing to the good ones.
Now I can't wait 'till I read the second book.
*SPOILER-ALERRRRTTT** I don't know why but I think that Ben will become a member of the hunters in the second book, which isn't the odd considering what he went through in A shade of Vampire.
First of all, Derek fell in love with Sofia the moment he saw her. I just couldn't buy it at first, but later on I started to do it. The romantic part in the book, wasn't the best but enjoyable most of the time. In the end it felt like it was a love-square ( can I call it that?). After all I knew that the romantic would disappoint me.
Now over to the story part, which I obviously liked more. It's not hard to understand that the first book in the series was an introducing part, and I know that the story is by far not over, it's only the beginning. One thing that I really wanted to know more about was the island and its people. The book didn't tell so much but I hope I'll get to learn more in the sequel.
The characters, hmmmmmm.... The characters that was suppoused to be the bad ones, I liked them more. The reason why is because the story about them was really interesting comparing to the good ones.
Now I can't wait 'till I read the second book.
*SPOILER-ALERRRRTTT** I don't know why but I think that Ben will become a member of the hunters in the second book, which isn't the odd considering what he went through in A shade of Vampire.
Was this really a book or a test chapter to see if more books should be written. You don't get to know the characters at all and it's just strait to the point. I was kind of bummed. Good thing I only borrowed it on my kindle. I hope the second installment is better since Amazon claims that "IT'S TWICE AS LONG AS THE FIRST BOOK!!!" Fingers crossed that it gets better.
I really enjoyed A shade of Vampire. I couldn't seem to put my kindle down. I had to keep reading. My only issue with it, not enough details or story line descriptions. It seemed like everything was so quick, instead of taking it's time to lead up to it.
By the way, it was NOTHING like Twilight.
By the way, it was NOTHING like Twilight.
So I've finally read A Shade Of Vampire and I can honestly say that I liked it a lot. While it was a pretty quick read I was able to get a lot of out of it. Especially hearing from Sofia and Derek, I always love hearing the different points of view of the hero and the heroine.
It's Sophia Claremont's seventeenth birthday and she's walking along the beach after having a fight with her best friend. She was approached by a strange man who then kidnaps her and when she wakes, she finds herself in a strange place and then finds out the people living there are vampiers. I would say that Sophia handled herself surprisingly well. While she was afraid, she didn't freak out has I would have expected someone in her situation would have done. I guess I'm more glad she wasn't a panicky whiny mess, cause that would have been annoying. However, I still wanted to understand her more, why does she deal with her situation so calmly and with curiosity instead of total mind numbing fear. The entire situation was filled with curiosity, on my end at least.
Sophia found out she is meant for a vampire name Derek and when she and other girls were brought to him I was expecting a bigger reaction from them. While the other girls weren't as calm as Sophia they seemed to be scared stiff. The entire situation was surprisingly calm, thanks to Sophia. Later I would come to find out that Sophia has some undiagnosed condition. When her condition was diagnosed by the witch Corinne I immediately looked it up out of curiosity to see if it was an actual condition. It was, I've never heard of it before but you learn something new every day, and from a vampire book at that, who would have thunk. Her condition makes her sensitive to others and her surroundings. I'm guessing that could explain her calmness and how she dealt with the situation.
When it came to Derek Novak's POV is was very surprised, I wasn't sure what to expect but I didn't expect and such a young sounding voice. Derek was a guilt ridden, and self hating vampire who was also bossy, arrogant, and cranky, especially when dealing dealing with the responsibilities he had as the Prince of the island. And he was also a vampire in every sense of the word, he doesn't have any problems satiating his vampiric needs. He was instantly drawn to Sophia, he was protective and intrigued by her. She calms him and when she's around.
Sophia finds out she's on an island, and no matter that Derek seems to like her and is keeping her safe she knows she's needs to get off this island soon. The lives the vampires and the humans live on the island makes Sophia angry and worries that although things are seemingly good for her now that might not always be the case.
The book ended with a surprising cliffhanger of Derek giving Sophia the choice to leave the island. But Sophia is also drawn to Derek and feels she needs more assurances from him to stay but also know that leaving and having a life is important to her. So we are left with wondering what Sophia's decision will be. To stay or go?
A Shade of Vampire was a good book, with good storytelling and I liked the world building and can't wait to learn more about these characters and their world.
It's Sophia Claremont's seventeenth birthday and she's walking along the beach after having a fight with her best friend. She was approached by a strange man who then kidnaps her and when she wakes, she finds herself in a strange place and then finds out the people living there are vampiers. I would say that Sophia handled herself surprisingly well. While she was afraid, she didn't freak out has I would have expected someone in her situation would have done. I guess I'm more glad she wasn't a panicky whiny mess, cause that would have been annoying. However, I still wanted to understand her more, why does she deal with her situation so calmly and with curiosity instead of total mind numbing fear. The entire situation was filled with curiosity, on my end at least.
Sophia found out she is meant for a vampire name Derek and when she and other girls were brought to him I was expecting a bigger reaction from them. While the other girls weren't as calm as Sophia they seemed to be scared stiff. The entire situation was surprisingly calm, thanks to Sophia. Later I would come to find out that Sophia has some undiagnosed condition. When her condition was diagnosed by the witch Corinne I immediately looked it up out of curiosity to see if it was an actual condition. It was, I've never heard of it before but you learn something new every day, and from a vampire book at that, who would have thunk. Her condition makes her sensitive to others and her surroundings. I'm guessing that could explain her calmness and how she dealt with the situation.
