Helpful Score: 7
I was into vampire stories before they became the latest rage and a dime a dozen. That being said, I'm very rarely suckered into reading a vamp story I know is just out there to ride out the current popularity of paranormal romance. So I was pretty surprised when I just didn't like this vampire story.
I agree with the previous reviewer (JessicaRabbit) that this book lacks a little something. It's okay and not badly written. But I didn't really like the characters. It's not really like Romeo and Juliet though. It's less the star-crossed lovers motif and more enemies forced to marry plot device. It did sort of remind me of the movie Underworld except the roles of the vampires and the werewolves were reversed. And maybe that is part of the problem--Hauf wrote what for me amounts to a poorly done rip-off of Underworld. She tries to make her characters witty and have heat with each other despite being (supposed) exact opposites, but Blu comes off as punk meets trailer trash and Creed is not nearly as sophisticated nor intelligent enough to make me believe he is a vampire elder who has survived & matured for over 900 years. Also, it really takes very little time for our heroes to jump into bed together and proclaim their ever-lasting love. I was disappointed. I wanted more of a chase and for their love to be a little more believable after millennia of enmity between their kinds than, "well we've had amazing sex together for a few days in a row--it must be love!" After 900 years of not loving any woman, I don't think it would be that easy for Creed to give up his bachelor life style.
But what really rankles for me is that Blu has been sexually abused all her life and I know from personal experience that it's never that easy to fall in love (true love) after that kind of emotional damage. I believe that Blu would use her sexuality as a weapon to control Creed or even as a way of distancing herself from emotional attachment. I even believe she would *think* she's in love with the first guy to treat her better than a sex object. But I have a really hard time believing after this story is over, the last page turned over, that in a few years these two won't have split. She doesn't know who she is. She's still hiding and trying to figure out how she wants to be treated. I would have liked to have seen these elements examined in a realistic way so that when the characters do come together I can believe it's happily ever after from then on.
It really disturbs me that so many authors of romance novels use the sexual abuse card and then don't bother to treat it in a sensitive or realistic way. It's so much easier to write a few pages of great sex and call it love and pretend that's enough to heal all the hurt. What's really romantic is seeing the repercussions of such abuse and knowing that the other person will ride out that storm with you no matter what and even if it means no sex!
So, yes I have serious issues with this novel. I don't really recommend it to anyone unless you are not a discerning reader and can overlook gaping holes in characterization and plot. I *would* recommend Kresley Cole as a far superior writer who knows how to make this kind of plot work.
I agree with the previous reviewer (JessicaRabbit) that this book lacks a little something. It's okay and not badly written. But I didn't really like the characters. It's not really like Romeo and Juliet though. It's less the star-crossed lovers motif and more enemies forced to marry plot device. It did sort of remind me of the movie Underworld except the roles of the vampires and the werewolves were reversed. And maybe that is part of the problem--Hauf wrote what for me amounts to a poorly done rip-off of Underworld. She tries to make her characters witty and have heat with each other despite being (supposed) exact opposites, but Blu comes off as punk meets trailer trash and Creed is not nearly as sophisticated nor intelligent enough to make me believe he is a vampire elder who has survived & matured for over 900 years. Also, it really takes very little time for our heroes to jump into bed together and proclaim their ever-lasting love. I was disappointed. I wanted more of a chase and for their love to be a little more believable after millennia of enmity between their kinds than, "well we've had amazing sex together for a few days in a row--it must be love!" After 900 years of not loving any woman, I don't think it would be that easy for Creed to give up his bachelor life style.
But what really rankles for me is that Blu has been sexually abused all her life and I know from personal experience that it's never that easy to fall in love (true love) after that kind of emotional damage. I believe that Blu would use her sexuality as a weapon to control Creed or even as a way of distancing herself from emotional attachment. I even believe she would *think* she's in love with the first guy to treat her better than a sex object. But I have a really hard time believing after this story is over, the last page turned over, that in a few years these two won't have split. She doesn't know who she is. She's still hiding and trying to figure out how she wants to be treated. I would have liked to have seen these elements examined in a realistic way so that when the characters do come together I can believe it's happily ever after from then on.
It really disturbs me that so many authors of romance novels use the sexual abuse card and then don't bother to treat it in a sensitive or realistic way. It's so much easier to write a few pages of great sex and call it love and pretend that's enough to heal all the hurt. What's really romantic is seeing the repercussions of such abuse and knowing that the other person will ride out that storm with you no matter what and even if it means no sex!
So, yes I have serious issues with this novel. I don't really recommend it to anyone unless you are not a discerning reader and can overlook gaping holes in characterization and plot. I *would* recommend Kresley Cole as a far superior writer who knows how to make this kind of plot work.
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