Review: New story, good first book to the series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 7, 2013
I very much enjoyed this story, it's so refreshing! While it has vampires and demons, it isn't focused on them so much, and isn't trying to make you fall in love with them. This story, focuses on the secret group that hunts demons, and gets into the background and story of a few specific up-and-coming hunters. The mix of having a demon-hunting facility mixed with genetic research wasn't something I thought of having together, but it made for an interesting story, and actually made a lot of sense.Having a lot of the story take place in a school-setting was a nice familiar touch. It reminded me of the Harry Potter series, in the way there were descriptions of tests and classrooms and the day-to-day happenings around the campus and between the students. With the addition of fighting some demons, of course.This book certainly has a good mix of both action and intellect- while there are many descriptions of what Jade is learning in her studies, along with the challenges she faces on a personal level, there is a lot of action and fighting to keep it exciting. The descriptions of the fights, in both the training and realistic scenarios, are very well written, and easily imagined. The amount of action keeps the pace of the book quick, and adds depth and excitement.Jade is a great female lead character- she's strong, determined, and confident, and someone I think a lot of people can identify with. Her thoughts and actions are honest and realistic, and I enjoyed watching her grow and overcome the challenges she faced.Lincoln makes a great best friend- strong and sturdy, he's the perfect match for Jade, with humor and sarcasm to match hers. The fact that he's always there for her, and believes in her with no reason other than his own instincts, makes him a fantastic best-friend character. While there wasn't much romance between them in this book, I am hoping something will be there in the future books, because they are perfect together- he's the kind of guy every girl hopes to find.I enjoyed all the side characters as well- the girl you love to hate, the director who becomes a surrogate father (even if Jade doesn't realize it), and the girl you actually like having around. Along with some hilarious doctors and teachers, all the characters in the book catch you in some way, and don't let go.I enjoyed the writing for the most part- it flowed easily, and the mix of the dialogue with description was done quite well. I did, however, take off a star because of the numerous spelling and grammatical errors (especially toward the end chapters), as well as missing/added words. It made reading somewhat difficult, having to stop and fix a sentence to understand what was going on. It isn't a huge distraction, but it does pull you out of the book in a few places, which takes away from the story. Once it's properly edited and these mistakes fixed, it will certainly be a 5 star book.Overall, I would recommend these books, and probably the whole series. It's a unique story, and the characters pull you in and make you want to root for them and their fight.*I received an ebook copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.