Title: Of Light and Darkness
Author: Shayne Leighton
Series: Of Light and Darkness #1
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication date: January 11th
Format: ebook
Genre: NA | Paranormal
Raised by a Vampire in a secret society of Witches, Shifters, and Elves, Charlotte finds that she is the freak in her world of magic and wonder. When she stands before an army of impossible obstacles, the likelihood of survival in this coming-of-age modern fairy tale is slim, resulting in a war between light and darkness.
Charlotte knows no other home than the one nestled deep in the woods of Eastern Europe, where Witches draw spells of enchantment, Shifters throw tea parties, and Elves are the closest in kin.
As genocide and war threatens her life and her home, Charlotte will not allow her one true love to be destroyed. Fighting for her adopted coven of rogue monsters, she will do whatever it takes to save them...and she'll do it before the sun comes up and light takes over forever!
My thoughts:
There are hardly any reads - new or otherwise - that feature vampires that actually act like vampires. Traditionally they're set in gothic sort of settings and their stories are dark and gloomy. I feel like they've been changed so much over time that they shouldn't even be called vampires. It's the same with any paranormal creature. I love, love, love finding different books where the vampires, werewolves, witches, elves, fairies e.t.c don't just behave like humans with a little bit extra. It's rare you find something where the werewolves are actually dangerous and vampire drinking blood is a big deal. It's always romance where the love interest just happens to turn into a wolf once a month or just happens to like being nocturnal but it's whatever babe, you're still basically normal.
With that little rant over, my point is, Valek acts like a vampire. Right from the beginning there was the perfect feel of dark and creepy where a vampire works best. He misses the sun, he's dead during the day and drinking blood is not something he likes being a public show. It's not pretty sparkles but a little grim and that's the way I like it.
I liked the characters in this read. I took to Valek straight away, but Charlotte took a while. I don't do well with female characters who mostly think or focus on their love interest right from the beginning. What I mean is, before getting to know Charlotte and her personality, I was bombarded with her love interest and how amazing he is and how she longs for him. It was a little too much, especially for the beginning of a book. It changed when the plot started to get going and Charlotte soon came across as a strong-willed and smart girl.
The plot was great. Like I said, the dark and broody type settings were a refreshing touch and the fact that all these paranormal creatures were together in one place gave me plenty to keep me interested. I will say though, I think the world this book is set in could be explained in a little more depth. I was a little overwhelmed at times and a little background information would have gone a long way.
All in all I liked this read. It was good to get away from the usual vampire romances and get some 'Dracula' type stuff going. This book features great writing, decent characters and plenty of action - if anything, pick it up to forget the wimpy vampires and get some super dark vampire action.
My rating: 7/10
Shayne Leighton:
Of Light and Darkness:
- Of Light and Darkness
- Of Blood and Magic
- The Vampire's Hourglass
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