Review: the Dark Heroine: Dinner With A Vampire by Abigail Gibbs

Title: the Dark Heroine: Dinner With a Vampire

Author: Abigail Gibbs

Rating:

Who Should Read It? I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone, and I'd even advise people against it, as it is awful. But I know there are a LOT of fans of this book out there, so I recommend reading my review then reading a couple other more positive reviews and making the choice for yourself.

What I Have to Say:
Let me start off with a quick one sentence review: This book was awful.

It is VERY rare that I read a book that is part of a series (or a trilogy or that just has a sequel) and, at the end, decide that there is NO POSSIBLE way I will read the next book in the series. Usually, no matter how much I dislike a book, there's always at least that SMALL possibility that, somewhere along the line, I'll end up reading the next one.

the Dark Heroine: Dinner With a Vampire, is an exception to that. I have NO desire to read the next one, and I will remember this book forever just so that I remember not to read it. That sounds harsh, and I know it is, but this book lacks every quality ever known to a good book.

First, I felt like Gibbs is still trying to figure out her writing style. Some parts were so long and overly drawn out that they nearly put me to sleep while other parts were so extremely compact and filled with pointless action that I wished they were putting me to sleep, just to get it over with. Her characters, while trying to be full of spunk and umpf, were completely lackluster. When they did, occasionally, do things to make them stand out, it was mostly to make me sincerely dislike them. Violet, the main character, is annoying, petty, and delusional (She thinks that only vampires do bad things, never humans. Um, seriously? Everything about her screams annoying, snotty, bratty spoiled rich kid), and yet we are SUPPOSED to like her. Oh, AND she's vegetarian. Which normally, being a vegan, I would think was awesome. But I wish she weren't, because she gives a terrible name to vegetarians everywhere, and the fact that she is doesn't become nearly as much a part of the book as it should.

And then there's the fact that the love interest regularly tries to rape the main character, and this is written about as if it's totally okay. And she falls in love with him for it. I feel like there are ways to treat falling in love with your rapist, and this is TOTALLY NOT IT! (Yet somehow, when someone ELSE tries to rape her and drink her blood, he deserves to die. Yeah,. . .)

Lastly (though not really, just lastly for this review), there's the plot, which was supremely awful and awfully developed. I kind of got the feeling that she herself didn't know what the plot was going to be until somewhere around the last chapter of the book. Which means there was no buildup to it, because the author herself didn't even seem to know where she's going. And when finally the plot reveals itself, it's in such an underwhelming way that you expect that there has to be something more. There never is. It's undeveloped, boring, and full of holes.

Seriously, don't ask me how I managed to finish this book. I really don't know. I feel like screaming DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!!!!

Summary: A chance encounter on a darkened street draws Violet Lee into a world beyond her wildest imaginings - a timeless place of vast elegance and immeasurable wealth, of beautiful mansions and lavish parties, where a decadent group of friends lives for pleasure alone. A place from which there is no escape... no matter how hard Violet tries.

All the riches in the world can't mask the darkness that lies beneath the gilded surface, embodied in the charismatic but dangerous Kaspar Varn.

Violet and Kaspar surrender to a passion that transcends their separate worlds - but it's a passion that comes at a price

Cover Story: I WISH the cover were less cool, then maybe I wouldn't have ready it.

Note: I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt

Now that my friends are gone and Book Blogger Appreciation Week is over, I can get to trying to catch up on some reviews. And the first one of these catch up reviews will go, unfortunately, to a book that I didn't love. ::sadness:: I always feel so bad about not liking a book. I mean, that author worked HARD on that book (most likely) - whom am I to not like it or to judge? That, of course, doesn't stop me from judging. So now you have it, my very first one star review, which is more like a rant.

Title:Blood Engine

Author:T.A. Pratt

Rating:

Who Should Read It?I really didn't like it, so this is hard for me to say. Read how I felt about it and the summary (if you please) and decide for yourself.

What I Have to Say:Oh man, I REALLY did not like this book. First of all, it took me FOREVER to read. I had it on my kindle, and I went on vacation, and I think subconsiously I forgot to bring my charger with me so that my kindle would die so that I wouldn't have to finish it while enjoying myself. Then I got back and went to spend the weekend at my boyfriend's parents house, and of course I FORGOT my kindle. Again, I am sure it was more subconsciously on purpose than accidental. I was determined to finish, but I could at least do it when I wasn't supposed to be enjoying myself.
That said, the story is about a witch, Marla Mason, who is THE most annoying main character of all time. She is egotistical and uncaring about everyone and everything around her. Which therefore makes it hard to believe that she is actually as obsessed and in love as the book claims with her drug-ridden, rodent-infested polluted human-waste smelling city. And nature - her city has none, so obviously she scorns it. But the fact that she is makes her even more annoying, because everything she does is either for it or for her, no matter whom she hurts along the way. I feel like I would have wanted to slap her, but really, I disliked her so much that I couldn't bring myself to care.
Once we understand who she is and what she cares about (herself and her city), the rest of the book is 100% predictable. There is no character development whatsoever (not just with her but with any of the characters), the plot development isn't really development, instead just moving along as it is forced to so that the book can have an end. And the only shockers are the weird S&M party and sex scenes. Which were totally uninteresting but slightly disturbing and tried to develop Marla as a character but basically failed. I really would rather have skipped them.
All this, and I still haven't mentioned that it's supposed to be an urban fantasy. And Marla's supposed to be a witch. But I guess the fact that her magic is connected to her city basically allows her to not have to use it. The paranormal in this book is severely lacking, especially when it comes to Marla.
Some of the scenes are just so ludicrous that I had to step back and wonder if it is really possible that there are people that would do such things (as Marla, the good guy in this book) - and then cross my fingers and hope that no, there are not.
And if I continue my rants, which I definitely could, I will give away the whole book. And there are potentially still people out there wanting to read it.

Summary (from marlamason.net - mygod, do people really like her THAT much?!?):In Blood Engines (10/07), sorcerer Marla Mason, guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla's life -- and, even worse, wreck her city. Marla's only chance at survival is to boost her powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere across the country in San Francisco. But when she arrives in the pretty white city by the bay, she finds the quest isn't quite as simple as she'd expected... and that some of the people she'd counted on for help are dead. It seems that San Francisco's top sorcerers are having troubles of their own -- a mysterious assailant has the city's magical underworld in a panic, and the local talent is being (gruesomely) picked off one by one. With her moderately faithful sidekick Rondeau in tow, Marla is soon racing against time through San Francisco's unknown streets, dodging poisonous frogs, murderous hummingbirds, cannibals, and an increasingly hostile reception from the locals, who suspect Marla herself may be the source of the recent murders. If Marla doesn't figure out who's killing the city's finest in time, she'll be in danger of becoming a magical statistic herself...