A Shade Of Vampire
by Bella Forrest
Publisher: Self-Published (Dec. 2012)
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Format: eBook (147 pages)
Source: Review Request by Author
Purchase: Amazon Print | Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
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?
At A Glance
I enjoyed the story but it was too short to be truly satisfying.
The Good
I was literally enthralled by the first few pages of A Shade of Vampire. It started out brutal and frightening. Sofia is snatched up and imprisoned by a demented vampire who wants to do harmful things to her. But she is promised to the vampire Prince Derek. And when they meet, fireworks explode. It’s like they were made for each other. Derek’s dark past and reluctant future fascinated me from the get-go. I wanted to know more and more about him as the story progressed. Sofia was so strong and resilient for someone so young. I would have been scared out of my mind if I was in her position, but she made the best out of her situation.
Lucas, Derek’s brother, was the perfect villain. He is straight up terrifying. Like psycho, rapist, killer terrifying. Sofia handled herself as best she could with Lucas always threatening her. I do wish he was handled better near the end, but I can’t help but be excited to see what other evil things he has in store for the future.
The imagery and world were the best parts of this book. The mysterious island that all the vampires dwell on makes me interested to know its origins and location. And the homes built high upon tree tops, simply whimsical. The world is also brutal. Vampires are enslaving humans on their island as laborers and blood cows. But you can tell Derek doesn’t like the way they live, killing humans at a whim. I wonder how things will change as the story goes on.
The Bad
A Shade of Vampire is somewhere between a novella and a novel. I would have liked it so much better if the story had more time to develop. It really rushed near the end and so much was left unresolved. I prefer more build-up in my stories.
There was a very bad decision near the end that made me lose respect for both the main characters, but mostly Sofia. She just further endangers her life and it was unnecessary. Some people need to be killed, Sofia should have never stopped what needed to be done.
The Snuggly
I actually really liked the relationship Sofia and Derek had. It was an odd arrangement since in reality Sofia was Derek’s slave in every way imaginable. But Derek never treated her like a slave. Sofia never really felt like a slave either. They respected each other for different reasons and through that respect grew love.
Final Thoughts
I am very interested in following this series. I think more could have happened in A Shade of Vampire to make it feel like a more complete story, but I don’t mind waiting for the next book. Recommended for vampire lovers.
“No. In my eyes, she was most beautiful because at a time when she had every right to be terrified, she managed to show comfort to another person who needed it.”
“Because I don’t believe that you are a slave to what you’ve become. I don’t believe that you simply can’t.”
Sarah Elizabeth
I have this one to read too, didn’t realise it was quite so short! I do like vampires though so hopefully I’ll like this!
Jennifer Bielman
I hope you like it too. It was good in a lot of ways.
Kristin
I haven’t read a vampire book in a while and I am really looking forward to finding one that I will enjoy,although I don’t know if I will check out this once since it’s so short, Thanks for your thoughts!
Kristin @ Young Adult Book Haven
Jennifer Bielman
Yeah, I really wish it was longer. I think it would have been better.
kimbacaffeinate
Sometimes short works and it’s awesome, but it sounds like this needed more length to develop the tale and characters. Thanks for sharing it!
Jennifer Bielman
Yeah, a little more would have been nice.
Jaclyn Canada
I really like the cover with the black and white and then splash of red for the title – it fits the title very well.
It’s hard to get enough story into a novelette…usually a follow up to jump into helps. I do like vampires, but I think I would like having a 2nd one available before reading it.
Thank you for a great review 😀 Jaclyn @ JC’s Book Haven
Jennifer Bielman
The cover made me want to read it.
Yeah, I felt a little short changed by the end. I want to read the second one right now.
The Readdicts
My fellow blogger Janhvi went into this book without any expectations and truly liked it! And so many of my other blogger friends enjoyed it as well. And now you too, Jennifer!
The reason I skipped this one is because these vampire stories tend to look the same to me these days… But yes, Sofia and Derek sound great and maybe I’ll just read this one sometime soon! I’m glad you liked it. Amazing review! 🙂
Sarika @ The Readdicts
Jennifer Bielman
I know what you mean. It’s hard to choose between the numerous vampire books. I hope you get a chance to read it.
Chene Sterckx
I just got book 1 & 2 on special! Looks like it has some potential 🙂 Hope the kinks did get worked out in the next book.
Chanzie @ Mean Who You Are.