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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Review and Giveaway Pretty When She Dies series by Rhiannon Frater

REVIEW:

Another vampire story...

I received to review Pretty When She Dies series, and considering that the volumes are connected, continuing the story from one volume to the next, I decided to talk more about the series in general and not just about a single volume. Somehow this development of the story suited me simply because I was not driven to despair as in other series by the abundance of refreshers, motivations or explanations regarding the characters from previous volumes. I find these useless as long as they are independent books even if they have the same main characters. With Pretty When She Dies is another situation and you should take it from the beginning, but honestly I tell you that you will not regret.

As the author also states in an introductory note, the series is not for those who are in love with Edward and Twilight. It is quite the opposite of that series; the characters may be vampires but they are a very different kind. They are not the romantic and mysterious ones from classic novels either on the contrary, they are similar to those from True Blood. I say that just to get an overall picture, do not go too far and get the idea that Pretty When She Dies is a True Blood's clone. It's a well written and original story,  that will satisfy your craving for vampires ... let say for more special ones. More special exactly because the way they are: more full of life, more passionate, carnal, but without that kind of cold sensuality filled with a slightly old-fashioned romance that you are used with. Their life is more entwined with the humans not only from the diet point of view, but in terms of relationship, of the adventures experienced and of the family ties that some of them don’t want or cannot forget.

The series is full of action and although our heroine finds herself trapped in a strange new world, will not hesitate or pity herself but she will venture into unknown in order to understand her new condition. But this very impulsive and typical human reaction will get her in trouble, make her stumble almost all the time and that will bring her on the razor edge all over again. Salvation will appear as ... what do you think ... love. But love will not bring her the dreamed haven instead will throw her in the world of the big, bad boys. A world that she would not have imagined as a simple human, a world also difficult to conceive as a vampire. A world where the little vamp becomes the big prize for a whole league of monsters. And the fauna that inhabits this parallel world is bizarre and various: ruthless vampires, ghosts, undead, witches, werewolves, vampire hunters, bounty hunters, necromancers ... seems enough? And all of the above put in their plans to snatch our heroine. Will they succeed? Will she escape and save the loved ones? Read the series and find out. I guarantee that you will like the adventures of this less orthodox vampire.

What I said and what you’ll find in books’ descriptions is enough to give you an idea and there is no need of more talking. However, to be fair and given that the tour is for the third novel in the series let say a few words about it. As befits a book that puts an end to a series of this genre, Pretty When She Destroys will be a rush from one end to another. The action is explosive, full of tension and the despair will not be just a mere presence among our heroes, but will simply knock down the door. Twists will be the main course on the menu, the plans will be turned upside down, enemies will regroup and as expected they will strike in force. Hope, poor thing, seems to be as ethereal and unreal as a ghost spectrum. The final volume will be a paramount of the series and I assure you that it will not disappoint you. Rhiannon Frater's vampire universe will fascinate you.

Author's style is pleasant, the pace is good, the story will not train and a lot of scenes are peppered with humor. There are not unnecessary descriptions, no downtime, but a well supported action that will catch you. The characters are well defined, you will love or hate them as case may be, and the heroine will make her way into your heart although there are no few times when she will do all sorts of stupid things. But precisely this is the reason you will love her, because of her rebellious way of being and act. The battle scenes are not too gruesome and neither the sex ones too explicit, but now what to say, it's all about everyone’s mental caliber and tastes. Nonetheless, books’ characters are monsters and, as I said before, the series play in a different league than Twilight.

A vampire story and not only that that you will love and that you can confidently put on the same shelf with the famous titles of the genre.

Happy reading!

Book #1 is only 0.99 from August 1st to 9th on Amazon

About the author:
Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies trilogy (The First Days, Fighting to Survive, Siege,) and the author of three other books: the vampire novels Pretty When She Dies and The Tale of the Vampire Bride and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. Inspired to independently produce her work from the urging of her fans, she published The First Days in late 2008 and quickly gathered a cult following. She won the Dead Letter Award back-to-back for both The First Days and Fighting to Survive, the former of which the Harrisburg Book Examiner called ‘one of the best zombie books of the decade.’ Rhiannon is currently represented by Hannah Gordon of the Foundry + Literary Media agency.
You may contact her by sending an email to rhiannonfrater@gmail.com.

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Author's GiveawayS
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3 comments:

Adutza said...

Suna interesant ;)

Unknown said...

I love vampires that do NOT sparkle! Thanks for the post. It was great. michelle_willms@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

Multumim pentru recenzie :)