Scan barcode
hadleyc22's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Cursing
yodamom's review
3.0
Dark & gritty, not the typical vampire novel out today. A frightening look at how dangerous a closed minded society can be. Graf MacDonald is a metro vampire, he dresses well and likes the city life. He is also rude, arrogant, uncaring, judgmental and easily irritated. He is traveling when he is caught in some kind of nightmare, being trapped in a town of simple country folk. A great beast keeps them afraid and separate from the rest of the world. He must hide what he is and deal with the drama around him while trying to escape. He asks "Does it rain white trash in this town ?" He stays with a young women, with enough drama in her life for a soap opera, She is untrusting and her past haunts her, Graf is not welcome. He has to fight with everything he has to stay alive with little hope of escape. Things get really ugly with the town folk.
cathybruce208's review
4.0
Very strange premise. Small town in Ohio trapped in time and space. Giant monster menaces the population. Enter playboy vampire in fast car. Hyjinks ensue.
This book is kind of the "anti-Twilight". We do have a small town, a beautiful young girl, a rich, vampire in a fancy car and a high-school sweetheart who isn't willing to let her go. But that's where the similarities end. For the last five years, nothing has changed in Penance, OH. No one has come in and no one can get out. Plus, there's a monster roaming their small town. Graf is a directionally challenged vampire who has somehow managed to get stuck in the middle of someone else's story. He inadvertently manages to save Jessa, a beautiful young woman, from the beast. But Jessa is no damsel in distress. The monster was after Jessa because she wounded it with a shotgun. And Graf is no knight in shining armor. He promptly dumps her on the side of the road and tries to high-tail it out of town.
I liked this book for the interesting plot, the psychological realism (how would YOUR community cope with 5 years of siege and isolation?) and for its steadfast refusal to make Graf or Jessa into paragons of romance. You root for Jessa and Graf because of their flaws, not because they are perfect.
This book is kind of the "anti-Twilight". We do have a small town, a beautiful young girl, a rich, vampire in a fancy car and a high-school sweetheart who isn't willing to let her go. But that's where the similarities end. For the last five years, nothing has changed in Penance, OH. No one has come in and no one can get out. Plus, there's a monster roaming their small town. Graf is a directionally challenged vampire who has somehow managed to get stuck in the middle of someone else's story. He inadvertently manages to save Jessa, a beautiful young woman, from the beast. But Jessa is no damsel in distress. The monster was after Jessa because she wounded it with a shotgun. And Graf is no knight in shining armor. He promptly dumps her on the side of the road and tries to high-tail it out of town.
I liked this book for the interesting plot, the psychological realism (how would YOUR community cope with 5 years of siege and isolation?) and for its steadfast refusal to make Graf or Jessa into paragons of romance. You root for Jessa and Graf because of their flaws, not because they are perfect.
nettisue's review
4.0
Wow, not what I expected from the title. Clever book w/ definitely a new/fresh story line. I <3 Jennifer Armintrout. Really I do. :D
purplewidow's review
2.0
It's a rare day when I don't have a book in bag and have to look at airport shops. It's even sadder when I finish that book in less than one and half hour and then need to sit and stare at clouds. Anyways rant over.
It's what I call quick read. Nothing great, nothing bad. You read it because you need to read and excerpt writer has done a good job. Only if book was half that good.
It's what I call quick read. Nothing great, nothing bad. You read it because you need to read and excerpt writer has done a good job. Only if book was half that good.
joujals's review
2.0
This is definitely the book I was looking for lol. I remember the first time I read it I probably gave it 5 stars like every other book I did on my old account
malus23's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.25
Mix of the Horror trope of "the sinister town you can't leave" and the UF/PNR trope of "oops I fell for the bloodthirsty vampire!". Decent enough, well within the comfort zone for it's categories. The blood/violence is reasonable for the horror-light style. All fast and done, no lingering around delighting in it.
*re-read for sorta holiday topic*
*re-read for sorta holiday topic*
joujals's review against another edition
2.0
This is definitely the book I was looking for lol. I remember the first time I read it I probably gave it 5 stars like every other book I did on my old account
elenajohansen's review against another edition
3.0
This was fun but not amazing. I'm a fan of Jenny Trout's later works, and finding one of her early novels in a pile at a used book sale was a nice treat, but for someone used to the cleaner, more polished The Boss series, this really can't compare. It made me laugh and I'm glad I read it, but I'm not keeping it to reread.
crimsonraven712's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated