Alexia PurdyKirja-arvosteluja

Originally, I was attracted to this series because of the modern fantasy setting and the inclusion of Faerie. I've not really enjoyed the series, and will not be reading the rest. The writing is awkward enough to make me grit my teeth, and the plot is thin. The characters are pretty shallow and some are terribly naive.

Some of the character interaction seems forced and / or stupid. For instance, there is the overly drawn out love triangle, or Soap's too convenient rebound / consolation prize relationship. I don't even like Shade, the main character. She's selfish, impatient and whiny.

This book (and series) reads more like a first draft from a relatively new author that hasn't been through proper editing which would have smoothed out issues with characters, plot and pacing. There are even plain grammatical errors that should have never made it to final publication. I hope the author learns from experience and finds a better editor.

Great Boxed Set

Each of the 15 books included here a great books in and of themselves. All 15 books go together great.

Very fun read! Kindle version needs a tighter copy edit, though.

The first 50% of this book was great, it was bleak and compelling but as soon as the heroine meets a boy, she becomes a simpering, teenage ninny. Unfortunately a DNF for me.

I have mixed feelings. I want to like it. I like the idea of this story, but everything is so goddamn convenient. A magic back pack, a magic canteen, a magic bathroom, a magic rock, magic spells and potions for everything. Shade doesn't have to work for a single thing. It's all just handed to her. There's no hardship, no treacherous journey. It's really just a walk through the park with some friends.

The love interest is obvious. The dialogue is unrealistic. There are too many characters too follow too soon. No one has any good development. And Shade is a dumbass. Seriously.

DON'T FOLLOW STRANGERS INTO THE WOODS!

Gah. I just want it to be a nice adventure story with magic and monsters and a cute boy. It's not that hard.

Cranston! NOOOOOO!!!

What happened!? gah.

I better be able to find out. gosh darn it.

Wish there was more background on the relationships. Seemed cut short. It was probably interesting. Not bad, just want it a little bit longer. I was just getting into it and then, it just ended. Poop

The description of an enlarged mass of earth is enlightening, Shade kissed that wooden prince, for him to return means that she is a queen by birthright. She seems very gullible to me though, everyone has his or her characteristics.

Once again I am in the minority because I could not get into this book. I felt like the main character was whiny and annoying and therefore ruined the entire story. I liked what it could have been but only because I can guess how great it would have been if I would not have wanted to fight with the main character for the entire book. She was awfully annoying and therefore ruined it for me. ... I think there was a good story in there somewhere but I could never get past my annoyance with the main character to find it.

READ IN ENGLISH

Read all my reviews on urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review...



It's said to be 'a dark faerie tale'. All my book-encounters with faeries have been quite grim though. Does this book has something extra that can make this 'extra' dark?



Shade witnesses a fight between two faeries after the voices in her head lead her to an abandoned warehouse on her way from school. She joins one the faeries as he shows her his powers and tells her they might have a solution or at least an explanation for her problem back at his place. Straight after hearing she isn't crazy, but in fact half-faery, they ask her to take part in a very dangerous journey to retrieve some very special water they'll need to win the war against some very evil faeries.



Overall, this was a very enjoyable read. I was immediately sucked into the story, and it was hard to stop reading. I don't really know a lot about faeries, so I just sat back and enjoyed it. The writing was quite nice too, and easy to read. The story moves very fast, especially when you keep in mind it all happens in just over 200 pages. This means that there aren't really that many details, and sometimes I'd liked to see a bit more character development and interactions between different characters. Shade talks to most of the group members only once of twice and too short for us to get a real sense of their relationships. Shade is supposed to get magical training during their trip (I always enjoy such scenes) but this is somehow forgotten a bit during the story. I'd liked to see more of that.



Shade, being the main character, being a 17 year old girl, has many of the symptoms of a classic YA heroine. Not extremely pretty or popular, she's learned to take of herself (as her mother is a single mom with four children). She's not quite the outdoorsy type, as the book tells us multiple times. But why was it necessary that her father learned her basic survival skills, as she wasn't the 'outdoorsy' type and they only went camping within reach of a bathroom and car?