When it came to Derek Novak's POV is was very surprised, I wasn't sure what to expect but I didn't expect and such a young sounding voice. Derek was a guilt ridden, and self hating vampire who was also bossy, arrogant, and cranky, especially when dealing dealing with the responsibilities he had as the Prince of the island. And he was also a vampire in every sense of the word, he doesn't have any problems satiating his vampiric needs. He was instantly drawn to Sophia, he was protective and intrigued by her. She calms him and when she's around.
Sophia finds out she's on an island, and no matter that Derek seems to like her and is keeping her safe she knows she's needs to get off this island soon. The lives the vampires and the humans live on the island makes Sophia angry and worries that although things are seemingly good for her now that might not always be the case.
The book ended with a surprising cliffhanger of Derek giving Sophia the choice to leave the island. But Sophia is also drawn to Derek and feels she needs more assurances from him to stay but also know that leaving and having a life is important to her. So we are left with wondering what Sophia's decision will be. To stay or go?
A Shade of Vampire was a good book, with good storytelling and I liked the world building and can't wait to learn more about these characters and their world.
I must admit I'm a bit over vampires. And yet I got this free copy of Bella Forrest's first installment in the A Shade of Vampire series, and I figured I'd give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Bella's writing is good quality and the story itself drew me in and kept me there as well. The only reason I'm over vampires is that, well, they're dead, and I don't really find corpses sexy. And yet I will say that Forrest's hero, Derek, is an appealing and sexy dude, and having read the first part of this story I definitely want to read on to find out what happens next. Plus I like the world-building in this series - Forrest has created an intriguing world in which vampires have established a secret hideaway in which they're protected from the Hunters whose mission in life it is to destroy them. Derek's early history prior to being turned (though far distant) adds an intriguing element to the whole Hunter aspect.
In future reads I'd be curious to learn more about these Hunters and maybe meet some. I'm also curious to see what'll happen between Derek and his siblings, and also what Ben will do.
In short, if you love vampires I would highly recommend this book as one to add to your TBR. I would class it as somewhere between Twilight and True Blood in that Derek's whole family isn't exactly what Stephenie Meyer would refer to as "vegetarian", but there is an element at least with Derek of wanting to be good (unlike most TB vampires who are just plain bad). Be-warned there is a bit of insta-love, but to be honest that didn't bother me much. I'm already suspending reality by reading about vampires, so why not suspend it a bit more in relation to the love aspect of the story?
In future reads I'd be curious to learn more about these Hunters and maybe meet some. I'm also curious to see what'll happen between Derek and his siblings, and also what Ben will do.
In short, if you love vampires I would highly recommend this book as one to add to your TBR. I would class it as somewhere between Twilight and True Blood in that Derek's whole family isn't exactly what Stephenie Meyer would refer to as "vegetarian", but there is an element at least with Derek of wanting to be good (unlike most TB vampires who are just plain bad). Be-warned there is a bit of insta-love, but to be honest that didn't bother me much. I'm already suspending reality by reading about vampires, so why not suspend it a bit more in relation to the love aspect of the story?
It's is short, normally I don't pick up books under 200 pages. On one hand the story ends to fast and on the other Hand it can be bad for the content of the story.
A Shade of a Vampire is a book about a romance, with a Vampire side story. So basically nothing new. Since I'm a fan of stories with supernatural creatures vs. hunters I liked this aspect, but it's a very short part of the story (jet?).
So the main focus is on the romance. And it's a predictable and almost instant love story. And both things are bad. I don't want to know right at the beginning who will end up with who. And adding a third person to this doesn't make it better. So it has the three no-goes of a romance book, love triangle, instant love, predictable couple.
At least the reader can understand why he, Derek male main protagonist, starts to like Sofia, female main protagonist. I don't say love cause for love it's not enough what the reader gets from him, although the chapters are written in his and her view. And I totally can't understand her love for Derek. It happens to fast and there's not enough to make her forget the one she loved before. More time to develop the love story would have been better. If this 150 would be about two characters getting used to each other, becoming friends it would be a good story. It's just the first book of a series, it doesn't need a love story to get me hooked to a book (series). The story has potential and I may read the other books of this series to see if this potential will be used.
It is not an awesome Vampire romance book, but if you like an easy reading with a not so deep story and not so deep characters, it's ok.
A Shade of a Vampire is a book about a romance, with a Vampire side story. So basically nothing new. Since I'm a fan of stories with supernatural creatures vs. hunters I liked this aspect, but it's a very short part of the story (jet?).
So the main focus is on the romance. And it's a predictable and almost instant love story. And both things are bad. I don't want to know right at the beginning who will end up with who. And adding a third person to this doesn't make it better. So it has the three no-goes of a romance book, love triangle, instant love, predictable couple.
At least the reader can understand why he, Derek male main protagonist, starts to like Sofia, female main protagonist. I don't say love cause for love it's not enough what the reader gets from him, although the chapters are written in his and her view. And I totally can't understand her love for Derek. It happens to fast and there's not enough to make her forget the one she loved before. More time to develop the love story would have been better. If this 150 would be about two characters getting used to each other, becoming friends it would be a good story. It's just the first book of a series, it doesn't need a love story to get me hooked to a book (series). The story has potential and I may read the other books of this series to see if this potential will be used.
It is not an awesome Vampire romance book, but if you like an easy reading with a not so deep story and not so deep characters, it's ok.
The writing in this is pretty bad, but I have friends who swear by this series, so I'm going to give this one more book before passing final judgment.