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hyms's review
2.0
This is just another book like Twilight. Julia is awful and the only reason this book gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because of Nicholas. He's kind of cute and has way more personality than Julia. The book seriously lacks humor!
kaitrosereads's review against another edition
4.0
The Emerald Talisman was a fantastic vampire novel. I don't usually like a lot of vampire stories but this one was nowhere near as typical as some. I was entertained by it and the book kept me interested until the last page. Sadly now I have to wait for a sequel.
Julia Parker is a normal teenage girl or at lease she seems to be. Well, other than her ability to read people's feelings. All of that changes one night when she almost dies. Luckily Nicholas saves her. Julia is drawn to him and hopes to see him again. What she doesn't know is that becoming friends with Nicholas will change her life forever.
Julia was not my favorite character in the book. I preferred Nicholas. Julia acted really naive and kind of whiny at times. Of course, she was naive because she didn't know vampires existed but it still bugged me. Nicholas, on the other hand, was sexy and competent. He was also very protective, which I loved. I look forward to more of them both in the next book.
The plot was the best part about the book. It was very fast-paced. I never once wanted to put the book down. It was super fast to read and very entertaining. I was at the edge of my seat by the end of it.
Overall, The Emerald Talisman is an awesome book. If you love vampire stories, this one is for you!
Julia Parker is a normal teenage girl or at lease she seems to be. Well, other than her ability to read people's feelings. All of that changes one night when she almost dies. Luckily Nicholas saves her. Julia is drawn to him and hopes to see him again. What she doesn't know is that becoming friends with Nicholas will change her life forever.
Julia was not my favorite character in the book. I preferred Nicholas. Julia acted really naive and kind of whiny at times. Of course, she was naive because she didn't know vampires existed but it still bugged me. Nicholas, on the other hand, was sexy and competent. He was also very protective, which I loved. I look forward to more of them both in the next book.
The plot was the best part about the book. It was very fast-paced. I never once wanted to put the book down. It was super fast to read and very entertaining. I was at the edge of my seat by the end of it.
Overall, The Emerald Talisman is an awesome book. If you love vampire stories, this one is for you!
anastasiaadamov's review against another edition
3.0
I had to look up when I got this book and while I knew it has been a few years; to see it was more than 5 years it was a bit surprising.
This book was one of the first Kindle freebies I got and the cover was never really that appealing for me to start reading I guess.
The book was slow and the first half of it seemed almost boring watching the main character going trough her daily life. The second half of the book starts introducing the supernatural elements at a fast pace. This difference between first half and the second makes the book seem slow and boring and might make some readers give up...
Second part of the book gives a good insight into backstory of the supernatural elements and those are well made. I'm a bit ambivalent towards the main characters since they are very much erratic in their YA decisions.
This book was one of the first Kindle freebies I got and the cover was never really that appealing for me to start reading I guess.
The book was slow and the first half of it seemed almost boring watching the main character going trough her daily life. The second half of the book starts introducing the supernatural elements at a fast pace. This difference between first half and the second makes the book seem slow and boring and might make some readers give up...
Second part of the book gives a good insight into backstory of the supernatural elements and those are well made. I'm a bit ambivalent towards the main characters since they are very much erratic in their YA decisions.
reinaroquemarco's review against another edition
Wishing I had vampire radar when I was 12
valeriew's review against another edition
5.0
This book was really good. I liked the different twist's in it.
roseice's review against another edition
3.0
Unexpectedly, this wasn't bad. Though it combines various elements I'm tired of, for example, the clingy, whiny heroine that obsesses over the mysterious hero, and... vampires. When I read the summary for this one a few months back, I thought it would lean more towards fantasy than paranormal. Wasn't the first time I've been wrong. Anyway, once we got past the "Nicholas is suuch a jerk!" segment, it started to hold my attention. I'm not quite sure why. Rather than the lackluster writing that bound the story together, I liked the story itself, the train of its events. Just borderline clever enough to keep you reading. This book could use an editor, but for what was put out, I don't have much complaint. Props to the author as well for putting out a clean addition to the ocean of rather filthy paranormal YA. If nothing else, my hat's off to her for that.
