Review: Dark Seeker by Taryn Browning

Dark Seeker
Taryn Browning
Released September 27th, 2011

Goodreads / Purchase

For 17-year-old Seeker, Janie Grey, ridding the Baltimore streets of the undead is an inherited duty passed down from her Cherokee ancestors. Seeker Training Lesson #1: Never trust the undead. After her father’s tragic death, Janie creates her own life lesson: Love isn’t worth the risk. Both lessons are easy to follow until she encounters the flawed Kai Sterdam. At first, she believes he is the hybrid she is trained to hunt. But, when he has human traits, she determines she doesn’t know what he is. As Janie’s intrigue over who Kai is pushes her deeper into his mysterious past, she discovers a shocking truth that is even more harrowing than the evil they are up against. It’s a secret Kai wants to keep hidden, especially from Janie.

*A copy was provided by Taryn Browning for review purposes* 

When I first glimpsed at this cover I was sure it was an adult UF book. It's not. However, it would appeal to the older YA readers. You will find intelligent characters, engaging storylines and strong world building in Taryn's Dark Seeker.

In the world that Taryn has built, we have Vampires, and these are not sparkly, dancing vampires either. They're mean and they WILL bite you! We also have Daychildren which are demons turned to vampires (I know, right? Like, totally awesome!). As for Seekers, that's what Janie is - our protagonist. Basically, if you're dead and you're still walking - Janie will kill you! She's good at it too! Janie is a wonderful protagonist. She's tough and she's stubborn; she has known loss and is afraid to love. She's a well rounded character with flaws and insecurities that make her incredibly likeable as well as realistic.

Kai is introduced shortly after the start of the book and he is one heck of a sexy male! He's mysterious, protective and often irritating. I love the guy! He's the perfect supporting character and fits really well with Janie's personality. We do have a bit of a love triangle, however it's not a typical "Oh my, who will I ever choose" triangle. It's original and has a great twist to it that I really enjoyed.

Imaginative and well thought out, the world building in Dark Seeker is deeply satisfying, if a bit complicated at first. Entering a new world with new rules and new lore is often hard to grasp. I had difficulty differentiating between the Vampires and Daychildren at the start. Not what they were per say, but which was more evil, which wanted to rule over the other - those kinds of details always seemed to slip my mind. Fortunately, the politics of the world building are well spread out throughout the book so I was able to get a clear picture of it all fairly quickly. I was also happy to uncover that this first book in the series is most definitely NOT just a set up. It has a great plot, an exciting climactic ending and a glimpse of what is to come. All in all Dark Seeker is fantastic start to a very promising series that will adhere to fans of The Mortal Instruments series.

4 Hot Espressos

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Review: Frostbite by Richelle Mead

Frostbite (Vampire Academy, #2)
Richelle Mead
Released April 10th, 2008
by Razorbill

Goodreads / Purchase

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose…

It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians—including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks… This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…

I liked this second installment of the Vampire Academy series much better than the first. The story is already established, you know who's who, you know the lore, so none of that introduction gets in the way. The action starts right away and you get to jump right in.

The character development is great, I found Rose grows up a lot in this book, but who wouldn't with what she went through. The chemistry between her and Dimitri is fantastic - very sexy and often frustrating. And some of the other characters are a great addition to the story, especially Adrian who is introduced in this book. Christian, whom I didn't like in Vampire Academy, has started to grow on me in Frostbite. However, Lissa is still a bit dull. I don't know exactly why. I'm just glad she's not the narrator.

The ending is a bit harsh. It's sad; gloomy, but I think necessary. It can't all be happily-ever- afters, right? I don't like to put spoilers in my reviews so that's all I will say about it. The only complaint I have are the recaps included in the book to remind us of what happened before. They're a bit drawn out and boring for those of us who have read Vampire Academy not too long ago.

Frostbite continues the wonderfully real and creative world Richelle Mead has built, with genuine characters, well written storylines and realistic scenarios.

4 Hot Espressos

Previously reviewed in the series:
1. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy
(Vampire Academy, #1)
Richelle Mead
Released August 16th, 2007
by Penguin Group

St. Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school it's a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they're being dragged back to St. Vladimir's the very place where they're most in danger. . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy's ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi the world's fiercest and most dangerous vampires make Lissa one of them forever.

This was actually better than I expected. When I read vampire or other paranormal books, I feel like a lot of them lack originality and I just end up being frustrated with it. Vampire Academy was not so.

The vampire lore is different than any other. There are undead and living vampires, half vampires, guardians, etc. It's certainly unusual, but really interesting and very creative. The lore is not all explained right away, though, so at first I was a bit confused with the titles and politics. Basically, Lissa is a Vampire and Rose (narrator) is her guardian. I did like the way it was presented; you aren't told everything right away so you want to keep reading to find out what the deal is. The plot itself was not really unpredictable, but it was never boring and some of the minor twists were not expected.

The characters were easily likeable. Rose is a very strong protagonist. She's feisty and she doesn't hold back. It makes it fun to see her reactions and you're not left wishing she had taken a stand or retorted. It's also a good change from the often too whiny "damsel in distress" heroines you see in a lot of YA novels. As for Lissa, I didn't really click with her much. I found she was more of a secondary character and I didn't get her at first, nor Rose's over-protectiveness of her. She did grow on me towards the end where I realized she's not just a wuss. She does have a bit of steel in her after all. The side characters were enjoyable and I sure loved to hate Mia!

So overall, it's not an "out of this world" awesome book, but in my opinion it deserves the 4 Espressos that I rated it. I will definitely read the rest of the series and would recommend it to anyone who likes YA paranormal.

*note: review originally written in February, 2011*

4 Hot Espressos

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