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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
I thought this book was okay. I probably won't read the next one.
2 1/2 stars
I wanted to like this book. Especially given that it was the debut novel written by an Australian author. But it was a case of reading the wrong book at the wrong time.
The day after I started reading Vengeance Born, a friend introduced me to the TV series Banshee (5 stars!) to which I became immediately addicted. The show was dark and violent and filled with multi-layered characters and antiheros/anti-heroines that blur those lines between good and bad, right and wrong. And there was something secretly quite cathartic about watching the really bad guys get their comeuppance in nasty ways with some good old vigilante justice. All in a fictional sense of course!
And after watching this type of show I would sit down and try and read Vengeance Born. As I tried to lose myself in this book it just felt as though all the ideas where there but not fully developed. The characters felt too stereotypically good or bad. The world building showed potential but lacked the depth I require in a fantasy novel to really pull me into another realm.
The problem for me was that the book was predominantly a romance novel. I was hoping for an epic fantasy adventure with a good dash of romance on the side. But what I got was lots and lots of romance: frequent internal monologues questioning whether “he loves me, he loves me not”, and contrived scenes requiring the main characters to get naked in the wilderness and share a blanket to survive. All of this slowed down the action and pace of the book for me and I found myself becoming disconnected and bored as I awaited the predictable happy ending.
I didn’t dislike the book. There were still a lot of positive elements and clearly a lot of reviewers loved it. It just wasn’t complex enough or fast paced enough to really suck me in. My personal preference for antihero lead males and tough sassy female leads also made it harder to connect to the main characters.
I wanted to like this book. Especially given that it was the debut novel written by an Australian author. But it was a case of reading the wrong book at the wrong time.
The day after I started reading Vengeance Born, a friend introduced me to the TV series Banshee (5 stars!) to which I became immediately addicted. The show was dark and violent and filled with multi-layered characters and antiheros/anti-heroines that blur those lines between good and bad, right and wrong. And there was something secretly quite cathartic about watching the really bad guys get their comeuppance in nasty ways with some good old vigilante justice. All in a fictional sense of course!
And after watching this type of show I would sit down and try and read Vengeance Born. As I tried to lose myself in this book it just felt as though all the ideas where there but not fully developed. The characters felt too stereotypically good or bad. The world building showed potential but lacked the depth I require in a fantasy novel to really pull me into another realm.
The problem for me was that the book was predominantly a romance novel. I was hoping for an epic fantasy adventure with a good dash of romance on the side. But what I got was lots and lots of romance: frequent internal monologues questioning whether “he loves me, he loves me not”, and contrived scenes requiring the main characters to get naked in the wilderness and share a blanket to survive. All of this slowed down the action and pace of the book for me and I found myself becoming disconnected and bored as I awaited the predictable happy ending.
I didn’t dislike the book. There were still a lot of positive elements and clearly a lot of reviewers loved it. It just wasn’t complex enough or fast paced enough to really suck me in. My personal preference for antihero lead males and tough sassy female leads also made it harder to connect to the main characters.
I actually started this a while back but only picked up again recently. I love me some paranormal romance <3
I was surprised how much I enjoyed the story in this, despite the fact that I was only reading for the romance. At first I was a bit bothered by the stiff dialogue. It sounded too formal to be natural. But it is a fantasy world and perhaps they simply speak like that there. But despite stiff dialogue, that story was captivating. It was first and foremost a romance, but it still had a large story full of larger-than-life characters, dark evils, and world shifting threats, as well as an interesting history and mythology.
Also very impressive was the way the relationship between Annika and Kalan was laid out and paced. The book wasted no time getting right into the story in the first chapter, and you see the respect and trust growing between them throughout the first half of the book. Then the strong physical attraction, then their unwavering friendship, then love. A strong, self-sacrificing love. It was incredibly real and organic. Also, they didnt love each other just because. They were both incredible people well worth loving, and I could see their reasons alive in each of them.
This is a wonderfully beautiful combination of high fantasy and adult romance for fans of both genres. If you are only a fan of high fantasy, this may not be for you due to multiple graphic sex scenes, but if you are a fan of both, or just romance, this is a must!
I am very much looking forward to reading [b:Alliance Forged|12988299|Alliance Forged (The Light Blade, #2)|Kylie Griffin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1355378163s/12988299.jpg|18148095], which is Kymora and Varian's story. From the moment they met, their connection was as obvious as Annika and Kalan's. Having gotten to know their characters quite well in Vengeance Born, I am not against a switch of MC. I usually avoid such series, but Varian had several chapters from his POV in this, which acclimated me to him and Kymora. I cannot wait to learn more about those two enticing characters!
Also very impressive was the way the relationship between Annika and Kalan was laid out and paced. The book wasted no time getting right into the story in the first chapter, and you see the respect and trust growing between them throughout the first half of the book. Then the strong physical attraction, then their unwavering friendship, then love. A strong, self-sacrificing love. It was incredibly real and organic. Also, they didnt love each other just because. They were both incredible people well worth loving, and I could see their reasons alive in each of them.
This is a wonderfully beautiful combination of high fantasy and adult romance for fans of both genres. If you are only a fan of high fantasy, this may not be for you due to multiple graphic sex scenes, but if you are a fan of both, or just romance, this is a must!
I am very much looking forward to reading [b:Alliance Forged|12988299|Alliance Forged (The Light Blade, #2)|Kylie Griffin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1355378163s/12988299.jpg|18148095], which is Kymora and Varian's story. From the moment they met, their connection was as obvious as Annika and Kalan's. Having gotten to know their characters quite well in Vengeance Born, I am not against a switch of MC. I usually avoid such series, but Varian had several chapters from his POV in this, which acclimated me to him and Kymora. I cannot wait to learn more about those two enticing characters!
Decent fluff novel. Not something I'd rave about & certainly can't give it 3 stars in comparison to the 3-star books I've read in the past. It wasn't horrible, but not as good as the books id rate a 3. Maybe 2.5 stars.
Excellent world building, fast paced, love the Goddess aspects, thoroughly looking forward to the next installment.
This is a good beach read, 'entertain me' read, and gobble-down-in-one-sitting-read.
This is a good beach read, 'entertain me' read, and gobble-down-in-one-sitting-read.
Overwrought praise and melodramatic emotional turmoil within the first few pages. Also the narrators have an annoying habit of ruminating and dwelling on every little thing. I may do that in my own life, but I don't want to read other people doing it. Not for me.
My main reason for not finishing this, was that it wasn't what I'd expected. I picked it up because I thought it would be a fantasy novel first and a romance second. Pretty soon it became a collection of cliches and the rest of the plot suffered for it. At times, it was bordering on the ridiculous. For instance, I really don't think that anyone being chased by hordes of evil demons, would spend the majority of their time obsessing over their travel companions muscular legs, or that their own bodies were "betraying them," as it were. Dialogues were totally unnatural. I doubt that anyone has ever had conversations like that, and if they have, then they probably drank themselves beyond stupid first. There were also little details in the writing itself that just annoyed me. All in all, it wasn't bad starting out and then it went downhill fast. I was about half way through it when I just couldn't take it anymore.