Monday 10 March 2014

Book Review: Seize The Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon


I was born the noble son of a legendary Roman senator. I walked through the ancient world as a general, admired and supreme until a brutal betrayal caused me to bargain my soul. Now I'm an immortal Dark-Hunter, bound to protect mankind from the evil scourge that haunts it. Over the centuries, I've seen many frightening things: plagues, pestilence, disco music...

And now Tabitha Devereaux. A human, she has trained herself to fight vampires every bit as capably as any Dark-Hunter. Idiosyncratic and off-beat, she is my personal bane-and yet she beguiles me. There are only two small problems. She happens to be the twin of my mortal enemy's wife. More than that, Tabitha and her sister are being stalked by a power that will not rest until everyone she holds dear is dead.

Unlike my Dark-Hunter brethren, I rely on no one but myself. They spurned me and I turned my back on them. But the only way to save Tabitha and her family is to find some way to bridge a two thousand-year-old feud.

They say opposites attract, but can they stay together when even the Fates conspire to keep them apart? Then again, the Fates have never dealt with the likes of Tabitha Devereaux before. They're going to be in for quite a fight.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Seize the Night, I have only read a few Sherrilyn Kenyon books before and I haven’t really liked them. I was determined to read more from her because she is so loved by many other readers, I wanted to see what they all see and I think finally I am getting there because I really enjoyed Seize the Night.

I have only read one other Dark Hunter book (Fantasy Lover) and I had some issues with the world Sherrilyn Kenyon created. I still have those issues. I love fantasy especially if it has paranormal elements and I have no trouble suspending reality for a little while whilst reading but I do not like it when things happen just to make the plot a little easier. There are loads of moments like that in this book, things suddenly happen to make life easier instead of the characters working it out or it being properly woven into the plot. It is a shame because some of the issues in this were really good but the characters worried about them for a few pages before someone suddenly popped up with the power to sort it out.

Other than that I really enjoyed the writing. I loved the New Orleans setting and it bought back a lot of memories from the time I spent in the city. It was dark and violent which I enjoyed, often authors struggle creating atmosphere in books like this but it wasn’t a problem for Kenyon.

What this book really gets right and the reason I enjoyed it so much was the characters and the romance. Tabitha was bubbly, over the top and a little erratic. I loved her outgoing personality and the way she treated everyone equally. She could have easily got on my nerves but she didn’t at all. Val was just adorable and I developed quite the soft spot for him. He was uptight and pompous but terribly vulnerable. Everyone hated him due to the fact he was a roman and because his family had done terrible things in the past but he was honest and kind yet people refused to see that. Everyone apart from Tabitha. She is the only one prepared to look behind the mask to the man, she not only sees him for what he truly is but she also isn’t afraid to knock him down a peg or too when he gets to snotty.

They make an unlikely couple but for some reason it really works. Tabitha becomes fiercely protective of him and defends him against her friends and family. It was great to see a female character take that role. There was loads of chemistry between them and they just suited really well. I really enjoyed their odd dynamic.

Seize the Night wasn’t perfect but it had strong characters and a strong romance that made this book really enjoyable. I will read more from this series.

3 stars

 Find out more:
Goodreads
Amazon
Amazon UK
The Book Depository
Author's Website
Author's Twitter
Author's Facebook

 
Published November 1st 2011 by Piatkus Books, paperback, 325 pages


Review by Kate Phillips

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for commenting!