dtaylorbooks's review
1.0
This has got to be one of the most unoriginal, uninspiring books I’ve read in a long time, if not ever. It’s TWILIGHT but with adult characters. You have Serenity (a name I hate, but that’s completely unrelated to the book), this meek, sometimes simpering, psychotically manipulative woman stuck in a severely abusive relationship. There’s an added level of self-awareness there that I think is supposed to bolster her a little bit, but it doesn’t add to her character. It just makes her more annoying because she knows all these things are bad yet she does them anyway.
And then you have Sebastian, the brooding loner of a vampire who wants to be with Serenity but it’s too dangerous and he keeps trying to warn her off but she keeps coming back and he just can’t stay away from her and her blood is just so temping. Sound familiar?
The book’s plot spans a week at most and by the end of it they’re obsessively in love with Serenity getting panicky and withdrawn and possessive if Sebastian isn’t around. Enter in the red-headed female antagonist whose weak plot line serves as the tension in the story as she tries to drive a wedge between Serenity and Sebastian to the point where she threatens the poor little human and Serenity ends up doing something incredibly stupid by putting herself in harm’s way to save the vampire she loves. Sound familiar yet?
And of course Sebastian is rich and drives an Audi (a departure because I think Edward drives a Volvo) and he tries not to kill his prey. His and Serenity’s relationship is so unhealthy that on like day four Serenity threatens to kill herself if Sebastian leaves her. That’s a totally healthy and logical response to any situation. O_o
When she takes that “next step” in her relationship with her abusive husband I did find myself rooting for her. But then that was quickly watered down as she glommed on to Sebastian all the while being aware that she shouldn’t jump from man to man and she needs to stand on her own (I’ll refer you back to threatening to kill herself if Sebastian leaves her). Her personality is erratic at best, poorly written and inconsistent at worst. If she were a well-written abuse victim I’d feel sorry for her and pity her thinking and how she feels that what’s happened to her was her fault. But her personality is just peaks and valleys that play to the plot.
I didn’t realize so many PNR vampire cliches could even fit into a single book and such an obvious copy of a more popular book would actually get published. And if it’s not a copy then an eyebrow-raising coincidence that I’m going to remain skeptical of. If I wanted to read TWILIGHT, which I never want to again, I’d just read TWILIGHT (which was published three years prior to this book). I’m not going to bother with a story where the only practical differences are the ages of the characters and the names. I mean this rightly could have been a wave book trying to capitalize on the success of a given formula, but my god, man. For all of TWILIGHT’s failings at least it had its own personality. ALONE does not. It’s a pale copy of someone else’s that leaves words limp and lifeless on the page and a plot that leaves a whole hell of a lot of be desired.
The concept of being alone gets beaten over your head as a reader throughout the book and the tension with Madeline (the red-headed vampire who decides to war with Serenity over Sebastian because reasons) is so contrived and forced that I can’t help but wonder if the author couldn’t think of anything better. It’s so incredibly lackluster. TWILIGHT spawned a lot of wannabes, but I’ve yet to read anything that compares to ALONE with being such a pale, unimaginative reproduction. Don’t waste your time. That’s not to say the formula doesn’t work; just don’t give me a cheap reproduction of something. It needs to be its own thing and ALONE definitely is not that. I imagine that’s rather ironic.
1
And then you have Sebastian, the brooding loner of a vampire who wants to be with Serenity but it’s too dangerous and he keeps trying to warn her off but she keeps coming back and he just can’t stay away from her and her blood is just so temping. Sound familiar?
The book’s plot spans a week at most and by the end of it they’re obsessively in love with Serenity getting panicky and withdrawn and possessive if Sebastian isn’t around. Enter in the red-headed female antagonist whose weak plot line serves as the tension in the story as she tries to drive a wedge between Serenity and Sebastian to the point where she threatens the poor little human and Serenity ends up doing something incredibly stupid by putting herself in harm’s way to save the vampire she loves. Sound familiar yet?
