Raven Hart

I won't rehash the premise of the book because you can read that for yourself either on the back cover or in the synopsis above. I could not get into this book, hence the 1 star.

First, I didn't care for the point-of-view changes. It began with the story jumping between William's perspective and then Jack, then Olivia had to have a say. And the perspective switches happened within chapters, so one chapter could have several different perspectives. Back and forth and back again. I'm not a big show more fan of perspective changes anyway. I find it's a tricky thing for an author to do, and the way it was done here just didn't work for me. There's a reason many writing courses and writers don't recommend doing this.

Second, I just couldn't get into the characters. Both the main characters, William, the aristocrat, and Jack, the good ole boy, felt flat to me. It was clear that the author was setting up something with William "protecting" Jack by keeping him ignorant, but after 150 years? Usually even with the arrogant characters, I feel something, but even William's seemingly cold arrogance was too emotionless to ignite a response. I couldn't even get irritated at it, as William just felt that flat to me.

Third, the pace of the book was off. A lot seemed happened in the first 100 or so pages of the book as we're introduced to the mains and the villain (William's sire), but then again, a lot was missing. 100 pages in and no idea why William feels such animosity (there was a hint that it was more that just his family) and why he went to such length to prepare for this (voodoo anyone?). I know a bit about what his sire was currently doing (freezing other masters in the Arctic), and there were hints of his extreme cruelty, but no real backstory. Of course, some of that was because we had to switch from William, who told us almost nothing, keeping the reader as ignorant as Jack, to Jack, who knows nothing because William doesn't tell him anything and he's clearly too sire-whipped or stupid to do anything about it.

Finally, I didn't care for the world building, or really lack thereof, which also has to do with the pacing. There were all these world fact droplets, such as why there were very few female vamps, vamp powers, vamp soil, the guard dog/humans, and other world info tidbits. I was more interested than Jack in learning about this stuff, but it came in fragmented bits and pieces. I found no solid world building to even give me a base line idea of what kind of vamp world this is and why we need to be ignorant. It might've been nice if William at least explained to the reader why something was and why it was important to keep Jack ignorant of that fact.

Overall, it was just not enough to keep me interested. I know someone will try to tell me most of the pacing and world building is fleshed out, but I gave it 100 pages. I tried to get to the next chapter and then it was get to the next perspective shift, but I just couldn't force myself to read anymore to get to the point where "all is explained." So, for me, it was a disappointment as I need a new series to read. But clearly this is not the series for me as I won't force myself to slog through book 1. show less

A pleasant surprise! I love a good vampire tale and when it's "paranormal romance" it cannot be too cheesy or implausible. From the cover and the title and the silly pen name I was worried. But inside this cheesy cover is a damn good vampire yarn. There are politics, adventure, a champion, a sidekick, and an interesting side story about a vampire wannabe. All of this takes place in Savannah, Georgia (lovingly described by the author). I would not describe this as a paranormal romance, but as show more a vampire adventure. Hope to see more. show less

When you've read, and loved a book, picking up the next in the series can feel like a risky endeavour. On the one hand, you want to get back to the characters, settings and storylines that you enjoyed before, but on the other, what if it doesn't live up to expectations?

The Vampire's Secret didn't just meet my expectations, but it surpassed them.. I loved this book! One of the advantages of a sequel is that you already know the main characters, so the author can concentrate straight away on show more developing them, and exploring their relationships, and this is one of the aspects I loved. I found myself caught up in their loves and conflicts, and there's a change in William at one point, that is captured so well.

The supporting characters are also well developed, to the point where they seem to mean as much as the main ones.. and there are some new ones introduced as well.

There's more of everything in this book, but we warned, that also includes the sex. However, it's part of the story, and it fits, rather than distracting. If it's going to continue like this, I can't wait for book three! show less

Perchè sto faticando così tanto a prendere il via con questo libro? Eppure è bello e scritto bene (se non consideriamo i refusi, l'intero libro ne è zeppo... fa quasi impressione!)

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Non male questo primo libro della Saga dei Vampiri di Savannah. Ero partita con molto entusiasmo ma, passate le prime 50 pagine l'untisiasmo si è smorzato.
I due personaggi principali William e Jack sembrano l'uno antitesi dell'altro. Uno antico, nebuloso e amante di intrighi e show more segreti. L'altro gioviale, fresco e ribelle ma non per questo meno "vampiro" di William come ci dimostra nella seconda metà del libro.

Devo dire che è proprio Jack il personaggio che più mi affascina in tutto il libro, anche William sarebbe (ed è) molto interessante peccato che questa sua mania di tenere le persone a cui "tiene" nell'ignoranza abbia portato più danni che benefici. Nello specifico cerca di tenere Jack nell'ignoranza per un motivo, a quanto pare per proteggerlo. Motivo che, però, anche alla fine non ci viene svelato.
Un altro tassello lasciato per il prossimo libro e che, francamente, frusta parecchio.

La trama in sè è interessante anche se, sinceramente, il motivo che spinge il Creatore di William a spostarsi in America per distruggerli tutti non ci è veramente chiaro.
Il fatto che per decenni William non abbia accresciuto i suoi vampiri (e quindi non abbia accresciuto il potere del suo Creatore) è solo una piegazione piuttosto superficiale. Infatti, sempre nella seconda metà del libro in più punti ci viene chiarito che ci sarà una guerra e che le motivazioni sono ben più profonde di quelle che apparentemente vengono propinate al lettore.

Il rapporto di amore ed odio fra Jack e William è l'elemento più importante di tutto il libro al punto che i rapporti fra gli altri personaggi appaiono agli occhi del lettore come secondari, di minor importanza.
Nello specifico pare che nessun personaggio sia veramente "pensate" a parte Jack. Nessuno cerca di contrastare e o pensare con la sua testa quando c'entra William a parte, forse, Worm ma questo è dettato principalmente dalla sua ingenuità ed avventatezza giovanile.

Questo, credo, che sia stato l'elemento più disturbante di tutto il libro. Non sto parlando di personaggi privi di interesse o di macchiette ma di personaggi totalmente privi di volontà al punto di renderli frustranti... E di farci urlare di felicità quando Jack pare rialzare un po' la testa anche se finisce sempre per fallire.

Comunque riassumendo nella prima parte del libro ho stentato molto ad andare avanti mentre, la seconda, l'ho divorata in preda al desiderio di vederne la fine. Avevo bisogno di sapere come sarebbe andata a finire e, l'eventuale tradimento di Jack mi ha allettata molto più del lecito. Avrei voluto davvero che si vendicasse di William.

Tanti misteri rimasti irrisolti, altri questiti che si sono aggiunti ai precedenti questo è il bilancio finale di questa lettura che mi spingerà a leggere anche il secondo.
Anche se, sinceramente, non so andrò molto avanti. show less