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A review by ssp_amax
The Vanishing Spark of Dusk by Sara Baysinger
3.0
Read it on my blog: https://wordpress.com/post/vicsense.wordpress.com/849
After an alien invasion made by a civilization known as the Tavdorians, Earth has become a breeding ground for slave plantations and resourcing. Lark is one of the few last natives of Earth who lives freely on a small plot of land with a handful of other natives. That is, until she is captured by slave traders and sent to work on their home planet. Refusing to bow down and become a slave for her whole life, Lark soon finds herself accepting a dangerous position within the ranks of a rebel group, hellbent on freeing slaves and overthrowing the Tavdorians. But when her master shows her kindness and love, Lark is torn between her growing passion for the dark Tavdorian, and her mission of saving humanity.
Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not sponsored for this post and the opinions stated below are unbiased.
Lark: is she weak or strong? The only time she seems to have a mouth on her is when she faces Kalen, the one and only alien (and master) who actually gives two rat's asses about humans. The rest of the time, she's supposedly 'invisible', as she repeatedly tells us. I don't think she's all that 'invisible'; she keeps mouthing off to Zimri (the most dangerous and violent slave trader) and, miraculously, she never gets punished for her unacceptable behaviour.
Let's put this in perspective: she's a slave. She has to obey her masters' commands and yet, there are no consequences. Either 1) Kalen swoops in and saves her rebellious ass or 2) the other masters just turn a blind eye where she's concerned; for no apparent reason.
Now, when I picked up this book, I thought I was going to get a good sci-fi intrigue, an inter-galactic space race or some sort of alien showdown. Instead, I got a very romance-heavy 200+ page story. I don't mind some romance, but not the whole goddamn book please. What happened to all the cool technology and spaceships that should come part and parcel with a sci-fi book?? I wanted space travel, aliens, super advanced technology.... all I got was a teenagelove lust story pumped on hormones.
Still, I'll give it it's due, Kalen was pretty hot as a main lead, perfect book boyfriend material. Lark was an okay heroine, I would have preferred if she'd been able to take care of herself a bit more and not rely on Kalen (and everyone else) so much.
Also, what is it about Kalen's calves? I read so many times about how muscular and gorgeous is calves are.... does Lark have a calve fetish? It was so strange that she mentioned it several times. Oh and, his eyes are lavender. I get it. Move on to something else please.
The rebel group was pretty cool, even though not much was said about them. I feel like the book should have expanded on the rebel group a lot more. I wanted to read about them, their backstories and why they were fighting (apart from the obvious). Unfortunately,most all of the attention was focused on Lark and Kalen and as a result, I didn't really feel anything for the side characters.
On a side note, whatever happened to Lark's dog back on Earth?!? When she was captured, her dog was also caught and then... that's it? No conclusion to what happened to her?? It's a small detail, but I was upset that there was no closure surrounding the fate of the dog.
Overall, it wasn't a bad read. It was interesting enough that I read it all in one day. If you enjoy sci-fi, then I'd say that you'll be disappointed with this book. The SF stuff happens in the background and isn't really relevant. If you like romance and steamy making out/sex scenes, this might be the one for you.
Summary
After an alien invasion made by a civilization known as the Tavdorians, Earth has become a breeding ground for slave plantations and resourcing. Lark is one of the few last natives of Earth who lives freely on a small plot of land with a handful of other natives. That is, until she is captured by slave traders and sent to work on their home planet. Refusing to bow down and become a slave for her whole life, Lark soon finds herself accepting a dangerous position within the ranks of a rebel group, hellbent on freeing slaves and overthrowing the Tavdorians. But when her master shows her kindness and love, Lark is torn between her growing passion for the dark Tavdorian, and her mission of saving humanity.
Review
Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am not sponsored for this post and the opinions stated below are unbiased.
Lark: is she weak or strong? The only time she seems to have a mouth on her is when she faces Kalen, the one and only alien (and master) who actually gives two rat's asses about humans. The rest of the time, she's supposedly 'invisible', as she repeatedly tells us. I don't think she's all that 'invisible'; she keeps mouthing off to Zimri (the most dangerous and violent slave trader) and, miraculously, she never gets punished for her unacceptable behaviour.
Let's put this in perspective: she's a slave. She has to obey her masters' commands and yet, there are no consequences. Either 1) Kalen swoops in and saves her rebellious ass or 2) the other masters just turn a blind eye where she's concerned; for no apparent reason.
Now, when I picked up this book, I thought I was going to get a good sci-fi intrigue, an inter-galactic space race or some sort of alien showdown. Instead, I got a very romance-heavy 200+ page story. I don't mind some romance, but not the whole goddamn book please. What happened to all the cool technology and spaceships that should come part and parcel with a sci-fi book?? I wanted space travel, aliens, super advanced technology.... all I got was a teenage
Still, I'll give it it's due, Kalen was pretty hot as a main lead, perfect book boyfriend material. Lark was an okay heroine, I would have preferred if she'd been able to take care of herself a bit more and not rely on Kalen (and everyone else) so much.
Also, what is it about Kalen's calves? I read so many times about how muscular and gorgeous is calves are.... does Lark have a calve fetish? It was so strange that she mentioned it several times. Oh and, his eyes are lavender. I get it. Move on to something else please.
The rebel group was pretty cool, even though not much was said about them. I feel like the book should have expanded on the rebel group a lot more. I wanted to read about them, their backstories and why they were fighting (apart from the obvious). Unfortunately,
On a side note, whatever happened to Lark's dog back on Earth?!? When she was captured, her dog was also caught and then... that's it? No conclusion to what happened to her?? It's a small detail, but I was upset that there was no closure surrounding the fate of the dog.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it wasn't a bad read. It was interesting enough that I read it all in one day. If you enjoy sci-fi, then I'd say that you'll be disappointed with this book. The SF stuff happens in the background and isn't really relevant. If you like romance and steamy making out/sex scenes, this might be the one for you.