Den of Shadows Series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - Starting October 6th 2017

[Anna 'Bookbuyer']

By day, Risika sleeps in shaded room in Concord, Massachusetts. By night, she hunts the streets of New York City. She is used to being alone.
But someone is following Risika. He has left her a black rose, the same sort of rose that sealed her fate three hundred years ago. Three hundred years ago Risika had a family- a brother and a father who loved her. Three hundred years ago she was human.
Now she is a vampire, a powerful one. But her past has come back to torment her.

[Maddie]

Chapter 1 (view spoiler)[Well this is interesting! Shapeshifting vampires who can teleport too? Seems way too powerful.. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Chapter 12 (view spoiler)[Well this picked up! She became a vampire because of something Alexander did. I feel like he was a vampire, what with his mind powers or something. Or maybe just a witch? But then why was he talking with Aubrey and Ather?

And how typical that she's just default strong. At least she isn't the strongest.

I love the jumps between time. I'm a big fan of historical <3 (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Into Chapter 18 (view spoiler)[Thank gosh she didn't kill Katherine!

And I hate Aubrey for killing Tora! (hide spoiler)] Really liking this book :D

Why is it that I feel like I can't give a vampire book 5 stars XD

[Maddie]

Finished (view spoiler)[Wow Alexander's alive! And he is a witch, as I thought!

That was one intense fight, I would have murdered Fala for the disturbance! And I am so please Risika decided to take his blood. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Review: This was so good! Little short read, but full of action! And also jumps between 2 times, back in the 1700s, (view spoiler)[explaining her family, the cause for her change, and how she deals with it (hide spoiler)] and the present time, (view spoiler)[showing how she's matured. (hide spoiler)] It never occurred to me that (view spoiler)[Alexander would be alive still! I did think he was a witch though. (hide spoiler)] I love the (view spoiler)[vengeance between Aubrey and Risika, and I just really hope it doesn't turn into a relationship :/ I love the way Risika took his blood, making herself more powerful than him. (hide spoiler)] I love Risika as a character: she's compassionate, follows her morales, is fiercely protective, and also smart. She knows when and when not to do things. Definitely going to continue this one :D

[Alaina]

Starting In the Forests of the Night now.
Chapters 1-5: (view spoiler)[

Risika's a little bad ass vampire. Well, a bad ass in general. She killed a guy just to prove that she wasn't afraid of Aubrey. If that doesn't scream "I'm a total bad ass and I don't give a single fuck about you and your stupid rules" then I don't know what does...





Also, I think it's pretty cool and kind of scary that vampires can shift into animals... like can they pick any animal at any time or do they just shift into one animal forever?

(hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 6-10: (view spoiler)["The law of the jungle says 'Be strong or be dominated.' The law of our world says 'Be strong or be killed.'"

My feelings while I was reading these chapters:






Well I definitely didn't see that coming. I have so many questions now...
1. So her brother is the reason why she is a vampire now, but why? Why did they want her?
2. Why did he attack them to begin with? Was it to defend his sisters?
3. Why were the vampires even going after their younger sister anyways? WHY?
4. Did her brother die after being stabbed by Aubrey?

I feel like I asked the same question somewhere..but I just want to know why!



Other than those questions I do like how she tries to seem somewhat normal to humans like going to coffee shops, ordering coffee, and people watching. I love people watching because people are so god damn interesting.

(hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 11-15: (view spoiler)[

Oh, so I guess I found out an answer to one of my questions. Her brother, Alexander, did end up dying. OMG and Tora is dead now too?!?!



So much freaking death into a couple of chapters. I'm so sad now. Now I hope she gets her freaking revenge on.



And I love the bad blood between her and Aubrey. It's so interesting and I'm totally rooting for Risika but I'm also secretly wanting it to drag out...

I've been wondering...



Is there a penalty for killing one of Ather's vampires?

ALSO BEFORE I FORGET..I REALLY REALLY REALLY HOPE AUBREY DIDN'T KILL HER STOP MOM. Because that's cruel and I would definitely seek revenge and kill himself. That's like three deaths, two of which were her brother and her tiger that she loved. I seek and demand justice!

