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celjla212's review against another edition
1.0
I have a love-hate relationship with angel novels...they're either awesome (The Violet Eden Series) or horrific (Halflings). Unfortunately this book fell on the bad end of the spectrum for me, and I wasn't able to finish it.
I've read this story before. I thought it might have had some redeeming qualities because of what happened to Sam, but I quickly came to find out this book suffered from another case of insta-love. I made it to page 138, so I presume there was probably gonna be a love triangle as well. The signs were there.
Quite simply, after nearly 150 pages in I didn't care enough about Samantha to discover what happened to her.
I've read this story before. I thought it might have had some redeeming qualities because of what happened to Sam, but I quickly came to find out this book suffered from another case of insta-love. I made it to page 138, so I presume there was probably gonna be a love triangle as well. The signs were there.
Quite simply, after nearly 150 pages in I didn't care enough about Samantha to discover what happened to her.
bookishmadness's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book. I really really did. It has an amazing cover. It has an intriguing synopsis. Plus I absolutely love Angel stories, above all other paranormal types. I have even heard Michelle Rowen is an amazing author. But unfortunately, even with all these aspects put together, I just couldn't like it enough.
Sam is ordinary girl, who has banned romance from her life. Until of course her hot neighbour, who she has been crushing on since forever, kisses her - and turns her into a soul sucking gray. Bishop is an Angel, who was sent to stop the "Source" - the maker of the gray's. Kraven, is the sarcastic smart-ass demon who is part of Bishop's team. Throw in a few cliches - Sam's parents are divorced, her mother works all the time and she lashes out by shop lifting, a bit of insta-love between Sam and Bishop - and there is your story.
The cliches I can get past. There are few stories that are truly original anymore, and if the author does it right, you can overlook the cliches. The annoying characters that I just can't connect with, however, I cannot get past. Samantha annoyed me so much, to the point that I really struggled to read the entire book. I mean, there is always a certain type of defiance in MC's, but this was absolutely ridiculous. I really just wanted to punch her in the face. Bishop was also pretty bad. He just screamed creepy. Kraven and his sarcastic nature, was the only part about the story I liked.
This will stop me from bothering to read the next book, however it will not stop me from giving any of Michelle Rowen's other novels a try.
If you like YA paranormal books, with a bit of romance thrown in, then this book just might be right up your alley. It has many 5-star reviews, so don't just take my word for it, try it for yourself!
Sam is ordinary girl, who has banned romance from her life. Until of course her hot neighbour, who she has been crushing on since forever, kisses her - and turns her into a soul sucking gray. Bishop is an Angel, who was sent to stop the "Source" - the maker of the gray's. Kraven, is the sarcastic smart-ass demon who is part of Bishop's team. Throw in a few cliches - Sam's parents are divorced, her mother works all the time and she lashes out by shop lifting, a bit of insta-love between Sam and Bishop - and there is your story.
The cliches I can get past. There are few stories that are truly original anymore, and if the author does it right, you can overlook the cliches. The annoying characters that I just can't connect with, however, I cannot get past. Samantha annoyed me so much, to the point that I really struggled to read the entire book. I mean, there is always a certain type of defiance in MC's, but this was absolutely ridiculous. I really just wanted to punch her in the face. Bishop was also pretty bad. He just screamed creepy. Kraven and his sarcastic nature, was the only part about the story I liked.
This will stop me from bothering to read the next book, however it will not stop me from giving any of Michelle Rowen's other novels a try.
If you like YA paranormal books, with a bit of romance thrown in, then this book just might be right up your alley. It has many 5-star reviews, so don't just take my word for it, try it for yourself!
redentrapy's review against another edition
3.0
This book was good but not great. The premise for the story was great and the plot was fun but the two main characters were not that well written. In all honesty Samantha was annoying. She was angsty and all poor me through most of it, though I can say that by the end she grew a back bone and finally thought for herself and followed her instincts instead of thinking that just listening to what other people tell her is true and then being surprised that she was lied to. Bishop was also very angsty though I liked his character better was of his depth he is an angel who was bad enough to be a demon as a human. Loved Kraven he was funny and the comedy relieve through most of it.
So a good plot but a little predictable and cliche with the whole half-angel and half demon thing. Anyways the plot is Samantha one night a a local club gets kissed by her crush and it does something weird to her. Now she's always cold and she's always hungry no matter how much she eats. She realizes she's hungry for something else but she can't figure out what it is. Bishop is an angel sent from Heaven to stop the rise of the grays aka soul eaters in Trinity. Only problem is something went wrong in the descent from Heaven to Earth and now he can't remember what his mission is or who he is or how he ended up here. Until one day Samantha comes across this crazy guy in the street aka Bishop and touches him and all of a sudden he remembers everything. Now Samantha has been thrown into a war between Heaven, Hell, and the Hollow and no one knows the outcome not even God.
Like I said an interesting premise but it was overshadowed by the whining and angst of the two protagonists which kind of retracted from the story. Still not great but not bad either just ok. If your planning on reading this I'd get it from the library instead of spending money on it.
So a good plot but a little predictable and cliche with the whole half-angel and half demon thing. Anyways the plot is Samantha one night a a local club gets kissed by her crush and it does something weird to her. Now she's always cold and she's always hungry no matter how much she eats. She realizes she's hungry for something else but she can't figure out what it is. Bishop is an angel sent from Heaven to stop the rise of the grays aka soul eaters in Trinity. Only problem is something went wrong in the descent from Heaven to Earth and now he can't remember what his mission is or who he is or how he ended up here. Until one day Samantha comes across this crazy guy in the street aka Bishop and touches him and all of a sudden he remembers everything. Now Samantha has been thrown into a war between Heaven, Hell, and the Hollow and no one knows the outcome not even God.
Like I said an interesting premise but it was overshadowed by the whining and angst of the two protagonists which kind of retracted from the story. Still not great but not bad either just ok. If your planning on reading this I'd get it from the library instead of spending money on it.
charms1976's review against another edition
3.0
I waited a full day before writing this review because I was afraid that my review would be confusing. Not because I didn't know what to write, but because I was a little confused with the plot line at first. Author Michelle Rowen is one of my favorite authors. Her Demon Princess series is one of my favorite young adult themed series. Her Adult series are just as well written with just the right amount of snark and witty dialogue to keep the reader entertained while having a great plot. With Dark Kiss, I will admit that I was confused more and more with each page I read.
I think the main problem I had with this book is the fact that there were so many characters to keep track of. A team of 2 demons and 2 angels, a bunch of neutral grey's, a best friend, several cute boys from school, and then our main character all became too many characters. While I enjoyed the characters of Bishop and Samantha, I think my favorite character by far was Kraven. He made the bad boy so much fun that it was hard not to enjoy him. Bishop had the hero appeal, but Kraven had the snark and oh-so-evil personality.
The one character that was a major downer in this book for me was Samantha's best friend Carly. This girl was annoying and not much of a best friend. When she also succumbs to the dark kiss, Carly turned into a friend that I would never want. While she appears to be the same Carly, I felt that she was more of a user than a friend.
Another thing that was confusing for me was the fact that the questions were answered slowly. I can handle a book waiting until the end to reveal major plot points, but the story kept adding more confusing twists with no answers to much of anything along the way. By the time some of them are revealed, I found myself having to go back and reread some things to get it all to click in place.
Having said all of the above, I still enjoyed the story. I thought it was creative and raised my interest in the Angel department again for my paranormal adventures in reading. I will say that it was also darker than the normal writing that the author usually brings us. Yes there was still witty dialogue, but the whole feel of the book has a darker tone than the others. On a side note -- Am I the only reader who thinks that the guy on the cover looks like Edward from the Twilight movies?
