Sunday, March 24, 2013

Review: A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire #1) by Bella Forrest

Title: A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire #1)
Author: Bella Forrest
Published: November 14th 2012
Published: Bella Forrest
My rating: 3 stars
On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.

A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine. An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.

Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

Although Vampire-themed books aren't really my thing, from time to time I find myself getting really interested in picking one. I first saw A Shade of Vampire in a promo post from a blog and got interested with its blurb right away. It sounds really intriguing. So when I received an email from the author if I could review this book I didn't hesitate. 

A Shade of Vampire has a very promising plot. It was what really draws me in to it. The world the author created was very intriguing and the positions and situations the characters were put through had made it look even more thrilling to read. However, I'm afraid to say that it lacks some elements that might have made the delivering of the story much more compelling thus making me a quite disappointed with it.

I'm not saying that it was an awful read. I have enjoyed some parts of it and some I find really exciting and interesting. The main problem I had was that I felt emotionally detached to the story. I wanted to be completely connected to it but that's just hard to do if the things are happening too fast. There weren't enough build-up (especially on the romance) to convince me that everything is happening naturally or genuinely. It's only the surface emotion that I can see and every explanations and actions seem too brief.

And one more thing, I was expecting some work and efforts on part of Sofia here in winning Derek over as indicated on the blurb (that was what I was really looking forward, how Sofia would to it and how it would turn into something more) however it has become quite apparent early on the book that there won't be that much action regarding that part since Derek had an insta-attraction to her. 

Nonetheless, there were parts that manage to make still want to continue the book. I was still curious on what Sofia's faith would be. And some of the ideas presented on this book is admittedly very interesting to explore. There were sweet moments too that I do find genuine (like the Sun Room! I really like that). The last part had me really curious on what's gonna happen next that despite the flaws I mentioned made me decide to still read the next book. 

If you're looking for a light and descent paranormal read which isn't really that complicated but still offers some pretty cool world-building and likable characters, I think you might want to check this out.

Thank you Bella Forest for providing me a copy of this book.

9 comments:

  1. Aw, it's a shame that this book lacked in different areas for you, Eunice. The author emailed me a month or so ago asking if I would like to review a copy of A Shade of Vampire, but I declined because I was currently swamped with TBR books. Like you, I did find the idea and the plot really intriguing!

    I can't stand insta-attraction, so it sucks that the author had that in there. And it's so boring to read a book when you can't get emotionally attached to anything. Still, I'm glad that overall this was an enjoyable read for you Eunice, despite the unrealistic romance and lack of excitement.

    Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful review with us, Eunice! :)x

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've seen a few bloggers review this--I like vampire books when they're done well, and I still may pick this up sometime despite the mostly mixed reactions I've seen. Thanks for the review!

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was offered the chance to read this one as well, but I just have too many books to get through! I'm sorry you weren't able to fully connect with this, and I'd be really frustrated with the insta-connection too. At least there were some redeeming points about it. Lovely review, E! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful critical review Eunice! This does sound like it has an exciting plot. I am sad to hear that Novak instantly liked Sofia but i'm glad it is an enjoyable enough book, really interested in the sun room. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've definitely seen this book once or twice around the blogosphere, and only the cover has captured my attention, but the vampire concept hasn't interested me. Based on your review, the characters don't seem particularly strong in this book, which always is a big no-no for me when I decide what to read. Thanks for the honest review, Eunice!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Like I said before, I've had several GRs people recommend this to me and now I wonder if it was part of some promotional thing, which kind of annoys me. I hope they were recommending it to me because they genuinely loved it but I didn't even recognize who some of these people were. :/

    Sorry this didn't quite live up to your expectations, Eunice. Great review. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's too bad Eunice! I'm like you - I have to be fully invested emotionally in a story or I just never quite settle into it. Is it an insta-love romance? Sounds like it might be if there's no real build up to it. I hope the next book you pick up blows you away:):)

    ReplyDelete
  8. The reviews for this one have been all over the place, but to be honest, it doesn't sound like my kind of book at all. The worldbuilding sounds interesting enough but I'm not the most patient person and I'm kind of tired of vampires.
    GReat review!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I find myself wanting to pick up vampire books every now and again, too, though I'm usually very wary of them now. I can have a difficult time liking a romance if the pacing isn't exactly how I like it. It sounds like it could do with some improvement here, but I'm glad you thought this was a decent read overall. Great review, Eunice!

    ReplyDelete

Hi guys! Thank you for dropping by and commenting on my posts! I'll be sure to drop by your blogs too!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...