I don't know what's wrong with me. Obviously, I enjoyed this. I really did. But I can't help feeling grumpy that I didn't love it as thoroughly as I thought I would.
On the surface, this should've been a 5-star read for me. When you put together things like adopted human daughter of a vampire king, a legendary tournament where only one can survive, and a forbidden attraction between two contestants—one human and one vampire—it all sounds so good. If ever there was something right up my alley, this would be it. So what's my problem? Honestly, I'm still trying to figure that out.
I think part of the issue for me was that there was so much fighting and not enough characterization. The tournament has five parts and we are treated to detailed descriptions of every play-by-play, along with countless wounds and gashes and blood galore. In fact, the sheer amount of injuries in here is quite eyebrow-raising considering we only follow a few characters. And since everyone heals quickly and gets injured again immediately, I soon lost track of it all.
I also found Oraya to be rather one-dimensional. I'm all for my female characters to be badass, but what is her personality other than fight first and talk later? Sure, she is distrusting and stab-happy, but that doesn't paint a picture of a real person to me. And she keeps mentioning how vampires don't have a sense of humor, but it's hard for me to see her sense of humor when she just keeps stabbing everyone.
Not really connecting with Oraya made it hard for me to see what Raihn saw in her, which in turn made it hard for me to understand the romance in here. It seems like Oraya disliked Raihn for a long time, and then all of a sudden, she likes him. And Raihn was attracted to her for no reason I could discern other than she keeps stabbing him.
Each of these complaints, while small on their own, just added to the feeling that the whole thing wasn't really gelling together for me. Whenever I read a story, I want that immersive experience, and this is especially true with fantasy. It's a chance to escape the real world and wholly commit myself to another. So it's always a bit disappointing when I don't get that, and it feels like I'm just reading words on a page, however good they may be.
And make no mistake, this is a well-written fantasy with a lot of potential and a lot of depth. There is a rich world here (and I realized halfway through there is a glossary to help me keep it all straight). And the book did eventually grab me, with the last hundred pages being so full of revelations and surprises, I think my mouth was hanging open the whole time. It finally became as exciting and riveting as I'd hoped for.
Still, I can't help but wish the whole book had been more like the finale. Maybe my expectations were just too high here. I wanted to be enthralled and captivated and completely riveted from beginning to end. Instead, I was merely entertained for the majority. I kept waiting for the moment when the story would grab me and not let go, and that didn't really happen until the very end.
Readaroo Rating: 4 stars
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