Review: Couldn't put this down!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 1, 2014
I don't think I have really read any books based directly on the story of Cain and Abel. I thought this was a very cool take on it. I started off not really liking the characters, but was really enjoying the story. Then I came to understand the characters more which changed my original assessment of them. The romance in this was great too. I was frustrated with it, but also understood why it was the way it was. I wanted so badly for Jax and Samantha to get their happy ending, though I couldn't see how that would be possible. I read this book rather quickly since I found myself totally immersed in it and didn't want to put it down.Jax is cursed, living with a demon inside of him. He is constantly fighting for control. He doesn't want to give into the thing living inside of him, but he does what he needs to keep it happy.  It thrives on pain, suffering, and violence. Jax needs to commit horrible acts to keep the thing contained. Even if it means sacrificing his own happiness, which happens to be Samantha. After going back home to see his uncle, he encounters Samantha again and can't resist the urge to touch her, spend time with her, and feel happy. He tries over and over again to push her away though knowing that it can't happen. He came off as such a jerk. He is hurtful towards her, but I understood that he was doing it to help her. He is just ignorant to the fact that she cares about him no matter what. Instead of leaving again, he now needs to stay and protect her from whoever is trying to kill her. When we first meet Jax, we think that he is bad, but really he is such a good person. He is stronger than he thinks too. Even though he got on my nerves some of the time, I really did like him.Samantha annoyed me to no end for quite a while. She was so stubborn and frustrating. She wants Jax, and I knew she was hurt and mad at him for leaving her, but she needed to chill out a little. She wants him, but pushes him away. Then gets upset when he tries to do the same to her. After a while when she finally knows about his secret, she gets better. In fact I liked that she refused to give up on him or let him give up on himself. And through all of this, she is also avoiding her attacker and trying to survive. She takes things pretty well and stays strong because she knows she has to. Instead of just letting Jax take care of things though, she is insistent on helping every step of the way. A character who I thought I would hate ended up being pretty great.There were a few things that bothered me about the book, but not much. Like, I got sick of hearing constantly how the thing inside Jax was hungry and needed to feed. I get it, but I didn't need to hear about it all the time. Also his constant moodiness and hot and cold got old pretty quick. Besides that though, I really enjoyed the story and how everything all came together. I thought that how things are revealed throughout was great too. This was a pretty fast paced story that made it almost impossible to put down. I can't believe that this was the first book that I have read by this author. I have a few of them, but haven't gotten around to them. She is fantastic and I need to get to all of her other books ASAP!*An advanced copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation.