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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 7, 2016
This book was laugh-out-loud hilarious! But it was also emotional with a heart-wrenching love triangle. And it had an intense plot. And three-dimensional characters. And sexy but also meaningful romance. And vampires. And a faery—
In other words, *it just had everything.*
I just love this series. It has become a total comfort read for me. And since I’ve read it multiple times now, I’ve decided to update my reviews, and I’m not even gonna try to contain my affection.
First of all, this series has ruined me for all other books because it has more heart-wrenching emotion AND more laugh-out-loud humor than anything I’ve ever read, and I’m still waiting for another series that makes me feel as deeply or clutch my stomach in pain from all the laughter as much as this one has. Especially the first time I read this first book, I was devastated, I was tense, I was worried, I was amused, I was swooning, I was *feeling.*
Speaking of feeling, I really love this love triangle because the best ones are the heart-wrenching ones, and WOW does the relationship between Zoey and Daniel nail that. And let me tell you, what is between Zoey and Daniel is most definitely, without a doubt, LOVE. They grew up together and know everything about each other and have so many memories together and have always been there for each other (that is, until Daniel started pulling away due to vampire reasons). I swoon every time at the way they appreciate everything about each other and their relationship, flaws and all. #RelationshipGoals I know Dev is also in that triangle somewhere, but I was too busy being on Team Daniel the first time I read this book to notice ;-) Ok, ok, Daniel is totally the stereotypical tormented, brooding character who thinks he’s a monster but doesn’t want the woman he loves to see him that way, but he’s more than *just* that. He also brings all the vampire-y goodness, and I sure do love me some vampire-y goodness!
And speaking of the characters, I have rarely been so invested in characters as I was (and still am) in these. I kid you not, I once emailed the author to fangirl and ask her… a really strange question about how two of the characters’ relationships progressed after the series ended because I still cared about them and still wanted to know things about their lives. (Ok, fine, if you must know, I asked her if they’re sleeping together now, which honestly isn’t as inappropriate of a question as it sounds if you’ve read the series. She was super nice in her reply, by the way! And yes, they are sleeping together, in case you were wondering.) But these characters, they’re just so complex and developed and flawed-yet-lovable—and I do mean legitimately flawed. The things they do are not black-and-white, so sometimes you don’t know if you should trust them, and sometimes you’re disappointed in them, and sometimes you want to slap them, but in the end you love them anyway for the good qualities they have. And they have such dynamic and complex friend/family/romantic relationships with each other. Plus, the interactions between them are pretty much the best thing ever because that’s where so much of the hilarity and emotion comes from.
And not only that, each book also a fantastic, action-packed plot, always involving some sort of heist, along with all sorts of supernatural fun, plus there's an overarching plot for the entire series that is really well thought-out and gets more complex as the series goes on.
BUT I will admit these books are not perfect. They have some things that are a little too romance trope-y for me. There are a lot of sex scenes, and they’re not to my taste. Zoey thought to herself at one point that she was willing to be the men’s sex toy, and that’s pretty much what those scenes are like (albeit a sex toy they give like 27 orgasms to). The men are pretty controlling and alpha, even though it’s all consensual. There’s some kink, like public sex rituals and mild BDSM. The characters also seem to solve all their relationship problems in bed and are very preoccupied by sex. There are also some slight problematic things, like Zoey’s “not like other girls” moments.
Now you’re probably thinking, “Well, Kristen, that sounds like a lot of things you didn’t like. Are you sure you love this series as much as you say you do?” And the answer to that is, yes, I’m sure. Everything I love about these books completely outweighs the things I don’t. These books make me feel. Plus, many of my issues are personal taste things, and some of them were things I didn’t even notice until reading the books multiple times because, on the first few reads, I was just 100% absorbed in the story.
I realize that this was more of a series review than a review for Steal the Light (and more of a love letter than a review), but hey, at least now you don’t have to worry that the series will go downhill ;-) And I will say that this first book, just like all the rest of the books, was the perfect mix of humor, action, intensity, angst, emotion, romance, and butt-kicking!
