Review: Disappointed
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 9, 2012
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. Though the cover looked less than promising, I was excited by the summary, thinking, "A vampire book with mature themes and modern intrigue. YAY!"Nope. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed, but first ...The Pros:1.) The action scenes were wonderfully written -- intense and descriptive yet easy to visualize.2.) There's some hot blood-lapping, and the smexing started out decent but got better over time. The last one in particular was ... whew, evocative without being too vivid, tasteful but not vague.3.) Lots of food for thought on the economy, the cycles of business and mergers, the consequences and pay-forward results, etc.Now in the same vein, The Cons:1.) While the action scenes were perfect, the dialogue and interaction weren't. They felt contrived. It wasn't so much the words spoken, but the unnatural flow from one subject to the next -- very non-sequitur, as if factoids were inserted to make the conversation smarter.The editing was also non-existent -- inconsistent tense, comma splices galore, action inserts treated and punctuated like dialogue tags, capitalization ... what capitalization? I can overlook the occasional common error, but I was so distracted by them I couldn't get into the flow of the narrative, and I found myself editing rather than being pulled into the scenes.2.) More often than not, I read Anna as a girl rather than a woman, even a young one at 20 years old. Part of it was the narration;One Night Burns (The Vampires of Livix)is first person with third thrown in there a couple times, and Anna's "voice" seemed a bit immature rather than quirky, similar to her different hair styles and love for Anime. But most of the issues I had were her reactions to Garin -- and again, it was the dialogue. She just felt ... silly, like she was a teen, especially when compared to the more mature conversations, making the giddy a stark contrast.I also didn't feel the bond between them fast enough to justify how quickly ENRAPTURED they were with each other. Like Garin said to her, though I think he intended it to be romantic: "You are my obsession." But even the obsession fell flat. Their dates and exchanges were like going through the motions; that's it. No synergy. No effervescent glows. Nada.The relationship and romance gets better and more natural further into the story, however, and I do like how Anna begun to see how vampires weren't something to be admired, but feared -- that aspect was different for vamp books.3.) All the shop-talk could have been great, but the execution left a lot to be desired. It dragged at times -- I started to skim -- and once more, it felt forced, giving the issues and topics a propagandizing tone -- even though I agreed with the logic! While the theme of vampires fully (and secretly) integrated into human society was great, I kept wondering what all the minute details had to do with the story. Not much, I'm sad to say.The flash drive, the recycling process, plastics, Garin's high tech speakers, the materials to make his house, the special paint of his car, its engine, its leather seats made in such country, mailed by that company, fitted by this company, etc. etc. ad nauseum -- none of it added to the plot in any way. I kept reading in the hopes they would come together, just a few of them.Nope. It's pretty much a "WTF did I read all those details for?" by the end.Conclusion:One Night Burns (The Vampires of Livix)missed my jugular and even my femoral vein. I want to like the book; I really do, but it just didn't reach my expectations, and that might be the problem -- mine were high. The abrupt ending didn't help, either. It was a heart-racing, action-pounding build-up that unexpectedly ended with a shudder and a groan, leaving me laying there, unsatisfied.Favorite line:Imagine the life of a vampire, knowing you have only one, a single, true love in not a short human lifespan but over decades and centuries. Over forever. And then imagine either not finding it or losing it once you did.