Review: YA Vampire Dystopia
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 25, 2013
Actual Rating: 3 ½ StarsI have been looking forward to this book, it seems forever, but the sad part is I bought this book nearly a year ago and I've only just read it a few weeks ago. It's ridiculous, I know, but one thing leads to another and well here we are...Three years after the Eclipse happened and vampires began to openly slaughter humans, the remaining survivors live in enclosed cities known as White sectors, while any vampire infested area is known as Red sectors. Seventeen year old Sloan McAllister is determined to find her twin brother no matter how many times she's been told he's dead. Once she's in the Red sector she encounters a young man who is much more than what he appears, but Sloan knows vampires are mindless animals who only live to kill and drink blood. So why is this guy talking, walking and acting like a human with his own set of fangs?In the moment of a heartbeat this intriguing young man turns Sloan's world upside down by turning her into the very thing she despises, and taking her underground where vampires exist in a society much like human beings. Everything she believed she knew about vampires comes into question as she lives, trains, and goes to school among them. But as a vampire hunter, it is going to take a lot more than a handsome Captain to gain their trust.The reason Aden turns Sloan will pave the way for this book and add a twist that will cause Sloan to have to choose between love and loyalty. I really loved the relationships between each character, though most seemed to just fill in a blank, there were others who become integral to the story and you can't help but root for them. I loved how Jones portrayed Sloan's struggle to be loyal to her new friends, but also to her tyrannical and cold hearted mother and sweetheart best friend, Leo. *lesigh*I had my reservations about Sloan because she has a penchant for the dramatic and can be unappreciative at times. I do understand that turning into a vamp was at the bottom of her "must do before I die" list, but come on! I was glad to see that Aden wouldn't take her bs no matter how much he liked her and made sure she knew it. Ha! Serves you right, girl.The Scarlet Dagger is told in first person, and I liked that Krystle Jones managed to make this an easy read for me. While it's not my favorite kind of writing style, I still managed to grasp the story and watch the events unfold through Sloan's eyes with no problem. What keeps this from being a four or five star book for is the fact that I saw the villain coming from page one. I blame myself though for reading the blurb to book two before even reading book one. *Facepalm*