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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Alright y'all I am so disappointed about my Gregori. I have pushed this series up in my list to read just so I could read this book because I HAD to know about Gregori. I was so sure I was going to marry him and have his babies but now that I have read about the Dark One.. I do not like him at all. He kind of broke my little heart. And I HATE Savannah. You would think because she is the daughter of Mikhail and Raven that she would be a lot stronger but I found her to be weak. She whined ALOT! I wanted to punched her on more than one occasion and hello how do you just forgive someone who brutally takes your innocence because he was close to his dark side. uh NO! You do not worry for him. You punch him.. huh. I may be little violent it seems. but it's the truth. She just let the shit go. The only thing I liked about her was her sarcasm. She was funny later on with Gary, the human. I liked her relationship with him. And I guess she makes Gregori smile in his head or whatever so thats cool. But I hate weak females.
Okay so I thought I liked the whole life mate thing. Turns out I don't. I do not like that the males can force the female to make them slaves. I keep getting more and more upset the more I read this series. Jacques really pissed me off because he forces his life mate to do so much and Gregori topped him. There is a difference between being a protective alpha male and what Gregori was doing to Savannah.
I will eventually get back to this series but I am moving on for awhile. Julian will have to wait for now. I think I have read too many of these books in a row and I am getting pissed at the domineering males. Plus the stories are all kind of the same so far.. it's kind of getting boring and predictable.
Okay so I thought I liked the whole life mate thing. Turns out I don't. I do not like that the males can force the female to make them slaves. I keep getting more and more upset the more I read this series. Jacques really pissed me off because he forces his life mate to do so much and Gregori topped him. There is a difference between being a protective alpha male and what Gregori was doing to Savannah.
I will eventually get back to this series but I am moving on for awhile. Julian will have to wait for now. I think I have read too many of these books in a row and I am getting pissed at the domineering males. Plus the stories are all kind of the same so far.. it's kind of getting boring and predictable.
Gregori and Savannah's story. These Dark novels always follow the same formula and it works!
After re-reading this, I have to lower it to a 3 star. There are some obvious things that are not ok that I couldnt ignore this time.
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this one better than the previous, Dark Gold, installment. Predominantly because there was a lot more humor in this book than the previous installments and because the heroine's whining was a bit more truncated. I liked seeing Gregori get his comeupance in regards to his previous attitude about being indulgent with women.
Although they are decent books, so far I am finding them rather formulaic and most of the "alpha" males are essentially just twits. Because the first one I read, Dark Slayer, was a later book and was different I am continuing to hang in there in the hopes that the formula will change a bit because I do find the world and its lore fairly well done and some of the characters are engaging.
Christine Feehan has caused me to decide to add "molten" and "creamy" to my list of "words and phrases romance writers should never use." It will come in somewhere below Keri Arthur's "every fiber of his/her being" which, fortunately, is not seen much in this series (so far). Although I suppose creamy could be used as a descriptor for skin, but frankly as a description for body fluids it puts me off a good deal.
Although they are decent books, so far I am finding them rather formulaic and most of the "alpha" males are essentially just twits. Because the first one I read, Dark Slayer, was a later book and was different I am continuing to hang in there in the hopes that the formula will change a bit because I do find the world and its lore fairly well done and some of the characters are engaging.
Christine Feehan has caused me to decide to add "molten" and "creamy" to my list of "words and phrases romance writers should never use." It will come in somewhere below Keri Arthur's "every fiber of his/her being" which, fortunately, is not seen much in this series (so far). Although I suppose creamy could be used as a descriptor for skin, but frankly as a description for body fluids it puts me off a good deal.
dark
emotional
mysterious
I honestly was not sure what rating to give this. On principle due to the fact that Gregori does rape Savannah it ought to get a 1... but that aside I did enjoy the book which means it should get a 3... hence the rating of a 2 (though leaning towards the 1 more than anything else).
