Review: paranormal with no standout features, negative or positive
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 27, 2013
Note: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.Rating: 3/5 starsSeries status: second of five episodes forming a stand-alone novelReview:* Characters: 3/5 - the characters were average; none fell completely flat but likewise none really stood out as unique or interesting. Mediocre but not bad.* Premise: 4/5 - an interesting take on vampires. Not extremely original but neither overly cliché, standard for a paranormal work dealing with mythological creatures. Kept a sufficient amount of original mythology with a few creative new ideas.* Plot: 4/5 - as it's an episode forming part of a novel (42 pages in my .pdf file copy) the plot does not undergo huge development. This episode consists mainly of the main character's realization that she is part of a paranormal world.* Pacing: 3/5 - the story holds interest well. The pacing picks up in this episode compared to the first, at times skipping over details I'd rather have seen closer but never feeling extremely rushed.* Dialogue: 3/5 - nothing glaringly unrealistic but it never caught at my interest; it was there to support not shine and did an adequate job.* Imagery: 3/5 - again, average, some imagery, enough to place scenery and scenes but no standout descriptions or other imagery.* World building: 4/5 - In this second episode the paranormal element is introduced in concrete form. The scenes from the point of view of paranormal characters are well built in that they don't offer descriptions for elements considered normal to the characters. The scenes from the protagonist's perspective build on this innate world with concrete description. So far the world seems thorough and well thought out but the reader lacks details.* Voice: 4/5 - written from the third person point of view in past tense. Mainly from the perspective of Kat, the main protagonist, with some scenes showing other characters usually to give prior explanation of paranormal events. Kat's voice is believable, the other character, Amarok, has very well portrayed emotions. Supporting characters sometimes have scenes from their point of view. These felt unnecessary in that they were more info-dump in style with very little character development.* Romance:* Amount: none* Explicit scenes: none* Love triangle: none* Notes: In the first three episodes there is no romance but from the descriptions the last two episodes do contain romance.Final thoughts: This book is, overall, not bad. The second episode is faster paced than the first, at times too much, but makes up for it with more plot development and the introduction of the paranormal element. It is fairly well written and I had no trouble with reading it in one sitting. However there is something lacking, a certain intensity that would make it great rather than merely okay.This review and others can be found on my blog: [...]