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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
I picked this up without expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised, and couldn't put it down. Luke is an emergency room doctor in Northern Maine. In the last few years he lost his wife and children when she divorced him. Both of his parents have recently passed away and he is just surviving. Late one night Lanore is brought in by the local police, suspected for murder. When she tells him her unbelievable story of her life as an immortal. Most of the book shows her journey, and that of her friends over the last two hundred years. The ending catches us all up to the present, and leaves with a final twist pretty much guaranteeing I'll pick up the second book right now!
I wanted to like this book. I wanted to love this book. I am dying for a book that spills real love and real heart. This book was trying so hard to be Anne Rice. Katsu begins her book by going down that road, but ends up with a sad mimicry of a Rice's connection between immortality and sadism (something that could not have been avoided by the characters even if Katsu had a better writing style). The characters were flat and apparently incapable of making sound or selfless decisions. There is never any explanation of why or how they are this way. ***Spoilers following (kind of b/c Katsu made a kitschy show of "shocking" the reader about the immortality of the characters)*. One would think that after hundreds of years, a person would develop some sort of personality. According to Katsu, this does not happen; unless, of course, you count the last two chapters where Jonathan (presumably a cousin of the Twilight clan, based on his exceedingly good looks with nothing to hold his head on) magically develops personality, just in time for a dramatic exit. Besides that, NOTHING effects the characters decisions or personality, and I do mean NOTHING.
A most original take on immortality. Such good storytelling, and an incredible twist. A second read through for me, so I can pick up the next two in the series. Very captivating, and I’m actually excited to start the next one.
Well I finished, and I should have stopped. Not for me.
I gave it 3.5 stars
Reviewed by http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/
I'm not huge into Historical type books so I really wasn't sure going into THE TAKER if it would be something I would enjoy. That is important to tell you because in a shocking switch I enjoyed the flashback/historical moments of the story the most. The story is about a woman Lanny who falls in love with a man (well boy as they were children when she fell in love with him) that will never love her back. The story switches from present day to past as Lanny recounts her centuries of life with and without this man by her side to an ER doctor Luke who happens to live in the town she is from. Luke is pulled to Lanny and her story from the beginning of the book and listens to everything she says as they escape the town Luke hasn't been able to break away from. Every word of THE TAKER is beautifully written while your pulled into this tragic love story. The plot flowed nicely and was quite different from what I usually read. I was disappointed with the ending, I was reading along and all of a sudden there was the acknowledgments right as It felt like stuff was about to happen so it was left feeling unfinished so I really hope that what I read from someone else's review of there being another book is true. THE TAKER is definitely worth the read if you enjoy historical type books and just might surprise you if you aren't usually taken with that sort of thing.
Reviewed by http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/
I'm not huge into Historical type books so I really wasn't sure going into THE TAKER if it would be something I would enjoy. That is important to tell you because in a shocking switch I enjoyed the flashback/historical moments of the story the most. The story is about a woman Lanny who falls in love with a man (well boy as they were children when she fell in love with him) that will never love her back. The story switches from present day to past as Lanny recounts her centuries of life with and without this man by her side to an ER doctor Luke who happens to live in the town she is from. Luke is pulled to Lanny and her story from the beginning of the book and listens to everything she says as they escape the town Luke hasn't been able to break away from. Every word of THE TAKER is beautifully written while your pulled into this tragic love story. The plot flowed nicely and was quite different from what I usually read. I was disappointed with the ending, I was reading along and all of a sudden there was the acknowledgments right as It felt like stuff was about to happen so it was left feeling unfinished so I really hope that what I read from someone else's review of there being another book is true. THE TAKER is definitely worth the read if you enjoy historical type books and just might surprise you if you aren't usually taken with that sort of thing.
I knew before starting this, that this was going to be a very, very problematic book.
So i can't complain that Yes, this was very disturbing.
This book is about horrible people doing horrible things.
And the idea of love represented here is very twisted (better not try this at home).
But the author know that she was writing about horrible people, so there is that.
So i can't complain that Yes, this was very disturbing.
This book is about horrible people doing horrible things.
And the idea of love represented here is very twisted (better not try this at home).
But the author know that she was writing about horrible people, so there is that.
dracula meets the claiming of sleeping beauty. costumes, murder, sexual and emotional domination, wealth, unrequited love. this book was quite enjoyable. the downside was the frame story. totally unbelievable (for a fantasy book no less) and not on the same level as the rest of the book.
I'm not quite sure where to begin with his review. The book was very well written a beautifully haunting. It was dark and sadistic and tragic. It's a love story gone wrong and then damned further by immortality. At one point I think I could have really enjoyed it, but I ended up just feeling depressed at the end. This is the first in a trilogy, but can be read as a stand alone novel. I haven't yet decided whether I'll read the next two.
Wow. Where do I start? The writing is genuinely incredible, there's no disputing that. However, the story is hard work. It consists of a lot of violence, sex and there were several times where I had to put the book down and breathe. Having said that, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind some hard-hitting topics. The subject of immortality had me sceptical at times as the semantics weren't entirely believable, though it truly is an incredible read. Alma Katsu pulls off this story in an unbelievable albeit disturbing way. I don't even know what to do with myself now.
The first half of this book was so painful to read, but it did redeem itself enough in the later half that I have given it 3 stars