Once you get past the rape (make that if you can get past it) this isn't that bad of a book - you really get some more information on the society that is destroying Carpathians and Vampires alike (though do you notice how there is always a vampire who has infiltrated the societies ranks?) and you also get somewhat introduced to the characters in the next (at least I think it is the next) book.
Gregori is a bit disappointing, he is built up to be this big bad of the Carpathian world (though whenever he is referred to as The Dark One I always think of Rumple/Mr Gold from Once Upon A Time), but as soon as he joins with his life mate he becomes like every other Carpathian male we have met (though you can get a minor laugh over the fact that he stated in DD that he wouldn't be like Mikhael or Jacques). The only thing that seems to make him different from the others is that he is even more torn up inside as he was days away from turning... hang on though - the same thing happened with Jacques! I guess I just expected more.
Savannah... I had higher hopes as she was born having been... modified to be Gregoris mate, and having grown up with the Prince of the Carpathians as a father you'd have thought she knew more about the whole thing. To be honest her demeanour strikes me as a teenager rebelling and thinking that the things that effect everyone else will magically not effect her.
There were some plot points between the two of them that I wished were picked up on more - such as Savannah deliberately raising her tolerance to sunlight and drinking only animal blood, instead this seemed to be forgotten as soon as Gregori showed how he disliked it. Hopefully this will be picked up again in a future book.
Once you get past the rape (make that if you can get past it) this isn't that bad of a book - you really get some more information on the society that is destroying Carpathians and Vampires alike (though do you notice how there is always a vampire who has infiltrated the societies ranks?) and you also get somewhat introduced to the characters in the next (at least I think it is the next) book.
Gregori is a bit disappointing, he is built up to be this big bad of the Carpathian world (though whenever he is referred to as The Dark One I always think of Rumple/Mr Gold from Once Upon A Time), but as soon as he joins with his life mate he becomes like every other Carpathian male we have met (though you can get a minor laugh over the fact that he stated in DD that he wouldn't be like Mikhael or Jacques). The only thing that seems to make him different from the others is that he is even more torn up inside as he was days away from turning... hang on though - the same thing happened with Jacques! I guess I just expected more.
Savannah... I had higher hopes as she was born having been... modified to be Gregoris mate, and having grown up with the Prince of the Carpathians as a father you'd have thought she knew more about the whole thing. To be honest her demeanour strikes me as a teenager rebelling and thinking that the things that effect everyone else will magically not effect her.
There were some plot points between the two of them that I wished were picked up on more - such as Savannah deliberately raising her tolerance to sunlight and drinking only animal blood, instead this seemed to be forgotten as soon as Gregori showed how he disliked it. Hopefully this will be picked up again in a future book.
Okay, I'm addicted to this world despite all the repetition in the writing and overuse of phrases. I think part of it is the actually interesting world-building that's going on. A lot of paranormal romance doesn't bother much with that. It's ALL about the romance/sex and the surrounding myths and supporting rules of the world are skimmed over. This is heavily skewed toward the romance, but there is also world building as well.
Obviously I'm a fan of romance, but I'm also a big horror novel fan and know Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural canon to a frankly disturbing extent. So, this appeals to me on several levels.
This one was, so far, the darkest of the novels when it comes to the H/h's relationship. While all Carpathian males are controlling and overbearing, Gregori takes the prize.
As I've mentioned in previous reviews, you have to be able to go in with the mindset that this is a different species with a different set of rules when it comes to relationships. These guys really do need their "life mate" to save them.
Once a male Carpathian turns 200 he loses the ability to feel emotion and even to see color if he hasn't already found his life mate. There are much fewer females than males in this race, so a lot of the men get stuck with no life mate or have to wait centuries for one.
Their law forbids them to kill a human in the process of feeding. They don't take enough blood to kill and they also mesmerize their "dinner" so that he/she has no memory of the event and is not afraid while being bitten.
