I was waiting for a series like this to come along. Paranormal romance so often just misses the bar when it comes to original and well thought out world building. I liked that Andersen took Mayan mythology and astronomy, added a dash of astrology and new age thought and came up with an intricate and well written world. I am so sick of poorly constructed books about (now) boring angels and demons or vampires and werewolves. So Andersen's Nightkeepers novels are truly a breath of fresh air in that they are not only original and logically consistent, but also well written too. I can't stress enough how much I appreciate that.
However, and this is the big problem that ultimately sunk the book back into mediocre reading instead of the can't-stop-reading-thriller I was expecting, I just couldn't get into the romance. Despite the fact that Nightkeepers get their powers from ritual blood-letting, sacrifice, and sex magic, every single relationship in this book felt ridiculously devoid of passion. And since passion is what initially drives our main couple to want to be together after being forced into sex magic on their very first meeting, I can't help but feel jarred out of the flow of the story. I'm supposed to believe that these two just can't stay away from each other and that they have this soul connection but their sex scenes are borderline rape (dubious consent at the very least) and I never truly feel the passion and love I'm told they feel for each other. This is a huge problem for me because I want to believe the romance or have it completely out of the book entirely. This book would have been much stronger had it focused on the mythology and adventure aspect more than the romance. For me the romance is too removed and clinical to be successful. And I spent way too long slogging through this book trying to enjoy the world building while feeling desperately uncomfortable about the dispassionate relationships of the characters.
I give this 3 1/2 stars for ingenuity. I will keep reading the novels in the hope that they get better (mostly because I already own the first 5 in the series), but I fear that these are the kinds of books that make reading quickly difficult because you're too detached from the plight of the characters to care to keep reading. I really forced myself to finish this.
However, and this is the big problem that ultimately sunk the book back into mediocre reading instead of the can't-stop-reading-thriller I was expecting, I just couldn't get into the romance. Despite the fact that Nightkeepers get their powers from ritual blood-letting, sacrifice, and sex magic, every single relationship in this book felt ridiculously devoid of passion. And since passion is what initially drives our main couple to want to be together after being forced into sex magic on their very first meeting, I can't help but feel jarred out of the flow of the story. I'm supposed to believe that these two just can't stay away from each other and that they have this soul connection but their sex scenes are borderline rape (dubious consent at the very least) and I never truly feel the passion and love I'm told they feel for each other. This is a huge problem for me because I want to believe the romance or have it completely out of the book entirely. This book would have been much stronger had it focused on the mythology and adventure aspect more than the romance. For me the romance is too removed and clinical to be successful. And I spent way too long slogging through this book trying to enjoy the world building while feeling desperately uncomfortable about the dispassionate relationships of the characters.
I give this 3 1/2 stars for ingenuity. I will keep reading the novels in the hope that they get better (mostly because I already own the first 5 in the series), but I fear that these are the kinds of books that make reading quickly difficult because you're too detached from the plight of the characters to care to keep reading. I really forced myself to finish this.
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