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A review by leilin
A Duel with the Vampire Lord by Elise Kova
3.0
So I keep reading those books, but I keep rating them at 3 stars: I gotta ask myself why that is...
Mostly, what I said about world building, writing and characterization in previous books' reviews still holds, so I am just going to link to those: first book and second one.
In this book, the storyline held strong from start to finish - no weaker ending, as was the case in the first book / no weaker start, as was in the second one. I enjoyed the progressive unpacking of the mystery that surrounded what happened to the vampir(e)s and the hunters. It was well handled and the complicated circumstances that set their common fate in motion felt very meaningful, within the context of the story.
I think what it comes down to, is that I like the series' world setting a lot, and the writing and individual stories are good enough that those books easily come to mind when I am in the mood for a light romance read. But overall, it still keeps falling a bit short, quality-wise. Mostly, those books would benefit (a lot!) from some stronger editing. In all of them, there were some localized repetitions or even some benign errors (homophones mix up, etc.) that could have been very easily corrected. There were dialogues that felt clunky, stilted or overall a bit unnatural due to their grandiloquence, and in contrast with other dialogues around them. There were bumps, such as backtracking or over-explaining, along the character development journey, that were grating at a small scale, while the overall trajectory was satisfying. All of those things don't point at a bad story or a bad writing, but they do point, in my opinion, at a book that is in dire need of editing and polishing.
When rating books, I think of a 4 star rating as a book I could recommend. And due to the rough nature of these, I definitely don't feel like I would ever recommend them, despite the fact that I keep coming back to them when my reading mood aligns... I suppose it's a guilty pleasure, then, and unfortunately, until a good editor gets their hands on this series, it is most likely going to remain the case.
Mostly, what I said about world building, writing and characterization in previous books' reviews still holds, so I am just going to link to those: first book and second one.
In this book, the storyline held strong from start to finish - no weaker ending, as was the case in the first book / no weaker start, as was in the second one. I enjoyed the progressive unpacking of the mystery that surrounded what happened to the vampir(e)s and the hunters. It was well handled and the complicated circumstances that set their common fate in motion felt very meaningful, within the context of the story.
I think what it comes down to, is that I like the series' world setting a lot, and the writing and individual stories are good enough that those books easily come to mind when I am in the mood for a light romance read. But overall, it still keeps falling a bit short, quality-wise. Mostly, those books would benefit (a lot!) from some stronger editing. In all of them, there were some localized repetitions or even some benign errors (homophones mix up, etc.) that could have been very easily corrected. There were dialogues that felt clunky, stilted or overall a bit unnatural due to their grandiloquence, and in contrast with other dialogues around them. There were bumps, such as backtracking or over-explaining, along the character development journey, that were grating at a small scale, while the overall trajectory was satisfying. All of those things don't point at a bad story or a bad writing, but they do point, in my opinion, at a book that is in dire need of editing and polishing.
When rating books, I think of a 4 star rating as a book I could recommend. And due to the rough nature of these, I definitely don't feel like I would ever recommend them, despite the fact that I keep coming back to them when my reading mood aligns... I suppose it's a guilty pleasure, then, and unfortunately, until a good editor gets their hands on this series, it is most likely going to remain the case.