I read this a long time ago on Inkpop at the age of fifteen. It was a gripping, fast-paced and gory story back then, and still is, with plenty of thrills and chills. It's largely the same as I remember it; but I find myself disappointed by a few things.
Since I know the author is publishing another book next year, I feel obligated to say this first: FIRE YOUR EDITOR. If you paid money to have this edited, you deserve a refund. The story deserves better. Nearly every page contains awkward sentence constructions and straight-up vocabulary or grammatical errors. It's not so bad as to make the book difficult to read, but it's definitely jarring when it does occur. Also, your editor seems to have forced you to remove all instances of the word "had", even when it doesn't make sense to do so. Definitely not a great decision.
- some spoilers ahead-
Secondly: "Cool motive, still murder." There's a lot of things about this book that I just don't follow with. While I don't agree with Miller's use of the shock cuff, and disliked her immediately as a character, it's jarring that we're supposed to be appalled at her use of the shock cuff and yet immediately excuse Lyall's five (known) murders long before he shows any remorse whatsoever. His Freudian excuse comes off weak and unsatisfying. I simply disliked him more knowing that he chose to become a vampire in order to "avenge" his mother on humans, and that he had never even once tried to control his hunger before meeting Rowan. None of this proves to me that humans are the real monsters, and it reads as a bad attempt at excusing his crimes through mere pity at his current situation.
What's more, I didn't ship Rowan and Lyall at all. Her "infatuation" for him was mentioned once or twice before a certain PG-13 rated scene, but it was simply not reasonable to me that she would be attracted to him given how he acted towards her. Her only bases for an infatuation are pity, and possibly pure lust, but even that second one is not substantiated in the text at any time prior to the scene, as she never remarks on being attracted to him or anything. I guess his constant threatening of her and messing with her head is supposed to be perceived as sexual tension? It's a fascinating dynamic for sure, but not anything I'd perceive as romantic.
Also, not to be a "nice guys finish last" kind of person (I'm a girl) but Cameron really deserved her attention far more than Lyall. He did everything right, and they had many cute and sweet moments, he ordered her pizza, he called her on the phone, he stayed at her house when she was scared, and he was always there for her. And yet the guy she chooses is the creepy murderer who threatens to kill her all the time? Truly, nice guys do finish last.
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I read this a long time ago on Inkpop at the age of fifteen. It was a gripping, fast-paced and gory story back then, and still is, with plenty of thrills and chills. It's largely the same as I remember it; but I find myself disappointed by a few things.Since I know the author is publishing another book next year, I feel obligated to say this first: FIRE YOUR EDITOR. If you paid money to have this edited, you deserve a refund. The story deserves better. Nearly every page contains awkward sentence constructions and straight-up vocabulary or grammatical errors. It's not so bad as to make the book difficult to read, but it's definitely jarring when it does occur. Also, your editor seems to have forced you to remove all instances of the word "had", even when it doesn't make sense to do so. Definitely not a great decision.- some spoilers ahead-Secondly: "Cool motive, still murder." There's a lot of things about this book that I just don't follow with. While I don't agree with Miller's use of the shock cuff, and disliked her immediately as a character, it's jarring that we're supposed to be appalled at her use of the shock cuff and yet immediately excuse Lyall's five (known) murders long before he shows any remorse whatsoever. His Freudian excuse comes off weak and unsatisfying. I simply disliked him more knowing that he chose to become a vampire in order to "avenge" his mother on humans, and that he had never even once tried to control his hunger before meeting Rowan. None of this proves to me that humans are the real monsters, and it reads as a bad attempt at excusing his crimes through mere pity at his current situation.What's more, I didn't ship Rowan and Lyall at all. Her "infatuation" for him was mentioned once or twice before a certain PG-13 rated scene, but it was simply not reasonable to me that she would be attracted to him given how he acted towards her. Her only bases for an infatuation are pity, and possibly pure lust, but even that second one is not substantiated in the text at any time prior to the scene, as she never remarks on being attracted to him or anything. I guess his constant threatening of her and messing with her head is supposed to be perceived as sexual tension? It's a fascinating dynamic for sure, but not anything I'd perceive as romantic.Also, not to be a "nice guys finish last" kind of person (I'm a girl) but Cameron really deserved her attention far more than Lyall. He did everything right, and they had many cute and sweet moments, he ordered her pizza, he called her on the phone, he stayed at her house when she was scared, and he was always there for her. And yet the guy she chooses is the creepy murderer who threatens to kill her all the time? Truly, nice guys do finish last.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 16, 2018
I read this a long time ago on Inkpop at the age of fifteen. It was a gripping, fast-paced and gory story back then, and still is, with plenty of thrills and chills. It's largely the same as I remember it; but I find myself disappointed by a few things.
