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Aug 01, 2011

The Holy Terror rated it:

*2.5 Stars*
I'm conflicted over this one, as most readers have been. My main problem is that I've already read the Anita Blake series, and Touch the Dark is so similar that you almost have to wonder why she wasn't called out on plagiarism. I could be being unfair, but it's not like I can unread or block out the books and series I've already read. I apologize if you're reading this and haven't read the Anita Blake series at all, and it's very possible you'll enjoy Touch the Dark more if you More...

38 comments like (33 people liked it)

Oct 31, 2010

Kat rated it:

What can I say about Touch The Dark by Karen Chance?

First of all there are vampires. Yes!

Second of all, there is a heroine and a few sexy vamps around. Yes!

Then there is Cleopatra, Dracula’s brother, Eustache Dauger, Rasputin, The Oracle, Raphael (I’m pretty sure they’re referring to Raphael Sanzio da Urbino), Kit Marlowe, Jack the Ripper and whatever other historic celebrities that Chance can possibly dream up.

It’s almost like she’s jumping up and do More...

10 comments like (30 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2011

Mariya rated it:

I have finally found a new Urban Fantasy vampire series to rave about and it's about time. The Cassandra Palmer Series is one you don't want to miss.

I held off this book for so long because of all of the mixed reviews out there. I had also started it like 6 times, but finally the next time I told myself I was going to read this and finish it, damn it. And I did and I am so mad I held off, but bright side of that story is the fifth book has just came out.

I am not going to More...

31 comments like (9 people liked it)

Aug 14, 2011

Simone rated it:

I would actually give this one 2.5 or 2.75 stars if possible...it was generally good, but definitely gave the sense that you had inadvertently picked up a book in the middle of series, instead of at the beginning. Which is good in many ways...you hit the ground running, and it's not immediately obvious what is going on and who is on who's side, which can be thought-provoking and interesting. On the other hand, it left me with the feeling sometimes that I was missing something, and checking back More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jul 25, 2011

Tara rated it:

So if not for reassurances from trusted people, I would probably not pick up the next book. I mean after over 100 pages of world building there's finally some action and it ends very abruptly. That's not to say I didn't like it, it just means that at this point I could take it or leave it. In the end, I'm not sure about which characters will return, and I am again trapped in the head of only one character (first person narration), which as I've said before I find really frustrating.

More...

25 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Lady Jaye rated it:

I read this book. And stuff happens in it, but I truly couldn't tell you what because I haven't the foggiest idea what it was about. This book is like that horror movie that has all the elements of a good, frightful time, but goes so over-the-top that it ruins the show.

It started out auspiciously enough, with Cassandra Palmer in hiding from some sleazy vampires. They had given chase, finally found her, and now she had to be on the run again. Intriguing. Then the dumping begins. So muc More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jun 02, 2011

Suzanne the Mighty ~Satin Seductress~ rated it:

WARNING! This book may leave you out of breath and dizzy due to non stop action and far too sexy vampires

Cassie Palmer has a problem. In fact Cassie has quite a few, a psycho mobster vampire who also happens to be her former guardian has found her after 3 years of being on the run; her clarvoiyant abilities seems to be getting more vivid and disturbing; her Billy Joe, her ghostly sidekick keeps disappearing at most inconvenient times and her former roommate isn't quite what he seems. B More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2010

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" rated it:

This is a really hard book to rate. It's very good, but at the same time, I had some serious issues reading it. Let's talk about some of my issues first (get the bad news out of the way first):

1. It seemed very cramped. What I mean by this is, action scene would flow into action scene. It was hard to keep up and catch my breath. I needed a departure between these to get my bearings.
2. I really think that there needed to be more dialogue. It would have flowed better. The narr More...

42 comments like (31 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Inara rated it:

Cassie Palmer is a clairvoyant and was raised by a vampire what I thought to be a very intriguing storyline. Because of her childhood between vampires she understands them and their habits far more better than anyone else (e.g. the war mage Pritkin). But after she discovers that Tony (the vampire with whom she lived) had killed her parents that he could use her gift only for his own advantages she flees. After three years on the run she is found and now the real excitement begins..
Although More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Dec 27, 2008

Cathy rated it:

Good first in a series. Strong characters and plot. Good ending that leaves the story resolved but opens up a whole new nest of problems for the next book to deal with. Very likable main character.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 14, 2008

Minsma rated it:

I wish I could give 2-1/2 stars to this one. I sort of liked it, but meh, not enough to stand up and say, "I like it." The worldbuilding was quite intriguing--a modern day sybil trying to stay out of the clutches of the vampires, fey, werewolves, and war mages engaged in an otherworldly power struggle. I swore I'd never read another vampire book, but this premise drew me in. Ms. Chance's story "Buying Trouble" in the On the Prowl anthology was also charming, convincing me More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 23, 2007

Kate rated it:

I dunno. The author is talented. She has a way with words and can paint some pretty pictures.

