Helpful Score: 1
The main character, Michael Howard, has been dealing with not fitting in. In the beginning the reader is dropped right into Michaels struggle with his sexuality. He is uncomfortable to be who he is in his current living situation. When his father arrives (after being absent his entire life) and offers to take him back to London where he can attend an all male academy, Michael is excited. Finally he can leave the small town and small minded people behind and enter a sophisticated world. After meeting Ronan, Michael knows this is where he belongs. Ronan is an outcast too. Not because he is gay but because he is a hybrid vampire. After some time passes, Michael starts to notice strange things happening around him but doesnt want to come to terms with that and essentially puts blinders on. He wants to have his happily ever after with his new boyfriend but doesnt see that his new boyfriend is something more unnatural. Now he must make a decision before it is made for him. Nakano, also a vampire but not a hybrid and also Ronans ex-boyfriend, wants to make Michael like him to help elevate his side.
I tried and really wanted to like this book but it feel short of my expectations. I was excited about trying a new genre (LGBT) and liked that it was mixed with my favorite subject (vampires). Unnatural just didnt have what it took to keep my interest. I did finish but it was a bit of a struggle. One of the attributes of this book that didnt work for me was the switching of POVs. They come quickly throughout and caused confusion for me. At times I wasnt sure who was talking or was thinking. The storyline was another part that didnt work for me. It was a bit weak but the concept of a new hybrid vampire was an interesting aspect.
I tried and really wanted to like this book but it feel short of my expectations. I was excited about trying a new genre (LGBT) and liked that it was mixed with my favorite subject (vampires). Unnatural just didnt have what it took to keep my interest. I did finish but it was a bit of a struggle. One of the attributes of this book that didnt work for me was the switching of POVs. They come quickly throughout and caused confusion for me. At times I wasnt sure who was talking or was thinking. The storyline was another part that didnt work for me. It was a bit weak but the concept of a new hybrid vampire was an interesting aspect.
Helpful Score: 1
What I was hoping for in this book was a teen romance with a gay main character. A sort of Twilight for the same sex set. What I got was a major disappointment.
While Twilight has been roundly criticised for the inexpert quality of its writing, this book is much much worse. Where Twilight had characters that were three dimensional and likeable (if at times annoying), the characters here are cardboard cutouts for the most part. Where Twilight's writing sometimes stumbled, here it was just plain confusing.
Twilight was told in first person from the point of view of a shy but self certain girl who explained how she was feeling. This book is none of that.
It's told in third person omniscent with so much head hopping as to be incredibly confusing. Simple conventions (such as starting new paragraphs when changing speakers) are ignored to no great benefit and to much confusion. The author is reputed to be an award winning playwrite but he's not mastered the novel form at all. While it's readily apparent who's saying what on stage, in a book it must be made clear and here it was NOT.
I'm a veteren of seeking out gay content in a non-gay-friendly world. I once found and watched an early Greg Araki movie that was a VHS recording of a bootleg VHS recording and was ready, willing, and able to put aside the low technical qualities for a good story with a good message.
Here I wanted to see the love story play out so badly that I was willing to put up with some really bad writing, but all I got here was the low artistic quality with very little payoff.
And what's worse.... I think that the author thought he was being artistic. He deliberatly added obscurity. Just one example... There is a scene where the two protagonists have finally spent the night together and wake up together. Their diolugue about "wanna share a shower" is deliberatly intercut with narrative about a girl waking up outside and feeling the dew on her face.
All I really wanted was a chocolate chip cookie of a M/M teen vampire romance. What I got was under-developed, under-baked with far too few chocolate chip moments. No sweet gooey goodness just lumps of flour a bit of sugar, badly mixed and maybe a carob or two.
Another reviewer mentioned that we are briefly introduced to two characters in the protagonist's home town that suggest that his horrendous hometown life didn't have to be so lonely. Then his mom dies -- he reacts wierdly and we're off to England with the two sympathetic characters not mentioned again. One asks..."Why even bring them up all?"
I wish that the author would... develop his characters more. Pay attention to writing conventions so that his prose is more readable. Work on his storytelling and leave the artistic bits to more experienced writers.
I've read over 100 books this year and this was unfortunately one of the worst. Particularly in that the premise held so much promise. Lest this review be all negative let me say... the cover was nice
While Twilight has been roundly criticised for the inexpert quality of its writing, this book is much much worse. Where Twilight had characters that were three dimensional and likeable (if at times annoying), the characters here are cardboard cutouts for the most part. Where Twilight's writing sometimes stumbled, here it was just plain confusing.
Twilight was told in first person from the point of view of a shy but self certain girl who explained how she was feeling. This book is none of that.
It's told in third person omniscent with so much head hopping as to be incredibly confusing. Simple conventions (such as starting new paragraphs when changing speakers) are ignored to no great benefit and to much confusion. The author is reputed to be an award winning playwrite but he's not mastered the novel form at all. While it's readily apparent who's saying what on stage, in a book it must be made clear and here it was NOT.
I'm a veteren of seeking out gay content in a non-gay-friendly world. I once found and watched an early Greg Araki movie that was a VHS recording of a bootleg VHS recording and was ready, willing, and able to put aside the low technical qualities for a good story with a good message.
Here I wanted to see the love story play out so badly that I was willing to put up with some really bad writing, but all I got here was the low artistic quality with very little payoff.
And what's worse.... I think that the author thought he was being artistic. He deliberatly added obscurity. Just one example... There is a scene where the two protagonists have finally spent the night together and wake up together. Their diolugue about "wanna share a shower" is deliberatly intercut with narrative about a girl waking up outside and feeling the dew on her face.
All I really wanted was a chocolate chip cookie of a M/M teen vampire romance. What I got was under-developed, under-baked with far too few chocolate chip moments. No sweet gooey goodness just lumps of flour a bit of sugar, badly mixed and maybe a carob or two.
Another reviewer mentioned that we are briefly introduced to two characters in the protagonist's home town that suggest that his horrendous hometown life didn't have to be so lonely. Then his mom dies -- he reacts wierdly and we're off to England with the two sympathetic characters not mentioned again. One asks..."Why even bring them up all?"
I wish that the author would... develop his characters more. Pay attention to writing conventions so that his prose is more readable. Work on his storytelling and leave the artistic bits to more experienced writers.
I've read over 100 books this year and this was unfortunately one of the worst. Particularly in that the premise held so much promise. Lest this review be all negative let me say... the cover was nice