erikawastaken's review against another edition
2.0
I wavered between 2 and 3 stars because this book was a solid 2.5 for me. This could have used another round of workshopping/editing to tighten up some of the language and inconsistencies. But it was a fun light, "special girl meets mysterious boy who turns out to be vampire (but the good kind!) but they can't be together right now, fight, fight, now we're kissing and all's well with the world" read.
peachykeenxyz's review against another edition
1.0
Terrible. It's trailing on the end of the vampire trend and introduces nothing new. The story is stale and uninteresting, superficial and slow. Basically, the author took the characters from Twilight (plain chick + vampirey stalker guy who saves her life) and stuck them in a generic vampire hunter romance. All of this is not helped by the mediocre writing, where the author uses childish dialogue such as "'You're mine now and I'm gonna do whatever I want with you, and he can't do anything about it!' he cackled." Oh, and dear author: it's okay to use a few naughty words sometimes. These aren't little kids. Generally speaking, a sixteen year old in a life-or-death situation is going to use something a little stronger than "darn!"
Now, on to details as to why this sucked so much!
For one thing, the characters are seriously lacking in depth and originality. Julia Parker might as well be Bella Swan for all anyone cares: neither of them have any personality, both of them are stalked by their "boyfriends" who save their lives multiple times, neither are strong heroines, both are described as perfectly normal and yet they manage to have boys drooling all over them. Shut up.
Plus, after she meets this totally cool guy who saves her life, Julia goes and blabs to everyone in high school, and becomes instantly popular. Everyone wants to talk to her. No, Brenda Pandos. That's not how it works. If people want to hear a story (which in this case, no one would care in real life) they tend to go to the gossip mill instead. Maybe the author was just sadly in the "out" crowd as a youth and is expressing her deep-seated desire to be "popular" with a bunch of high school kids.
Not to mention, Julia is disgustingly wimpy. She's afraid of everything, including empty woods at night. Empty woods near her house. And her sprained ankle? Oh baby, she milks that minor injury like a squirt-happy heifer.
Speaking of Julia's fear in the woods, the forest is supposed to evoke some sort of suspenseful, frightening response even before the character feels any real heebie-jeebies. So while Pandos is busy writing about how terrifying the woods are, the reader is sitting there thinking, "why is this supposed to be scary? is the main character ten?" This pattern continues throughout the book, like when Julia "fights" with her friends and family. No real drama, no reason for anyone to be worked up and yet we're supposed to feel like we're watching a goddamn tragedy.
Now for the romance, which is supposed to be the driving force of the novel. I love romance in my books, as long as it's done well. This wasn't. It was a typical Twilight-esque romance: Girl is in danger, boy saves girl, boy is gorgeous, girl has no redeeming qualities, boy stalks girl, boy and girl fall in love within half an hour. There, you don't even need to read the book.
But, really. Come on. If you meet a guy for maybe half an hour, you're not in love. Stop bitching about how much you miss him and how your "heart feels ripped to shreds" and how your whole life is "torn like [your] heart." < -- actual quotes, corniness and all. You don't need multiple mother effing heart-to-hearts with ten different people before you "move on and say goodbye." Good lord. Nor should you continue to cling to someone who is downright RUDE to you. Girls, let that be a lesson to you: if Mr Cutie is an asshole to you, dump him in the dirt and move on to someone else right then and there. Don't waste time moping about Mr Cute (who you don't even know!) not being Mr Right. That is flat out a waste of time.
Now finally, one more thing. Julia can apparently sense how people are feeling, like a watered-down Sookie Stackhouse from [b:Dead to the World|140077|Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse, #4)|Charlaine Harris|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255593750s/140077.jpg|1808005] and so on. This adds absolutely nothing to the story, and in fact just detracts from it. Why? Because the author half-assedly decided to throw in a random character trait to... I don't know, make it more paranormal? Because vampires just weren't supernatural enough. Oh, there's a random werecat dispensing sage advice- think Solembum from [b:Eragon|113436|Eragon (Inheritance, #1)|Christopher Paolini|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1293505063s/113436.jpg|3178011], because Pandos wanted to make the book even more generic.
