Reviews

As Twilight Falls by Amanda Ashley

uutopicaa's review against another edition

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5.0

¡OMG este libro!… Les pido que lean le reseña completa.
Para los que no me conocen, les cuento que entre mi marido y sus amigos es un chiste el decir que estoy obsesionada con vampiros —LO CUAL NO ES CIERTO—. Aunque es verdad que de una u otra forma termino siempre relacionada con el tema (el personaje que juego en lol, que me encantan los libros de Anne Rice, que cuando era chica me gustaba mucho Crepúsculo, que mi película preferida es Nosferatu, etc).
Esta no es la excepción.
Formo parte de un grupo online que traduce libros para distribución gratuita entre fans, libros que no han sido –ni serán- traducidos. A mí me tocó casi de casualidad, dos capítulos justo en medio del libro que terminaron siendo el climax de la historia.
Y me enganché. Empecé a leer el libro desde el principio y lo terminé en dos días. Ahora, yendo al tema en cuestión:
El libro empieza como cualquier otra novela estadounidense bastante cliché. Una chica va manejando por un lugar desolado, de noche, bajo una tormenta. Se pierde y termina en una ciudad que parece fantasma. Entonces, se le acerca un hombre excesivamente atractivo y le ofrece ayuda. La lleva a un bar, la invita a comer algo, pero él no come nada. Ya desde ese entonces el lector sabe que es un personaje medianamente paranormal.
Al día siguiente la chica nota que está atrapada y no puede abandonar la ciudad (como en Once Upon a Time). Se pone a recorrer y varias cosas le llaman la atención. Nadie paga por nada –como si todo fuese gratis-, muchas casas están vacías y los pocos habitantes de la ciudad son en su mayoría mujeres. Vale mencionar que cada mujer lleva una bufanda de un color diferente. Y se nota que esconden algo.
Por la noche, nuestra protagonista se reencuentra con quién la ayudó y vuelven a ir a cenar juntos. Pero ella cae inconsciente y despista en su casa unas horas más tarde, sin recordar lo ocurrido.
Hasta este punto, a pesar de ser un gran cliché, la historia es realmente atrapante. Me encanta.
Al día siguiente las mujeres del pueblo le explican todo sobre el lugar y los vampiros. Y esa noche, la protagonista (solo por si acaso), no se encuentra con quien la salvó.
Una noche más llega, y a pesar del miedo, va a cenar nuevamente con el misterioso hombre. Cuando regresan, alguien más aparecer.
Rylan Saintcrow, el “dueño” de la ciudad. El vampiro más antiguo y poderoso del país. Y acá hago una aclaración para las mujeres que lean la reseña. Es la primera vez (desde que leo Orgullo y Prejuicio) que me enamoro tanto de un personaje.
Saintcrow tiene porte aristocrático, aunque se viste relativamente simple. Un par de viejas cicatrices del pasado recorren su rostro y su cuerpo. Tiene la voz gruesa y el cabello totalmente negro. TODOS le tienen miedo y lo respetan. Humanos y vampiros por igual.
Saintcrow llevaba dormido casi 4 décadas, pero despertó por el aroma de la protagonista.
Y la reclama como suya. Como su presa, su esclava. Lo que sea. Se la roba al otro vampiro y la lleva a su mansión, alejada de la ciudad.
Aunque la relación de los protagonista avanza lentamente. La chica se convierte casi en una reina. Él la llena de lujos, le compra lo que ella quiera, le regala un auto, etc. En el pueblo se compadecen de ella, porque nadie conoce la verdadera naturaleza de Saintcrow.
A pesar de su fachada de temible asesino, tiene un buen corazón –para ser vampiro-. Corren terribles rumores sobre él, aunque nadie sabe de dónde salieron. Y, en realidad, Saintcrow quiere que le teman para que no lo vean como a un ser débil.
Hasta acá la historia es impresionantemente genial.
Me decepcioné por un rato cuando pensé que la relación entre vampiro y presa evolucionaba a un estúpido romance paranormal, pero como ya había leído el climax de la historia, no paré.
Mi alivio llegó cuando Saintcrow se enoja consigo mismo y dice “esta no es una historia de amor paranormal. Y yo no soy un adolescente.”
Todo continúa como antes.
Sí, hay algo de romance en la historia, pero es un romance que se acerca más a lo erótico que a lo adolescente.
Lo que sigue no se los puedo contar porque les estaría spoileando la segunda mitad del libro. Lo único que puedo decirles es que, a partir del momento en el que él empieza a sentirse un poco más humano, la historia da un giro increíblemente inesperado.
Y cuando parece que todo terminó… otro giro, increíble. Inesperado pero lógico.
El final es, en parte, predecible. Pero no decepciona.