I think the main problem I had with this book is the fact that there were so many characters to keep track of. A team of 2 demons and 2 angels, a bunch of neutral grey's, a best friend, several cute boys from school, and then our main character all became too many characters. While I enjoyed the characters of Bishop and Samantha, I think my favorite character by far was Kraven. He made the bad boy so much fun that it was hard not to enjoy him. Bishop had the hero appeal, but Kraven had the snark and oh-so-evil personality.
The one character that was a major downer in this book for me was Samantha's best friend Carly. This girl was annoying and not much of a best friend. When she also succumbs to the dark kiss, Carly turned into a friend that I would never want. While she appears to be the same Carly, I felt that she was more of a user than a friend.
Another thing that was confusing for me was the fact that the questions were answered slowly. I can handle a book waiting until the end to reveal major plot points, but the story kept adding more confusing twists with no answers to much of anything along the way. By the time some of them are revealed, I found myself having to go back and reread some things to get it all to click in place.
Having said all of the above, I still enjoyed the story. I thought it was creative and raised my interest in the Angel department again for my paranormal adventures in reading. I will say that it was also darker than the normal writing that the author usually brings us. Yes there was still witty dialogue, but the whole feel of the book has a darker tone than the others. On a side note -- Am I the only reader who thinks that the guy on the cover looks like Edward from the Twilight movies?
brisbookreviews's review against another edition
2.0
I REALLY really wanted to like Dark Kiss. I tried numerous times to really get involved with the characters and the story, but unfortunately I just could not connect. I have read other books by Michelle Rowen and enjoyed them. She is an excellent writer. However, Dark Kiss was just not for me. The best way for me to describe it was that it was just "meh..okay" I rate Dark Kiss 2.5
Loved the cover!
Loved the cover!
karireyn's review against another edition
4.0
I finished this book in a day it was so good! Loved the story and really connected with the main character. If you love YA angel/demon stories you need to check this one out.
nbwalks's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book mostly because I found the plot to be unique. It had an interesting take on angels and demons and I was surprised to see them working together. I was actually surprised quite often throughout the book. I didn't see a lot of the plot twists coming. This might have been because I wasn't really focused on reading this book since I was reading others at the same time, but I did enjoy being surprised so often.
I also liked most of the characters. I liked how Sam wasn't a damsel in distress. She was able to take care of herself for the most part and only needed help in extreme cases. I thought Kraven was entertaining and Zach was really sweet. I don't really know what to say about Bishop. The thing is, I wish there was more character development for all of the characters. I didn't feel that big of a connection to any of them. But mostly, I didn't truly understand Sam and Bishops' relationship. It was an insta-love kind of thing and I didn't really believe it. But, I will say that I liked how even though it was insta-love the characters didn't act on it right away. I found that refreshing.
I also thought that the beginning of the story went too fast. It wasn't believable to me. It felt like Sam was accepting everything rather quickly. I know she denied that she was accepting it all but she still went along with everything. I would've expected her to freak out at some point but it never happened.
Anyway, overall I did find this one to be an enjoyable read. It's a new take on angels so I do recommend it for people who are tired of all the similarly plotted angel books out there.
I also liked most of the characters. I liked how Sam wasn't a damsel in distress. She was able to take care of herself for the most part and only needed help in extreme cases. I thought Kraven was entertaining and Zach was really sweet. I don't really know what to say about Bishop. The thing is, I wish there was more character development for all of the characters. I didn't feel that big of a connection to any of them. But mostly, I didn't truly understand Sam and Bishops' relationship. It was an insta-love kind of thing and I didn't really believe it. But, I will say that I liked how even though it was insta-love the characters didn't act on it right away. I found that refreshing.
I also thought that the beginning of the story went too fast. It wasn't believable to me. It felt like Sam was accepting everything rather quickly. I know she denied that she was accepting it all but she still went along with everything. I would've expected her to freak out at some point but it never happened.
Anyway, overall I did find this one to be an enjoyable read. It's a new take on angels so I do recommend it for people who are tired of all the similarly plotted angel books out there.
engrossedreader's review
3.0
Angels and Demons YA. Enjoyed. Good blend of everyday normality and supernatural mayhem. Who to root for in the sequel...