My biggest problem though was the enormous power the magic has in this book. It literally solves every problem in the book! A few things, I wouldn't have mind, even though I sometimes think it's an easy plot device. But the things that were solved went almost ridiculous, as there are spells/charms to 'keep you dry when walking through a river', 'auto-refill your water bottles', and when they make camp (near that same river) they brought toilets and showers. That doesn't really sound like a real quest! (Okay, I admit I would like to have the Hermione-style bag).



It's a nice and quick read if you don't bother too much about magic solving the characters' problems. I'm certainly curious enough to read the other books in this series, if I can find the time to do so.

2.5 Stars

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I read the first book in this series last year, my first book from Netgalley (oh, the memories). However, I have since collected this prequel as well as the second book from Amazon/Smashwords and was planning on reading them for some time. Starting with Evangeline.

It's a very short story in which there isn't too much to be told. It's hard to really rate a short story without putting it in the bigger picture. However, I thought it was quite a nice introduction but for one thing: there was so much emphasis on the fact that she was different that it really annoyed me. Even though the story was very short.

I'm still planning to read the second book, Ever Fire some time soon.

Evangeline is a short prequel story to the Dark Faerie Tale series. The other books in this series are Ever Shade, Ever Fire, Ever Winter, The Cursed, Ever Wrath, History of Fire, Ever Dead and Legends of Fire.

Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale, #1) by Alexia Purdy

Shade is not the ordinary teen. One day she meets a young man who happens to be Teleen Faery Warrior. She is taken to a magical land, where she learns she has special powers. Together with her new friends, they are on a mission for the good Seelie Fairie Court.

They (Shade and friends) encounter many battles along the way. One being the Evil Unseelie Queen, who will stop at nothing to get her way. But Shade is not ready to give in, as she discovers who she really is and what she is capable of doing.

A fantastic fantasy story. I love anything Fairie, the story line is original and I really liked Shade. The story is fast paced, easy to follow and an overall fun read. I recommend Ever Shade to Y/A as well as Adult readers who love a great fantasy story.

Evangeline (A Dark Faerie Tale, #0.5) BY Alexia Purdy

This is a short story and the prequel to Ever Shade. We learn what happened to Evangeline and her sister Jade. We are introduced to the magical land of Fairie.

A nice short story , with a good introduction to the Dark Faerie Series.
I really enjoyed it, and feel that fantasy lovers will enjoy Evangelineas well. I look forward to reading Ever Shade also by Alexia Purdy.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I am really enjoying the series which is great for all ages. The love triangle is great because the writer makes sure to show why Shade is so torn. I love the characters and how we are able to connect with them. The story line keeps you turning the pages and hating to put the book down because there is so much going on but it all works well. Great work! Can't wait for the next book!

Alexia Purdy is a new writer for me. I saw this book ad thought why not. I truly enjoyed Shade and the characters joining her on her quest as she went from normal teen to super teen in a land she knew nothing of fighting to save folks she knew nothing about. She begins her quest and deals with attacks coming from every angle. A great fun read one that leaves you anxious to see what happens next especially with Dylan. Nicely done and a writer worth following.

Great book!!! It was a wonderful journey in the fey world. Reminded me of the Lord of the Rings but with such a fun scenery and characters. I can't wait to finish the 3nd book to find out more of Shade and Dylan. Great read for all!!! (less)

Loved this book!!! A great faerie adventure..Fast read and great story line. I got so wrapped up in it, it was great..A must read for all ages..

I'm a sucker for books on The Fey, so I was excited about reading Ever Shade. It was a little hard for me to get into at first and I didn't think I was going to like Shade, she was starting to get on my nerves with the whole 50 questions in a row every time she opened her mouth. Luckily, she grew on me and the action started up pretty early on, so I was able to get into it. This was an enjoyable read and I look forward to the next book.

A strange virus is spreading through the air in Las Vegas, and everyone is susceptible. April Tate has watched friends and neighbors turn into vampire-like creatures before her eyes, and then she figures out how to kill them in an attempt to get her family to safety.

This is a prequel to Reign of Blood and it has set up April to be pretty ferocious. I like how April just does not assume that these creatures that are acting like vampires will actually fall prey to vampire folklore; so she tries out each method on the infected that she comes across. This is a good set-up for a terrifying world where anyone might become a vampire at any moment, without a bite! I can't wait to read Reign of Blood next.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

I would like to thank author Alexia Purdy for granting me a copy of this e-book to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review. My overall rating for the collection of stories that make up this omnibus sits at a 3.5, and it is solidly on that marker. This of course makes the decision of which way to round the end result very difficult, but ultimately I've determined to round down to 3 stars.