Todavía no puedo creer cuánto me gustó este libro. La historia tiene muchos elementos que ya hemos visto millones de veces, pero los combina de una manera única. Hace mucho que no disfrutaba tanto de una historia paranormal. Y seguro que cuando mi marido lea esto se va a reír de mí por días, diciendo que estoy obsesionada con vampiros.
Lo mejor de la historia es el diseño de personajes. Todos son únicos y tienen un lado que al principio no vemos, pero que sale a la superficie conforme avanza la historia.
Se los recomiendo. Si se animan a leer en inglés, incluso les puedo pasar el PDF –lo tengo en físico también porque me encantó-. Si no pueden leer en inglés, avísenme que quieren la traducción y apenas esté publicada se las paso.
Eso.
Saludos.
Ahora no puedo leer otra cosa. Mi mente está atrapada en el mundo de este libro, y no creo que salga hasta la semana que viene.

Quizás me estoy dejando llevar por mi percepción del libro. Es posible que en cuanto a calidad no merezca las cinco estrellas. Pero no hay forma de describir cómo me atrapó y me zambulló dentro de sus páginas.

badkirby's review

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

i just can’t get over how such mid writing can get published. she is obviously trying and failing to do the Twilight thing, and as a non-Twilight fan? she’s failing miserably. also she must have been really hungry while writing this stupid book.

charms1976's review against another edition

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4.0

I know this review is early, but it is hard for me to contain my excitement when it comes to books written by this author. She is one of my favorites when it comes to vampire romance.

When Kadie Andrews gets lost and runs out of gas, she finds herself trapped in the town of Morgan Creek. When she is taken in by one of the town vampires, she can't believe vampires exist. When the town people start revealing piece by piece why they are trapped in Morgan Creek, Kadie still refuses to accept being trapped like cattle. Even though she starts to fall for the head vampire named Rylan Saintcrow, she still craves her freedom and hoping to return to her sick sister and parents. While Kadie struggles with her feelings for Rylan and for captivity, Rylan is dealing with the few vampires in town planning a mutiny. They are tired of following his rules and are wanting to embrace their predatory vampire nature.

The main reason I enjoyed this book -- and every book written by this author in the past -- is because of the way the vampire lore is portrayed. There are no sparkles and not all of the characters are always perfect. The vampires have killed -- they still kill at times -- but they do fall in love. There is fluff and there is shake-your-head moments with the characters, but it gives you a feel good feeling of reading what true vampire/paranormal romance books used to be and what they can continue to be.