But the whole story is told as exposition. Very little action actually happens. It is mainly two characters in the room, discussing some Highly Important Matters that happened somewhere else. It would have been really nice to have "shown", rather than "told", this story. Some great premises are presented, but then they kind of peter out... we never really get attach More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2010

ROSE rated it:

Une héroine intéressante, ni trop courageuse, ni trop prude et qui a grandi dans un milieu plutôt inhabituel...
Une histoire qui tient la route, sans beaucoup de passages descriptifs (très peu, en fait... On ne sait pas trop à quoi ressemble les villes et bâtiments dans lequel evoluent les personnages, finalement.)
A l'inverse, nous nous retrouvons face à un trop-plein de personnages secondaires et d'informations sur leurs vies, d'un coup... Du coup, nous sommes perdus pendant un bon nom More...

0 comments like

Dec 30, 2011

Quinn rated it:

2.5 stars

Sometimes when you're chatting away on GR or lurking on someone's feed, you see character pairings mentioned all over the place. You know what I mean - Cat and Bones, Kate and Curran, Eve and Roarke etc. etc. In fact, that's what got me started on the Kate Daniels series, and that worked out really well for me. Cassie and Pritkin? Not so much.

Touch the Dark is one big info-dump with a plot on the side. It was drowning in narrative with precious little dialog More...

12 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2011

Regina rated it:

3.75 stars. I had very low expectations for this book. The reviews for this book were all over the place, many people thought it had too much world building and info dumping in the beginning and others thought the beginning was choppy.

This is obviously the first book in a series, it seems to suffer the first book urban fantasy syndrome – but I still really enjoyed it. There is some info dumps and world building in the first 50 pages or so that is done outside of telling the story More...

44 comments like (9 people liked it)

Aug 27, 2011

Fábio rated it:

A série Twilight de Stephenie Meyer deu o mote para a recente explosão de vampiros, seja na literatura, cinema ou séries de televisão. Com o género a saturar cada vez mais e com o último livro de Meyer lançado o ano passado (Amanhecer), a Gailivro volta a apostar nos vampiros. E apesar de não ter o potencial comercial de Twilight, o livro de Karen Chance é certamente um título forte e surpreendente.
“O Despertar das Trevas” é o primeiro título da série “Cassandra Palmer”, centrada nesta pe More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 06, 2010

Gemma rated it:

I found this book to be a bit of a let down - the main character, Cassie Palmer, was a lot less irritating than many heroines that I've read about, and the world building and characters were intriguing, but to me it's still pretty 'meh'.

Cassie Palmer, a clairvoyant on the run from the vamp gangster who raised her, finds herself looking towards the vampire Senate for protection when he decides to exact some revenge on her.
Cassie was a funny person to be inside the head of, and h More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 14, 2009

Olivia rated it:

All this book has brought me are headdesks and shouts of, "Why!? WHY!?"

The main character is ridiculously dense and unlikeable. Through the whole book, Cassie is either freaking out unnecessarily, or getting angry over benign situations. I'm honestly surprised this character can even figure out how to put on her hooker-wear in the morning; she's brainless and I spent most of the book slapping my forehead at the stupid decisions she made.

The writing is terrible More...

3 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2009

Nichole (Dirty H) rated it:

3.5 stars.
This could be a 4 star book if my main reaction weren't "Huh?"

Basically, Karen Chance tried to cram waaaay too much information into one book. She has created a very complex and very interesting world that would be fun to read about it if she gave it out in doses instead of cramming it down the reader's throat right away.

My other complaints:
1. The main character, Cassie, is really bland. She has no real personality; I couldn't get a real f More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 15, 2008

Mai rated it:

*need to add review*
I could go on and on about what's wrong with this book...series. (Below is just spontaneous ranting. More to be added. With proof)

Put it simply, for book that's written in 1st person, Cassie's character, and her personality, doesn't come through at all. Also, was the play-by-play sex necessary?

