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The Fire of Dawn

V.V. Aku (Goodreads Author)

3.87 · Rating details · 38 ratings · 17 reviews

It’s the last day of the summer holiday in The Hague when Leah Koopmans’s carefree life as a teen is brutally flipped upside down. Her pale skin turns a dazzling gold, her senses heighten, and her muscles possess an uncanny strength. But with these exhilarating new powers comes a thirst that can only be quenched by one thing: human blood.

While her body cr ...more

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Kindle Edition, 414 pages

Published April 1st 2012 by Smashwords Edition (first published March 9th 2012)

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· 38 ratings · 17 reviews

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Jul 11, 2019 Sherry Fundin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: won, fiction, fantasy, paranormal, read-in-2019, romance, supernatural, vampire

BLEW MY MIND over this mesmerizing, riveting, totally engrossing vampire story that had me in tears over one character’s death and I was unable to stop reading until I got to the last word, and it is even better when the story is told in one novel, no waiting.

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Aug 19, 2012 Lizzy Lessard rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, reviewed

Overall: If you’ve ever wanted the gritty details of blood lust as a vampire, Fire of Dawn won’t disappoint. The first few chapters really fit the narrative, while the main character, Leah, is overdosing on her new abilities – so are we. The author doesn’t simply tell you the Leah can see better than humans – taste better – hear better – smell better. She dowses the reader in details making you understand that Leah is definitely a vampire. I loved how Leah’s first human kill is portrayed. Leah i Overall: If you’ve ever wanted the gritty details of blood lust as a vampire, Fire of Dawn won’t disappoint. The first few chapters really fit the narrative, while the main character, Leah, is overdosing on her new abilities – so are we. The author doesn’t simply tell you the Leah can see better than humans – taste better – hear better – smell better. She dowses the reader in details making you understand that Leah is definitely a vampire. I loved how Leah’s first human kill is portrayed. Leah is powerless like an addict to deny herself the blood of a human. Did I mention that these aren’t sparkly vampires?

Sunlight doesn’t kill them, but it makes them weaker. They don’t sleep in coffins. They can die from blunt trauma as well as fire. And several of the characters do die, which is always a plus in my eyes.

Characters: I did have trouble connecting with some of the characters. I didn’t really care if some of them died and I particularly hated the love interest, Max. I’m not quite sure why, as he was both a good guy to Leah and a blood-thirsty monster to anything with a pulse – so typically my type of guy. I did enjoy both Adam and Koos, who are part of the Brotherhood. They felt like they had real purpose and personalities. Adam wants to work with Leah to find a compromise, while Koos thinks that she needs to be destroyed to minimize the threat of the vampires.

Plot: I like how there were no good or evil people, only shades of grey. The vampires must feed on humans to survive. The Brotherhood want to protect humans by killing the Vampires. As Leah is the only child ever born to two vampires, she is more powerful and thus the survival of the vampires is thrusted upon her as soon as her powers are realized. Things get a little tricky when Elena (one of the vampires) predicts that Leah will destroy the vampires. Will she? Well, you’ll have to read The Fire of Dawn to find out.

Ending: I’m a little sad by the ending. I liked the flashback near the end that fleshed out some of the characters, but otherwise it was predictable end to the main plot. However, I loved that there wasn’t some kind of fix-all magic potion or ability that saved a certain character from death. I adore authors that are willing to sacrifice characters.

*I received a copy of this book from a book tour in exchange for my honest review. Giveaway and full review of this book available at http://erlessard.wordpress.com/2012/0... ...more

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Mar 17, 2012 V.V. Aku rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

Shelves: vampires, paranormal, e-book, kindle

A note from the author:

As a huge fan of vampires, but someone who hates to see them as soulless monsters, The Fire of Dawn offered me the opportunity to create immortals that aren’t cold-skinned and undead, but alive and intriguing creatures. I hope that you will enjoy Leah Koopmans, who discovers on her eighteenth birthday that she is an immortal, ancient Lili Fan, a Chinese martial arts master trapped inside the body of a fourteen-year-old, and sexy, Italian Max Machiavelli. Let th ...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Ernest Bellingan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fafourate

I found this book by accident & what a find I'm so excited to discover a new brilliant writer. This story is completely unique & it's a completely different take on vampires. It's a real thrilling read one you won't be able to put down. The ride through the world was fantastic & for those who have traveled to some of these places will make this story even more thrilling. The characters are exciting & completely unique. I can't wait to see where this series I'm hoping it'll be a s ...more

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Oct 01, 2012 V.V. Aku rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

Finally! After much anticipation. The Fire of Dawn is finally available in Paperback!

Claim your copy at any Amazon store or at Barnes and Noble.

Enjoy.

