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A review by emmarj
Dark Awakening by Kendra Leigh Castle
4.0
Looks like smut, acts like smut, IS NOT SMUT. Surprise!
I was intrigued by the blurb but so embarrassed when I was checking out this, my first actual paper book in years and years, at my local library. The cover, right? Clearly smut.
I was right to be intrigued by the teaser though. This is paranormal romance that isn't too heavy handed with the romance and has an actual, decent story. The world building is pretty incredible given the genre and played out trope of vampire + human love story. You know it's going to be interesting when the book begins with a guide to the houses and caste system.
We got the origin stories of both main characters but I wasn't terribly interested in them. I can't pinpoint why, but I was far more curious about the minor characters like Vlad (he sounds like a smokin' hottie) and Jaden. I was tantalized by the snippets we saw of them and bored perhaps by the main characters' sob stories. I have no compassion, I know. I just wasn't feeling it.
Dark Awakening seems like it should be fluff yet the writing is rich, descriptive, and sometimes rather unwieldy. I probably could have appreciated it more if I had been expecting the type of writing but, as I said, seems like it should be fluff.
Overall, Dark Awakening is fresh and inventive with an intriguing world I can see myself revisiting.
I was intrigued by the blurb but so embarrassed when I was checking out this, my first actual paper book in years and years, at my local library. The cover, right? Clearly smut.
I was right to be intrigued by the teaser though. This is paranormal romance that isn't too heavy handed with the romance and has an actual, decent story. The world building is pretty incredible given the genre and played out trope of vampire + human love story. You know it's going to be interesting when the book begins with a guide to the houses and caste system.
We got the origin stories of both main characters but I wasn't terribly interested in them. I can't pinpoint why, but I was far more curious about the minor characters like Vlad (he sounds like a smokin' hottie) and Jaden. I was tantalized by the snippets we saw of them and bored perhaps by the main characters' sob stories. I have no compassion, I know. I just wasn't feeling it.
Dark Awakening seems like it should be fluff yet the writing is rich, descriptive, and sometimes rather unwieldy. I probably could have appreciated it more if I had been expecting the type of writing but, as I said, seems like it should be fluff.
Overall, Dark Awakening is fresh and inventive with an intriguing world I can see myself revisiting.