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ecooper99's review
4.0
���I liked this book right from the beginning. The writing style is exactly what I enjoy the most: lyrical and poetic, with a distinctive voice. The story hooked me with a strong heroine and a unique paranormal situation, and then once the hero was introduced -- sexy, strong and tormented, just the way I like 'em -- I was hooked for good. This is a quick, fun, sexy read. The ending dragged on a little in places, and it was rather anti-climactic since I figured out the one key twist, but other than that, I really enjoyed reading RAVENOUS. I'm off to see if there are other books in the series and grab 'em.
malin12ccf's review
3.0
Holly Carver is a witch living in the little town of Fairview. She comes from a long line of powerful witches, but damaged her own powers badly during a spell when she was little, and therefore uses what little witchcraft she has left to banish ghosts from old buildings in return for tuition money. She is helped in her ghost busting business by Alessandro Caravelli, a six centuries old vampire who clearly wants to be more than just a friend to her, but knows that if he ever bites her, his addictive venom will turn her into a mindless slave, not the independent and strong-willed woman he has grown to love.
Holly experiences a rough couple of days. She is nearly killed saving her professor boyfriend and some of his students from a sentient, evil house. Then said boyfriend asks her to sell her ancient house that has been in her family for countless generations, something she can't do, because the root of her (now limited) powers reside there. When she refuses, he dumps her, unable to deal with her supernatural abilities. Several students are found dead around campus, and a giant (nearly person-sized) mouse manifesting in Holly's house turns out to actually be a demon, who wants to take over Fairview, and from there, the world.
Alessandro, in return, has to deal with the return of his ruler, the vampire queen Omara. She's none too happy about his divided loyalties, but also wants to make sure Holly can help her banish her demon nemesis back to the supernatural prison it escaped from. An ancestor of Holly's helped her banish the demon once before, and while she is none too happy about Alessandro's affection for Holly, she will use it to get Holly on her side, if need be.
Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten is one of many paranormal books I picked up in a sale at my local fantasy/sci-fi bookstore, and it has languished on my book shelf for many months. The cover is, like on so many paranormal books, grossly misleading. I can only assume that the cover is meant to portray Holly, although she never wears anything even vaguely as skimpy and tarty as the top on the cover, but there is one mention of her ritual silver dagger, and she has dark hair, so I guess that's as far as the cover artist needed to stretch themselves. I'm assuming the title refers to the ravenous hunger felt both by the victims possessed by the demon Geneva - who seem to feel an all-consuming literal hunger after she kisses them, and that of the victims of the vampires, who once they experience a vampire bite become ravenous for sex, and will do anything the vampire who bit them wishes, submerging their own will to that of their vampire master.
The book can be classified both as a paranormal fantasy and as a paranormal romance, depending on whether the reader thinks the most important part of the story is the couple getting together, or their defeating the evil demon. I personally felt the romance aspect was secondary in the book, and most of the book is Holly coming to terms with first the limitations of her stunted power, then later the possibility of her full powers returning, and how she is going to support herself in the future rather than with whether or not she's going to find true love with Alessandro.
Sharon Ashwood's book was not the most groundbreaking paranormal fantasy I have read, but she creates a nice world, and sketches some good characters. I must admit that the revelation of some of the bad guys did not exactly make me gasp in surprise, it was all rather predictable, but I was never bored reading the book, and will probably pick up the sequels at some point. It appears as if Ashwood, like Kelley Armstrong, instead of writing all her books about the same characters, has new protagonists in each book, all loosely inter-connected in the same world. As far as I can see, her second book is about the cop who gets demon-possessed in this one, and the third appears to be about Holly's older sister. That can keep things from getting boring, so I will look out for her books, but I doubt I will rush out to buy them as soon as they are released.
Holly experiences a rough couple of days. She is nearly killed saving her professor boyfriend and some of his students from a sentient, evil house. Then said boyfriend asks her to sell her ancient house that has been in her family for countless generations, something she can't do, because the root of her (now limited) powers reside there. When she refuses, he dumps her, unable to deal with her supernatural abilities. Several students are found dead around campus, and a giant (nearly person-sized) mouse manifesting in Holly's house turns out to actually be a demon, who wants to take over Fairview, and from there, the world.
Alessandro, in return, has to deal with the return of his ruler, the vampire queen Omara. She's none too happy about his divided loyalties, but also wants to make sure Holly can help her banish her demon nemesis back to the supernatural prison it escaped from. An ancestor of Holly's helped her banish the demon once before, and while she is none too happy about Alessandro's affection for Holly, she will use it to get Holly on her side, if need be.
Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten is one of many paranormal books I picked up in a sale at my local fantasy/sci-fi bookstore, and it has languished on my book shelf for many months. The cover is, like on so many paranormal books, grossly misleading. I can only assume that the cover is meant to portray Holly, although she never wears anything even vaguely as skimpy and tarty as the top on the cover, but there is one mention of her ritual silver dagger, and she has dark hair, so I guess that's as far as the cover artist needed to stretch themselves. I'm assuming the title refers to the ravenous hunger felt both by the victims possessed by the demon Geneva - who seem to feel an all-consuming literal hunger after she kisses them, and that of the victims of the vampires, who once they experience a vampire bite become ravenous for sex, and will do anything the vampire who bit them wishes, submerging their own will to that of their vampire master.