V.V. AKU

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Aug 03, 2012 MGGMMGGM rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I just finished The Fire of Dawn by V.V. Aku and I was surprised to like it as much as I did. The Fire of Dawn is a novel that I couldn’t quite identify the characters in it but before that let’s talk about The Fire of Dawn as a whole.

Leah celebrates her 18th birthday with her bestfriend when suddenly the club is engulfed by a huge surge of fire from an unknown source killing her bestfriend and everybody in the club. Leah seems to believe that this is a dream until she sees her condi I just finished The Fire of Dawn by V.V. Aku and I was surprised to like it as much as I did. The Fire of Dawn is a novel that I couldn’t quite identify the characters in it but before that let’s talk about The Fire of Dawn as a whole.

Leah celebrates her 18th birthday with her bestfriend when suddenly the club is engulfed by a huge surge of fire from an unknown source killing her bestfriend and everybody in the club. Leah seems to believe that this is a dream until she sees her condition – clothes filthy, her body is full of soot and grime and there are unexplainable changes in herself. Leah runs to escape but suddenly finds the unbearable thirst for human blood. Leah is so confuse and ends up killing a guy in a beach – that is where she is discovered by the immortals. Without knowing who to trust, Leah is hesitant with the new comers but her curiosity was piqued by the groups revelations. Soon enough Leah learns that this group is her “family” and later on will learn her history and what she is really. In addition to a history unknown to her, Leah soon discovers that she is in the middle of a war between immortals and the brotherhood. What will Leah do now?

Basically that’s the gist of it. First that I’d like to point out is that the immortals claims to be not vampiric in nature but does share similarities. It’s actually hard to grasp and separate the two entities but I would admit that this idea is very interesting. It’s just hard because I can’t personally label these immortals – the have the speed, the thirst for blood, a number of supernatural powers to help them BUT they do die easily. They can withstand sunlight, or it weakens them. They are immortal but destructible. It’s like they are weaker than a vampire but stronger than a human being. It was hard following the first part of the story but when the blood thrist was introduced I immediately though vampire but then the immortals explained what they really are so that helped. Let’s talk characters -

Leah was very confused at first which resulted to the reader (in this case me) to be confused as well. She is somewhat stubborn and lost, scared and shy. Her traits are understandable and I don’t really mind much since as the story progress, Leah eventually became a strong main character. For an immortal, she is not as vicious than the rest but rather remorseful which is why the other immortals believe that she can reunite all the clans together. There is a love interest for Leah who is Max but Adam will also played a significant part in her life during the later part of the book. I particularly love the scene wherein Max was first introduced to Leah -

From that exact moment when my hand slid into his, I knew that I wasn’t alone anymore. I knew that I was home.

That scene signifies that Leah is not only around people that can protect her but also is the start of her interest in Max. Unfortunately it wasn’t as heart pounding as I wanted it to be.

Max was strong, beautiful and charismatic. I can’t really picture Max and his love interest with Leah. It wasn’t really working for me which is why I can’t consider him Leah’s mate. The connection was too fast. I love you’s was exchanged as early as page 62 (Nook copy) – I hate insta-love. I can’t reiterate it as much as I want to but there are some insta-love that works and some just needs development and time. Another issue I have with Max was when she was teaching Leah to feed, it felt forceful to me which results to me hating Max a little bit.

Adam is part of the Brotherhood and not the immortals camp. He is human and is very persistent in squashing the war between the two camps. He is sincere and charismatic as well without the instant love interest present. His connection with Leah was more on the caring type – couldn’t really consider a love interest but more of a brotherly love but it is there.

I just like to insert Lili here. She is I think one of my favorite character. Portrayed as Chinese, she was very mature and a strong force in the immortal group. I love her dialogues and her wisdom passages. I particularly loved this one -

Your head is filled with worries and speculations about the past, present and future, It prevents you from seeing what’s right in front of you. She inhaled and raised her arms again. It doesn’t matter where you have been or where you are going.

The immortal and brotherhood camp is a combination of different characters. There are characters that will make you laugh and sympathize and there are some that will make you cringe. It is very balanced on my opinion and I love how Aku wrote this out.

The story both has a superb conflict and resolution. I love how the two camps fight over what they believe is the “right” and how they resolve it by finding a common ground. The ending was what I expected and I couldn’t be happier. This is quite an interesting read and I couldn’t put it down. I love this story and am looking forward to what happens next. ...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Rachael rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012, 2012-favorites, review-copy, reviewed, romance, ebooks-i-own

Check out my tour stop for an international giveaway of this wonderful book @ Moosubi Reviews (:

So when I started the book, realizing it was about something along the lines of vampires, like a lot of people I imagined something along the lines of this well-known book:

>
*Image Courtesy of Wikipedia*

And of course, my interpretation of Max, along with the other male immortals came out something along the ...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Ellen rated it liked it