The omnibus is a decent read, but after a while the main protagonist, April, feels a bit stagnant, neither maturing nor regressing for any length of time. The action is solidly written, though the supporting characters at times have stronger appeal than April herself, which makes it somewhat disappointing when their story lines simply fade away. Had April shown a greater range of emotions, and solid emotional growth, I feel this series could have been much stronger.

Goodreads Blurb:

Included in this omnibus package are books 1-3 with 2 extra bonus short novellas.

Reign of Blood (Reign of Blood #1)
"Never tease anything that wants to eat you. My name is April Tate and my blood is the new gold. Vampires and hybrids have overrun my world, once vibrant with life, but now a graveyard of death shrouded in shadows. I fight to survive; I fight for my mother and brother. The journey is full of turns that I am quite unprepared for. And I'm just hoping to make it to the next Vegas sunrise..."

In a post-apocalyptic world, a viral epidemic has wiped out most of the earth’s population, leaving behind few humans but untold numbers of mutated vampires. April is a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in the remains of Las Vegas one year after the outbreak. She has become a ferocious vampire killer and after her family is abducted, she goes searching for them. What she finds is a new breed of vampire, unlike any she has seen before. Unsure of whom she can trust, she discovers that her view of the world is not as black and white as she once thought, and she's willing to bend the rules to rescue her family. But in trying to save them, she may only succeed in bringing her fragile world crashing down around her.

A dynamic new approach to the overdone themes of vampires and dystopian societies, the breath of fresh air this book brings to the genres is both much needed and well done. April, a girl who should be starting college and worrying about things like clothes, her manicure, and which boy to date, is instead holed up in a mountain bunker with her family, fighting for their survival.

For some unknown reason, the virus that reduced the population to a fraction of its size, also destroyed humanity as we knew it. So far the only exceptions we know about are April, her much younger brother, Jeremy, and their mother. Ever since they stumbled upon it, they've been living in a well-stocked, house-sized version of a panic room in the mountains above Las Vegas. Being practical they still head down into the city during the day to stock up on supplies from the grocery stores, etc. Thus far they've only encountered the brainless, feral vampires.

When her mother and brother are abducted, April vows to get them back or die trying. And she's taking out her anger on the feral vamps everywhere she goes. But one miscalculation and suddenly she's being rescued by something she's never encountered before. A human-vampire hybrid. It appears someone changed the rules of the game, without telling her. Now she's left to navigate a whole new world, determining friend from foe, while still remaining her laser-like focus on rescuing her family.

The moral dilemmas April faces continue to increase as some of the monsters she faces retain a semblance of humanity, something she thought was gone forever. Suddenly her challenges increase as she is thrust back toward her old world, yet stuck living in the new. This is a solidly engaging read, with likable characters, and moral issues that challenge both April and the reader alike. There are many questions that remain to be answered, and new discoveries that raise many new questions, all of which April will have to deal with as her small family tries to heal from their respective ordeals. Book two promises to be just as intriguing as the initial entry into this series.

*******WARNING: If you haven't read book one, stop here. There are spoilers for the first book in the review for the second!*******

Disarming (Reign of Blood #2)
The world has changed. One must adapt to survive or hold on to the crumbling shards of humanity.

April continues to hold her fragile world together, but the ties that hold her family together are quickly unraveling. Rumors of a massive human underground settlement draw her to the shadows of the city once more in search of other survivors more like her, even with the hybrid vampires opposing her every move.

The darkness hides secrets along with the continued threat the Feral Vampires create, but a greater evil hides within the city. Something tells April that the humans will be less than welcoming of her, and that's if she can find them before the Vampires do. Joining sides with the enemy might be the only choice she has left.

The sequel to Reign of Blood easily fulfilled the expectations of excitement and suspense that was set for it in the previous book. April continues to hold out hope that things will get better and return to her new 'normal,' the life she'd grown accustomed to before her family had been ruthlessly kidnapped by a rival hive of hybrids.

While this book contains more than its share of action, some of it is on a more adult level - meaning that April no longer just reacts to the world around her. She is actually beginning to think ahead, as much as is possible in a world where almost everything is an unknown.

