wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing
bibliorama's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Enjoyment - 3
Perfectly fine, middle of the road story that I mostly used as background noise at work. This could have been closer to a 4 star if we got more of the world and more from some of the side characters. We don't even get a final scene with Macy at the end after everything goes down. I would think after everything it would be important to get Grace's actual family's feelings about the aftermath.
Start - 4
I was down for the beginning. The introduction to the world was interesting and since Grace didn't know the truth of the world going in, it was kind of funny to see her try and rationalize the unhinged parts. I also really liked the descriptions of the school and the cold environment of Alaska.
Characters - 2.5
I like the premise of the characters, but for being over 500 pages, I still feel like these characters are mostly strangers. I feel like they would have benefited from more plot where they could interact more with each other rather all of them mostly interacting with Grace by themselves. Also since most of the time the characters were trying to hide pieces of information from Grace, it was hard to guage who these people really were. I mean for over half the book I was suspicious about Macy (who I still kind of am tbh) even though the surface level interactions we get she's perfectly nice and I quite like her. This is a similar phenomenon that I had with every character outside of Grace.
Atmosphere - 3
Again, I like cold weather. However, there wasn't enough of the school. I mean come on Grace's favorite subject was art and we never even see her in class? What was that about? There was a ton of potential for the school subjects to be wild and unhinged, but it never happens. I also wanted more interactions between the cliques that were setup at the beginning.
Plot - 1.5
Needed less insta-love and more plot. It would have helped everything and built the world up more. I think this story would have been better as a slow burn.
Ending - 3
Interesting for the most part and made sense. It didn't come out of left field which was nice, but the wrap-up was missing a lot of the consequences for what happened. I'm still not over the fact that Grace is almost sacrificed and we don't see her cousin or uncle's reaction to that??? I don't understand.
Style - 3
I really didn't mind Grace's narration. She had a lot of repetitive sentences but it didn't bug me here as it has with some books in the past. Maybe it was because I wasn't super invested and just wanted some entertainment.
Overall - 2.5
Some missed opportunities, that left me wanting more. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series as where it ends isn't the most intriguing. I wish it would have setup the Vampire Queen for the second (I'm sure she'll come up later, but she needed to be teased here more)
Perfectly fine, middle of the road story that I mostly used as background noise at work. This could have been closer to a 4 star if we got more of the world and more from some of the side characters. We don't even get a final scene with Macy at the end after everything goes down. I would think after everything it would be important to get Grace's actual family's feelings about the aftermath.
Start - 4
I was down for the beginning. The introduction to the world was interesting and since Grace didn't know the truth of the world going in, it was kind of funny to see her try and rationalize the unhinged parts. I also really liked the descriptions of the school and the cold environment of Alaska.
Characters - 2.5
I like the premise of the characters, but for being over 500 pages, I still feel like these characters are mostly strangers. I feel like they would have benefited from more plot where they could interact more with each other rather all of them mostly interacting with Grace by themselves. Also since most of the time the characters were trying to hide pieces of information from Grace, it was hard to guage who these people really were. I mean for over half the book I was suspicious about Macy (who I still kind of am tbh) even though the surface level interactions we get she's perfectly nice and I quite like her. This is a similar phenomenon that I had with every character outside of Grace.
Atmosphere - 3
Again, I like cold weather. However, there wasn't enough of the school. I mean come on Grace's favorite subject was art and we never even see her in class? What was that about? There was a ton of potential for the school subjects to be wild and unhinged, but it never happens. I also wanted more interactions between the cliques that were setup at the beginning.
Plot - 1.5
Needed less insta-love and more plot. It would have helped everything and built the world up more. I think this story would have been better as a slow burn.
Ending - 3
Interesting for the most part and made sense. It didn't come out of left field which was nice, but the wrap-up was missing a lot of the consequences for what happened. I'm still not over the fact that Grace is almost sacrificed and we don't see her cousin or uncle's reaction to that??? I don't understand.
Style - 3
I really didn't mind Grace's narration. She had a lot of repetitive sentences but it didn't bug me here as it has with some books in the past. Maybe it was because I wasn't super invested and just wanted some entertainment.
Overall - 2.5
Some missed opportunities, that left me wanting more. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series as where it ends isn't the most intriguing. I wish it would have setup the Vampire Queen for the second (I'm sure she'll come up later, but she needed to be teased here more)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, and Medical content
bashsbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I would probably not call this a "good" book, but it definitely has given me some serious entertainment & a lot to think about, including:
- This author's fixation with being over-the-top tongue-in-cheek about the genre in which she is writing. I have over a dozen quotes noted down where she has the MC mention this is "just like a romance novel" or "just like a horror movie". The worst offender is when the vampire love interest LITERALLY gives the MC a copy of Twilight. I will say, it is funny but perhaps not in the way the author intended.