However, if the Carpathian allows himself to feed off a human who hasn't been mesmerized to feel no fear and then kills that human, they get a high off the adrenaline filled blood and the power of killing. This is a big lure for those older Carpathians without a life mate, because it provides a temporary fix of feeling (kinda like what I've read about serial killers). Once they start down that path they lose their soul and become a true vampire and are under the sentence of death by Carpathian law.
Gregori is ~ 1000 years old and has no life mate. It's been a long time since he's felt anything.
The daughter of the Capathian prince happens to be his life mate (they only have one) but he is not allowed to "marry" her until she's 18. However, she refuses him and asks for time. She wants to go out on her own and have a life and Gregori scares her, even though she feels the pull of their life mate chemistry.
Trigger warning for rape
He gives her 5 years on her own, but by the time he comes to claim her he is very close to turning vampire. Their first sexual encounter starts as a seduction, but ends up as a rape. The beast inside him takes over and he nearly kills her. She talks him down and they complete the ritual to bind them as life mates.
This was a rough scene, but he feels tremendous guilt about it. He even asks her to kill him. He's never violent with her again, but throughout the book he still has to struggle with his overwhelming need to protect her, which to his old-fashioned mind means locking her up or using mental compulsion if she refuses to go along with his orders. This infuriates her, of course.
So, there's a lot of push/pull between the two for a great deal of the book and Gregori has a lot of guilt he is still dealing with. After centuries without emotion, he doesn't quite know how to deal with it once he has them again.
Obviously I'm a fan of romance, but I'm also a big horror novel fan and know Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural canon to a frankly disturbing extent. So, this appeals to me on several levels.
This one was, so far, the darkest of the novels when it comes to the H/h's relationship. While all Carpathian males are controlling and overbearing, Gregori takes the prize.
As I've mentioned in previous reviews, you have to be able to go in with the mindset that this is a different species with a different set of rules when it comes to relationships. These guys really do need their "life mate" to save them.
Once a male Carpathian turns 200 he loses the ability to feel emotion and even to see color if he hasn't already found his life mate. There are much fewer females than males in this race, so a lot of the men get stuck with no life mate or have to wait centuries for one.
Their law forbids them to kill a human in the process of feeding. They don't take enough blood to kill and they also mesmerize their "dinner" so that he/she has no memory of the event and is not afraid while being bitten.
However, if the Carpathian allows himself to feed off a human who hasn't been mesmerized to feel no fear and then kills that human, they get a high off the adrenaline filled blood and the power of killing. This is a big lure for those older Carpathians without a life mate, because it provides a temporary fix of feeling (kinda like what I've read about serial killers). Once they start down that path they lose their soul and become a true vampire and are under the sentence of death by Carpathian law.
Gregori is ~ 1000 years old and has no life mate. It's been a long time since he's felt anything.
The daughter of the Capathian prince happens to be his life mate (they only have one) but he is not allowed to "marry" her until she's 18. However, she refuses him and asks for time. She wants to go out on her own and have a life and Gregori scares her, even though she feels the pull of their life mate chemistry.
Trigger warning for rape
He gives her 5 years on her own, but by the time he comes to claim her he is very close to turning vampire. Their first sexual encounter starts as a seduction, but ends up as a rape. The beast inside him takes over and he nearly kills her. She talks him down and they complete the ritual to bind them as life mates.
This was a rough scene, but he feels tremendous guilt about it. He even asks her to kill him. He's never violent with her again, but throughout the book he still has to struggle with his overwhelming need to protect her, which to his old-fashioned mind means locking her up or using mental compulsion if she refuses to go along with his orders. This infuriates her, of course.
So, there's a lot of push/pull between the two for a great deal of the book and Gregori has a lot of guilt he is still dealing with. After centuries without emotion, he doesn't quite know how to deal with it once he has them again.
So I made it halfway through this book and I’m DNFing. I like the fantasy aspects, but I hate the compulsion/rape aspect.
fast-paced