Customer Reviews

Hearts at Stake: The Drake Chronicles

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the story of Solange Drake, a soon to be vampire. She is genetically a vampire and will completely turn on her approaching sixteenth birthday. Her best friend is Lucy, who has been treated as an extended part of Solange's vampire family. Lucy's parents are going away for a couple of weeks, and as usual Lucy plans to stay with the Drake family. Because female vampires who can breed are so rare, Solange is already been swooned by any and every vampire out there who wants to be a 'daddy'. The Queen of the vampires is also after Solange because she fears Solange coming into powers and believes Solange will soon want to take over her crown. To add to the drama, there is a pack of evil vampires led by a VERY BAD vampire who has also decided to target Solange. There is also a band of rogue vampire hunters who wish to capture Solange because the queen has put a bounty on her head. Lucy gets stuck working with Nicholas, one of Solange's many vampy brothers and they discover they are really into each other. Of course, Solange soon finds a hero herself amidst all the vampire crises. This story was quick and rather entertaining but the fact is that it brought nothing new to the table. The first few chapters were almost too much to take in, with a wealth of information about the vampires and the different versions of bad and good vampires and the various people out to do them harm. This would have been better had it been doled out as needed throughout the story. It was just too much information all at once. Solange, Lucy, and their boys are pleasant enough and teens may well find they enjoy this book. I didn't dislike it but I found that it wasn't anything special to write home (or a review) about.

So if I had to describe this book it would be.... a mixture between Jessica's guide to dating on the dark side and perhaps the Evernight series.

Solange Drake is the prophesied queen among vampires who are broken up into numerous clans and tribes. As of right now Lady Natasha (crazy little witch) is currently trying to rule them all so obviously Solange's birth is in the way and must be remedied immediately. The chapters switch between Solange and her best and human friend Lucky aka Lucy. Now Lucy is slightly immune to the Vamp pheromones because she's grown up around the Drakes... her number one skill is annoying one of Solange's older brothers Nicholas and making pink rhinestone covered stakes. She also fights for Solange and is her life line in this tremulous time.

The plot moves very fast and I was never bored. The dialogue flowed very easily, and I enjoyed seeing the different perspectives of human vs almost vamp. The different tribes and Hosts vs Hounds can be confusing, but even if you don't understand all the politics you'll love the book. I am curious to see where the second book would go considering how this one left off... who knows....

Solange is a born vampire, and she has a problem. She's been prophecied to be the next queen, when all she wants is to survive her transition to full vampire, do her pottery and live a quiet life. But being the first born girl vampire in centuries, she's being courted by every male she meets, with the exception of her many older brothers. The rest? They're just trying to kill her.

It'll take the full out efforts of her family, her best friend, Lucy, and the assistance of Kieran Black, who might be her worst enemy, to keep Solange alive to see the other side of her sixteenth birthday.

There's so much to love about this book! First, Solange is an ordinary kid, and so is her best friend, Lucy, whose real and despised name is Lucky. Lucy is vibrant, smart, and determined to keep her best bud alive no matter what it takes. Solange is also a fighter, but really prefers the quiet life. But what really makes the story fun is the romantic interest between Nicholas, one of Solange's brothers, and Lucy. The two of them dance around the issue throughout the action and adventure, which is nicely tense with enough doubt about the outcome to have you gripping the edge of your seat.

And Solange seems to have found an interesting fellow to be fascinated with, herself, as the story progresses. The main plot is wrapped up with a satisfying but slightly surprising twist, and plenty of room is left for sequels.

I actually got HEARTS AT STAKE at a special screening of Eclipse in NYC and I'll be honest, I totally forgot I had gotten it. It wasn't until I saw a friend talking about it that I looked into it again. I even went out and bought a copy of HEARTS AT STAKE until I realized it looked familiar and went searching and what do you know, there it was! I can kick myself in the bum for not reading this when I got it. What was I thinking? Oh, right - I know. Vampires just were meh for me and I really wasn't interested in reading about them. But Alyxandra Harvey, you changed my mind on vampires.

You have vampires that are humans changed into vampires and then you people like the Drake family who are born vampires. Sort of. The father is a vampire and the mother is a human; in this world vampires can reproduce. You have human children. Sort of. At the age of 16 the human child than goes through the transition period which can be deadly. If they survive, they become a vampire. I love this idea, I really really do. I never once questioned "Wait? How can a vampire reproduce if it's dead?" because somehow it made sense. (Unlike some other vampire's series whom I will not mention)

This is my dream family, seriously. I would love to just write myself in there (as one of the love interests for one of the many Drake brothers, of course) and become part of this family. This book focuses on the youngest and only female child, Solange as she turns 16 and comes into her transition. But it also follows her human best friend, Lucy and one of her older brothers, Nicholas. We also meet the Kieran who hunts vampires for living but is taken back by Solange and the rest of the Drake family.

It was the perfect mix of action, drama and romance. This book is what started it for me with Alyxandra Harvey and her writing. Now I'll read anything she publishes. She's made a fan out of me and it started with this book, this series. If you like vampires and are looking for something besides Twilight, you want to start here. It's a perfect vampire series and a perfect book for any YA fantasy reader!

Alyxandra Harvey's HEARTS AT STAKE is the kind of book you want to chat with your friends about. There are two very strong and very different main characters: Solange Drake and my favorite, Lucy, her best friend.

