Review: A solid must read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 27, 2013
Well hello friends!Today I have to share with you my reading experience for the Nightlife series. I read the omnibus copy so I got to read 4 books back to back. The great thing about this series is that Travis could have ended the series with any of these books and I would have been ok with that being the end. I say this not because I was over the characters and story by the end of the book, but because he did such a wonderful job with each ending. He has a great way of leaving you enough room to really be ok with that being the end but leaving himself room to grow the story. The other fantastic thing he does is manage to not make the characters dull over time, you never get tired of reading about these people. I feel it's only right to warn you that these books are in no way for the faint of heart. There is serious violence and intense sex but it all fits so perfectly with the world he has developed it doesn't at all seem out of place. Out of respect for your time fellow readers I'm going to keep my review of each book a little bit shorter since you are kind of getting four reviews for one.New York... We meet our main characters in New York and our first taste of a different spin from the vampire books I've read lately. Poor Aaron is just trying to do the right thing and for his troubles get shot. Michelle does something she has sworn she'll never do and turns him. We find out a big chunk of Michelle's back story in book three but there are hints why she is so against turning someone. The world Travis takes us to is heavily drenched in sex and violence. We learn that a bite from these vampires is the purest form of ecstasy so once again guys the sex makes sense. Travis does a great job with his characters making them fun to follow for a few hours. In this mythology when you turn someone you kind of make them your lapdog if you want. The bond between sire and progeny is almost more like master slave, or has the potential to be if abused and it's really seem less the way we follow both Aaron and Michelle struggle with that power.  Travis strikes a really great balance between the character story and the angst of the original attackers plot line. I'll say it right now I love Talco, he was so much fun. It was really great to see a different side of Aaron towards the end of the book as well.Las Vegas... We meet up again with Aaron and Michelle right before Aaron takes a blood slave. A huge no-no as far as Michelle is concerned. Humans are cattle to her and one doesn't play with their food long term. When Michelle realizes there is no way to stop Aaron's decision she does decide to make it as easy as possible. Ana was such a wonderful addition to the story and really keeps us on our toes. The change in dynamic is really an refreshing twist on the characters we feel for already at this point. There is a heavy drug aspect that I'll be honest I was sure I was on board with. It totally makes sense for the story and maybe I was just too invested in these people when I started screaming at my kindle. We see more of the darker half of Aaron which is great but also sad since we have come to love the sweet caring side of him, but boy does it stay fresh. The mythology of this world is definitely opened up and it's so much fun to see Aaron growing along with Michelle. Her relationship with Ana was really interesting to me. The way the dynamic change between all the characters was so well done that you could really see people living this way, minus the bloodshed of course. And Travis sets up book three so well I couldn't have been happier to have the next book at my fingertips.Paris... Here is where we really get to know Michelle. We have been reading up to this point from different points of view but we really focus on Michelle. The really awesome thing is that we see it truly as she did and by the time we switch back to Aaron I had kind of forgotten he was in the beginning. We meet a new villain in this book and I will be totally honest, I wasn't sure how I felt about them. I can tell you this you won't love to hate Michelle maker, you'll just hate him. There is a new element of the super natural that we meet up with towards the end of this book and I'm interest to see if it will make an appearance in later books. There is a great way that an element from each book is carried one through the next to make the story really seem less. Aaron is really struggling hard with some issues in this book and the predator side of him seems like it is going to get the upper hand a time or two.  There is a great set up for a fourth book about Aaron and Michelle and even though Paris ends on something of a cliffhanger if Travis never wrote another words about them I could totally have inferred my own ending for these characters and been ok with that.Blood Slave.. Here we get to read about a whole new set of characters. I have to say as much as I loved Aaron and Michelle these two really stole my heart. Blood Slave takes place in the same universe but we don't ever see those two pop up. I don't know if I loved Hope and  Enrique because they are fantastic or their story was just amazing. We have seen blood slaves before but Ana wanted to be a blood slave Hope doesn't have a choice, as a matter of fact she barely knows Enrique before he gets her hooked on his bite. The characters are a little bit heart breaking, you really find yourself hurting for Hope. She almost never stood a chance in life. The story is told through Hope's eyes and it is so refreshing at this point of the series to see the blood slaves point of view. As much as you can see the love Aaron and Michelle have for each other I really feel like this is a love story. This is probably my favorite book of the series. There is a lot going on and I have to say for as outrageous as this series is because of the plot material after the first few paragraphs the supernatural aspect slips into the background and you just get sucked into the story.Bottom line, there is a Nightlife London coming out in the future and it is going on the to read list. If you are into supernatural stories you have got to read this one. Just don't forget there is a serious amount of sex and violence so if that's not your thing just turn around now. If however you don't mind a little sex and blood this is a must read for you.Happy reading,~Notte