I'm hooked and I need to know now!! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 16-20: (view spoiler)[

SHE
JUST
MADE
HIM
HER
BITCH

I'm so freaking proud of Risika! She didn't back down and definitely made sure everyone in that club knew that Aubrey was her bitch now. She's not afraid of him. She's stronger than him. She's more dangerous.





I'm so curious to finish this book and start the next one because I want to know if this will somehow change the way they act towards each other. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapter 21, aka..
Finished: (view spoiler)[








ALEXANDER IS ALIVE?!?

Well, not really alive. He is a vampire too. BUT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MAN?!?! So apparently Ather didn't give a single shit about Alexander protecting his sisters from becoming a vampire because after she made Rachel into one she went back for the other sister, Lynette. Which of course Alexander stopped before it went even further than necessary..but since this is the second time he's done that Ather turned her fangs onto him and he became a vampire.

BUT he waited 300 years to tell Rachel he was a vampire?!?! What the hell man?!?! Who does that?!? And why the hell he so judgmental on her life choices??! Get the hell out of here man.

She had to adapt to this new life. So, she freaking adapted.
Rachel is dead.
Risika is alive.
Deal with it Alexander and take your judgmental ass somewhere else. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

(view spoiler)[Alexander's not a vampire, is he? He's a Tryste witch. (hide spoiler)]

I love your updates XD Make me keen to read the next one!

[Alaina]

Maddison wrote: "[spoilers removed]

I love your updates XD Make me keen to read the next one!"

(view spoiler)[ahhh I confused myself when I was reading it! I just looked back and he mentioned the reason why she was turned into a vampire. my bad!! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Starting Demon in My View now.

Chapters 1-7: (view spoiler)[So this book is about Jessica... now I'm not 100% sure but I think she was briefly mentioned in the first book, In the Forests of the Night. I think Risika was walking by her building where she was typing away on her novel..but then again I'm not 100% sure. So..go with it?!?!

So far I really like Jessica although I feel really bad for her because of how she is treated by her classmates and by her adopted mother. Her life kind of sucks..but they she's an author with an alias and no one knows that they are reading her books. So she's making money while they are still dumb ass students.

I kind of feel bad for Caryn too because of how her and Jessica met. But then again Caryn has secrets and Jessica has a right to not trust her.

Then there's Alex...who I think is Aubrey, but I'm not sure yet. Or maybe he's one of his fledglings..?!?! I don't know. I need to know!

PS. I apologize if my comments are all over the place. My mind is all over the place. Happy Monday?!?! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 8-14: (view spoiler)[I really wonder what Jessica is.. I mean I know she's human but she blocked Aubrey from her mind and she has a weird aura. And with her weird aura people don't like her and that's why everyone leaves her alone at school.

Alex is Aubrey, I KNEW IT! I'm so happy I got one thing right. And I can't believe Caryn gave Aubrey her blood just so Shannon could live. UGH WHY?!? Isn't Witch blood more important than human blood or something?! Not that I'm saying humans aren't important or anything!!

Also is Aubrey developing a little crush on Jessica??! I wonder how that will play out?
DOES JESSICA BECOME A VAMPIRE?!?!
OMG DOES SHE?!?!
DO THEY FALL IN LOVE?!?!

Okay I'm full invested in this series. I need to go back to this book. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 15-21: (view spoiler)[OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
AUBREY KISSED JESSICA
I KNEW IT
I KNEW IT
I KNEW HE HAD A CRUSH ON HER
FALA KNEW
OMG I'M FREAKING OUT

Oh, and Anne is dead. She was Jessica's mom..well she adopted Jessica. Which has me wondering who the hell her parents were.

I don't really like Fala so I'm assuming that she is the villain in this book. I wonder what's going to happen between Aubrey and Jessica. Will she continue to write her books?? I mean she doesn't seem to be afraid of these so-called vampires anyways. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 22-28: (view spoiler)[I get two amazing fight scenes and I'm so freaking happy.

