Juliann Crowther Whicker

I received access to this book from the author, which was awesome. I really wish I could rate this higher. It was parts really great and parts really bad.
So you have the main plot but it is so jumpy and inconsistent it's hard to tell what the heck is going on. I swear there's like a second plot but you don't have access to that. Like you're just stuck reading the journals of the people in it, so you only know what they know and how they experienced it so it's rather incoherent.
The characters are part really freaking awesome and part have no depth to them at all.
The ending comes upon you out of nowhere. Like it's been half hinted at all story, but not enough that it quite makes sense. The beginning is fairly slow and then the end is rather rushed.
There's quite a lack of detail about things that would be important. Sometimes things are stated as being something, but you don't know what said something even means.
I'm also rather annoyed with the fact that you don't even learn the main character's real name til at least half way through the book. She's constantly called Watergirl. And then suddenly she gives you her name. And then what the heck is Flop's real name?
The words themselves are wonderful though. The dialogue is fantastic.
As much as a lot of the time I had no clue what was going on, I couldn't put this book down. So that's a huge plus.… (lisätietoja)

Ever have a book you just couldn't wrap your mind around no matter how much you wanted to? Yeah...a bit of a case in point here. When I started this particular title, I had the best of intentions...and about 100 pages later my intentions were still there just not quite as strong. It actually took a friend asking me what I was reading and commenting on how (based on the title) it didn't sound like my usual fare. I can see her point, sorta sounds like a steamy romance novel at first glance...which although there is nothing wrong with, is not my preferred reading genre. That caused me to pause...and proceed to "defend" my choice in reading it thereby exposing something I didn't see prior to the conversation....a level of understanding.

It seems that while I've been struggling with grasping what is actually occuring in the book while in the act of reading, my mind was sorting through the data and able to make some sense of it all on the back end. In short, I could tell her what it was about and what was currently transpiring even though had I been asked as I read each electronic page, I would have sworn otherwise.

From where I stand, it breaks down to this. There are four types of other worldly creatures ...Hotbloods, Coldbloods, Wilds and Nethers. There's the rumor of a war that's been brewing forever and a day yet still hasn't exactly come to fruitation despite some clamoring to make it happen. Like whenever you have differing groups of people, the tensions tend to run high and someone is always trying to be the "top dog"....these guys are no different which leads to a highly volatile situation that...I'll refrain from revealing. But...there's more....

You see, that's the story running underneath the surface; the top layer all focuses on the soul or the lack of their own soul, how it happened, who is to blame and what it all means. There's a lot of raw emotion in here. Many situations you simply find yourself getting caught up in the middle of it all and then.....it just sort of let's you go. There were several times as I was reading that I literally went back and reread a passage because I thought I had missed something, the transition was that sudden. Now, jumping back to characters....

I would have liked to learn a bit more about the possibly conniving Devlin and Satan's past (not as in the devil himself, but as in brother of the House of Slide and one of Dari's many uncle's) has got to be colorful to say the very least. Darianna herself was really just discovering who she was since the awakening of, well...since the events transpired that did transpire. Lewis is a conundrum that you'll keep trying to figure out but don't be surprised if what you guess isn't quite right. To list out all those that leave their mark within this story, would be like creating a roster for your own football team...with opposition...and possibly fans in the stadium. It's large, varied, constant and at points a tad overwhelming but without them, the story would be incomplete. Now, let's touch on that ending....

It twists in upon itself til you don't know which way is up, but in a good way! It's definitely not what you're expecting and I hazzard to say that after the sneak peek at book two at book's end, it's doubtful we've heard the end of the initial saga (yay!). I'm one of those readers that prefers a neat and tidy ending for better or worse, just so that we've got some closure and even though this is the first book in a series, the author offers us that option here while still leaving room to grow.

All in all, an interesting read that I came to enjoy, even if it took some time to get into and a bit of reflection to see the forest for the trees. A book for mid to older teen readers through adults, not quite certain any younger than that would appreciate the story quite yet nor handle the hunting, death, blood, and battles. It's handled well in delivery, but still....too young is too young.… (lisätietoja)

I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads.

When I first started this book I was completely confused as to what the heck was going on but chapter 3 started to clear up some of my confusion. And after that I couldn't put the book down (which led to a few late nights)! The beginning of the book does make you feel as if you are right there with the main character (Dariana) because she is super confused. This book is so different than any other book I have ever read and really keeps the reader guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait to follow the series as it progresses!… (lisätietoja)