**I received an e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.**
Book Review:
Eternal Darkness
by Natalie Hancock
2.5 Stars
Layla, a twenty-one-year-old half-breed known as a dhampir, is incredibly beautiful and deadly. She drinks vampire blood for power and to stop the burning hunger.
The vampire academy is a hundred acres of land surrounded by high tech security to ensure that none enter or leave. She is the protection.When she has lessons with the vampires, she struggles with her hunger and has to learn to trust them—a big issue for Layla because of her past, something she can neither forget nor run from. The past that haunts her dreams reminds her that she cannot hide as she lives her life in the academy.
Then there is Shade—an impossibly handsome vampire and Layla’s one-on-one instructor. Desires she never knew rise whenever he looks at her. She cannot stop how her body reacts to his touch or how much she wants his body and his blood.
It is a forbidden lust that they share, one they must keep a secret from those around them or Layla risks everyone finding out who she really is.
Someone wants her dead. Layla’s goals, deal with the vampires who hate dhampir’s and keep herself alive.Can she do it?
My Review
Here’s the deal, I was super excited to read this book. Unfortunately, circumstances did not allow me to read it as soon as I wanted to, and it kept being put off. I heard it was a lot like the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, and since I adored those books, I thought Eternal Darkness would be right up my alley. I was sorely mistaken.
Let me start with what I did like. I thought Ms. Hancock did an amazing job describing her fight scenes. It is rare for me to be able to read a fight scene and actually be able to picture every single move that is made and have it make any sense. The sex scene in the prologue of the book was very detailed and very steamy. I thought it was creative and very intimate.
I wish I could say there was more I like about it, but I really can’t think of anything. I read the entire book despite the fact that I did not care for it because I was waiting for something to happen. I thought that if I just kept reading, something I liked would happen.
I spent the majority of this book trying to figure out just what the hell was going on. I felt like I either was missing a chapter from the book, or had mistakenly picked up the second book in the series and was totally lost. It seems as though the prologue actually belonged to a different book altogether because I still haven’t figured out who it was about, why it was there, and what it had to do with anything else in the book.
There are quite a few similarities between Eternal Darkness and The Vampire Academy books. The leading ladies are both kick ass chicks who are tough as nails and don’t take shit from anyone. They are both great fighters. They both have some sort of relationship with their trainer. They are both residents at a Vampire Academy. They are both damphirs. Now, don’t get me wrong, there were some other pretty big differences, so it’s not exactly the same, but the similarities sort of bugged me in the sense that I wanted this book to be a lot more different than it was.
I also couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on between Nykoli and Layla. It’s like they have some sort of connection, but it’s not said what it is, and I really wanted to know.
This book left me with way more questions than I like to have at the end of the book, because I didn’t feel like any essential questions were answered to begin with. Most of this book took place in the training center, which is also where all the fight scenes took place. All but one of which were training sessions! There is only one fight scene in the whole book that isn’t part of training in one way or another. I get that this is the first book in the series, and you don’t want to give away all the secrets in the first book, but it would have been nice to have a little bit revealed as to what was going on.
I also disliked the dialog between the characters. It seemed weird to me and very choppy. It didn’t feel like the way real conversations are worded. It also bugged the crap out of me that they switched back and forth from English to Spanish all the time, and if Layla didn’t trust someone she wouldn’t speak English in front of them. It seemed really childish to me. Just so you know, there is very little actual Spanish in the book, the majority is written in English and we are told that it was said in Spanish.
I was very disappointed in this book. This may sound strange, but even though I did not care for this book, I will probably read the next in the series because I believe that writers can grow, and maybe I will like the next one better.
All About Natalie
She studied and graduated at the University of Lincoln, Riseholme College where she studied an animal course for two years, which is where she met her partner, Reece. He’s as crazy as her, if not more, so they’re the perfect match.
They live with their zoo in the middle of nowhere. Their zoo consists of an arm of hamsters that keep growing. A chinchilla called Hektor and four guinea pigs. They hope in the near future to add to the family and get an army of chinchilla’s and guinea pigs. Oh, and a goat.
Natalie loves to read, listen to loud rock/hardcore music, game, and look after her crazy animals. She also loves vampires! She’s a true believer of all things supernatural and if she had the luck to run into one, she would either ask for his or her autograph, or jump on them just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming..
Contact Natalie
Melanie
P.S. I’m pretty sure this was the hardest review I have ever written. I’m not sure I will ever get used to the idea of having to write a negative reviews. The idea of hurting someone’s feelings kills me, but when you ask for an honest review, I guess you have to take the bad along with the good. If I have hurt anyone’s feelings with this review, I truly apologize for doing so. My intent was not to insult or hurt anyone, but to give my honest opinion about this book.
**DISCLAIMER** In full compliance with FTC Guidelines, I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was in no way compensated for this opinion, and the thoughts are my own. Links above will take you to a site where you can PURCHASE a copy. Using those links will take you through an affiliate link and I will receive a small percentage of the purchase cost. You are in no way obligated to use affiliate links and there is no additional cost to do so.