So many problems in a book...from too much back story, too much going on, time travel, vampire mobs, I could go on and on. It can't seem to decide whether More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 11, 2008

Anita rated it:

I am surprised by how much I liked this book. Usually, I'm turned off by non-stop action books. I don't like it when the heroine is fighting for her life in every single chapter - give the poor girl a break already! But even though this book fits that profile, I still enjoyed it - a lot!

Basic plot: A clairvoyant young woman named Cassandra was raised in a powerful mafia-type vampire's household from the age of 4. In her teens, she figures out that the vampire (Tony) killed her parent More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 29, 2008

Claire rated it:

Thank goodness I got this book at the library. I'm so tired of buying "paranormal romances" based on peoples' stellar reviews just to discover they are all the same cheesy mess. I keep picking these books up in the hope of getting the same thrill I got with the first 10 Anita Blake books, but, alas, I think it is hopeless.

I would have to agree with many of the other reviewers who gave low ratings. There is nothing new or different about this book. I also can't stand all these More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 26, 2008

Cherie rated it:

Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking Mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with revenge in mind, she's forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection. The undead senators won't help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire—and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay.

I liked the story itself, though the author More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 12, 2007

Rhapsody rated it:

I really wasn't into this one. Thinking back on it, I have to give it 1 star instead of 2. I just couldn't get into the characters or the ideas behind the series. The heroine was pretty boring and unoriginal, a bit like Anita Blake but without the spark. There was no real love story, and the one steamy scene used this line that I just have no tolerance for after having endured so much LKH--the gorgeous vamp says something to the effect, "How can you gaze at me as though I'm the most bea More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 04, 2008

Wendy rated it:

This was a really good book. The characters are well developed and the main character is a strong woman who is trying to be in control of her life. Cassie is a young woman who has been raised in the world of the Supernatural by a ruthless, cold blooded vampire, who had her parents killed when she was young so that he could control Cassie. But while she knows about vamps and their politics, a lot of what she encounters is new to her.

The plot is interesting, although the author does t More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 27, 2010

Gamatst rated it:

I really liked this book, it was quite a wild ride and a new style for me. The very large information dumps that had to be waded through were annoying. I realize it's a first book and I hope to find that the author has since started to use conversation / dialogue between characters to give the information in a more absorb-able/enjoyable way. On to #2 Claimed By Shadow.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 26, 2008

Ladymockingbird rated it:

I picked this one up at the bookstore on a whim and I loved it. The author infuses elements of greco-roman mythology into her take on a modern world where supernaturals go unnoticed by normal humans.

Her world is populated by Vampires, Weres, Satyr's, Black Witches, Silver Witches, Clairvoyants and a host of other interesting kinds of creatures.

The lead character is witty, frightened, and entirely out of her element in this incredibly fast-paced story. The plot is enjoyably More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Lorre rated it:

This first book of the Cassie Palmer series is a great story !
Cassie is a seer (clairvoyant) who has been brought up by Tony, a greedy vampire. It's not a loving father-daughter relationship,
but a vampire-human servant relationship. Tony uses Cassie's power to get info about the competition and gain more wealth.
She manages to get away from Tony, with the help of a ghost friend, and she's been on the run for 3 years.

It's a great world with ghosts, witches, mages and of co More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 19, 2008

Jean rated it:

On the upside it had some really good ideas and quite a few moments that had me laughing out loud. The addition of historical figures was interesting. On the downside the awkward sex-scenes drag down the humor and the pacing bogs so that I still felt like I was at the beginning of the story until reading the last few chapters where the downward slide to the finish is abrupt and quick. More then once the characters ask questions that have already been answered or don't explain things that really More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 17, 2007

TDF Pamela rated it:

This is an awesome book. It's a nice hybrid of vampire, magic, and time-travel, and it thankfully doesn't fall victim to many of the clichés of the genre. Our protagonist is Cassie, a clairvoyant young woman who's on the run from her vampire gangster master. Yes, you read that right. Vampire gangster. She ends up falling into something that's a lot bigger than she expected and learns that she is being saddled with the powers of the Pythia, a powerful clairvoyant who can shift through time a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)