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mystery_jem's review against another edition
3.0
Melena Sanders faced her fair share of danger with insurgents and terrorists when she served in the U.S. Army, but now she is about to go up against a new threat. Her best friend, Aniya, has disappeared while on a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska—a supernatural haven.
This was a good start to a series.
This was a good start to a series.
everybody's review against another edition
I really enjoyed this one initially as it didn't follow a lot of the stupid clichées.
Yea, we have a badass heroine but a lot of effort went into making sure things are kept "real".
Things like well-defined "power levels" and believable fight flow. Things like realistic torture or the emotional impact of different kinds of trauma and shock.
All these kinds of things and more are initially kept very believable.
A lot of effort went into small details which made the world feel believable and I did appreciate that a lot.
The plot wasn't groundbreaking but it wasn't just a collection of old clichées like I usually see.
There is a bit of covert plot convenience going on and unnecessary vague foreshadowing bordering on prophecy by a druid (which is a personal pet peeve of mine) annoyed me but all in all, there weren't any major flaws.
I was completely baffled by the comparatively low rating at first.
But then while approaching the 3/4 mark things regrettably went downhill fast.
Facts are suddenly made up on the spot non-stop sometimes completely contradicting previous information.
The biggest issue with the magic is the number of possibilities that the on the spot made up stuff theoretically allows. Any semi-intelligent person could use those in devastating ways but no one does because the author just didn't think about the ramifications of all those cheap throw-away plot devices.
The magic system is rather soft so you really have to disregard common sense to cause obvious holes in it like that.
The concept of "show, don't tell" flies right out the window repeatedly. Characters start saying out loud what they feel in a very awkward way that is clearly meant for the benefit of the reader instead of showing it in a natural way even tho the author has clearly proven she is capable of doing it right.
I really don't know what happened here. Maybe the author had a bad slump but had to finish within a deadline or something?
I had a sense this might be a fresh breeze in the rather stale genre. I felt like the book had the guts to deviate from beaten paths and not fall into every clichée trap out there like most in this genre do.
For that, I am actually willing to put up with quite a bit of roughness on the edges but ultimately despite a promising start, it didn't happen.
It ended up just aggressively preaching the power of friendship and all that crap like all the others do. Ethical dilemmas and morally ambiguous decisions and their consequences are just being fixed with cheap copouts like "turns out that person was pure evil anyway".
A world that clearly had the potential to have many shades of grey sadly crumbled into naive black and white just pretending to be something more.
And what is going on with the sudden flirting and touching followed by swooning around multiple flaming hot guys?
It ends so incredibly cheese that I couldn't take the last few pages and dnfed like 15 minutes before the end.
It felt like the author replaced her calligraphy feather with a wax crayon part-way through the story.
Yea, we have a badass heroine but a lot of effort went into making sure things are kept "real".
Things like well-defined "power levels" and believable fight flow. Things like realistic torture or the emotional impact of different kinds of trauma and shock.
All these kinds of things and more are initially kept very believable.
A lot of effort went into small details which made the world feel believable and I did appreciate that a lot.
The plot wasn't groundbreaking but it wasn't just a collection of old clichées like I usually see.
There is a bit of covert plot convenience going on and unnecessary vague foreshadowing bordering on prophecy by a druid (which is a personal pet peeve of mine) annoyed me but all in all, there weren't any major flaws.
I was completely baffled by the comparatively low rating at first.
But then while approaching the 3/4 mark things regrettably went downhill fast.
Facts are suddenly made up on the spot non-stop sometimes completely contradicting previous information.
The biggest issue with the magic is the number of possibilities that the on the spot made up stuff theoretically allows. Any semi-intelligent person could use those in devastating ways but no one does because the author just didn't think about the ramifications of all those cheap throw-away plot devices.
The magic system is rather soft so you really have to disregard common sense to cause obvious holes in it like that.
The concept of "show, don't tell" flies right out the window repeatedly. Characters start saying out loud what they feel in a very awkward way that is clearly meant for the benefit of the reader instead of showing it in a natural way even tho the author has clearly proven she is capable of doing it right.
I really don't know what happened here. Maybe the author had a bad slump but had to finish within a deadline or something?
I had a sense this might be a fresh breeze in the rather stale genre. I felt like the book had the guts to deviate from beaten paths and not fall into every clichée trap out there like most in this genre do.
For that, I am actually willing to put up with quite a bit of roughness on the edges but ultimately despite a promising start, it didn't happen.
It ended up just aggressively preaching the power of friendship and all that crap like all the others do. Ethical dilemmas and morally ambiguous decisions and their consequences are just being fixed with cheap copouts like "turns out that person was pure evil anyway".
A world that clearly had the potential to have many shades of grey sadly crumbled into naive black and white just pretending to be something more.
