Review: Fascinating world building . . .
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 22, 2013
This is a sprawling, exciting, romantic, and vividly imagined vampire novel with a deeply unsatisfying end and some issues with using overly simplistic means to move the plot forward.To put it simply, this novel about the struggle between two races that were created to be complimentary, yet live in constant struggle.  The Amiti are perfect food for the Sekhmi (vampires, basically) and the bond between the two was supposed to make the vampires more peaceful.  But things haven't worked out that way and, as the action of the novel begins, most Amiti spend their lives in solitary confinement, being bled for food.Our entry point into this story are the half-sisters Adrianna (Amiti) and Simone (who is half vampire and half Amiti, but lives as a vampire).  Their mother died when they were infants and they were raised by their fathers.  Despite the fact that their races live in a state of open hostility, the two sisters are drawn to each other and Simone's actions to protect her sister set the main events of the plot into motion.Although there are dozens of other characters, it is the lives of the two sisters that are the focus on the book.  The authors have done a good job of creating different characters and showing how the characteristics of their species drive their differences without making people carbon copies of each other.  I was really amazed at the world building, but it felt too many times as if the plot got away from them and they would write themselves into a corner where the only possible exit was to have a character abandon their goals due to lust.It may be believable to have a single character abandon a goal they held for hundreds of years in order to have sex with somebody they just met, but it happens again and again with many different characters.  There was only one character, in the end, who seemed to realize that there were things more important than sex -- like the survival of one's race.  This substantially reduced my enjoyment of the fascinating world the authors put together.My other issue was the ending.  While serial novels are common for self-published novels, there is usually a warning that one is not getting a complete story.  I was incredibly frustrated when, after more than a week of reading the story and wondering how the authors would bring everything together, the ending was nothing more than a "to be continued."  There is no indication in the item description that this is less than a full story.  I don't think this is an ethical practice and, as much as I would love to know how things turn out for the characters, I don't think I will be buying more of the author's work.