Review: Review for Vampire, Vampire by Heather Killough-Walden
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 26, 2012
Vampire, Vampire is a book split into two novellas. One is a rewritten version of Thorn and Grace (I have not read the original), and the other is called Relentless, a short story written by Ms. Walden a long time ago. Both are engrossing and will keep you reading until the last page.Summary: The first novella is set in a medieval time. Christopher, a prince, and Darianna, a princess, are the best of friends, as well as vampires. Darianna agrees to marry Christopher, but on the night she was supposed to arrive at his castle, she disappears. The prince becomes a General, and so begins the endless search to find his bride-to-be that betrayed him. This story takes about 2/3 of the entire book.In Relentless: The Patrick Sinclaire Story, Patrick Sinclaire is a handsome vampire king. His queen has no idea that she is a latent, one full of untapped power, and that she is his queen. This story takes about 1/3 of the entire book.What I Liked: I LOVE that the first novella is set in a medieval time. I love historical fiction, with kings, queens, knights, and crazy wars. This story definitely did not disappoint. I love the two main characters, Christopher and Darianna. Christopher never gave up on Darianna. I love the General/commander side of him, as well as the King/sovereign side of him. And the reason Darianna left him is such a good one. You can't hate wither character for any of their decisions. I love all of the twists towards the end of the book. I am really glad this novella took up more than half of the book, because it was really good.Not that Relentless wasn't as good. Relentless is kind of like the vampire parallel of the werewolf world Ms. Walden has created. Instead of a dormant, we have a latent. This story was much darker than the first novella (in my opinion). I liked the queen. I like Patrick to a certain degree. He's definitely selfish for most of the story, but then he's not during the end. He's hard and cruel, and yet he's loving and passionate. This novella was very short, but length did not nothing to detract from the quality of the novella.What I Did Not Like: I have no problems with the first novella. I love it. I do have some qualms with Relentless. Like I said above, I liked Patrick to a certain degree. I did not like his cruel side. Yes, he's the vampire king, and he needs to exert his authority and control, but I can't say I agreed with his methods. Or his jealousy. Or the fact that he had been watching her for so long, yet did nothing.Would I Recommend It: Yes. I like the first novella more, but the second is still definitely worth the read. Both novellas are appropriate for very mature young adult readers and adults (although, I'm going to say this: Relentless is highly explicit).Rating: 5 stars. Thanks for the review copy and for writing, Ms. Walden! :)