And what is going on with the sudden flirting and touching followed by swooning around multiple flaming hot guys?
It ends so incredibly cheese that I couldn't take the last few pages and dnfed like 15 minutes before the end.
It felt like the author replaced her calligraphy feather with a wax crayon part-way through the story.
chelsea2020's review against another edition
5.0
Ooohhh, a Sensor. Never seen anything like Melena before. Completely unique, and rare to boot. She's human with a little something extra, and though she's mostly fragile like any normal human, she can still kick butt and take names thanks to her military background.
Melena is a strong-willed and cautious woman, but the caution is shot to Hell when she discovers her friend to be missing in Alaska. Then all bets are off and caution is thrown to the wind. She goes in, backing guns, ready to rescue her friend at any means necessary.
Melena goes in alone, but she will not be alone as she first seems. There will be others to help her along the way on her personal quest, as well as her ultimate destiny. There will also be those who will try to skew her path with any means necessary. It won't be easy, and things in Alaska are far more dangerous than she could have imagined. The journey ahead of her will be rough, but the end may just be well-worth the fight to get there.
Melena is a strong-willed and cautious woman, but the caution is shot to Hell when she discovers her friend to be missing in Alaska. Then all bets are off and caution is thrown to the wind. She goes in, backing guns, ready to rescue her friend at any means necessary.
Melena goes in alone, but she will not be alone as she first seems. There will be others to help her along the way on her personal quest, as well as her ultimate destiny. There will also be those who will try to skew her path with any means necessary. It won't be easy, and things in Alaska are far more dangerous than she could have imagined. The journey ahead of her will be rough, but the end may just be well-worth the fight to get there.
vikcs's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
mdlaclair's review against another edition
1.0
So Goodreads kept suggesting this book to me. So I finally read it. Unfortunately this is one of tho epic fail recommendations. I am really not a fan of the writing style . The author goes on in great detail about certain things, and skims over important plot-driven details. Events don't follow a logical train of thought. So some thing just don't make sense. Lots of possible love interests but yet no romance in the book. It was a struggle to finish the book
msmathy's review against another edition
3.0
Darkness Haunts is interesting, but this is the second book in a row I've read where the heroine gets tortured and beat up severely as a part of the story. I'm not sure I can keep reading books like this. Obviously, there is going to be violence in a vampire/supernatural book, but this is more than I am willing to read.
I was also hoping for some kind of romance. Maybe it comes in later books?
I was also hoping for some kind of romance. Maybe it comes in later books?
lilacwire's review against another edition
3.0
I read this as part of the StoryBundle that was released recently. I honestly thought I'd come in a book or two into the series since it seemed like the characters already had run-ins with each other (the nephalim and the main character), so it surprised me to realize that this was the first book in the series.
It was a fun read, but I'm not sure I'm ready for another alt-reality fantasy novel where one gal is pursued by a ton of guys because she's apparently THAT awesome.
It was a fun read, but I'm not sure I'm ready for another alt-reality fantasy novel where one gal is pursued by a ton of guys because she's apparently THAT awesome.
matosapa's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to give this a higher rating but it let me down when it veered heavily into bodice-ripping. I was disappointed because I had a review stating that this was gritty urban fantasy and so I assumed that the female character would kick ass and take names throughout the book.
Alas, by the end of the book, she is raging with hormones and loses the edge she originally started with. I really liked the main character and her back story was interesting and made sense. However, as soon as possible love interests show up, it's the high school prom all over again and her thoughts are mainly taken up with sex and chiseled abs.
If that doesn't bother you, than this is good series and the author has talent.
Alas, by the end of the book, she is raging with hormones and loses the edge she originally started with. I really liked the main character and her back story was interesting and made sense. However, as soon as possible love interests show up, it's the high school prom all over again and her thoughts are mainly taken up with sex and chiseled abs.
If that doesn't bother you, than this is good series and the author has talent.
setaian's review against another edition
4.0
Melena is a sensor. Her supernatural abilities means she is able to know the true nature of beings, whether they are a werewolf, a vampire, or a fae. Her kind are a threat to the very existence of the supernaturals and because of it she is always a target, always hunted.
When she arrives in Alaska searching for her friend who has disappeared she finds herself smack dab in the middle of supernatural central. Even worse, she needs to trust those who want to kill her if she is to have any hope of finding her friend.
Such a great book. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much but this book is pretty damned great. Great story. Well written. Entertaining.
I'll definitely be reading more.
When she arrives in Alaska searching for her friend who has disappeared she finds herself smack dab in the middle of supernatural central. Even worse, she needs to trust those who want to kill her if she is to have any hope of finding her friend.
Such a great book. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much but this book is pretty damned great. Great story. Well written. Entertaining.
I'll definitely be reading more.