Emotionally April does a bit of growing, but she's a long way from mature. Just because she is now the decision-maker for her family doesn't mean she's mature. If anything she is more confused now than she was before encountering Rye, Miranda, and the rest of Blaze's hive of hybrids. She is so strongly attracted to Rye, yet she can't find a way to break through the barrier she's erected to protect herself. Is Rye willing to wait for her to figure it out? And can he forgive her the choices she's made, or will they destroy their relationship before it even truly began?

This book brings may choices, often where the options are simply the lesser of two evils. But many are caused by impetuous, or even selfish, behavior. Will those involved learn their lessons and be able to walk off into the sunrise, or will it spell the end for April and Rye? And maybe even the end for April herself, or Blaze's hive? Will April find what she's searching for, and if she does, what will the end result be? What about her goal to find 'a family' for Jeremy, especially if anything should ever happen to her - at least until her mother recovers (if she recovers at all)? Clearly this book resolves many issues, but it has created at least as many questions as those April faced before. More in fact, now that she's had to step up into the parenting role and make the decisions for her small family.

*******WARNING: If you haven't read the first two books, stop here. There are spoilers for the both books contained within this review of the third book!*******

Amplified (Reign of Blood #3)
Who wants to be the prey in a world full of hunters?

In the aftermath of the end of her world, April Tate decides that it's high time to leave the city that never sleeps, Las Vegas. After learning the origins of a Zompire Plague remedy, she risks her life to steal the antidote, makes the decision to separate from Jeremy for a while, and joins a small band of new and old comrades on a trip to the Pacific Coast. There they search out a legendary hive of vampires who are more than just wild, blood drinking creatures, they could be the very people she needs to help her.

On a mission to save the last of humanity, April will use the antidote to save some from eternal damnation, but will her decision bring hope for the future or create an ever bigger, unforeseen devastation?

Though essentially as full of action and violence as the previous books, this one seemed to leave April in the depressed rut that she'd slipped into during Disarming. Being bonded to her former arch-nemesis, Christian, but desiring to love only Rye, has left April even darker than she was before. She spends much of this book trapped in her head, whining. While that's understandable, it tends to grate on the nerves after a bit.

Instead of maturing throughout this part of the story, April seems to be regressing. She remains insistent that everything be done her way, which struck me as a bit odd, seeing as she's certainly not the most powerful being in this strange new world. At least, not most of the time. Sometimes she is the biggest badass around, even if she is a petite little thing. Why does she feel entitled to behave as if she's the alpha all the time, and even more puzzling, why does everyone allow it?

Somehow she has become surrounded by a few astoundingly loyal friends, and they put up with her constant attitude. Instead of learning to focus on the positives of the situation, she dwells on the negatives, and often creates more friction than was necessary. Thankfully her core group of friends stick it out, and help her begin to move forward into a slightly more optimistic outlook. The idea of a cure also has much to do with this refreshing adjustment to her attitude.

It is nice to see April finally begin to mature in her thinking, although it seems to be a case of too little, too late - at least for me. Where she was once gung-ho about the possible cure, she slowly begins to question the realities of using it. It breaks through her thick skull that this 'cure' may cause more problems than it solved. And she finally figures out the tremendous challenge involved in determining who would be responsible for creating enough, and ensuring that they were fair in getting this cure to all beings that were once human. Not too mention the fact that there would be many reluctant to give up their newly created powers. Who would want to go back to being a powerless human when they could retain all the benefits the virus gave them? Who would choose to become fully human again while there would still be those with extra strength, speed, mental abilities that could be used to compel them against their will? All it would take is one person turning down the fabled cure to cause the whole house of cards she'd created in her mind to come tumbling down.

Additionally, the end of this book felt rushed to me. All this buildup, only to be wrapped up in a handful of pages. New characters introduced, only to be glossed over once they've completed crucial roles. Conflicts were shown, but no resolutions provided. And above all, some of the main questions set out in the first book are never answered, as well as lesser questions remaining unanswered even though those events were set up to allow for a much larger impact, but never came to fruition. It all left me wondering if another book is actually planned, particularly in light of what is said during the final pages. Knowing another book is following would certainly make the ending of this book more palatable. Without that information I find myself judging the end of this book/series more harshly than I might otherwise have done.

