Showing posts with label Tragedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tragedy. Show all posts

Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Shadow's Review

The Shadows by J. R. Ward
Black Dagger Brotherhood Book 13
Published March 31, 2015 by NAL
4.5 Bleeding and Fragile Fangs

"Some sacrifices come at just too great a cost, what would you be willing to give up to ensure the happiness of a loved one?"

Synopsis - 

Two brothers bound by more than blood fight to change a brutal destiny in the heart-wrenching new novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by #1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward.

Trez “Latimer” doesn’t really exist. And not just because the identity was created so that a Shadow could function in the underbelly of the human world. Sold by his parents to the Queen of the S’Hsibe as a child, Trez escaped the Territory and has been a pimp and an enforcer in Caldwell, NY for years- all the while on the run from a destiny of sexual servitude. He’s never had anyone he could totally rely on... except for his brother, iAm.

iAm’s sole goal has always been to keep his brother from self-destructing- and he knows he’s failed. It’s not until the Chosen Serena enters Trez’s life that the male begins to turn things around... but by then it’s too late. The pledge to mate the Queen’s daughter comes due and there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no negotiating.

Trapped between his heart and a fate he never volunteered for, Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others- or forever leave behind the female he’s in love with. But then an unimaginable tragedy strikes and changes everything. Staring out over an emotional abyss, Trez must find a reason to go on or risk losing himself and his soul forever. And iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice... (Goodreads)

Review - 

It takes a very brave and confident writer to not give the reader the happy ending they believe a character deserves. What some people fail to keep in mind is the simple face that, not all stories can end with a happily ever after for everyone involved, especially when staying true to the storyline. Let's face it, in real life sometimes no one gets one at all.  So when going to pick up this read, be sure to pick up a box of Kleenex right along with it.

Upon learning more about the brothers, iAM and Trez, readers discovered there was much more to their past than anyone would have thought. The twins being on the run from their past for more than century. A fate that Trez saw as worst than death, to the point where he sullied himself to the point of no redemption. Something in which he thought, even hoped, would save him from being turned into a breeding machine for the future Queen of the Shadows. What Trez hadn't foreseen was falling in love with someone, and end up being ashamed of all of those very deeds. What's even more tragic is when he does own up to his feelings, and finds out she reciprocates his feelings, he also learns they have a very limited time with one another. The time they had left was lived up to its fullest.

The Shadows, while maybe not the most action packed, was truly one of the most emotionally packed of the series. Jam packed with love, lost, loyalty, drama, intrigue and gives readers a chance to catch up on whichever couple was their favorite, because all are involved in this one in some way, shape or form. As with any loss, it effects all involved.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

For The Sake Of Revenge Review

For The Sake of Revenge by D L Altha (ARC Review)
An Alaskan Vampire Novel
Published June 30, 2013 by Foxboro Press
5 BLOODY FANGS!!!

"They say everything eventually comes full circle, so indeed does Revenge."

Summary -

How far was Tamara willing to go for the sake of revenge? And who would pay the price? She didn’t know as she tipped the bottle of vampire blood up to her lips but she was about to find out.

Stepping off the ferry in Sitka, Alaska was bittersweet for Tamara Semenov. A decade earlier she had abandoned her mother and high school sweetheart, Peter, to marry a man she hardly knew only to find herself in an abusive relationship. Now ten years later, she had escaped with her life but at what cost. Her mother was dead.

Although the police had ruled her mother’s death an accident, Tamara was convinced her estranged husband was to blame and to make matters worse, she knows she is his next target. 

While putting her mother’s affairs in order, Tamara finds the blood of a vampire named Adrik, who as a human was falsely accused of raping a wealthy Russian heiress and excommunicated from the Church. For the sake of revenge, he willing condemned himself to vampirism.

Learning that the blood could tie the living to the undead, Tamara seeks out a connection with the long buried vampire in hopes of striking a deal, his freedom for her revenge. Will he be the edge she needs to out maneuver her estranged husband or will she become entangled in a two century old web of revenge?  (Goodreads)


Review - 

For The Sake Of Revenge was the first print (yes, a good old fashioned paper back, they still make them) ARC sent to me for review, from the Author herself, since beginning this blog.  The only disappointment is that it took me so long to get a chance to start it.  This novel was Gothic Horror at its finest, a tragic tale with no happy ending.  I loved it!  Altha has proved to be right in league with both Bram Stoker and Anne Rice, using the Russian legend of Vampirism.  A tale of revenge two hundred years in the making proving that once revenge begins, it never truly ends.  So if you plan on plotting vengeance against someone at all costs, going so far as selling your very soul, keep in mind that may not only come back to bite you, but those that you hold dear.

Tamara is just like any other girl living in a small town, so desperate to make an escape she could see how good she truly had it.  That escape comes in the form a tall, dark and handsome stranger, an abusive one.  It may have taken Tamara ten years, but once she truly saw a reflection of what had become of her she took made plans to get away, and she did.  But as with most cases, her husband, Joel, was not going to let her go easily.  And he is willing to kill anyone standing in his way.  When that someone ends up being Tam's Mother she will stop at nothing to have her vengeance meted out, even if that means unleashing the Devil himself.  So, when she comes across some old family secrets and a trunk that holds her key to revenge.  

Adrik's tale was one that was doomed from the very beginning.  Born into a life a serfdom, he never truly had any free will, but he did have his pride and his religion.  When both were stripped from him after being falsely accused of rape, a rage so fierce begins to consume him until he can think of nothing more than obtaining revenge, even if that means digging his own grave and lying in it.  What he doesn't know is that his fate was sealed when someone else set to have revenge against him.  And though he swears on everything that he will never hurt the only man he was ever able to call friend, in the very end he does just that.

While this may not be an action packed book, there is plenty of blood and gore, and a very Dark tale filled with plenty of chills to snake down readers' spines.   Oh, and the ending is one that is truly satisfying as it is unpredictable.  So readers who are fans of true vampires; tragic, bloody and deadly, this is a definite must-read.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...