Book Reviews

So last time I did two vampire books so this time i figured I would be fair and do two 4b98bff2adce14537ff9926d13f52db9werewolf books. Now I said before that I actually really like vampire stories only I tend not to like how some people change and portray them and as such there are very few vampire stories that I like. This in not the case with werewolves as I tend to sit somewhere on the edge of indifferent and apathetic. And maybe that is why I found these books so much more enjoyable because I don’t have a set idea of what a werewolf should be like so there is nothing for me to get angry over.


So lets start off with probably the weaker of the two.


No Man’s Land: Imp World


Debra Dunbar


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Now let me preference this review by saying this book is a side story to a much larger Imp Series. (This book falls between the second and third.) However this book is about completely original story characters only based in the same world as the main story, to the point the only tie in with the main series is an off handed reference. So as far as understanding things go if you read the first book of the Imp Series that will do enough of the world building for you to understand the context of what is going on.


So the story is a simple one, one of our main characters is a vampire who messed up and her punishment is exile and more for laughs they decided 0f06c98125f2b8af13862feb20b3e6f5to dump said vampire in the center of werewolf territory. Now here is already my first problem with this story. It was made clear that Exile is rare as normally they would simply kill the vampire but they never gave a reason why in this particular case they exiled instead of executed. They gave a slight impression it was so they could use her to spy on neighboring vampires but the feeling I got was that was more of an afterthought than anything else. That since she was there they might as well use her.


Anyway, moving on. It is here that the main vampire meats main werewolf. Main werewolf takes pity on main vampire’s broken state and tries to nurse her back to health. Constantly under the eye of a werewolf the main vampire has to learn to adapt and not eat people because then the werewolves will kill her. And that is one of the things I did really like about this. I never felt that our main character thought themselves a monster or hated feeding on people. In fact the opposite is true. She even said that if given the choice again she would become a vampire again though she does have regrets and has made mistakes.


As time goes on she feels that the people around her are more like family than the family that beat her and left her for dead and slowly comes to chose them over other vampires but this change is slow and gradual. And you do feel like you took the journey along with our MC.


Now you may have noticed I have yet to talk about the romance. That is because there isnt the_vampire_and_the_werewolf_by_acaciathornany. plain and simple. Our two main characters are obviously friends and aside from a single comment at the end and a few slight nods to their seemingly closer than friends relationship there is no romance between our mains. Now if there was ever a sequel made of this book I could see that happening but considering the number of books in the series that have come out along with another side story that does have its own sequel i have my doubts that it will be getting one any time soon.


Final Thoughts: I did like this book but would only recommend it if you have at least read and like the first book in the Imp Series, otherwise you should probably give this one a pass.


Pure of Heart: Faoladh Series book one


Danielle Parker


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First a Faoladh is an Irish werewolf. There now you understand the title of the book before f90cf9d97fb435b1af3d8ad1ad022904you get nearly two thirds of the way through several key points about things have been made so much clearer. Ugh*


This story is a little different. There is no big bad (though one is slightly hinted at as sequel bait.) There is no end of the world plot or any kind of looming threat of any kind. It’s like the everyday life of a werewolf and if I am being fully honest I loved it. I have no real explanation for why I enjoyed this book as much as I did. But despite nothing seemingly important happening I could have just continued going forever. When the ending and climax did come I was actually disappointed because I was enjoying myself so much.


However I do feel the need to bring this up as it seems to come up in just about every werewolf book of all time. Wolves do not mate for life. In the pack only the Alpha Male and Alpha Female mate and that is it and it does not matter who the Alpha is. When the pack gets two big it splits and the new pack has a new Alpha Male and Female. So can we please stop with this only love one person forever because I’m a wolf stuff.werewolf


Alright so the plot is simple our main character is a werewolf or Faoladh as she and her family is Irish and her parents were also werewolves only they died when she was eight. so now she lives with her not a werewolf uncle who besides knowing about werewolves knows nothing else. Every full moon she changes and has no control but only at night despite that the moon is also out during the day and moon light is just reflected sun light. Sorry its the little things that bug me the most. Several years prior to the book our MC ate her boyfriend and because of this she is now paranoid that at any moment she will lose control and kill again.


She tries to keep to herself and not get close to anyone until a new woman moves into the small town and the wolf inside basically goes into heat whenever she is around. this is especially odd since our main character isn’t attracted to women. At first our MC tries to avoid this new woman all together but the wolf starts taking over more and more trying to seek her out so our MC decides to go the route of being ‘just’ friends, and that works about as well as you would expect in a romance novel. Their love blooms and a relationship is formed. Then the Climax of the story has to come along and ruin my fun.


bfa23da0c76875b2cf1b4c40e0dae9eaUnless you want to have a different kind of fun.

As I said before there is very little in way of overarching conflict. Its the day to day struggles of the our MC and the people she comes into contact with. The only action is at the very end and even then there is nothing overly exciting or thrilling about it. If anything I felt it slightly forced though it was building from the beginning so there is that. 1378618284-myenia_october_sarahfinniganWhat makes this book is the characters. I genuinely feel like these are different and unique people. In fact a little my dismay I have met some people exactly like these people which made me want to punch them in their stupid faces all the more. All of them have flaws but none of them are without sympathy or reliability making them seem all the more real. And considering this seems to be this author’s first and only book at the time of writing this that is rather impressive.


That being said I did not care for the MC and I think she is the biggest thing bringing this book down. Strange I know after everything I just said but I simply did not care for her. I know she is a broken person who deflects her feeling with sarcasm and smart assism but it was over done. Like every time someone genuinely tried to help her she would get made to the point of being horribly mean and seemingly uncaring which only made me say ‘fine if she doesnt want help then why should I care that her life is going so bad.’ Now yes she would normally apologize at some point latter on for what was said but when you then go and do it again the same or very next day it makes your apology ring a little hollow.


Final Thoughts: Despite my gripes I did really enjoy this book even though I feel like I shouldnt have, and its hard for me to even think of what I actually like other than when I started I was so enthralled I couldnt stop. If you want a rather heart warming and somewhat feelgood read than yes I recommend this book. I would have already read the second book if it was out and I fully intent to buy it the second it does.


 


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Published on May 27, 2016 04:00
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