eARC received from the author exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 2013
Description:
Samantha Erikson is a vampire with one mission: to rule the world. She’s spent decades winning over the world’s most feared vampire, Vince Moretti. Just when everything is going according to plan, he sidetracks her with the assignment of pretending to be a high school student in a small town.
It’s humiliating enough going from stilettos to sneakers, but Samantha must also follow the most boring person alive: the teenage girl who stands between her and the throne. When she has had all she can take, she finds a fun distraction: an attractive football player who isn't scared of vampires. There's one problem. Against her better judgment, she falls in love with him. Now she must decide between the mortal she adores and a place of power in the vampire world. If she tries to have both, she could lose everything.
My Opinion
Fallen was a quick, easy read that was a nice addition to Stacy Claflin's series. Having read and reviewed the first two books and enjoying them greatly, I was interested to see what the author did with the prequel, especially because it is written from Samantha's point of view. It definitely had a different feel from the other books in the series and I really enjoyed reading about Samantha.
My favourite thing about this novella was definitely Samantha's personality. She had this no nonsense demeanor about her and although she was taking orders from Vince, it felt like she was her own person. She also had a great wit and there were some sections where I could feel myself smiling at her attitude. As well as that I liked how the author set the book before Deception, it gave extra information that was nice to read about.
The novella moved at a quick pace but Stacy crammed a lot into the small amount of pages. It keeps you hooked and gives just the right amount of detail to make it an interesting and engaging novella. I think it helped that I had prior knowledge to the series as there wasn't much background information but that is to be expected. I'd recommend reading at least the first book before the prequel but it's not necessary to follow the story, which takes place before the first book.
Overall Fallen was an entertaining read that was a great addition to the series. I would definitely recommend taking a look at Stacy's work if you like vampires. Also Fallen is free so go get it now!
4.5
Ebook received from the author in exchange for an honest review
Description
Alexis returns to her family after being abducted by the powerful Moretti’s. She’s much more confident now that she’s learning to embrace her role as the long-awaited Sonnast.
She stumbles upon evidence that Francine is acting upon her threat to wage war. When she returns to school, a handsome new teacher takes an unusual interest in her. She believes he’s hiding something because there appears to be a link between the pending war and the teacher’s secret.
Alexis has decided between the two guys that she loves, but the other one isn’t ready to give up so easily. He’s determined to win her over at any cost, even if he must risk his life.
When Alexis finally reunites with her birth parents, she discovers a heavily guarded secret about herself which is connected to a deadly curse. Once again her entire world is turned upside down. She’s been misled and betrayed, but she won’t take it sitting down. She’s going to fight for what’s hers despite the obstacles or the consequences.
My Opinion
After reading the first book in this series (Deception) and being left on a huge cliff hanger I couldn't wait to read the sequel and see how things played out. Once again Stacy Claflin has engrossed me in her world and kept me transfixed for hours as I couldn't put the book down unless it was imperative.
Betrayal picked up where Deception left off straight away and I was thrown instantly back into Alexis's world. It was great that the story took off so quickly as it captured my interest and didn't relent until the end. One of the issues I had with Deception was there were too many cliches in the romance between Cliff and Alexis and I was pleased to find that all though they are still madly in love their relationship came across more believable and less cheesy. The emotions felt right and it made it easy to relate and sympathise with them. As well as this the love triangle that continued was developed brilliantly and I found that my opinions of the characters have shifted from what I thought of them which is great as it shows Claflin has done a good job in their evolution. The book had its ups and downs in terms of emotions, at some points I was laughing and others I was feeling sad for the characters - I love books that can do that!
Although I didn't feel there was as much action in this book it didn't stop it being interesting and the scenes where there was it was fast paced, tense and described with the senses well. The stroyline continued to be unpredictable like in Deception and filled with twists and turns. I won't reveal who or what is introduced as it will ruin the suspense I felt when reading it for you guys but the characters who come up I wouldn't have guessed in a million years. As well as this they all tie into Alexis's life well and I couldn't fault the structure or plot - it was linked really well and was solid.
When reading Deception, although it was a vampire novel it was still pretty original to me due to the nature of Alexis's change and the vampire hierarchy. For me Betrayal lost some of the originality around the mid-way section with the introduction of a new species which I have read about a lot before. Thankfully though these characters took a back seat in the book and after a few chapters the story picked up again and became unpredictable and original once again. Even though they were less original they were still interesting to read about and it was slightly different so I did enjoy the book regardless.
Overall for me Betrayal bettered Deception and after Claflin left the story on yet another impossible cliff hanger I am dying to find out what happens in book 3 when it's released! I would definitely recommend this series to YA paranormal lovers.
4.5
Description
Alexis is not the average person because she's exceptionally brilliant. When mysterious things start happening to her, she pursues the truth and learns is that she's been lied to her entire life. She runs into deception at every turn.
What she finds on her own terrifies her and she questions whether she really wants to know the truth about herself...
Until she meets a stranger and they experience an instant connection. She feels that she's known him her entire life, but she has never seen him before. At their first meeting, he knows more about her than she knows about herself. She begins to seek the truth about herself again and what she discovers turns her world completely upside down.
Everything that she believed to be false is suddenly her new reality
My Opinion
It took me awhile to get to this book as I have had a lot going on but once I started it I found it hard to tear myself away from it. The story started off hinting at Alexis's strange powers, highlighting her difference and this instantly intrigued me as to what she was.
As the book went on her powers and the mystery built and I really didn't see what she really was coming. It was a big shock. At first when this information was discovered I didn't know how Claflin would develop the plot and I was worried about how the book would continue. However I needn't have. The story remained unique and original even when the genre wasn't. The difference in plot separated this book from others a like it and it was refreshing to read.
I loved the romance between Tanner and Alexis more than with Cliff as it didn't have so many of the cliches in it. It seemed more natural and easier to fall in love with them both. That didn't mean I disliked Cliff, just at times the romance was a bit to cheesy for my tastes. Saying that I still wanted Alexis to end up with him in the end though.
There were minor issues with the editing, just a few missed words here and there which caused me to re-read the sentences a few time to make sure it wasn't me but it didn't really detract. The only major thing I can say bad about this book is the ending! I was watching the page count going down thinking "how is this book going to end so quickly during the middle of this dramatic part?" Well it ends abruptly on a huge cliff hanger. It did leave me feeling slightly dissatisfied as there wasn't much resolution or a defined break but it does leave you wanting more and I definitely want to read the sequel.
eARC received from the author exchange for an honest review
