Review: WHAT Bonds??
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 03 20, 2011
****SPOILERS*******HIGH LEVEL: Vampire tale in the classic horror vein (pun intended). Atmosphere is ethereal and desperate.DO NOT read this if you are looking for a happy ending or a lusty romance. Think more Frankenstein than Sookie Stackhouse. DO NOT allow the plot description into letting you think this is another vampire love story or a Urban Fantasy take off of Pretty in Pink.CHARACTERS: Author uses a strange plot device in naming his main character "Two." I can only imagine that this was done deliberately to dehumanize her. It is jarring, to say the least, and serves to distance you from her throughout the book. I found myself constantly having to remember that "Two" was a person not a numerical reference. She comes across as two-dimensional, despite her trials. However, this was most likely the intention as it adds to the coldness of the story. The supporting characters are far more engaging, though the evil "father" is a true monster and serves only as a vehicle for evil. The best character is the tragic hero, Theroen, but be willing to have your heart torn out when you lose him.PLOT: Basic desperate struggle for love and acceptance- there is serious drug use, battered & abused women, whores, monsters, and other forms of desolation, loss and violence. This story is a tragedy and not one that shows any real hope. An attempt is made at the very end to indicate that Two will survive, but as your heart has been crushed, stomped on and scattered all over the ground by that point, it is too little, too late. There is a climactic point in the story that feels like the end, but then it continues and feels like a different book. I had a hard time reading past this point.BOTTOM LINE: This is NOTHING like your typical Dark Urban Fantasy and far more of a Horror. The images and events are brutal in their treatment of sex, women and life in general. I really, really didn't like it and would like to erase it from my mind, but this is only because it isn't the type of thing I'm into. If you are a fan of Horror and have no need of happily-ever-after, then you might like this.I have no recommendations that suit this book as it isn't my genre.