The book can be classified both as a paranormal fantasy and as a paranormal romance, depending on whether the reader thinks the most important part of the story is the couple getting together, or their defeating the evil demon. I personally felt the romance aspect was secondary in the book, and most of the book is Holly coming to terms with first the limitations of her stunted power, then later the possibility of her full powers returning, and how she is going to support herself in the future rather than with whether or not she's going to find true love with Alessandro.
Sharon Ashwood's book was not the most groundbreaking paranormal fantasy I have read, but she creates a nice world, and sketches some good characters. I must admit that the revelation of some of the bad guys did not exactly make me gasp in surprise, it was all rather predictable, but I was never bored reading the book, and will probably pick up the sequels at some point. It appears as if Ashwood, like Kelley Armstrong, instead of writing all her books about the same characters, has new protagonists in each book, all loosely inter-connected in the same world. As far as I can see, her second book is about the cop who gets demon-possessed in this one, and the third appears to be about Holly's older sister. That can keep things from getting boring, so I will look out for her books, but I doubt I will rush out to buy them as soon as they are released.
vkemp's review
3.0
Holly Carver is a witch. She practices her craft, taking care of imp infestations, but avoiding anything involving big "M" magic -- it hurts too much since she and her sister, Ashe, tried a spell as children that backfired. But suddenly, her town is invaded by demons and the Queen of the Vampire, Omara, comes to call, asking for her help. Holly discovers how to manifest her full powers and falls in love with Alessandro, the Queen's champion. It's quite a rousing read, but I doubt I will read more in the series because they feature different characters. I prefer series that develop with the same people. You might like it.
prationality's review
4.0
To be very fair at the start of this review I am naturally predisposed towards any book that has these 3 things: chick with sharp pointy object on cover, character who owns/wants an Aston Martin Vanquish (my dream car) and a heroine who has to battle the minions of darkness--both those of the academic kind and supernatural sort. Ravenous goes one step beyond by making me really enjoy reading about the characters.
Poor Holly has so much on her plate, none of which want to fit together nicely. She tries her hardest to make things work out and it just seems to make things go from bad to hellacious worse. As if calculus isn't scary enough add to it a power crazy demon intent on sucking the soul right out of you, makes hazing week look much simpler huh?
The Vampire Queen, Omara, was by far my favorite character. Morally ambiguous, manipulative, sneaky, lying and possessive there really aren't too many positive traits to label her with. Except her utter loyalty to her people's cause and that vampires adhere to every single law that she squeezes out of us humans so that they can be a measure of equals. She remembers freedom to live out in the open--and wants it back.
The mystery of the book is figuring out where everyone lies on any given side or time of day. Holly is firmly entrenched in the side for good of course, but everyone else is a variable. Alessandro--her hunky vampire partner (who looks very good in leather fringe apparently)--is arguably on the side of good as well, but is trenched in loyalties and secrets that it sometimes makes it hard for him to exhibit that. The demon is a force for evil clear and present. Omara is mostly out for herself first, her people second and everyone else comes in a distant if she cares to remember them third.
There's a twist at the end, that's hinted during the book, but each time just as easily explained away harmlessly. And the next book, focusing around a not quite main character from this book, promises more whispered secrets and forbidden knowledge. Plus any book that has hell hounds as something other then slobbering beasts is just plain fun (I won't even get into the Orpheus myth fun!).
Poor Holly has so much on her plate, none of which want to fit together nicely. She tries her hardest to make things work out and it just seems to make things go from bad to hellacious worse. As if calculus isn't scary enough add to it a power crazy demon intent on sucking the soul right out of you, makes hazing week look much simpler huh?
The Vampire Queen, Omara, was by far my favorite character. Morally ambiguous, manipulative, sneaky, lying and possessive there really aren't too many positive traits to label her with. Except her utter loyalty to her people's cause and that vampires adhere to every single law that she squeezes out of us humans so that they can be a measure of equals. She remembers freedom to live out in the open--and wants it back.
The mystery of the book is figuring out where everyone lies on any given side or time of day. Holly is firmly entrenched in the side for good of course, but everyone else is a variable. Alessandro--her hunky vampire partner (who looks very good in leather fringe apparently)--is arguably on the side of good as well, but is trenched in loyalties and secrets that it sometimes makes it hard for him to exhibit that. The demon is a force for evil clear and present. Omara is mostly out for herself first, her people second and everyone else comes in a distant if she cares to remember them third.
There's a twist at the end, that's hinted during the book, but each time just as easily explained away harmlessly. And the next book, focusing around a not quite main character from this book, promises more whispered secrets and forbidden knowledge. Plus any book that has hell hounds as something other then slobbering beasts is just plain fun (I won't even get into the Orpheus myth fun!).
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