Scan barcode
ksmarsden's review
3.0
When a strange new guy starts stalking her, Katie suddenly realises that not only is the world more complicated than she could have thought; but her friends and family have been lying to her for years.
Katie is now aware of the guardians, and their duties; and the vampires and werewolves in the world.
After her rather forced decision to become a guardian, she is thrown in the deep end with training. There is a lot to learn, and as her friends have a three-year head-start, Katie has a lot of catching up to do.
I really liked the world that Simone has created, with its histories and prejudices. The school with the secret extra courses. The vampires, werewolves; the untouchable guardians. It was all wonderfully creative!
I liked the plot as well, I'd say that it's at the older end of the Young Adult spectrum; dropping the f-bomb and scenes of graphic violence. It nicely balances the danger of the fantasy world; and the realistic issues and stresses between family and friends.
I felt very sorry for Katie, she has put her trust in Lucy (basically her surrogate mum); and her best friends Allison and Brian. But it turns out that all of them have been - if not lying outright - hiding the truth of the guardians from her.
I loved the romance between Katie and Tristan, it is slow to develop and questioned throughout. It is so refreshing to read something where the guy isn't immediately infatuated and over-protective. If anything, Tristan goes overboard in pushing Katie to reach her full potential.
Which is all great, but I wish it had been executed a little more smoothly.
The first thing I will admit, is that I did not like Katie. She is very selfish, blind to whatever problems even her closest friends are going through. On the one hand, her selfishness is done in an intentional way, and is resolved by the end, and I'd rather her keep that personality flaw. I dunno, maybe if her personality didn't bleed so much into the narrative, it wouldn't hinder the story, for me.
I was often confused, in the first half of the book, and had to keep going back and re-reading. There were sections that were disjointed, going in one direction before jumping track, or being constantly blocked by Katie not wanting to know and/or other people refusing to tell. I suddenly felt like Tristan (the mind-reading vampire), overwhelmed by the unconnected thoughts being thrown at you.
There were parts that I never worked out:
Why wasn't everyone more concerned about that?
Why didn't Lucy help rescue Tristan?
Where did Mercedes disappear to when Katie faced Eshmael?
Why did the "untouchable" thing pop up in some scenarios, and not others?
This got smoother in the second half of the book, as the story and plot picked up pace.
There were a few typos that made me pause. It only bothered me because I had to concentrate on the text so much because of the above point. There was probably one error per page - there were a variety of homophone errors, that wouldn't show up on a spell-check, but I'd hope an editor would spot.
The one that pestered me most: being "a part" of something, is very different than being "apart".
Overall, it is a creative world with an enticing plot, and I will be continuing with the series.
lucyp21's review
2.0
Let’s start with the characters. Katie was a bratty teenager – fine. She’s sixteen and you want realism, you get bratty teenager who doesn’t know how to react to the world changing around her. But I really disliked Katie. Oh, I sympathised with her a lot, but I disliked reading about her. Same thing with Tristan, I found the both of them unlikeable. Then, about 75% of the way through the book, Katie gets hit by a clue bat with how selfish she’s being, and is then proceeded to be told this by pretty much all the characters. I have to say, I don’t think any of the characters acted well. It wasn’t just making mistakes, the whole cast of characters were the most selfish bunch of people I have ever read about. All of them, including the adults who don’t have the excuse of being young and inexperienced like the teenagers, were focused on their problems and didn’t give a fig about anyone else. Katie made a very good point when she said (near the start) that she had only been introduced to this world recently and she was still trying to get her head around it, but no one gave her any help. Lucinda, despite being told she is like Katie’s mum, doesn’t have a talk with her about how she’s coping or making sure she’s alright telling her dad despite her knowing how Katie’s dad is concerning the whole Guardian thing. We never find out what’s going on with Brian, both of Katie’s dads are awful parents and nothing is really done about it (seriously Katie’s reaction to her father wiping nearly all her memories out of her head was so bland). Tristan is not a nice person, I know he’s struggling with shit and hearing Katie how horrible he is doesn’t help, but why doesn’t he teach her more about blocking off her thoughts? She can do it, we saw it, and if her thoughts irritated him so much, he could help her pull back. I liked the whole bonded thing but I despised how unequal it was. Then the ending relationship between Tristan and Katie seemed to come out from nowhere – we get one line explaining how the relationship ended up and that was it. No more explanation.
The plot only really got going in the last quarter of the book and when it ended, it felt like it was wrapped up really quickly. I thought I would like the world-building, because it’s paranormal, but I really didn’t and I couldn’t figure out why until I read another review that said it seemed similar to The Mortal Instruments and that’s when it hit me. Guardians of the supernatural world = Shadowhunters. D-Levels (is that what they were called?)= Downworlders gone ‘bad’. The discrimination against vampires etc. That’s figured out at least, I didn’t particularly like The Mortal Instruments worldbuilding so I wasn’t going to like this. I did like the whole ‘Keeper’s Vow’ bit and the history behind it because that was interesting but I can’t believe that Katie found it out in a book. All the time she had been complaining about people not telling her anything and then ignoring the piles of schoolbooks that might help her figure stuff out.
I feel like I’m missing something with this book because everyone else seems to really enjoy it? Everything I liked, there was something I disliked about it as well. Katie being a realistic teenager who avoids schoolwork = answer to one of the biggest mysteries in the book is in her textbook. Soulbond between two strangers = only Tristan is able to read Katie’s thoughts, while Katie has to drink blood to read his. For plot reasons, of course. Past best friends = no one mentions it to Katie because of reasons so she ends up hurting Tristan. Character realises they were unfair and nasty = all the characters tell her this as they ignore all the crap they’ve done in the book.