Resonant (Reign of Blood Prequel)
Surviving is worse than death…

As the first days of the end of humanity tumble across the city of Las Vegas in the form of an overwhelming viral infection, turning almost everyone into vampire-like creatures, April Tate will find out what it really means to survive. What does it take to make it out alive in a place where everything is but a withered echo of its former self, and death does not come willingly?

A very short prequel, this covers material that's already been dealt with in the novels. However it does offer a bit more detail, and some specific scenes that were never before mentioned. Reading it as the starting point for the series would certainly be more beneficial and prevent the feeling of repetition I got from reading it after the novels.

Elijah: The Miel Chronicles
(A Reign of Blood Companion Story)
These are the journeys of Miel, the Keeper of the journal.

The workings of heaven are shrouded in mystery and myth, leaving us to only theorize as to what awaits us when we pass.
There are those among us however, that are special cases.
These are good people that have committed a horrendous crime, such as murder.

This is an interesting tale that is somewhat about Elijah, and also about angels and heaven. Miel is a lesser angel who keeps a journal for the head of a court of angels, angels tasked with deciding those unusual cases. The cases that were not clear cut, but rather needed direct oversight to determine which way the soul would be sent. And in the face of this viral vampiric outbreak, this court was overrun, as it took a bit of time for the souls of the infected to disappear, creating huge opportunities for souls to become mislabeled and sent to the wrong destination.

Mile is tasked with finding one case that could save all those touched by the infection, be they infected or not. And somehow, through the journal of Elijah, she may have found the case to do the job. Or at the very least she may have discovered the foundation required to allow their court to continue. Certainly a creative look at the overarching story in relation to the status of the souls of all involved. Not too mention showing us a glimpse of Elijah that was never even hinted at in any of the previous books. A worthy addendum to the series as it stands.

April has her hands full in the dystopian ruin the world was left in by the plague and the rising vampires – especially with her family traumatised and falling in tatters after being kidnapped in the last book. She certainly doesn’t have time for romance

But when she hears of a potential city of survivors managing to hide and thrive away from the vampires, she has to check it out. Alone if she has to.

I finished this book feeling dissatisfied – and I don’t think it was down to the world building (which is a fairly decent dystopian zombie apocalypse with vampires holding the zombie spots with a few unique little additions) or the characters (though I can’t say any of them thrilled me). It was primarily down to structure. I feel like there were a number of story-ettes that were started, kind of wibbled around a bit, and then shuffled away sort of embarrassed. Kind of like a chorus of singers who suddenly realise they can’t remember the words. I think a lot of that comes from the author having an idea of how they wanted the book to end, but not entirely sure how to get from the end of the last book to that point. Which, in turn, may have been because the last book felt like a stand alone (I was actually surprised to find this book existed) which has now been stretched into a series.

Take, for example, the romance at the end of the last book – April and Rye have fought together, done the standard “I cannot be with you but I love you so much” and sealed the deal with the magical-bond-of-insta-love-because-who-has-time-to-develop-relationships. Done, closed storyline (ok, they could actually develop a relationship but that really goes against the All-To-Common-Template that says getting your love interests together is HAPPILY EVER AFTER). This book starts with the two separated (though still drowning in endlessly descriptive sexual tension and moping and lots of “so hawt I wish we could be together”). The reason presented – that April feels the need to focus more on her family after they have been through the traumatic experiences in the last book – is certainly very reasonable but isn’t carried by the story because April doesn’t do that. She has some torn inner monologues about her mother but quickly abandons them in favour of exploring her newest curiosity

So it feels convoluted – like this couple needs to split up for the plot (or not be a done deal), so they’re split up. Here’s an excuse – but it’s a half-assed one that isn’t followed up.

The same applies to April’s curiosity – she wants to examine the city full of humans; which takes precedence over her (repeatedly moped about) split up with Rye AND the family which is the reason for that split up. And why does she decide she needs to rush off and do this alone? Because she thinks the vampire hybrids may try to wipe them out without consulting her – but when we switch to Rye’s point of view, the hybrids seem to be adopting a policy of leaving the humans alone. He could tell her that… but without these leaps of logic and dubious foundation, April wouldn’t have any motivation to go wandering off in dangerous places all alone.

