This book was sent to us by the lovely author Bella Forrest for review so thank you! 🙂
Book Synopsis
Genre: Fantasy fiction
On the evening of Sofia Claremont’s seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.
A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.
She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.
Sofia’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.
Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.
Will she succeed? …or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?
Links: Goodreads
Review
Putting aside the storm of fantasy fiction that has been dominating the publishing industry over the past few years, A Shade of Vampire was enjoyable. I really like the way Bella Forrest writes; it’s interesting but not laden with heavy, unnecessary words. I found myself eager to read on as the book is quite fast-paced at 38,000 words.
The story follows the tale of two improbable lovers; Sofia [le human] and Derek [le tortured Vampire]. You have to love and ship all things Derek if you read this book; he really does evoke empathy and seems the most redeemable of the Vampires in the story. That said, his territorial-ness over Sofia did irk me at times but go figure, that was the mentality of men over women in older societies.
What I didn’t like about the story was Lucas. He’s the main villain in the novel they don’t get any more vulgar than this. I think his character- nasty as he is- was written very well; it’s always great to have someone to hate in any story. I think the story would have been better had it been a bit longer- some scenes I would have loved to see more depth in like moments between Derek and Sofia just to feel like their love was really growing. BUT bearing in mind vampire/supernatural fiction has been circulating for a while now, in a way I think it’s good the story was short because it is similar to a lot of vamp-fic out there.
Final Thoughts
A Shade of Vampire would be a great read for any young adult, especially all you vampire lovers out there. I think if I’d read this when I was fourteen, I would have LOVED it but fantasy fiction doesn’t float my boat as much anymore. Anyway, read all ye Vampire lovers! It’s engaging, a quick read and it has some great moments that will have you cringing and laughing- Sofia’s quirky personality is very entertaining. Quite interested in finding out what happens in the next installment!