Solange is a vampire or is going to be soon. She was born in a family of vampires who has been exiled from the vampire court. Some believe she will be the future leader mentioned in the prophecy. The current queen wants to make sure that doesn't happen. Solange is still human as it was with her brothers. She's sixteenth birthday triggers the change from human to vampire. Vampires are from everywhere. Some want to claim her as a mate while others want to kill her. Now that it's rumored the Drake family has broken a treaty with another clan, there is a bounty on their heads.

Lucy, having been raised around the Drakes, sees vampires differently. They aren't all created equal, that's for sure. Along with staying one step ahead of Kieran Black, a bounty hunter trying to kill the Drakes, Lucy is falling for one of Solange's brothers, Nicholas, and the feeling is mutual.

This action-packed tale is told by both girls. I'm not sure how I feel about the switching back and forth from Solange's point of view to Lucy's and then back again. There were times I wanted to skip over Solange's chapters and just read Lucy's. To say that I love-love-love Lucy and Nicholas wouldn't be an exaggeration. During those scenes, I slowed down to savor every word. Bottom line is this is a fantastic beginning to what looks to be an addictive series.

i liked the story and it was an interesting plot. the characters were very endearing. Lucy and Sebastian's romance was very cute. Solange and Kieran's romance was not as endearing to me but it is interesing. Kieran has such a cool name doesnt he? i cant wait to find out what happens next.

Solange Drake has it harder than the unusual teenage girl. Not only must she deal with her many overprotective older brothers, but she is destined to become a vampire queen. She was born into a vampire family, and on her upcoming 16th birthday, will transform completely into a vampire. She faces danger both from evil vampires and from vampire hunters. The story is told in the alternating voices of Solange and her human best friend, Lucy.

For teen readers who can't get enough vampire stories, this is a decent, painless, quick read. But I just never got very interested in the story. Perhaps I'm just tired of vampires, I don't know. This book doesn't really stand out in a saturated genre, but should appeal to devoted teen readers of the genre who will read anything vampire-related they can get their hands on.

While I'm always kind of hesitant to read anything involving vampires (with the exception of Vampire Academy and Evernight series, of course), I still decided to give Hearts At Stake a try and I have to stay that I was mostly pleasantly surprised with this new addition to the Vampire YA genre.

Hearts At Stake was told equally in the voice of two best friends- Lucy- the sarcastic and funny one that I had an easy time liking from the beginning - and Solange- the quiet one who would rather do pottery and hang out with with Lucy then be a vampire princess. While both were pretty much well developed, I personally would have preferred the tale be told just from one girl's perspective because at times it was kind of hard to distinguish one from the other. Plus, as I've stated before, I'm not the biggest fans of stories told in multiple perspectives. Though, it did work okay and didn't detract from the overall story much.

The plot was interesting and easy to get in to because of the simple writing that flowed well. I loved the action, the sibling squabbles, and the romances that sprouted up throughout. Plus, the government system was mostly fresh and new even with the slight similarities it had with the Vampire Academy series

In all, Hearts At Stake is a pretty decent debut. I look forward to reading the next in the series which is due out next year.

This author really knows what she is doing. The characters in this book don't need to rely on their "vamp mojo", though they have plenty of it! What a thrilling and fun tale for all the supernatural-fantasy fans out there. This is no cookie-cutter copy! It is remarkably original and an example of great storytelling. You will love these characters! I am so glad that "Chronicles" is in the title, I can't wait for the next installment! Perfect for high school libraries, I would even give this book to middle school Twilight fan though the book starts out with Solange "drinking cheap wine" at a field party... questionable... but forgivable in the context. That really is the only slightly inappropriate bit for me. It is realistic though, in the scope of the story, and (at least for me) it is balanced out by strong female characters, realistic relationships, and a lot of great traditional action and fantasy. Buy this book NOW!

Taken from my blog: [...]

Amusing, fast paced, and original. Those are some of the biggest adjectives that popped into my head throughout this book. It is a pretty unique take on vampires and the world that surrounds them and I think Harvey pulled it off quite well. Some of the 'typical' vampire traits still apply but she has very much made this world all her own.

The characters are all strong- Lucy and Solange especially. The story switches between their perspectives so I was able to get a good view of both girls. I could see why they were friends and where one lacked the other made up for it. Lucy is a hilarious character- her banter with other characters kept me alert and laughing, even in tense situations in the book.

Solange has 7 older brothers and I give Harvey points for this. She didn't just name them and call them brothers- she showed at least some interests and traits of each of the bothers. I find it very hard to keep that many characters different and still important but Harvey did a smooth job of it. Nicholas gets the most attention out of the brothers and he is a perfect blend of adorable, seductive and arrogant.

There is very little introduction for this book- it simply starts and almost immediately delves into the action and bigger points of the story. I was interested from the start with questions already forming and curiosity burning just a few pages in. What starts out to seem like it will be boring and repetitive compared to other books in this genre rapidly changes into something unique and enticing.

Harvey's writing is filled with humor and her analogies and the way she words things are original and many of them are witty. Several times I stopped reading for a few moments because the way she said something took me off guard, forcing me to pause and reflect on how there are many overly used ways to say the same thing or make the same comparison but Harvey used something very different. I admire it and for that reason, the writing stands out in many places for me with this book.

There will be more in this series, dubbed The Drake Chronicles, and I will certainly be reading. This book ends with a million burning questions sprouting immediately yet most things relative to this book's plot are answered, tied up and closed out. I feel satisfied though I do want more of the series as a whole and am curious about how things will play out from here. Harvey did not drag things out unnecessarily- she went straight to the point often.

Overall, I give this 4 stars. The analogies and many phrases stood in my mind but the writing was otherwise smooth and only some above average. The plot moves quickly and is strong with 2 well developed lead characters and I recommend this one.