- Dialogue is poorly-written, this is sometimes also very funny in an unintentional way.
- There is no rhyme or reason to lore, Twilight lore is more internally consistent than this.
- Going off of point #3, the outright fact that vampires are mammals in this universe and that born-vampires exist, but they cannot drink milk. Curious as to what baby vampires subsist on and how they get the mammal classification if their mothers don't feed them with milk.
- I don't want to spoil it but the Plot Twist Reveal about the MC made me cry I laughed so hard. I would call it brave, groundbreaking even, but my friend told me not to.
I am compelled by "bad" art that is supremely interesting and I am having a lot of fun liveblogging this series to my friends, so I will be reading the rest of them... but I don't want to recommend them unless that's the kind of thing you're into.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Grief, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Murder, Cursing, Stalking, Medical content, and Car accident
Minor: War and Vomit
takarakei's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Is this book good? Objectively no.
Is the writing good? Absolutely not.
Did I have a good time? An unhinged one, yes.
Will I be continuing the series? Yes for the absurdity factor alone.
I listened to the audiobook. It reads like an early 2000-2010s YA high school vampire series even though its from 2022??? The parallels to Twilight are stark and literally mentioned?! Nothing makes sense. There is no plot. It's insta-lovey in all the worst/best ways. The dialogue is cringe worthy. If you are here for a trashy good time then sure, it's maybe for you.
1.5/5 🌶️
Is the writing good? Absolutely not.
Did I have a good time? An unhinged one, yes.
Will I be continuing the series? Yes for the absurdity factor alone.
I listened to the audiobook. It reads like an early 2000-2010s YA high school vampire series even though its from 2022??? The parallels to Twilight are stark and literally mentioned?! Nothing makes sense. There is no plot. It's insta-lovey in all the worst/best ways. The dialogue is cringe worthy. If you are here for a trashy good time then sure, it's maybe for you.
1.5/5 🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Murder, Car accident, and Cursing
_hsquared_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was what i wanted twilight to be. It was a 3.5/5 for me because it was pretty slow in the world building and telling of what happened but I enjoyed the chapters from Jaxon’s POV at the end. I will definitely read the second book because I enjoyed the story line and am excited to see what happens!Â
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Death, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Blood
ix37lexi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Definitely entertaining but the writing seemed a bit juvenile at points and predictable. I will continue reading the series because it has kept me intrigued and reading despite those points.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Blood, Gore, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Car accident
adrianna_0623's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
cady_sass's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Twilight but make it gen z. That’s it, that’s the review.Â
Just kidding.Â
As someone who was a teenager when twilight hit the shelves, no YA vampire love story is going to touch it. But I can fully appreciate the audience this was written for and know that it’s successful in its execution. The issues for me lie specifically with just how painfully, cringing-ly (this is a word now) Gen Z it is. I don’t enjoy dialogue that includes “AF” unironically (and all the time). The characters are dumb, lovable but dumb, and i think that’s a disservice to all of them. The fact that Twilight, as a book, exists in this universe and it is GIVEN to the protagonist as a very obvious gift/clue and she still can’t figure what’s going on? The reader is never going to believe that. But someone could easily have similar gripes about Twilight, and I refuse to reconsider the 5 star the rating my teen heart gave those books. So, I get it. This is definitely that for some swooning teens out thereÂ
I devoured this and thoroughly enjoyed it. Will definitely continue the series!
Just kidding.Â
As someone who was a teenager when twilight hit the shelves, no YA vampire love story is going to touch it. But I can fully appreciate the audience this was written for and know that it’s successful in its execution. The issues for me lie specifically with just how painfully, cringing-ly (this is a word now) Gen Z it is. I don’t enjoy dialogue that includes “AF” unironically (and all the time). The characters are dumb, lovable but dumb, and i think that’s a disservice to all of them. The fact that Twilight, as a book, exists in this universe and it is GIVEN to the protagonist as a very obvious gift/clue and she still can’t figure what’s going on? The reader is never going to believe that. But someone could easily have similar gripes about Twilight, and I refuse to reconsider the 5 star the rating my teen heart gave those books. So, I get it. This is definitely that for some swooning teens out thereÂ
I devoured this and thoroughly enjoyed it. Will definitely continue the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
honeybunchesofoats06's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death, and Gore
michelleub's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ok so first of all, it is not a twilight rip off, and i can say that as twilight was the last book ive read. But you know it really has elemntw of twilight and legacies and all of those Vampire stereotypes, but they actually address Thema, which makes this book totally aware of all of its faults, kinda ironic. But you know, if you love the vampire who hates everyone but you and wants to stay away from you but can't type then you're at the right place. I also should say, this book does not include a love triangle.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Torture, and Physical abuse