A Shade of Vampire

Despite its many issues, I enjoyed the twilight books. So when I saw reviews that claimed this story was even better, I ordered a copy right away, wanting to emerse myself in a great story. Only to be severely disappointed. First off, it looks like it was written for 11 or 12 year olds (although I wouldn’t let my 11 of 12 year old read it). The book is 286 pages, but each page is typed in large font, double spaced, within huge margins. It would probably condense to only 30 or 40 pages if printed like a normal book. Most chapters are only a few pages, or a few short paragraphs. Very limited storytelling.
There is no substance to this book. Very little scene or plot development. The characters are bland and not very likeable, and even contradict themselves. Sofia at the beginning of the book is an entirely different person from the Sofia in The Shade, and for no special reason at all. She went from being plain and of little consequence, with deep anxiety issues, to being a stunning beauty with great strength and empathy? Really?
The writing itself is grammatically poor, one dimensional, and difficult to read. It looks like the book was self published, so lacks professional editing, which is painfully noticeable.
And please explain how a vampire who was asleep for the past 400 years isn’t experiencing some sort of culture shock, and is able to easily communicate in modern dialogue, and knows how to dress himself in modern clothes?
I gave it two stars because I read the whole thing (in a very short amount of time) because I did want to find out what happens. The story had potential, if you can get past the Stockholm’s Syndrome issue, but it was poorly executed. Unfortunately, when you get to the end of the 286 “pages” there is no ending to the story in this book. It doesn’t even end at a good stopping point.
I was left thinking, “That’s it? I spent money for a full book and got only a portion of a full book. And now I have to spend more money to buy who knows how many more books to possibly get to any conclusion?”
Nope. I’m not going down that path. The story didn’t hook me enough, and I can’t read more of the bland characters and poor dialogue. I need substance.

I too bought because of the good reviews. This story reads so much like a bad fanfiction, that I wonder how all those reviews could be genuine.

It has bland characters and hardly any plot. It’s one of the worst books I’ve ever read.

Absolutely horrible writing! Do not waste your time. The book sounds like someone telling a story to their friends while throwing in ‘big’ words to sound smart. The author has no feel for the reader’s knowledge with frequent repetitions of information. The protagonist once calls the vampire, who she ‘just’ found out was 500 years old a ‘young man’. Horrible book, do not believe the 5 star paid reviews. Google this author and you will that she is on a list of unethical authors due to the amount of paid reviews.

I finished reading this book just becase it counts as one more book read in my Good Reads 2018 challenge. I did not find anything in it worth reading or worth recommending it by. If you like the REAL vampire stories (Dracula, Carmilla, Interview with the Vampire, etc), do not waste your time reading this book. In my opinion it is a silly love story where the characters happen to be vampires.

I picked this up since it was compared to Harry Potter. How dare they!

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