Another great book by and author who stays true to her writing roots and always has me swept away from page one.

chaoticlee's review

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adventurous fast-paced

3.0

loverofromance's review

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4.0

This review was originally posted on Addicted To RomanceMy Review

The Summary 


Kadie Andrews has come out the the western states, as a photographer. She has a talent with capturing ghost towns and cemeteries. She takes a wrong turn and ends up in a town that is off the map, practically a ghost town and makes her eerie. The residents are a bit off and react strangely towards her. Hardly anything is open, including a gas station. During the day there is activiy, but the moment the sun goes down, everyone flees into their homes. Through a array of circumstances she ends up learning about the truth behind the curtain. The town of Morgan Creek, is overcome by a coven of vampires, and the master vampire who has been alive since the crusades, is the most dangerous yet sensual mans Kadie has ever known. But she is literally kept a prisoner along with everyone else in the town. As the food supply for the vampires. Some have it worse than others, depending on the vampire feeding on you that week. Kadie has the luck of drawing the attention of Rylan Saintcrow, the leader of them. He keeps her in his home, but there is something real that draws Kadie to Rylan. Rylan has never known anything good or pure since he was turned centuries ago, until he scented Kadie....her spirit and body pure in every way. Will Rylan and Kadie be able to hold onto forever....or will the dangers that threaten Rylan seperate them forever.

The Hero 


Rylan Saintcrow has been a vampire for the longest time and he is one of the oldest vampires of their kind. He came to Morgan Creek, since it was off the map, a dead town and a place the vampire hunters knew nothing about. Lately, the vampire hunters have grown to a huge number, and are killing off his kind by large numbers. So Rylan stayed in this small town, and offered sanctuary to a few vampires that needed a safe place and protection. Rylan was turned while fighting in the Holy War during the Crusades and was left abandoned and alone, to learn the ways and made too many mistakes....actions he regrets with his full heart. Rylan despite being a vampire, his strict rules....has a good heart and has a code of honor. Rylan is a pure alpha male, and boy I had so much fun with this character. At first I was uneasy about him, however as I delved deeper into the story I realized how realistic his character seemed to be. The author here, doesn't sugar coat vampires but what I liked was seeing the good come through with each chapter.

The Heroine 


Kadie Andrews was a delightful heroine and there were many aspects of her personality I felt I could relate with. She is a professional photographer, and loves traveling. She is close to her family, and has a great inner strength, but is also kind and accepting. When she first arrives to the town, she has a hard time accepting what is actually happening to her. But she stands up to the vampires she runs across, and since they can control her mind if need be, she seeks escape when they are sleeping. However it still proves to be pointless since there is a block when trying to leave. No one can except for Rylan. Kadie is a heroine that accepts Rylan eventually, she still battles verbally with him and I loved her courage to stand up to him.

Plot and Story Line 


In As Twilight Falls, Amanda Ashley has created another great vampire romance that has a more gothic theme to it and I just soaked it all up. I haven't had a chance to read too many gothic themes, but Ashley handled this one in such a fabulous way. It deals with mixed emotions and actions, that the reader has to battle with as you read. I loved the set up of the story, and I was instantly drawn into it from the first page or two. One aspect I have always admired about Amanda Ashley, is how easily I can get swept up into her stories, and As Twilight Falls was no different. What was truly fascinating was seeing the variety of characters that come into play. Not all good....not all bad either. We have a mix of personalities and we see the line between black and white...turns grey at times. There were a couple of side characters that I didn't exactly care for, especially the woman vampire. Boy she was a piece of work....very cruel and vicious so I was thrilled when she was taken out of the picture. But some revelations occur that create unique plot twists that turned me upside down and inside out. The romance between Kadie and Rylan was fantastic. At first we have two strong personality who have a battle of wills....but as they let their pride and stubborness go, we see a beautiful romance build.

The Cover 


I like this cover, not my favorite from Amanda Ashley, but it has a great gothic theme to it, and I love the reddish background theme to it.

Overall View


As  Twilight Falls is a stirring, and thought-provoking story with gothic themes and a variety of aspects to keep you asking for me. Its a story that is stirring, and exceptionally well written. Guaranteed to send chills down the spine.
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jennyreadsromance's review

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4.0

Another Amanda Ashley great!!

macabremysterium's review

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1.0

Started out promising but it was a total letdown

foggysunday's review

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1.0

Started out promising but it was a total letdown
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