Shelves: blog-tours

Leah Koopman finds herself waking up after celebrating her 18th birthday to the most horrible dream. She remembers a fire, an explosion, her best friend being incinerated along with a lot of others. Surely this can't be true, but then she looks down and finds herself covered in soot and realizes that her nightmare is real. She takes off running, suddenly realizing that everything has changed. She notices that she can now see things she that couldn't see before. All of her senses are heightened. Leah Koopman finds herself waking up after celebrating her 18th birthday to the most horrible dream. She remembers a fire, an explosion, her best friend being incinerated along with a lot of others. Surely this can't be true, but then she looks down and finds herself covered in soot and realizes that her nightmare is real. She takes off running, suddenly realizing that everything has changed. She notices that she can now see things she that couldn't see before. All of her senses are heightened. She has strength and speed that she can't explain. She also has an insatiable thirst burning her throat, and finds herself craving human blood. Not knowing who to trust, Leah runs, and when a group of beautiful immortals try to help her, she doesn't quite trust them, but then finds herself being chased by something even more dangerous, the Brotherhood, who want nothing more than to see her dead. As she travels with her new immortal friends, she finds herself immediately drawn to Max Machiavelli. He is absolutely beautiful and Leah can't stay away from him. Max feels the same way about Leah. She joins his coven in Amsterdam and learns much about her family and her past. Leah desperately wants to find a way to avoid continuing to kill humans to survive. After being captured, she meets, Adam, a human and a member of the Brotherhood, who also has the same vision. Can they work together and come to an agreement between the immortals and the brotherhood, or will everyone end up dead in the process?

This was an interesting book. The immortals in the story don't claim to be vampires, but they do live off human blood, though they don't share all the common traits with your typical vampire. This was a different and interesting concept. Leah is very powerful, and destined to be the leader to bring the different covens together again. She is also very opposed to the killing of humans. Being raised as a human for the first 18 years of her life, she has an aversion to the slaughter of humans, even if only done for survival. It was kind of hard to get a grasp on exactly what was going on in the beginning of the book, but once it was made clearer what was happening, the story progressed at a fast pace. Max and Leah are mates, and there is quite a bit of hot romance between them. Max loves Leah dearly and would do anything for her. He is quite the hottie himself. Adam, the human, was a very nice guy and helped Leah out a lot. She cared about him a great deal. Several other members of the different covens were also interesting to get to know. The setting and locations in the story were all beautiful, and the progression of the story is interesting and keeps your attention. If you like vampire and immortal stories, or are looking for a fresh perspective on the vampire scene, then The Fire of Dawn might be something you would enjoy checking out. ...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Between the Bind rated it really liked it

4.5 Stars from Between the Bind

This book begins with our heroine, Leah, celebrating her 18th birthday at a club with her friends. Then, she wakes up vaguely remembering an explosion, not knowing where she is or how she got there. As she's running through the streets trying to find her way home, Leah discovers that she can move extremely quickly...and her throat is burning...and blood is all over her body.

Finally finding her way back home, Leah's watches her parents cry and comfo 4.5 Stars from Between the Bind

This book begins with our heroine, Leah, celebrating her 18th birthday at a club with her friends. Then, she wakes up vaguely remembering an explosion, not knowing where she is or how she got there. As she's running through the streets trying to find her way home, Leah discovers that she can move extremely quickly...and her throat is burning...and blood is all over her body.

Finally finding her way back home, Leah's watches her parents cry and comfort each other in through the windows. Wanting to see them but knowing something isn't quite right, she keeps her distance. This is where she smells others "like her." Meeting the most beautiful man she has ever seen, a ferocious woman with formidable powers, and learning she has never been who she thought she was, Leah quickly acclimates to her new world and family.

Although they do not call themselves vampires, these Immortals are rather similar - they drink blood to survive, have unique powers depending on the immoral, and are amazingly beautiful. They even form family units based on their creators. But that is where the similarities end.

Since creation, these creature have warred with the Brotherhood, a group of devout humans bound to protect and serve human kind, eliminating the immortals whenever possible. V.V. Aku creates these antagonists in such a smart way. They are protecting who we, as readers, are. They aren't innately evil, torturing immortals and being inhumane, they are only trying to stop immortals from feeding and murdering humans. I was intrigued by the Brotherhood and sympathized with their cause.

My only qualm was how quickly the relationship between Leah and Max moved forward. Leah hardly had one day to adjust to this new life before she had an incontrollable attraction and developing relationship with Max. Although I didn't always like Max, the reader can understand his need and desire to protect Leah from all harm, even if that requires him being overprotective and jerky.

This was a lovely book! V.V. Aku is an incredibly talented writer, with a style that pulls the reader in from the first page and leaves you with an ending you'll never guess on the last. I truly enjoyed every moment of reading this book - so, go grabs you a copy! ;) ...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Darkfallen rated it liked it

Shelves: read-n-reviewed

I just want to start by saying that this is more like 3.5 stars.