And of course Sebastian is rich and drives an Audi (a departure because I think Edward drives a Volvo) and he tries not to kill his prey. His and Serenity’s relationship is so unhealthy that on like day four Serenity threatens to kill herself if Sebastian leaves her. That’s a totally healthy and logical response to any situation. O_o
When she takes that “next step” in her relationship with her abusive husband I did find myself rooting for her. But then that was quickly watered down as she glommed on to Sebastian all the while being aware that she shouldn’t jump from man to man and she needs to stand on her own (I’ll refer you back to threatening to kill herself if Sebastian leaves her). Her personality is erratic at best, poorly written and inconsistent at worst. If she were a well-written abuse victim I’d feel sorry for her and pity her thinking and how she feels that what’s happened to her was her fault. But her personality is just peaks and valleys that play to the plot.
I didn’t realize so many PNR vampire cliches could even fit into a single book and such an obvious copy of a more popular book would actually get published. And if it’s not a copy then an eyebrow-raising coincidence that I’m going to remain skeptical of. If I wanted to read TWILIGHT, which I never want to again, I’d just read TWILIGHT (which was published three years prior to this book). I’m not going to bother with a story where the only practical differences are the ages of the characters and the names. I mean this rightly could have been a wave book trying to capitalize on the success of a given formula, but my god, man. For all of TWILIGHT’s failings at least it had its own personality. ALONE does not. It’s a pale copy of someone else’s that leaves words limp and lifeless on the page and a plot that leaves a whole hell of a lot of be desired.
The concept of being alone gets beaten over your head as a reader throughout the book and the tension with Madeline (the red-headed vampire who decides to war with Serenity over Sebastian because reasons) is so contrived and forced that I can’t help but wonder if the author couldn’t think of anything better. It’s so incredibly lackluster. TWILIGHT spawned a lot of wannabes, but I’ve yet to read anything that compares to ALONE with being such a pale, unimaginative reproduction. Don’t waste your time. That’s not to say the formula doesn’t work; just don’t give me a cheap reproduction of something. It needs to be its own thing and ALONE definitely is not that. I imagine that’s rather ironic.
1
readtolive's review
4.0
I sat down to read this book, needing a change of pace, something to read just for fun, and that is exactly what I got. I got a novel that I was not able to put down, that was thoroughly enjoyable, and that I loved every minute of reading. I found the characters believable, the storyline enjoyable, and really just could not walk away from this one.
I was lent this ebook via a NookFriend, and am so glad that I found it. I had not heard of the author before picking this one up, and somehow cannot imagine how I did not know about this particular series.
I found myself sucked into the book, feeling as though I was a part of the story. I could feel the cold touch when Sebastian reached out to Serenity when she was running wild through the streets. I could feel the terror in her heart when she saw what she had done to her husband, and the exhilaration of finally being free of his controlling hand.
The book touches on the epidemic that is spousal abuse and domestic violence in a tasteful way, and in the subtext of this novel, brings it to the forefront and makes you aware that it is more common than one might have originally thought.
Overall, I think this is a must read for any paranormal romance fan. There were a few scenes that I would have to say are not appropriate for younger readers, but they were minimal and I did not feel that they detracted from the story in any way. I give this a 4.5 star rating!
I was lent this ebook via a NookFriend, and am so glad that I found it. I had not heard of the author before picking this one up, and somehow cannot imagine how I did not know about this particular series.
I found myself sucked into the book, feeling as though I was a part of the story. I could feel the cold touch when Sebastian reached out to Serenity when she was running wild through the streets. I could feel the terror in her heart when she saw what she had done to her husband, and the exhilaration of finally being free of his controlling hand.
The book touches on the epidemic that is spousal abuse and domestic violence in a tasteful way, and in the subtext of this novel, brings it to the forefront and makes you aware that it is more common than one might have originally thought.
Overall, I think this is a must read for any paranormal romance fan. There were a few scenes that I would have to say are not appropriate for younger readers, but they were minimal and I did not feel that they detracted from the story in any way. I give this a 4.5 star rating!
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