Well…in the interest of saving everyone time, (because this review is going to be a long one) I’ve decided to skip the witty banter and start this review with an epic sized SIGHHHHHHH.
That’s right folks…I am sighing, which if you know me at all means I am swimming in a pool of disappointment. A pool, (mind you) that I insist you join me in, so for the love of all that is holy, keep reading.
When Aurora meets Trey, a famous singer and musician, she’s only hoping to get her fill of human blood for the week. The last thing Aurora expects is for Trey to make her feel alive for the first time since she was, well, alive. It begins with a casual painting lesson at her art studio, The Waking Moon, and quickly turns into a forbidden romance. Aurora is forced to hide her true identity from Trey, while keeping her relationship with the human a secret from other vampires in her Brood.
Trey’s band is recording a new album and with Aurora as his muse, Trey is writing songs like never before. After being hired by their record label to paint the cover of the new album, Aurora has a legitimate reason for spending so much time with Trey and his band mates. Aurora can’t deny the unexpected connection she has with Trey, which is fueled by glimpses into his emotions every time they share a kiss. Caught between two worlds, Aurora must attend celebrity award shows and vampire rituals, find time to feed, and protect Trey from the dangers of the night, all while preserving her secrets.
I would have loved to jump into this review raving about the next great vampire book. I would have loved to tell you that Jensen catapulted me into a world that I haven’t read before; that her take on the “night’s” special brand of blood loving freaks was unique and fresh. What I really wanted, (damn it!) was to start this review with my new favorite phrase: “Shut The Front Door!” But I couldn’t.
Why?
Because let’s face it…when it comes to “generalized” vamp stories it’s pretty much a been there done that world.
Now, keeping all of that (and by “that” I mean the 3 evil heads of the vampire community, the loaner vampire, the sudden and unexplainable fascination with a particular human) the A-typical vampire behavior and the blatant cliché’s that surrounded it were NOT what actually did me in. It was the disjointedness of the story that did.
Here’s the thing. This story was narrated by 2 different characters, (the girl and the boy) which is not all that unusual. What IS unusual however is the authors negligence towards one of the narrators, (particularly the one that opened the story.) For three whole chapters I was sucked in. There was dissention in the vamp ranks, there was the obsessed best-friend, there were even a few self-loathing monologues thrown into the mix.
So what happened?
That my friend IS the question of the day.
I’m not sure if Jensen got side tract or if her love of music producing got in the way, but the plot all but stopped. For eleven chapters. To be honest, I thought I had lost my mind, that maybe (just maybe) I had read the first few chapters wrong and that Trey had been talking all along, but NOPE…I was right. The story was in a holding pattern.
Now, of course the story didn’t STAY that way, (or I’d still be reading it) but regardless of its eventual landing back on the tarmac there was still a very obvious lack of concern when it came to Jensen’s other characters. In short…this was the Trey show. For a story that was supposed to intertwine (into some epic love story) it was shockingly separated and more often than not could have been mistaken for two entirely different books.
Even worse…there were plot points that weren’t even addressed at all after the first half of the book, (can someone say “random fledgling alert!”) I know that this book is supposed to be only the 1st in a series, and that yes…authors like to throw in things that can be useful “plot wise” in the next edition, but for God’s sake…don’t make it sound so important and life changing in one chapter and the never mention it again, (it kind of second guesses it’s importance…if you catch what I’m saying.)
So was there absolutely NOTHING I liked about this book? Everything has a few bright shiny moments, but unfortunately this time they were just to far apart to keep me interested.
In a world FULL of vampires books, I say this one needs some work. Purchase at your own risk; $4.99 is a little steep for this read.
Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: Sometimes less IS actually more.
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[Rating:2/5]