This isn’t a bad book but I didn’t like it and I won’t be continuing the series. Two stars.
jldyer's review
3.0
I also had trouble with the world. I know Katie was coming into it not knowing what was going on, but I don't think D-Range was explained until book two, and yet it was brought up multiple times in book 1. I was very confused through the first third of the book with the world that was introduced.
I agree with other readers that the book didn't find its own until the final third. But I think the world is beautiful. Katie is a pain in the ass in this book and that lowered my enjoyment of the book too, but she grew throughout the book as did Tristan. The other characters were more incidental.
I think it's worth reading through this book in order to read the second.
ke11yn_'s review
1.0
However, the world building was good and she gave depth to the different societies. I think if I was a fan of vampire romances in general I would of given this a higher rating.
lesiajoukova's review
4.0
This review was prompted by the fact that I suddenly realized my review is in the top right now and all it says is a pathetic "I enjoyed it!". Time to remedy that. Okay, let's get down into it!
If you love YA paranormal books then I think you should definitely give this book a whirl. Why? For an array of different reasons (warning, minor spoilers ahead, nothing very serious so go ahead).
So what are they? Here are some things that are present in the novel that might tickle your fancy:
* The main characters are "enjoying" the full benefits package of a "telepathic" bond, if you will. Yeah, that's just fancy speak for saying that thought-reading has a place in this one. If you like stories that start with a slight invasion of privacy (haha, I'm saying slight when there's really nothing worse than someone invading your personal space), then you'll love this one! I know I definitely enjoy this trope because the best part of it that the characters aren't in full control of their thought process, making for a very interesting relationship dynamic.
* It is a story of a friendship that establishes itself with a lot of difficulties and hiccups. If you like relationships that develop out of enmity then it's definitely something you will love reading. Tristan and Katie are such different characters that they can't help but clash and their relationship can overwhelm them so much that they'll go into typical teenager mode: ignore other friends, prioritize their life wrongly. Basically a wonderful image of teenagers. I know I was exactly like that and the book really reminded me of that silly and wonderful time.
* The main heroine is getting strong. STRONGER. She is just gonna kick ass (but only when she is done whining). I love whiny strong characters. They remind me of Scarlett O'Hara. Own it, girl!
* This book has an unreliable narrator and it is a pure joy to read her perspective. She is so freaking believable, I can't even. I loved her unique perspective as an angsty girl that has to go through discovering that the world that she knows is very different from the world which she has to face.
* The story has vampires. And it's done very skillfully, their introduction, development and explanation leaves no plot holes or questions and has a lot of potential for a sequel.
* The adults in this book are idiots. Morons, really. They made me angry. And that's why I loved it so much, because it was intentional and it really showed that in this book being an adult doesn't mean that you're incapable of stupid decision. Sometimes I rather wondered whether any of them was capable of doing the right things. Major props, Francina.
Got you interested yet? What do you mean "no"?? Don't you like bratty main characters with hidden strength? Don't you wanna see a cool combat training sequence that actually takes place over months of time? No super skillful MC's here that suddenly become black belt masters here!
Is this book heart wrenching? Aaaaalmost. I think by the second or the third my heart will definitely be in the proper shredder place. Did I root for the characters? Hell yes! I cheered them on, pleaded with them to realize their stupidity sooner and was very satisfied with how the book turned out. Is this book fun? Definitely!
And that's quite enough for me.
-------------
I enjoyed it!
thebookishbabbler's review
4.0
I remembered that I had started to read this on my kindle a few days ago and I finally had time to read it yesterday and today and oh my gosh guys. Sooooo goooooood! Francina is not only a fantastic booktuber, she is also an engaging and unique author. This was the perfect thing to read as I was coming off of my Cassandra Clare, Lord of Shadows high. I picked it up because I knew it was an urban supernatural book and I ended up loving t for it's plot and characters. Katie is aggravating and flawed but I had to love and root for her and allison was precious and of course Tristan. Pure angsty vampire baby. Love him to pieces. I cannot wait to hop into book two which I just purchased on my kindle :)
stephnsketch's review
3.0
I love watching this author's YouTube videos. She is a hell-of-amazing person.
She is not her book.
I don't think this book had proper editing in pacing and plot point reveals. It takes reading past the 50% to really get a feel of the actual plot. Most of the time people are not revealing what's happening, and Katie is too much of a whiner to figure it out herself. She doesn't even seem to be curious about her lineage or possible abilities. She's just naive for most of the book, and that doesn't make for a well-developed protagonist. Until the end, where we actually see development and her applying herself actively.
I would also like to have seen more world-building, because there wasn't enough paranormal until the end. I found it frustrating. Do we have goblins, or pixies, or elves? Or is it just fates, werewolves, vampires and a Glock? Was the question ever answered about Katie and Glocks communication?
Did I enjoy the characters? Yes. Did I love the funny awkward moments? Yes. Shipping Katie and Tristan? Yes. Would Allison have been a better protagonist? Maybe.
Even with these struggles, I still had fun reading it. The sexual tension at 63%? My heart was racing. I sped read and finished it in less than 24 hours. There's so much love put into this and in a lot of moments it really shines through.
The characters are there. The witty quips and storyline is there. But the beats of the narrative just don't flow well.
Side note, my ebook had an error in it and had breast in singular, so I pictured our protagonist in a dress trying to cover her uni-boob.