Leah has always thought she was just a normal girl. That is until her 18th birthday when everything changes without warning. One minute she is out partying with her friends and the next she's running away from the club that is now on fire. She doesn't know how she did it, but she knows that she is to blame. Not knowing what is going on with her, but she knows she can't go home, she runs into a group of people that tell her that the I just want to start by saying that this is more like 3.5 stars.

Leah has always thought she was just a normal girl. That is until her 18th birthday when everything changes without warning. One minute she is out partying with her friends and the next she's running away from the club that is now on fire. She doesn't know how she did it, but she knows that she is to blame. Not knowing what is going on with her, but she knows she can't go home, she runs into a group of people that tell her that they know who she is. Turning to them for help it isn't long before she is immersed in a new world of immortals that she never knew existed.

I really enjoyed Leah and the gang of immortals. I liked how they are basically a take on the vampire lore yet their very existence proves that vampires aren't real. Still I consider them vampires. lol And while they may be the beautiful, and slightly sparkly type, they are definitely not the passive "nice" vampires that seem to have taken over today's PNR. No they are vicious and have no remorse for what they are, and who they eat. It was refreshing to read about vampires that are actually acting like vampires. They hunt, they feed, and they have no problem admitting that humans are simply breakfast.

The only reason why this didn't get 5 stars from me is because it could use some editing, and I had a hard time with how fast the love relationship between Max and Leah happened. It happened so fast it wasn't really believable at first, but by the end you learn why that is and it makes it a bit easier. When it comes to editing, along with your basic typo errors, there are lots of times when the story was over-explained using run on sentences stuffed with descriptive words. While you need some, to many describing words in a row just tends to leave the reader lost in the explanation. I think it could have been thinned out a bit and it would have made it easier to flow with.

Overall this was a great read about vampires in their true nature with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing! ...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Soma Rostam "IOB" rated it liked it

-- My Thoughts --
I don't actually know hot to start my review of this book, it's just that it was a wonderful addition to my reading list. This book can be described as Twilight-like with a new twists and turns.
Leah barely survives a huge explosion that killed her friends and everyone in the bar, where she went to celebrate her 18th birthday. After gaining back her consciousness, Leah realizes she has a hugely-improved eye vision, hearing ability, and that she is hungry. She is cra ...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Natasja rated it really liked it

The Fire of Dawn by V.V. Aku is her debut novel and a book I couldn’t put down. This story took me in from the first page and kept me reading till it was done. I was drawn to this book when I read the book description and I have to say it didn’t disappoint me.

Leah Koopman’s is a young woman who just turned eighteen and that is exactly the time when everything changes in her life. She finds out the hard way that she isn’t quite human and that some brotherhood is hunting her since the ...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Sarah (Workaday Reads) rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2012

This book didn’t start super strong, but the final third made the story worth reading. The ending was very satisfying, and I really felt for the characters during the final scenes.

I have to admit that I didn’t much care for Leah.I had no idea who she was, or what she was like before her powers suddenly developed. It was like her life only began once her powers manifested, or like her previous life was just gone. It felt odd, and left me with little sympathy for what she was going thr ...more

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Sep 11, 2012 M.A Grace rated it really liked it

The Paranormal aspect of this book was great. I LOVED LOVED LOVED (did I say that enough?) LOVED the "vampires". I was so happy to read about vampires that were not all lovey dovey passive. They are out for blood and I LOVED IT!!

The Romance aspect well didn't really do it for me. The whole thing was a bit to fast and unrealistic for even a paranormal. So if you're into that then awesome. Me I'm not.

Over all the story did hold my attention and had some great adventure acti ...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: finished

Fast paced, entertaining and very difficult to put down. V.V. Aku pens her characters strong within a great story line. I found the book refreshing as it was a different take on vampires than I am used to. I recommend "The Fire of Dawn" to everyone who loves the vampire genre.

This review is based on a complimentary copy which was provided for an honest review.

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Sep 02, 2012 LAWonder10 rated it really liked it

This was a very well-written vampire story with a unique view of what vampires really are. It was written in a manner that would be fit for Young Adults and adults.
The point was a little overdone but with enough action and intrigue that it wasn't objectionable.
Contains good points of discussion for Book Clubs.

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Jul 10, 2012 Book Blogging Beauties rated it really liked it

Read our review here:
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About V.V. Aku

V.V. Aku

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V.V. Aku has always believed in beautiful stories. She found the man of her dreams and her way in complex China, and wrote a fairytale of her own: The Fire of Dawn－a scintillating tale about strength, self-discovery, and a girl who dared to follow her heart.

Born and raised in The Netherlands, V.V. Aku (Veerle Ackerstaff) soon discovered that the world was a place worth exploring. After graduating ...more

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