Since I know the author is publishing another book next year, I feel obligated to say this first: FIRE YOUR EDITOR. If you paid money to have this edited, you deserve a refund. The story deserves better. Nearly every page contains awkward sentence constructions and straight-up vocabulary or grammatical errors. It's not so bad as to make the book difficult to read, but it's definitely jarring when it does occur. Also, your editor seems to have forced you to remove all instances of the word "had", even when it doesn't make sense to do so. Definitely not a great decision.
- some spoilers ahead-
Secondly: "Cool motive, still murder." There's a lot of things about this book that I just don't follow with. While I don't agree with Miller's use of the shock cuff, and disliked her immediately as a character, it's jarring that we're supposed to be appalled at her use of the shock cuff and yet immediately excuse Lyall's five (known) murders long before he shows any remorse whatsoever. His Freudian excuse comes off weak and unsatisfying. I simply disliked him more knowing that he chose to become a vampire in order to "avenge" his mother on humans, and that he had never even once tried to control his hunger before meeting Rowan. None of this proves to me that humans are the real monsters, and it reads as a bad attempt at excusing his crimes through mere pity at his current situation.
What's more, I didn't ship Rowan and Lyall at all. Her "infatuation" for him was mentioned once or twice before a certain PG-13 rated scene, but it was simply not reasonable to me that she would be attracted to him given how he acted towards her. Her only bases for an infatuation are pity, and possibly pure lust, but even that second one is not substantiated in the text at any time prior to the scene, as she never remarks on being attracted to him or anything. I guess his constant threatening of her and messing with her head is supposed to be perceived as sexual tension? It's a fascinating dynamic for sure, but not anything I'd perceive as romantic.
Also, not to be a "nice guys finish last" kind of person (I'm a girl) but Cameron really deserved her attention far more than Lyall. He did everything right, and they had many cute and sweet moments, he ordered her pizza, he called her on the phone, he stayed at her house when she was scared, and he was always there for her. And yet the guy she chooses is the creepy murderer who threatens to kill her all the time? Truly, nice guys do finish last.
Since I know the author is publishing another book next year, I feel obligated to say this first: FIRE YOUR EDITOR. If you paid money to have this edited, you deserve a refund. The story deserves better. Nearly every page contains awkward sentence constructions and straight-up vocabulary or grammatical errors. It's not so bad as to make the book difficult to read, but it's definitely jarring when it does occur. Also, your editor seems to have forced you to remove all instances of the word "had", even when it doesn't make sense to do so. Definitely not a great decision.
- some spoilers ahead-
Secondly: "Cool motive, still murder." There's a lot of things about this book that I just don't follow with. While I don't agree with Miller's use of the shock cuff, and disliked her immediately as a character, it's jarring that we're supposed to be appalled at her use of the shock cuff and yet immediately excuse Lyall's five (known) murders long before he shows any remorse whatsoever. His Freudian excuse comes off weak and unsatisfying. I simply disliked him more knowing that he chose to become a vampire in order to "avenge" his mother on humans, and that he had never even once tried to control his hunger before meeting Rowan. None of this proves to me that humans are the real monsters, and it reads as a bad attempt at excusing his crimes through mere pity at his current situation.
What's more, I didn't ship Rowan and Lyall at all. Her "infatuation" for him was mentioned once or twice before a certain PG-13 rated scene, but it was simply not reasonable to me that she would be attracted to him given how he acted towards her. Her only bases for an infatuation are pity, and possibly pure lust, but even that second one is not substantiated in the text at any time prior to the scene, as she never remarks on being attracted to him or anything. I guess his constant threatening of her and messing with her head is supposed to be perceived as sexual tension? It's a fascinating dynamic for sure, but not anything I'd perceive as romantic.
Also, not to be a "nice guys finish last" kind of person (I'm a girl) but Cameron really deserved her attention far more than Lyall. He did everything right, and they had many cute and sweet moments, he ordered her pizza, he called her on the phone, he stayed at her house when she was scared, and he was always there for her. And yet the guy she chooses is the creepy murderer who threatens to kill her all the time? Truly, nice guys do finish last.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 18, 2018
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 2, 2018
Top reviews from other countries
CJ Stark
Not your average vampire story.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 11, 2018
Liz Scanlon
Vamp story with a difference
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 17, 2019