Or there’s Elijah who may be a leg on April’s budding love triangle (or square); he wants to get out of the human city because the head of the human city is Terribad Evil. He says. But he doesn’t really give any examples of said Terribad Evil nor do we see her ever act in a way that is Terribad Evil. She just is. The lack of development there feels like it has been cobbled together rather than thought through

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I led to this book through BookBub for free. I normally balk at reading series books for several reasons. I also realized that this was a YA book. I've only read 2 YA books prior to Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale #1). Finally, I never thought I would be into the faerie, witch, goblin type books. Therefore, I really just didn't know what I would think reading this book.

I honestly liked this story. I became irritated with Shade at times. She came across as whiney and stubborn...but then she is also a teenager. I loved the fact that Dylan and her shared that kiss and things seemed to get more intense with them. I have a feeling that in the #2 book, "Ever Fire," things will also get intense between her and Soap. Looks like there will be a love triange going on. But then, that's just my guess.

I did have a problem with the way the book ended. The story just stopped. I don't know if Alexia Purdy just ran out of the story or what. But it could have ended with more detail as to what became of the war. The last few page just throw information at you about a couple of characters. You don't hear what happen with Sylphi. You don't get any information to what happen with all the warriors that traveled with Shade when she was in search of the Santiran fountans. I suspect that Prince Lotinar was transformed by Shade's kiss, but we don't hear anything of this. We don't hear of what Queen Zinara does with the waters fro the Santiran fountains.

You also get a quick introduction to the following, but you don't really learn anything of them: Braelynn, Than, Sary, Stephen, and Ewan. Then you learn of how Darrin does Shade wrong, but we never hear of how things turn out for him.

Again, I really liked this story. I really would had like to see more depth in the characters though. There are so many interesting people introduced in this story, but we just don't learn much of them. I see this more of a love story, faerie tale, youth driven book.

I don't know if I'm willing to invest in the remaining books until the series is complete. I hope that the author gets more in depth in the characters in future stories. I will add this to my wish list and keep an eye on this series. It's one that I'm going to really need to think long and hard on if I want to get so involved with.

I led to this book through BookBub for free. I normally balk at reading series books for several reasons. I also realized that this was a YA book. I've only read 2 YA books prior to Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale #1). Finally, I never thought I would be into the faerie, witch, goblin type books. Therefore, I really just didn't know what I would think reading this book.

I honestly liked this story. I became irritated with Shade at times. She came across as whiney and stubborn...but then she is also a teenager. I loved the fact that Dylan and her shared that kiss and things seemed to get more intense with them. I have a feeling that in the #2 book, "Ever Fire," things will also get intense between her and Soap. Looks like there will be a love triange going on. But then, that's just my guess.

I did have a problem with the way the book ended. The story just stopped. I don't know if Alexia Purdy just ran out of the story or what. But it could have ended with more detail as to what became of the war. The last few page just throw information at you about a couple of characters. You don't hear what happen with Sylphi. You don't get any information to what happen with all the warriors that traveled with Shade when she was in search of the Santiran fountans. I suspect that Prince Lotinar was transformed by Shade's kiss, but we don't hear anything of this. We don't hear of what Queen Zinara does with the waters fro the Santiran fountains.

You also get a quick introduction to the following, but you don't really learn anything of them: Braelynn, Than, Sary, Stephen, and Ewan. Then you learn of how Darrin does Shade wrong, but we never hear of how things turn out for him.

Again, I really liked this story. I really would had like to see more depth in the characters though. There are so many interesting people introduced in this story, but we just don't learn much of them. I see this more of a love story, faerie tale, youth driven book.

I don't know if I'm willing to invest in the remaining books until the series is complete. I hope that the author gets more in depth in the characters in future stories. I will add this to my wish list and keep an eye on this series. It's one that I'm going to really need to think long and hard on if I want to get so involved with.

Originally Reviewed at: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 5 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Bewitching Book Tours
Reviewer: Heather

Ever Shade is a dark fairy tale in which a young woman named Shade is presented with a quest to save her people. However, Shade believes she is only merely human, not half Fae, but it doesn’t stop her from trying to help this race of people that she would gladly call her friends. She embarks on this dangerous quest across the faerie lands in hopes to bring back a magical water to save the people.


During this time she must leave behind those she loves, her normal life she had before meeting the faeries, and even possibly knowing that she may never return the same way as she left. Shade may not even return at all! But she refuses to let any of this stand in her way, so the young seventeen year old Shade starts her journey to self discovery, to save both the faerie world and hers too, and the quest of friendship everlasting.