Aubrey vs. Dominique
It was an okay fight. Kind of quick and to the point. No one died or was badly injured. Dominique is still a bitch and I don't like her but the fight was pretty interesting.

Jessica vs. Fala
Now this fight was epic. Jessica definitely held up her own and Fala underestimated her. But Fala got two pretty good bites in her neck so...there's that. She also hit her in the head a bunch of times. Jessica scratched her with the knife so that was pretty interesting..but with all of the head hitting and shit she kind of passed out. Or died? Or something!! I don't know. The chapter ended with blackness!!

I wonder if Jessica will become a vampire?
Will Aubrey come to the rescue?
Will Fala turn her?
Will the witches come save her?
WHO KNOWS?!?!
I don't.
I want to. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 29-33, aka...
Finished: (view spoiler)[

Jessica became a freaking vampire. Aubrey helped her but it was ultimately her choice. I'm proud of her because I didn't want her to die. I'd much rather her become a vampire than die. I love her and I love how she basically just threatened Fala hours after she changed into a freaking vampire. She's going to be a bad ass.

But I do have one question: Are her and Aubrey going to become a vampire item now that she is immortal like him?!?! I really hope so. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

That was a quickie!

[Alaina]

Maddison wrote: "That was a quickie!"

haha yeah it was! I almost started the next book but I thought it would be better to knock off some of my other BR's.

[Maddie]

XD Crazy how you read so much but are still behind on brs :p

[Alaina]

Maddison wrote: "XD Crazy how you read so much but are still behind on brs :p"

I know that weekend of birthdays and a wedding really threw me off. Plus the family days... But I'm hoping to catch up. I've knocked out 3 BR's. I'm half- way through another one. I'm hoping to knock out like 3 or 4 more. I have no idea which one's I'm going to read though.. I have a lot of books around me at the moment.

[Maddie]

When? Today?

My blog: www.thatreadhead1.wordpress.com

[Alaina]

Maddison wrote: "When? Today?

My blog: www.thatreadhead1.wordpress.com"

Yup. Read Demon in My View, Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook, and Lord of Misrule today. I'm currently reading Snow Like Ashes and I have no idea what I'm going to read next. Just trying to trim down my currently reading tab which are all BR's.

[Maddie]

I enjoyed SLA but didn't really like the second one. Maybe because I just left it so long after SLA. But I still need to read FLN which will be an issue XD

[Alaina]

It's weird in the beginning I wasn't sure if I was going to like SLA but now I really do.

[Maddie]

Yay

[Alaina]

Starting Shattered Mirror now.

Chapters 1-7: (view spoiler)[Sarah, who is a witch, a vampire hunter, and a daughter of Dominique, seems pretty interesting so far. She also seems to need more training fighting super powerful vampires. I mean, she took down that own vampire with such ease but when the powerful one, Kaleo, showed up she ended up with a broken arm among other injuries. Which kind of reminds me of Rose from Vampire Academy and when she got hurt fighting new born Strigoi Natalie.

I still don't like her mom Dominique and I have no idea how I feel about her older sister Adianna.

Aside from her family, Sarah befriends two "weak" vampires at her new school: Christopher and Nissa. They seem really sweet and I was totally okay with their friendship but I don't know how it's going to play out. Other than that I'm completely jealous of their artistic talent. I'm more like Sarah when it comes to creating a ball from clay.

Other than those two kids I'm really confused with Robert. Like what is his problem? Is it with Sarah? And why does he even have a problem with her??! I'm so confused! I need to know. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 8-14: (view spoiler)[

So the vampire that Sarah has been trying to track down so she could kill him is Christopher's twin brother. Nikolas is Christopher's brother. No wonder Nissa and him didn't want to talk about him. They know what kind of monster he is. And now Sarah has his mark on her arm.

I wonder what's going to happen once they find out about her arm. What her mother is going to do when she finds out. So many people are going to freak out about this.

shit is going to hit the fan (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 15-21: (view spoiler)[I don't know how I feel about Christopher and her brother Nikolas were known killers throughout their decades of terror. I know Christopher stopped killing to be with Nissa but why exactly did Nissa need his help? And why did Nikolas not join them?

