Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn't exactly glamorous, but it was Merit's. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker-and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.My Thoughts: This is one of those books that people kept telling me I needed to read and for whatever reason I kept putting it off. Then the planets aligned and I picked up the book... and I couldn't put it down. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. I wasn't expecting to stay up until 2 in the morning so I could finish it. I will never doubt a 100 people telling me I have to read a book again.
Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now she's traded sweating over her thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan "Lord o' the Manor" Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed, four-hundred- year-old vampire, he has centuries' worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects her gratitude- and servitude. But an inconvenient sunlight allergy and Ethan's attitude are the least of her concerns. Someone's still out to get her. Her initiation into Chicago's nightlife may be the first skirmish in a war-and there will be blood.
So. Merit. I'm... not in love with her. I understand her anger towards having her whole life ripped away from her without her say-so but I wanted to shake her sometimes. I mean, if your choices are death or vampirism... do you really want to be dead? I think the thing that bothered me the most was that vampires are out of the proverbial closet. The world knows they exist. It's not like she'd have to hide her circumstances from her family and friends and fake her own death in a few years to keep them from realizing that she isn't growing any older. She's been given a second chance without a lot of the bad stuff that the older vamps had to deal with. I just... don't get it.
And Ethan. OhMiGod, ETHAN! Undeniably hot, he did some things for the sake of his house that made me BURN WITH ANGER! I keep being told that he changes as the series progresses but... GRRRRR! Still, hot vampires are hotties. I embrace my shallowness where hunky men are concerned. So, you know, I'm willing to stick around for the pretty and see how Ethan digs himself out of the hole he's dug for himself with his actions.
Overall, despite not loving the main characters at times (I did love Catcher, though. Oh, yes. He's... yummy to the 10th power), I really enjoyed this book. Merit is caught between two worlds right now - that of her House and that of elements of her old life - and she's learning how to exist with each of them. I liked the worldbuilding and that the vamps are trying to find their own place in a world that suddenly knows about them. It's just.... dude, suck it up, Merit. I mean, really!
More books by Chloe Neill
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Personally, I think this series gets better as it goes. Merit (and Ethan) grow as characters with each book. GET TO YOUR LIBRARY AND CHECK OUT THOSE BOOKS! But yes. Merit is kind of whiny. She gets better.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that I wasn't enamored of either Ethan or Merit and yet I still thought the book was VERY GOOD. Excellent. Excellent. I'm going to the library tomorrow.
ReplyDelete