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kreela's review
5.0
He found himself wanting to grant her everything she desired in the moment, which was clearly nothing more than cheap, nutritionless junk.”
- "The Vampire’s Captive" by Sofia Storm
Sentences like this make me swoon. The writing is so fluid and engaging that I had no trouble with the dual POV even though I prefer single POV, that I let the story devour my Sunday. Arietta is a blood slave born and cultivated to please a master vampire, so I had to ignore my wishes for her to show some self-reliance. She never had any, and freedom to her is avoiding the torture and inevitable fate of a brood mare. Bjorn is the first vampire created, and he violates his own mission to steal her from the local king. His upbringing leads him to believe that Finders Keepers deems ownership, yet he knows there will be consequences and tries to run to Canada to escape the angry king.
However, even the most ancient vampire is still subject to an independent court, and they eventually catch up to him in Canada. By that time Arietta has grown in boldness, asking questions and ignoring the growly mysterious he-man vibe that Bjorn tries to cow her with. Yes, this a captor love story, but it is still PG-rated here, if you ignore the dark atmosphere. I loved every minute.
The politics and world are amazingly well-constructed. It is not a full fantasy, since the modern world still exists, but there is no superficial layer of hiding from real humans. There just is. And vampires must treat with each other to keep alliances, which might mean a trade of hostages or a trade of genetics (Bjorn’s). I get the impression the author spent months planning the world.
The plot is tight, with no slowdown in pacing. The only thing that I found irritating is the long-winded reflections on their fates. Sometimes Arietta or Bjorn spent too much time thinking before acting. That didn’t stop me from finishing and wanting more.
The theme seems to be a long reflection about what constitutes freedom. When the prosecutor asks if Arietta acted through her own free will, you could have heard a pin drop. Most of Bjorn’s actions after the kidnapping are dictated by his duties as much as his desire. Free will doesn’t imply an absence of duty.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
- "The Vampire’s Captive" by Sofia Storm
Sentences like this make me swoon. The writing is so fluid and engaging that I had no trouble with the dual POV even though I prefer single POV, that I let the story devour my Sunday. Arietta is a blood slave born and cultivated to please a master vampire, so I had to ignore my wishes for her to show some self-reliance. She never had any, and freedom to her is avoiding the torture and inevitable fate of a brood mare. Bjorn is the first vampire created, and he violates his own mission to steal her from the local king. His upbringing leads him to believe that Finders Keepers deems ownership, yet he knows there will be consequences and tries to run to Canada to escape the angry king.
However, even the most ancient vampire is still subject to an independent court, and they eventually catch up to him in Canada. By that time Arietta has grown in boldness, asking questions and ignoring the growly mysterious he-man vibe that Bjorn tries to cow her with. Yes, this a captor love story, but it is still PG-rated here, if you ignore the dark atmosphere. I loved every minute.
The politics and world are amazingly well-constructed. It is not a full fantasy, since the modern world still exists, but there is no superficial layer of hiding from real humans. There just is. And vampires must treat with each other to keep alliances, which might mean a trade of hostages or a trade of genetics (Bjorn’s). I get the impression the author spent months planning the world.
The plot is tight, with no slowdown in pacing. The only thing that I found irritating is the long-winded reflections on their fates. Sometimes Arietta or Bjorn spent too much time thinking before acting. That didn’t stop me from finishing and wanting more.
The theme seems to be a long reflection about what constitutes freedom. When the prosecutor asks if Arietta acted through her own free will, you could have heard a pin drop. Most of Bjorn’s actions after the kidnapping are dictated by his duties as much as his desire. Free will doesn’t imply an absence of duty.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
yogicath's review
5.0
This is book one of The Immortal Viking series and the main character is Arietta Heron, the favourite blood slave of Leandro Diamandis, the vampire king of the Nevada territories of North America, sees no chance of any change to her fate. She cannot even think about changing her fate, because he would know. He knows everything! She isn’t allowed to think, nor to even dream. She was born for one purpose, and one purpose only, to serve him until he killed her. She is his favourite for reasons she doesn’t understand and she has had to learn how to react in exactly the way he wants, unless she wants to be injured and threatened with worse. She is even supposed to thank him for feeding from her, leaving her so weak, she can no longer even stand. He has hundreds of blood slaves in his abode, who all are born to serve him and nobody else. He leaves for business purposes and she collapses on her small bed, until awoken by the sound of footsteps approaching her room. She believes Leandro is back for her again, but it in fact is a dirty looking and ancient Viking vampire, known as Bjorn Elding, who has come looking for something and ended up in what he thought was an empty room, until he smelt her.
He has come to Leandro’s home for a particular reason, but upon finding her, satisfies himself with taking her as a prize! Why she is worth so much or so highly prized is unclear at this time. Bjorn had wanted to talk to Leandro, having not spoken for some two or three hundred years, but he wasn’t there when he came. Instead he made the foolish decision to take Arietta and leave. Her blood is an extremely rare and old blood that he can smell is special. She reminds him of a ghost from his past, centuries old memories, of a human with strength mixed with fear and a strange intensity that he had best forget. He travels back to Los Angeles, to Orin’s safehold, before the dawn breaks. She is now in a new vampire king’s territory and uncertain if she has a new master or many, to serve. The North American vampires seem to follow very different rules than those of Bjorn’s own, with these younger vampires being very unruly and impulsive, with little to no control, nor respect for the ways of old. They seek to take what they want and when they want it with no self-control. When supposed alliances seem to break down with Orin, Bjorn has no choice but to run for another ally, before they take Arietta away from him.
He hoped to have safe haven with an old friend in Canada, but it turns out he demands a high price for his silence, forcing Bjorn to do something he doesn’t want to and to also allow him no control over what happens thereafter. He has also lost the control of one of his progeny, before he could prepare him for a move to another vampire king or queen in some fifty years. During all of this, Arietta remains determined to keep asking her incessant questions and undermining his control over her and her position as a blood slave. Not that he makes use of her like her former master did, nor does he punish her physically! More is to come as a grievance is sent to the highest courts of the Immortal House, where fae, shifter and witch representatives will decide Bjorn’s fate for his actions and therefore, also Arietta’s own fate. Bjorn has sworn he will not allow her to be hurt and he is a man of his word, as a Viking! I look forward to seeing what happens in the next book and where they both end up, as it is left as a slight mystery at the end, as the story ends before we find out. Bjorn’s true identity and abilities are slowly revealed as the storyline progresses and his role in the Americas is explained. He himself has caused a problem with his actions in taking Arietta and the consequences are not hitting them both! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
He has come to Leandro’s home for a particular reason, but upon finding her, satisfies himself with taking her as a prize! Why she is worth so much or so highly prized is unclear at this time. Bjorn had wanted to talk to Leandro, having not spoken for some two or three hundred years, but he wasn’t there when he came. Instead he made the foolish decision to take Arietta and leave. Her blood is an extremely rare and old blood that he can smell is special. She reminds him of a ghost from his past, centuries old memories, of a human with strength mixed with fear and a strange intensity that he had best forget. He travels back to Los Angeles, to Orin’s safehold, before the dawn breaks. She is now in a new vampire king’s territory and uncertain if she has a new master or many, to serve. The North American vampires seem to follow very different rules than those of Bjorn’s own, with these younger vampires being very unruly and impulsive, with little to no control, nor respect for the ways of old. They seek to take what they want and when they want it with no self-control. When supposed alliances seem to break down with Orin, Bjorn has no choice but to run for another ally, before they take Arietta away from him.
He hoped to have safe haven with an old friend in Canada, but it turns out he demands a high price for his silence, forcing Bjorn to do something he doesn’t want to and to also allow him no control over what happens thereafter. He has also lost the control of one of his progeny, before he could prepare him for a move to another vampire king or queen in some fifty years. During all of this, Arietta remains determined to keep asking her incessant questions and undermining his control over her and her position as a blood slave. Not that he makes use of her like her former master did, nor does he punish her physically! More is to come as a grievance is sent to the highest courts of the Immortal House, where fae, shifter and witch representatives will decide Bjorn’s fate for his actions and therefore, also Arietta’s own fate. Bjorn has sworn he will not allow her to be hurt and he is a man of his word, as a Viking! I look forward to seeing what happens in the next book and where they both end up, as it is left as a slight mystery at the end, as the story ends before we find out. Bjorn’s true identity and abilities are slowly revealed as the storyline progresses and his role in the Americas is explained. He himself has caused a problem with his actions in taking Arietta and the consequences are not hitting them both! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
jlaynereads's review
4.0
This was a good read but to be honest, I struggled to finish it. It was not because it was poorly written or even uninteresting but solely because I could not get into the FMC. She was just too doormat for me, you got to see little bits of fire but not enough to catch me and keep me interested in her story.
I was well written, hive it a chance maybe it will speak to you!
I was well written, hive it a chance maybe it will speak to you!
shinyfox's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
2.25
Repetitive. Very repetitive. This book could have been half the pages it is
The book switched between Bjorn and Arietta's the person pov. Being in the characters heads and privy to their thoughts is great.... When they aren't rehashing the same worries, concerns and fears every time we switch pov's.
Because of this I felt the book was very slow-moving and tedious to get through. I even went so far as to skim the pages as I read, because of the repetative nature.
The book switched between Bjorn and Arietta's the person pov. Being in the characters heads and privy to their thoughts is great.... When they aren't rehashing the same worries, concerns and fears every time we switch pov's.
Because of this I felt the book was very slow-moving and tedious to get through. I even went so far as to skim the pages as I read, because of the repetative nature.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Torture
Neglectdwinprincess's review
3.0
Really good story. Had moments that it was slow going, but keep going. I felt for Arietta from the 1st page of the book, being a blood slave doesn't sound like something anyone wants to be. She never felt she would be free from the cruelty until Bjorn Elding walked into her life. The story ends in a cliffhanger, so will be reading on to see what happens.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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