*I’ve read this book multiple times. This review was written after my 3rd read.*
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight (link in profile)
In other words, *it just had everything.*
I just love this series. It has become a total comfort read for me. And since I’ve read it multiple times now, I’ve decided to update my reviews, and I’m not even gonna try to contain my affection.
First of all, this series has ruined me for all other books because it has more heart-wrenching emotion AND more laugh-out-loud humor than anything I’ve ever read, and I’m still waiting for another series that makes me feel as deeply or clutch my stomach in pain from all the laughter as much as this one has. Especially the first time I read this first book, I was devastated, I was tense, I was worried, I was amused, I was swooning, I was *feeling.*
Speaking of feeling, I really love this love triangle because the best ones are the heart-wrenching ones, and WOW does the relationship between Zoey and Daniel nail that. And let me tell you, what is between Zoey and Daniel is most definitely, without a doubt, LOVE. They grew up together and know everything about each other and have so many memories together and have always been there for each other (that is, until Daniel started pulling away due to vampire reasons). I swoon every time at the way they appreciate everything about each other and their relationship, flaws and all. #RelationshipGoals I know Dev is also in that triangle somewhere, but I was too busy being on Team Daniel the first time I read this book to notice ;-) Ok, ok, Daniel is totally the stereotypical tormented, brooding character who thinks he’s a monster but doesn’t want the woman he loves to see him that way, but he’s more than *just* that. He also brings all the vampire-y goodness, and I sure do love me some vampire-y goodness!
And speaking of the characters, I have rarely been so invested in characters as I was (and still am) in these. I kid you not, I once emailed the author to fangirl and ask her… a really strange question about how two of the characters’ relationships progressed after the series ended because I still cared about them and still wanted to know things about their lives. (Ok, fine, if you must know, I asked her if they’re sleeping together now, which honestly isn’t as inappropriate of a question as it sounds if you’ve read the series. She was super nice in her reply, by the way! And yes, they are sleeping together, in case you were wondering.) But these characters, they’re just so complex and developed and flawed-yet-lovable—and I do mean legitimately flawed. The things they do are not black-and-white, so sometimes you don’t know if you should trust them, and sometimes you’re disappointed in them, and sometimes you want to slap them, but in the end you love them anyway for the good qualities they have. And they have such dynamic and complex friend/family/romantic relationships with each other. Plus, the interactions between them are pretty much the best thing ever because that’s where so much of the hilarity and emotion comes from.
And not only that, each book also a fantastic, action-packed plot, always involving some sort of heist, along with all sorts of supernatural fun, plus there's an overarching plot for the entire series that is really well thought-out and gets more complex as the series goes on.
BUT I will admit these books are not perfect. They have some things that are a little too romance trope-y for me. There are a lot of sex scenes, and they’re not to my taste. Zoey thought to herself at one point that she was willing to be the men’s sex toy, and that’s pretty much what those scenes are like (albeit a sex toy they give like 27 orgasms to). The men are pretty controlling and alpha, even though it’s all consensual. There’s some kink, like public sex rituals and mild BDSM. The characters also seem to solve all their relationship problems in bed and are very preoccupied by sex. There are also some slight problematic things, like Zoey’s “not like other girls” moments.
Now you’re probably thinking, “Well, Kristen, that sounds like a lot of things you didn’t like. Are you sure you love this series as much as you say you do?” And the answer to that is, yes, I’m sure. Everything I love about these books completely outweighs the things I don’t. These books make me feel. Plus, many of my issues are personal taste things, and some of them were things I didn’t even notice until reading the books multiple times because, on the first few reads, I was just 100% absorbed in the story.
I realize that this was more of a series review than a review for Steal the Light (and more of a love letter than a review), but hey, at least now you don’t have to worry that the series will go downhill ;-) And I will say that this first book, just like all the rest of the books, was the perfect mix of humor, action, intensity, angst, emotion, romance, and butt-kicking!
*I’ve read this book multiple times. This review was written after my 3rd read.*
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight (link in profile)
