Tag Archives: vampire

Review: The Ruined by Renee Ahdieh

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***Contains Spoilers from this book and possibly from the series as a whole.***

I want to say first that as a whole, I enjoyed this series. I found it to be very entertaining with some interesting characters. That being said, I didn’t like the final book. The Ruined is fine but to me, definitely the weakest of the books. In picks up, right after the end of the Righteous and our main characters are all separated. Celine is with her mother, who was just shot. Bastien is with the dark Fey, Arjun, is in mourning because Poppy is thought to be dead because she was last seen being bitten by a werewolf and carried away. That’s the problem. They all spent the entirety of the novel away from each other. In particularly, Celine and Bastien, they have only one chapter in the book that they have an actual conversation with each other. The rest of the book, they are either in different places or just happened to be in the same room. What made these books work for me, was their chemistry. Their witty banter back and forth. Even in the second book when Celine had lost her memories, they still had that chemistry and it was very much was lacking in this book. As for Arjun and Poppy, we get a couple of chapters from their POV’s, they get reunited and then not seen again until the end and even then, they barely had anything to do with the final battle. That’s a shame, because with Poppy beating the odds and not surviving a werewolf bite but turn into one. So much could have been explored in her transition and we got none of that. Not to mention, the Court of Lions are completely missing for the final battle for the most part, even though it takes place in New Orleans. In fact they are pretty sidelined for the whole book. We never really got a sense of what Odette is feeling after what she had been through. It’s just disappointing, that a good series ended like this. I do appreciate that after all that Celine and Bastien did to each other and to others, that they didn’t just get the stereotypical happy ending. The deserved to face the consequences of their actions but also leaves things open should the story want to continue.

Review: The Righteous by Renee Ahdieh

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Poppy is on the case. Everyone should have a friend like her. When Celine goes missing, she will literally go through a looking glass to find her. Arjun just wants to save a friend. Picking up after the end of The Damned. The Court of Lions are reeling from the fight with the werewolves. Odette is barely hanging on to life and Celine and Bastien are in the among the Fae to escape the the French detective who came to take her back to Paris. Poppy knows something strange is going on. She witnesses Michael wolfing out but what she really cares about is Celine and finding her before she gets married. Following Arjun, she crosses over to another world and to save her, Arjun pretends they are engaged. I do love a fake engagement trope. I got the vibes these two had chemistry and were stoked to read their adventures. I was not disappointed. I enjoyed their witty banter back and forth. Poppy may seem like your typically British aristocrat but she has real grit. Just like everyone, she has a secret and will do anything to save her family. Which makes sense since she will do almost anything to save her friend. It shouldn’t surprise you that they fall in love. Things don’t turn out the way they hoped and now peace between the fae courts is broken. Celine is about to enter in her villain era and I’m here for it. I can’t wait to pick up the final book in the series because it’s going to be a wild ride.

The Review: The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent

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Vampires. ✅ Enemies to lovers ✅ Journey through dangerous lands ✅ Yep, this checked off a lot of my boxes. This book takes place maybe a year after the last Crowns of Nyaxia book. It follows Mische, who left the Night Court because she wants to find herself but also she knows she killed the Prince of the Shadowborn and she doesn’t want the consequences coming for her friends. Of course, we find her that she has been caught by the Shadowborn and is about to be executed until the bastard son, Asar, of the King shows up and says I need her to complete my task from the Goddess Nyaxia. In Mische’s human life she was a priestess to the Sun God. Her God abandoned her when she was turned into a vampire but now shows up and gives her the task of sabotaging Asar’s mission. So of course, they go on a long journey between the world of living and the dead to collect what they need for their task and of course they fall in love as they go. In typical fashion, Asar’s reputation is he is ruthless, which you know right away that he isn’t going to be that. I like the banter between the two of them. They have good chemistry. The ending did leave a pretty nice cliffhanger. Not to spoil anything but things did not go as planned. Thank goodness, the next book in the series is already out so I will be reading it soon.

Quick Review: The Damned by Renee Ahdieh

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I will admit. I am a sucker for a moody vampire. Bastien is the moodiest. Sure I can understand why he is. Afterall, he didn’t choose to be turned. He lost his life, his humanity and the girl he loved. As for Celine. She is recovering from the injuries from the end of the last book. She is struggling with her memory loss. To help her out is Michael, who she is dating, kind of and her friend Poppy. The narrative plays out in multiple POV’s beyond Celine and Bastien. The world has grown. It’s not just vampires but werewolves and the Fey. The story still revolves around Celine and Bastien but it also is no longer just their story. It’s a story of found family and secrets. It’s about overcoming trauma. Really more about dealing with trauma because there are definitely a few that never did deal with it and that is why we are where we are now. I am so glad that Kate recommend this series because I am very much enjoying it. I can’t wait for the next book to become available at my library so I can read what happens next. It sounds like it’s going to be a Poppy centered book and I’m stoked about that. She is the one character that didn’t get a POV chapter and the one I am most interested in.

Weekend Reads: Gross Vampires

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Beth and I recently saw Nosferatu, and it got me thinking about vampire media. I’ve noticed three distinct types of vampire offerings: campy vamps, sexy, vamps, and seriously disgusting vamps. Nosferatu, I think, straddles the line a bit between disgusting and sexy? He’s got that vampy charisma, but he also has somehow both dry and gushy corpse vibes. With that in mind, here are some recommendations of gross vampires you can check out if you’re looking for a new book to dive into this weeked.

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Strain follows the story of Ephraim Goodweather, Abraham Setrakian, and others as they battle a plague of vampires that begins with an airplane landing mysteriously at JFK with no damage but also almost no survivors. The vampires cannot be mistaken for your sexy True Blood or Twilight Vamps. It is the first in a trilogy that is intense, heart-pounding, and an interesting take on vampire mythology. It is also a TV series, if you’re not looking for a book, but would like some vampire content.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Sunshine is a favorite here at Stacks Exceed Life Expectancy. I think both of us have read it multiple times. Set in a world of magic, it follows the story of Rae “Sunshine” Seddon and her unlikely compatriot, the vampire Constantine as they join forces to fight other vampires. These vampires aren’t gross in the way that Del Toro and Hogan’s vampires are, but they are decidedly more dangerous and less fun than other modern takes on vampires. This one is so good, y’all.

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

They come at night.They are shrouded in mist. They leave you with a fever that portends death. This one is set in Texas before Texas was a U.S. state. It has cowboys. it has Anglos coming in and making trouble. It is historical fiction as well as a vampire novel and it was so good. Oh, and it has a love story. So, even if you still want that bit of romance with your gross vamps, you get it. I really enjoyed this one and the audiobook has a solid narration.

Do you have a favorite unsexy vampire novel? Sound off in the comments!

Review: The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent

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It has been a while since I posted. I would say I’ve been busy and on vacation but Kate was on vacation with me and she still managed to post things. I was reading Assistant to a Villain and then my preorder for this book came and I had to read it. When we last left Oraya and Raihn they had won the Kejuri, Raihn killed Vincent to become king and then forced Oraya to marry him instead of putting her to death also. It’s kind of messed up but let’s just go with it. They are not in a good place. Oraya, understandably is a mess. She is grieving her father and feeling betrayed by Raihn. Her people are on the run and those who are her enemy now occupy her home. Raihn is now King even though he never wanted to be and being a former slave is not exactly well liked by his nobles. It is a good thing that I read the novella, Six Scorched Roses because Vale and Lilith return in this book to help Raihn out.

For me, this book did start off a bit slow. While the other book went almost immediately into the action of the Kejuri. This one focused on the politics of court. Which important to building the world but also to show the difficulties ahead for both Oraya and Raihn. Once, they are overthrown things start moving again as they action starts to really gear up. I could have done without the mini horcrux missions they had to go through to find mysterious weapons that Vincent left behind. I know it was important to the story as it not only explained more about who Vincent was and his motivation but also an avenue to learn more about Oraya’s mother. The introduction of it was a bit clunky. Other than that, this was a satisfying sequel. I want to say that this the ending of their story but there is definitely a little cliffhanger with a Goddess that will eventually have to be resolved but I believe the next book will focus on Mische. Which I totally support. She could use some happiness.

Review: Sunshine by Robin McKinley

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sunshine The first time I read Sunshine was 10 years ago right after the release of Breaking Dawn. Let’s just say that Breaking Dawn left a lot to be desired.  I can’t remember if it was Kate who suggested Sunshine or if it was our friend Elizabeth but it was one of those “read this if you want to read a good vampire novel after a really bad one”.  I did and it is.  I loved it as much now as I did back then.  It was just as suspenseful, mysterious, funny and kind of sexy even if there isn’t much of a romance going on.  Rae “Sunshine” Seddon is as normal as one can be living in New Arcadia after the Voodoo Wars.  She makes the best cinnamon rolls at Charlie’s Coffeeshop.  Her whole life revolves around the coffeeshop.  Things change when she decides to take a drive out to the lake and is kidnapped by Vampires and is sucked into an old school feud between two very old and very different vampires.  She also discovers that she isn’t so normal after all.  She happens to be the daughter of a powerful sorcerer and has powers of her own.  When she saves herself and Constantine with her sunshine power her life is turned upside down.  She deals with it pretty well with a lot of dark humor and a great supporting cast.  Constantine is everything that Edward is not.  He doesn’t try to pretend he’s anything that he isn’t.  He’s considerate and thoughtful.  Many times he could have taken advantage of Sunshine but doesn’t.  In the end he realizes that he needs her as much as she needs him.  As for their relationship status, who knows.  There is definitely a connection between them.  It’s more than just the bond from healing each other but also surviving multiple traumatic events.  They are definitely two friends who have a deep respect for each other and continue to challenge each other.  Let’s go back to Sunshine.  In someways it’s unfair to compare her to Bella because Sunshine is an adult and Bella is not.  Sunshine has more life experience that when she makes decisions she knows how much is going to effect her and the people she cares about.  She also sees that she is an impossible situation that doesn’t give her any good choices to choose from.  She is self aware to know herself but also what is going on around her.  While Constantine does take up a lot of time and thinking he doesn’t become the center of her life.  She keeps her family and friends close and many of them actually help her to understand what is going on and give her the tools to defeat the evil vampire.  Her support system is truly key. Not just to help her through killing vampires but also help her heal from her traumatic experience too.  I think that’s important part of the story.  Constantine is a powerful vampire but he couldn’t take on The Evil Vampire on his own.  He needed Sunshine.  Sunshine would not been able to deal with what happened to her without the support of her stepfather, Charlie, her boyfriend Mel, Her Mom, Her landlady, Yolande, her friend Aimil, her other friends and SOF agents, Pat, Jesse and Theo.  Whether or not they knew it, they all played a roll in defeating The Evil Vampire and keeping Constantine and Sunshine alive.  It was a group effort but also a reminder that no matter what is going on in your life.  You are never truly alone.  So yes, Sunshine is a great vampire novel and deserves more props.