awdylanis's review
adventurous
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
confessionsfromabookworm's review against another edition
3.0
I originally bought this series because of the cover and the design on the sides. I wasn't in love with this book, but I did enjoy it and thought it was cute. I felt like its more for a mature teenager than for someone who is my age. So, areas did get under my skin and bother me, but I had to remember that the main characters in this book are 16/17-year-old teenagers so that makes a lot of sense. The characters in this story are not to entirely captivating for me, but at the same time it kept me interested enough in the storyline and the plot to continue on reading it and see where it took me.
_carmen99_'s review against another edition
1.0
I really really wanted to enjoy this book but it was just so bad. I literally skimmed the entire book because after the first 5 chapters it was annoying and horrible for me.
taliadev721's review
3.0
This was exactly what I was expecting it to be. I read this back when I was in high school and liked it way better than I thought I would. A little disappointed we never got to read the actual kiss between James and Poppy but it was cute otherwise.
themaxdog's review against another edition
4.0
Didn't like this book as much as the first one, which is a shame because I love the series.
The first story (Dark Angel) annoyed me - within the first chapter I began to hate Gillian with a passion, and I never really got into the plot.
I enjoyed the second story (The Chosen), that was by far the best one of the three, with an exciting plot and interesting characters. I also thought this was the best written, with the references to Rashel's past and Quinn's backstory, as well as the complex character of Nyala.
The last story (Soulmates) was good, but I did think it was too predictable. I got a little fed up with the repetition of the love-hate relationship between Thierry, Hannah and Maya. also I think Maya was way to easy to kill considering she's supposed to be the oldest and most powerful vampire in the Night World!
In spite of this, I like the series as a whole and I plan to carry it on and read book 3.
The first story (Dark Angel) annoyed me - within the first chapter I began to hate Gillian with a passion, and I never really got into the plot.
I enjoyed the second story (The Chosen), that was by far the best one of the three, with an exciting plot and interesting characters. I also thought this was the best written, with the references to Rashel's past and Quinn's backstory, as well as the complex character of Nyala.
The last story (Soulmates) was good, but I did think it was too predictable. I got a little fed up with the repetition of the love-hate relationship between Thierry, Hannah and Maya. also I think Maya was way to easy to kill considering she's supposed to be the oldest and most powerful vampire in the Night World!
In spite of this, I like the series as a whole and I plan to carry it on and read book 3.
ema_ab's review
2.0
Please don't base your opinion on the whole series based on this one book. This was the 4th book I have read from the series. Two of the ones I have read previously are some of my favorite books ever. I really, really wanted to like this one too. But... it is trashy as hell. And... somewhat problematic? The topic of cancer is treated incredibly lightly. I mean she is about to DIE and leave her family behind, yet all the narrative focuses is the very predictable 'love' between her and James. Furthermore, the "big suspense" of the book was very much not suspenseful at all. Both the writing style and the notions of the Night World addressed felt different from later books. Thus, feel free to skip this book. You don't need it to enjoy the others. Actually, you may need to not read it to enjoy them.
kba76's review
3.0
When we first meet Poppy she’s struggling with something she’s been ignoring for a while. No beating around the bush here; within a short time she’s having all manner of tests and we learn she has pancreatic cancer. It’s incurable and within weeks she is likely to die.
Given that we’ve only just met her there has to be another purpose to this revelation. There is, and it concerns Poppy’s best friend, James. They are unnaturally close, and when James says he may have a way of helping Poppy we wonder what’s going on.
Before we know it we’re told James is a vampire, and he’s prepared to take a huge risk with those around him and turn Poppy. There’s some resistance from her brother but, ultimately, a half-life seems better than no life so they concoct a plan to turn Poppy and leave everyone human convinced she’s dead.
For such a risky situation, things go pretty smoothly. Minor inconvenience of James’s cousin turning up to try and betray him, but this actually works in their favour because Ash works out something about Poppy and her family that will come in very useful.
This felt young, but it was a quick read that was entertaining in its own way.
Given that we’ve only just met her there has to be another purpose to this revelation. There is, and it concerns Poppy’s best friend, James. They are unnaturally close, and when James says he may have a way of helping Poppy we wonder what’s going on.
Before we know it we’re told James is a vampire, and he’s prepared to take a huge risk with those around him and turn Poppy. There’s some resistance from her brother but, ultimately, a half-life seems better than no life so they concoct a plan to turn Poppy and leave everyone human convinced she’s dead.
For such a risky situation, things go pretty smoothly. Minor inconvenience of James’s cousin turning up to try and betray him, but this actually works in their favour because Ash works out something about Poppy and her family that will come in very useful.
This felt young, but it was a quick read that was entertaining in its own way.
laconsstorynook's review
2.0
This book was gifted to me by my husband even though he was clueless on the subject matter of the story he just thought the cover was cool.
This is not a book I would ever pick up on my own but surprisingly I enjoyed reading it. It may not seem that way with a two star rating but I enjoyed it because it was laughable and such a typical angsty teen vampire read that I would have loved as a teen but as an adult I can not take it seriously. Even though I enjoyed it I felt that I did not/could not enjoy it the way the author wanted me to.
One thing I did enjoy was how all the vampire stuff was explained and how it made sense and could be real.
I feel like this story would have benefited from being longer so that way the emotions each character felt made more sense and felt less like it was always coming out of left field.
Also the ending feels very anti climatic which doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the book. Like the whole story we are slowly reaching to top of the roller coaster and then when we reach the top there is no drop the ride just ends.
I tried not to judge this book at the very beginning but it affirmed my thought the whole way through. Even though I had fun laughing at parts and reading aloud other parts I do no think that is way at the author was going for and I don’t hate this book I just don’t think I was the correct audience for it.
This is not a book I would ever pick up on my own but surprisingly I enjoyed reading it. It may not seem that way with a two star rating but I enjoyed it because it was laughable and such a typical angsty teen vampire read that I would have loved as a teen but as an adult I can not take it seriously. Even though I enjoyed it I felt that I did not/could not enjoy it the way the author wanted me to.
One thing I did enjoy was how all the vampire stuff was explained and how it made sense and could be real.
I feel like this story would have benefited from being longer so that way the emotions each character felt made more sense and felt less like it was always coming out of left field.
Also the ending feels very anti climatic which doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the book. Like the whole story we are slowly reaching to top of the roller coaster and then when we reach the top there is no drop the ride just ends.
I tried not to judge this book at the very beginning but it affirmed my thought the whole way through. Even though I had fun laughing at parts and reading aloud other parts I do no think that is way at the author was going for and I don’t hate this book I just don’t think I was the correct audience for it.