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A review by wintericeuk
New York by Travis Luedke
3.0
I almost didn't start this book as I was expecting it to be yet another generic vampire romance, I'm so glad I actually pushed through my reservations and read this book.
This is a darker tale than some but it doesn't fall into the pit of sex, ultra-violence and gore, instead we have a tale of two vampires, one callous and disillusioned with humans (and men in particular) and the other being her newly sired progeny who's trying to come to terms with how rapidly and profoundly his life has been changed.
Michelle is an enjoyable female lead, being not only flawed but very human. She's emotionally scarred by her past and this manifests in how she treats Aaron, our male lead. Aaron could easily be mistaken for being just another 'beta male' insert but if you peel back the layers you start to see that the author has written these two characters to be equal and opposite of each other. Young, naive and open with his emotions versus old, disillusioned and with her heart closed off in an attempt to protect herself. The concept isn't original but the author's execution of it needs to be lauded.
I can't quite bring myself to give this book a four star review as there are several plot points that I feel were either glossed over or not explored. Lisa the poor bloodslave is left as a question mark, really only serving as something for Aaron's conscience to latch on to regarding his learning of control. The author also doesn't explore what could and could not be done with Michelle's commands; are they only suitable for limited, immediate control or could they be used to form a compulsion that could be built into Aaron's psyche? Lastly, some of the mistakes that Michelle makes seem more like Michelle not giving a damn or thinking things through rather than genuine oversights. I think a little more fleshing out was needed here to bolster the narrative as well as grow the characters further.
In summary this is a darker vampire romance tale, but probably not one for those who are looking for a fluffy romance between sire and childe (yes, I am using the V:TM terms here as they work). This is a story of two emotionally scarred people learning to accept each-other and finding love through that acceptance.
This is a darker tale than some but it doesn't fall into the pit of sex, ultra-violence and gore, instead we have a tale of two vampires, one callous and disillusioned with humans (and men in particular) and the other being her newly sired progeny who's trying to come to terms with how rapidly and profoundly his life has been changed.
Michelle is an enjoyable female lead, being not only flawed but very human. She's emotionally scarred by her past and this manifests in how she treats Aaron, our male lead. Aaron could easily be mistaken for being just another 'beta male' insert but if you peel back the layers you start to see that the author has written these two characters to be equal and opposite of each other. Young, naive and open with his emotions versus old, disillusioned and with her heart closed off in an attempt to protect herself. The concept isn't original but the author's execution of it needs to be lauded.
I can't quite bring myself to give this book a four star review as there are several plot points that I feel were either glossed over or not explored. Lisa the poor bloodslave is left as a question mark, really only serving as something for Aaron's conscience to latch on to regarding his learning of control. The author also doesn't explore what could and could not be done with Michelle's commands; are they only suitable for limited, immediate control or could they be used to form a compulsion that could be built into Aaron's psyche? Lastly, some of the mistakes that Michelle makes seem more like Michelle not giving a damn or thinking things through rather than genuine oversights. I think a little more fleshing out was needed here to bolster the narrative as well as grow the characters further.
In summary this is a darker vampire romance tale, but probably not one for those who are looking for a fluffy romance between sire and childe (yes, I am using the V:TM terms here as they work). This is a story of two emotionally scarred people learning to accept each-other and finding love through that acceptance.