Now, let's stack this against The Fantasy Novelist's Exam by Rinkworks to see how bad this really is. For those of you who don't know, The Fantasy Novelist's Exam is described as a guide to prevent awful novels from being written. From its page:
Ever since J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis created the worlds of Middle Earth and Narnia, it seems like every windbag off the street thinks he can write great, original fantasy, too. The problem is that most of this "great, original fantasy" is actually poor, derivative fantasy. Frankly, we're sick of it, so we've compiled a list of rip-off tip-offs in the form of an exam. We think anybody considering writing a fantasy novel should be required to take this exam first. Answering "yes" to any one question results in failure and means that the prospective novel should be abandoned at once.
7. Does your story revolve around an ancient prophecy about "The One" who will save the world and everybody and all the forces of good? Yes
8. Does your novel contain a character whose sole purpose is to show up at random plot points and dispense information? Yes
14. How about "a wise, mystical sage who refuses to give away plot details for his own personal, mysterious reasons"? Yes
16. Do any of your female characters exist solely to be captured and rescued? Yes.
21. How about "a half-elf torn between his human and elven heritage"? Yes, if you replace 'elf' with 'vampire.'
Sad. Just sad. I wish it was easier to return kindle content, because I want my 99 cents back.
Now, on to details as to why this sucked so much!
For one thing, the characters are seriously lacking in depth and originality. Julia Parker might as well be Bella Swan for all anyone cares: neither of them have any personality, both of them are stalked by their "boyfriends" who save their lives multiple times, neither are strong heroines, both are described as perfectly normal and yet they manage to have boys drooling all over them. Shut up.
Plus, after she meets this totally cool guy who saves her life, Julia goes and blabs to everyone in high school, and becomes instantly popular. Everyone wants to talk to her. No, Brenda Pandos. That's not how it works. If people want to hear a story (which in this case, no one would care in real life) they tend to go to the gossip mill instead. Maybe the author was just sadly in the "out" crowd as a youth and is expressing her deep-seated desire to be "popular" with a bunch of high school kids.
Not to mention, Julia is disgustingly wimpy. She's afraid of everything, including empty woods at night. Empty woods near her house. And her sprained ankle? Oh baby, she milks that minor injury like a squirt-happy heifer.
Speaking of Julia's fear in the woods, the forest is supposed to evoke some sort of suspenseful, frightening response even before the character feels any real heebie-jeebies. So while Pandos is busy writing about how terrifying the woods are, the reader is sitting there thinking, "why is this supposed to be scary? is the main character ten?" This pattern continues throughout the book, like when Julia "fights" with her friends and family. No real drama, no reason for anyone to be worked up and yet we're supposed to feel like we're watching a goddamn tragedy.
Now for the romance, which is supposed to be the driving force of the novel. I love romance in my books, as long as it's done well. This wasn't. It was a typical Twilight-esque romance: Girl is in danger, boy saves girl, boy is gorgeous, girl has no redeeming qualities, boy stalks girl, boy and girl fall in love within half an hour. There, you don't even need to read the book.
But, really. Come on. If you meet a guy for maybe half an hour, you're not in love. Stop bitching about how much you miss him and how your "heart feels ripped to shreds" and how your whole life is "torn like [your] heart." < -- actual quotes, corniness and all. You don't need multiple mother effing heart-to-hearts with ten different people before you "move on and say goodbye." Good lord. Nor should you continue to cling to someone who is downright RUDE to you. Girls, let that be a lesson to you: if Mr Cutie is an asshole to you, dump him in the dirt and move on to someone else right then and there. Don't waste time moping about Mr Cute (who you don't even know!) not being Mr Right. That is flat out a waste of time.
Now finally, one more thing. Julia can apparently sense how people are feeling, like a watered-down Sookie Stackhouse from [b:Dead to the World|140077|Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse, #4)|Charlaine Harris|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255593750s/140077.jpg|1808005] and so on. This adds absolutely nothing to the story, and in fact just detracts from it. Why? Because the author half-assedly decided to throw in a random character trait to... I don't know, make it more paranormal? Because vampires just weren't supernatural enough. Oh, there's a random werecat dispensing sage advice- think Solembum from [b:Eragon|113436|Eragon (Inheritance, #1)|Christopher Paolini|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1293505063s/113436.jpg|3178011], because Pandos wanted to make the book even more generic.
Now, let's stack this against The Fantasy Novelist's Exam by Rinkworks to see how bad this really is. For those of you who don't know, The Fantasy Novelist's Exam is described as a guide to prevent awful novels from being written. From its page:
Ever since J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis created the worlds of Middle Earth and Narnia, it seems like every windbag off the street thinks he can write great, original fantasy, too. The problem is that most of this "great, original fantasy" is actually poor, derivative fantasy. Frankly, we're sick of it, so we've compiled a list of rip-off tip-offs in the form of an exam. We think anybody considering writing a fantasy novel should be required to take this exam first. Answering "yes" to any one question results in failure and means that the prospective novel should be abandoned at once.
7. Does your story revolve around an ancient prophecy about "The One" who will save the world and everybody and all the forces of good? Yes
8. Does your novel contain a character whose sole purpose is to show up at random plot points and dispense information? Yes
14. How about "a wise, mystical sage who refuses to give away plot details for his own personal, mysterious reasons"? Yes
16. Do any of your female characters exist solely to be captured and rescued? Yes.
21. How about "a half-elf torn between his human and elven heritage"? Yes, if you replace 'elf' with 'vampire.'
Sad. Just sad. I wish it was easier to return kindle content, because I want my 99 cents back.
literarykate616's review against another edition
5.0
Julia is a young girl with the power to senses people’s feelings. She lost her mother in a car accident when she was little and now lives in California with her father and brother. One night her car runs out of gas and she finds herself stranded on the side of the road, and to make the situation even worse, a dead cell phone. Unable to call for help, Julia decides to take a short cut through the woods to her house, which changes her life forever. She senses that someone, possibly an animal, is stalking her. Julia rushes to get home to avoid being attacked but loses her way and almost falls off the edge of the cliff. A young man named Nicholas just happens to be in the area and manages to save her before it is too late. He escorts her home and Julia soon becomes enamored with him. Nicholas avoids her after that night until another chance meeting puts them both in danger. Julia and Nicholas discover that vampires are killing innocent victims in their small town. The two are forced to work together to stop the violence and along the way Julia learns the truth about Nicholas’ identity and her mother’s death.
This book caught my eye over the summer thanks to the large emerald gemstone on the cover. I quickly added it to my TBR list but then never got around to reading it. Luckily, the publisher contacted me and asked if I would like to be a part of a blog tour. I quickly replied, eager to finally have the chance to read this book. This month, The Emerald Talisman arrived in my mailbox and I read it that same night in one sitting. I was completely surprised when I found out this book was about vampires. I was not expecting it, and at first it annoyed me because I’ve read enough vampire books that by now I find them a bit tiring. However, The Emerald Talisman was a breath of fresh air and the story of Julia and Nicholas quickly won my heart. I can’t wait to read book two in the series, The Sapphire Talisman.
This book caught my eye over the summer thanks to the large emerald gemstone on the cover. I quickly added it to my TBR list but then never got around to reading it. Luckily, the publisher contacted me and asked if I would like to be a part of a blog tour. I quickly replied, eager to finally have the chance to read this book. This month, The Emerald Talisman arrived in my mailbox and I read it that same night in one sitting. I was completely surprised when I found out this book was about vampires. I was not expecting it, and at first it annoyed me because I’ve read enough vampire books that by now I find them a bit tiring. However, The Emerald Talisman was a breath of fresh air and the story of Julia and Nicholas quickly won my heart. I can’t wait to read book two in the series, The Sapphire Talisman.