And now of course Nikolas and Sarah are at war. I wonder how that is going to play out with both of their families being potentially harmed. If Sarah kills Nikolas then she basically dies by either Christopher or Nissa and so on and so on with each of their family members. Or will Sarah be turned into a vampire?

I'm so hooked I need to know what happens between them! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 22-28: (view spoiler)[OMG OMG OMG OMG

Did I call it or what? Christopher is going to make her into a vampire. What I didn't see coming was her body basically killing her because she had vampire blood in her system. Adianna didn't want her sister to die and Christopher didn't want her to die. He loved her and she loved her sister. So they made the decision for her but if and when Sarah wakes up she has to ultimately make the decision if she wants to stay a vampire or die.

I feel so bad for Adianna because she has now officially lost her sister. Her sister is dead to her. And I completely blame her and her mother for that. If Adianna didn't tell Dominique everything that was happening then Sarah wouldn't of had her magic taken away from her. And she wouldn't have been slowly dying.

Aside from that I'm happy that Christopher has said he loved Sarah. I wonder what's going to happen between them or what will happen with Nikolas and Nissa find out. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 29-31, aka...
Finished: (view spoiler)[WOW! What an ending. I don't know how I feel about Sarah walking away from them and finding a way for her to survive but I'm happy that she hasn't totally given up on Christopher. I'm totally shipping them and I hope she comes back to him or he finds her and they carry on with their weird vampire love.

I wonder how her mom will react when she finds out what happened to her youngest daughter? or her sister when she finds out that she didn't kill herself after she woke up a vampire?

So many questions and so little time. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Starting Midnight Predator now.

Chapters 1-5: (view spoiler)[Hmm Turquoise and Ravyn seem pretty interesting. Their backstories seem interesting as well. I wonder how Turquoise is going to handle being a slave again or if anyone remembers who she is. I know she gave a fake name but I have a feeling someone is going to figure it out. Then there's Ravyn who is completely stubborn and didn't give a fake name. Does that mean something bad is going to happen to her?!? Who knows!! I want to know though.

Also, I wonder if it's their real names or if those were names that the Bruja gave them. Or whoever is protecting and training them.

Aside from them Jaguar seems like a pretty interesting vampire. I wonder if something is going to happen between him and one of the girls. Even though I know their mission is about Jeshickah but aren't they technically Jaguar's slaves and not hers. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 6-10: (view spoiler)[So I'm a little confused about this midnight place. So Jaguar is in charge but people don't want him to be in charge and if you work for him you can go anywhere in the place but the west wing and locked doors. This sounds like some weird vampire version of Beauty and the Beast.

Also he shifts into an actual Jaguar... he couldn't have picked a more creative name?!?! And is Shayla an actual jaguar or a vampire that can shift into a jaguar?

Also what the hell is Ravyn up to?!? And I'm totally thinking that some kind of weird romance is going to build between Turquoise and Jaguar. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 11-15: (view spoiler)[Pretty interesting to read even more about Turquoise's family history and to find out her real name is Catherine. Other than that, Jaguar's story was equally as interesting to read about.

Plus what kind of twist was that?!? Jaguar is the one who hired the hunters to kill Jeshickah?!? I guess he's tired of being her bitch all the god damn time. But it's okay, I hope the girls can kill her because she is super annoying and I hate her. I also hate Daryl so if they could find time to kill him as well I'd be happy as a clam.

Also, I totally called it that something is brewing between Jaguar and Audra/Turquoise/Catherine. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 16-20: (view spoiler)[I kind of feel bad for Turquoise especially with how she has to live her life now. I think she's back in her old town and Greg, who was somewhat a childhood friend, recognizes her instantly. But of course she doesn't go by her old name anymore. No not Catherine or Cathy. They are dead and gone. It is forever and always Turquoise.