Read this story if you love the idea of faeries. Read this story if you love page turning, spell flinging, sword fighting action. Read this story just to fall in love with a girl who would sacrifice her life to restore the peace and love we all seek in the world.


This story blends in the world of the Fae, but doesn’t hype it up to perfection. I love this! Not all Fae are good, not all are evil, and some are a mix of both. The world is created wonderfully and has a lovely balance. The writing style flows easily as it sucks you in for more and more. I was actually only disappointed in the fact that the second book won’t be out until December 2012. I was so in love with this story that I wanted to find and read the next book right away.


I would recommend this story to a wide range of readers. I think anyone from the age of 13 to 100 could find this to be a very entertaining story. I think girls and women might relate more, but younger boys and men might really enjoy the sense of adventure found in the storyline.

The world as we know it is over, civilisation has fallen, mankind is almost annihilated. In fact, April, her mother and her little brother, hiding in a bunker outside of Las Vegas, may be the last human beings on the planet. The city and the night has fallen to the vampires – monstrous, feral creatures that swarm in the cities and hide from the sun, giving brief respite in which April and her family can scavenge for supplies.

Until her family is taken from her and, in her quest to find her loved ones and the only other humans that are left, she stumbles onto a whole new type of vampire she never imagined existing.

A combination of a zombie apocalypse and a vampire story, this world has so much potential. Humans stalking through the slowly mouldering cities for supplies, avoiding dark places, knowing they have to return to safety by sun down. Watch out for movement in the shadows, stay where it’s sunny and if you see anything lurking in the darkness… don’t meet its gaze.

Is this not an awesome concept? I think I could very much love it. For some reason the idea of sinister marauding vampires taking over the city during the night is far scarier than zombies taking over everything all the time. Just that constant “get home before the sun goes down” pressure.

There’s also some interesting side musings – the usual things in a dystopian like missing luxuries and necessities but she also makes a point to talk about things like missing toilet paper – the basics we have every day but don’t consider luxuries but would surely miss. She also goes down an interesting path of considering things she doesn’t miss – like how her priorities change and she no longer has to concern herself with clothing or appearance –and then being plunged back into society and flailing to think about them.

We have the interesting contrast as well between April’s personal goals – her desperate need to reunite with her family, perhaps the last people on Earth – but also a, perhaps, higher goal to help the hybrids and be the saviour of an entire people. The balancing of the desperate personal need with, in some ways, the greater community good is a harsh and difficult contrast and choice to make. And that’s before we get April’s very well presented trust issued (before the woo-woo romance anyway)

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of the writing I’m not a fan of. It’s very repetitive – we’re constantly told how hot or cold it is (and since the book is set in Las Vegas it’s not like there’s a lot of interesting weather options here). We’re told about vampires in buildings avoiding the sun – which is fair enough world building, but it doesn’t really need repeating. Or she tells us she needs to clear out shops before stocking up on goods – even if we couldn’t have inferred that from her actions, we didn’t need to be repeatedly told

There’s also odd statements about that are pretty redundant – like her machete being perfect for close up fighting. It’s a machete, how else are you going to fight with it? Throw it? Also, some purpleness creeping in – like turning on her flashlight and it’s beam “caressing” what it illuminates. I feel quite cheated, no torch I have ever owned has caressed anything. And when a vampire grabs her it’s the “cold grip of death.” And vampires don’t drain her blood – they “sucked my life’s elixir away”. One character manages to watch her with a look of contempt and respect on her face… what would that facial expression even look like?

And some of the dialogue is just… not great.

“You’re in the wrong place at the wrong time; I will make you pay for what you have done to my family.”

“I have been watching you, seeing what it is you seek.”

Yeah, not great. Seek? Unless you’re a D&D games master, who uses the word “seek” in daily conversation?

And there’s a huge wallop of info-dumping at the beginning of the book – showing us the world, April, her mother and brother and what they did in one big crammed telling-all-of-this; it felt like the author wasn’t interested and wanted to hurry to the main story so had one big dollop of info. Which is a shame, because there’s a lot here that could have been really interesting: Developing her contrast from normal teen to teen fascinated with weapons, from kid to adult way too soon – and the difficult dynamic with her mother who forgets how much she has grown up. Developing her active lifestyle into weapon’s training, trying to keep her brother’s relative innocence, trying to make some kind of home in their bunker.

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