Other than that fun fact of the day I like that Jaguar is taking time out of his hectic schedule to help and train her with using the whip. Because it almost time for her to challenge Ravyn and since Ravyn picked the whip to be used in the duel...and let's face it Turquoise sucks ass with a whip. She needs all the help she can get. I hope Turquoise wins the battle but I also don't know what's going to happen to her if she does win or if she loses. Is she going to stay with Burja? Is she going to stay with Jaguar? Is anyone going to kill Jeshickah? Or Daryl? ANYONE?!?!

I need to know! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Chapters 21- 23, aka...
Finished: (view spoiler)[AND OMG WHAT AN ENDING!

Turquoise is a savage, a fucking savage. She killed Daryl and I'm so proud of her. Now I'm going to patiently wait and imagine Jeshickah's death.

Also Turquoise beat the living shit out of Ravyn during the challenge and won. But then she gave the title to Ravyn!! She didn't even want to be in charge of anyone. She wanted out. But she is such a god damn bad ass that she proved to Ravyn and to everyone else that she is unstoppable and shouldn't be underestimated every again.

Hot damn! I loved this book and everything about it. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Alaina wrote: "Starting Demon in My View now.

Chapters 1-7: So this book is about Jessica... now I'm not 100% sure but I think she was briefly mentioned in the first book, In the Forests of the Night. I think Ri..."

(view spoiler)[This is such an interesting book! So the first one isn't the proper world, but Jessica's is, and it's about the book she wrote (#1). Such a cool concept!! (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Alaina wrote: "Chapters 8-14: I really wonder what Jessica is.. I mean I know she's human but she blocked Aubrey from her mind and she has a weird aura. And with her weird aura people don't like her and that's wh..."

(view spoiler)[I knew, as soon as she said 'oh look Aubrey' that somehow some weird shit was going on. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Alaina wrote: "Chapters 15-21: (view spoiler)[OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
AUBREY KISSED JESSICA
I KNEW IT
I KNEW IT
I KNEW HE HAD A CRUSH ON HER
FALA KNEW
OMG I'M FREAKING OUT

Oh, and Anne is dead. She was Jessica's mom..well she adop..." (hide spoiler)]

Of course, totally not surprising. You actually sound surprised? I actually wasn't as invested in this one as the first one, I suppose because I found it a little less actiony and more background-related, but still good.

[Maddie]

Alaina wrote: "Chapters 22-28: (view spoiler)[I get two amazing fight scenes and I'm so freaking happy.

Aubrey vs. Dominique
It was an okay fight. Kind of quick and to the point. No one died or was badly injured. Dominique is ..." (hide spoiler)]

When you mention the (view spoiler)[fight scenes (hide spoiler)] I actually had to think about the ones you meant XD The first one wasn't that big, and I got a little exasperated with the second. (view spoiler)[Such a typical badass and it's like 'bleh you would be super powerful wouldn't you.' Basically a Risika copy. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Alaina wrote: "Chapters 29-33, aka...
Finished:

(view spoiler)[Jessica became a freaking vampire. Aubrey helped her but it was ultimately her choice. I'm proud of her because I didn't want her to die. I'd much rather her beco..." (hide spoiler)]

I did not expect it to end like that. I had an inkling it might, but woah. I love how (view spoiler)[she was pleased that he asked her. I just don't know why he didn't do it sooner, before Caryn tired herself out. I like how Caryn always stood by her, for reasons I'm still not sure on. Just to figure out she was Jazlyn's daughter? I love that name too. Jazlyn. (hide spoiler)]

[Maddie]

Btw my review: I didn’t find this one as good as the first one, but it had the same amount of wow factor. I didn’t realise that each story followed a different character, but in the same world.
In terms of this book, I loved the idea that (view spoiler)[the first book was actually a book that Jessica wrote, (hide spoiler)] but I think I’d have liked it more if (view spoiler)[the story was actually all in Jessica’s head, rather than her turning out to be the daughter of Jazlyn, who was sired by Siete. (hide spoiler)] It adds a cool element, but I just wish it wasn’t there. There were some pretty good fight scenes in this one though. I just don’t like Jessica as a character. Too arrogant and haughty.
Definitely excited to see what the 3rd book will throw at me.