Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Mini Reviews: Bleeding Hearts + Red Dawn

BLEEDING HEARTS
Book One of the Demimonde
Ash Krafton
Adult Paranormal Romance
370 pages
Pink Narcissus Press
Available Now
Received from author for review

*Please note I only categorize this as adult paranormal romance due to the age of the protagonists, there are no sex scenes at all in this book.

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Sophie Galen is an advice columnist who is saving the world - one damned person at a time. 

 Shy and sensitive Sophie has all but given up on love until she meets Marek, a mysterious stranger who seduces her with his striking good looks and his take-charge attitude. Yet the darkness she senses within him may be more than she is prepared to handle when Marek draws her into a world of vampires, werewolves, and treachery. Forced to leave behind the comfortable routines and certainties of her past, Sophie makes unbearable sacrifices and uncovers hidden truths about herself and the world around her.

MY THOUGHTS 
Bleeding Hearts is a story that starts out a bit rocky, a connection to protagonists Sophie and Marek extremely slow in forming due to a series of very heavy conversations between them that ultimately tell us very little about who they are as individuals. For the first several hundred pages, both remain but sketches, quick strokes on a page giving us a general outline of them as people, but those sketches never become fully detailed portraits, missing the light and shadow that would bring their features into stark relief. Their relationship seems to develop almost entirely off page, with only a couple brief meetings happening before things seem to fade to black, and when we’re brought back into the story, we find them in a solid relationship complete with the word “love” in place.

Their entire courtship seems to happen in the blink of an eye, preventing us from having an emotional investment in their romance, so when the conflict leaps from the pages to grab our attention with its darkness, it takes us more time than we might like to shake off our previous indifference. Luckily though, it’s nearly impossible to maintain any type of distance in the final chapters, and the link we’ve been searching for to Sophie and Marek finally–and brutally–snaps into place, leading us away from the loneliness of character intangibility and into the warm, though painful, embrace of emotional connection.


Rating: 3.5/5

RED DAWN
Crossroads Academy #2
J.J. Bonds
Paranormal Young Adult
282 pages
Self-published
Available now
Received from author for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Katia’s done running. She’s fought fiercely to protect her identity, her secrets, and those she loves most. And while it hasn’t been easy, she’s finally making peace with the past. Katia’s even looking forward to the start of a new school year at Crossroads Academy.

Too bad things at Crossroads are going to be a little different this fall. There are new rules, new students, and new relationships. Katia quickly discovers that navigating the halls of Crossroads is as complicated as ever.

When a friend’s life is at stake, Katia will be forced to choose between the safety of Crossroads and an enemy more dangerous than any she’s ever faced. Will Katia have the courage to risk it all -including her life- for a friend?


MY THOUGHTS
Much like its predecessor, Red Dawn proves to be a story that focuses primarily on plot rather than character development, though unlike Crossroads, it doesn’t quite hook us as easily, stringing us along for a number of chapters before finally letting us in as to where the tale is heading. The first third of the book simply details the day to day life of Katia’s return to Crossroads Academy, hinting at the events of book one without giving us a full recap, and while were grateful we don’t have a multi-chapter reiteration of events past, we can’t help but feel a little in limbo – a touch fuzzy with our recollection of previous happenings, and completely unclear as to what the future holds in this second installment.

Once the main conflict is introduced, things pick up and Katia shows a darker side of herself as she and boyfriend Nik embark on a crusade to help a sick friend, allowing us to finally settle in comfortably as Katia’s purpose is made known. Ms. Bonds writes an engaging story with characters who are likable even though they don’t necessarily tug at our heart strings or haunt our memories with their many pains and passions, but Red Dawn is a second book in the truest sense, merely giving us a peek at events that will clearly be set in motion in the third installment while denying us any concrete information. Overall, this is a quick read with a great deal of potential moving forward, but it may frustrate readers who typically struggle with middle books that provide a great deal of build up and very little resolution.

Rating: 3/5

23 comments:

  1. hm I haven't read the first Crossroads Academy book yet, but you seemed to have enjoyed it? And yeah second books are always tricky and difficult and most of them are just not really good ;((
    And... there are no sex scenes in Bleeding Heart? It's interesting considering the synopsis sounds highly seductive...

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    1. I know, I was thrown off a little bit by the romance aspect in Bleeding Hearts. The synopsis does suggest a very sexy book, but every time the two of them got close enough to even kiss, it faded to black. I thought the end was truly fantastic though:)

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  2. I guess both books weren't wow books for you Jenny. I've not heard of either of these before an don't think I'll be picking them up real soon because there's just too many other fab reads out there. Great mini reviews, Jenny. :)

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    1. Both were enjoyable and I got through them really quickly, I had just hoped for more in the character department with each of them. I live for really layered characters:) Bleeding Hearts almost got there toward the end though, so I was intrigued by the time I closed the back cover:)

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  3. Oh once again I haven't heard of either book but I love the cover to Red Dawn, I didn't even know what I was looking at until I looked a bit closer to the cover of Bleeding Hearts, I think that cover alone would freak me out, but I'm still intrigued by the premise. I also love the sound of Red Dawn too, a lot of middle books can be hugely frustrating but well done you for sticking it out! Wonderful mini-reviews Jenny! :)

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    1. Isn't it gorgeous? I love the cover as well:) I'll be interested to see where book 3 goes, and if it's got a clearer direction than this one seemed to.

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  4. I'm unfamiliar with both books but the Crossroads Academy series sounds interesting, even if the second one didn't hook quite as firmly as the first (I do hate those sophomore slumps -- the second book is hard!).

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    1. I quite enjoyed the first book in the Crossroads series, and once this one got going I enjoyed it as well, I just had a lot of questions by the end.

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  5. Love these mini reviews (mini for you anyway!). Heavy conversations without saying anything...I've met lots of people like that! These are both terrific reviews and I loved hearing your thoughts.

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    1. Hahaha I know, they're not super mini. I have trouble keeping things short:)

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  6. Hmm. Seems like both of these books lack really GOOD and always prevalent character development. (Or, a connection to characters.) I'll give Bleeding Hearts points for being one of my favorite flowers, though.

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  7. Great mini reviews and it sounds like both were lacking something to make them truly come alive.

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  8. I really hate when books leave you unsatisfied and wanting more. The insta-love of the first one is a huge turn-off and I honestly am not sure of what to make of book 2. Hope you're next reads are better, Jenny!

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  9. I haven't read JJ Bonds first book yet. I must say that I'm impressed by that cover. Self pubbed books don't usually have such outstanding covers.

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  10. Looks like both of these books were a bit lacking in character development...too bad. I was really curious about Red Dawn/... I was thinking of the movie when I saw the title before clicking over. Red Dawn book based on the movie would be a wild read!

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  11. I think I would have a problem with the character development in both books. And I hate when I don't really feel a romance even though it doesn't usually completely ruin the book for me.
    I do love the cover of the second one!

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  12. HA...I also saw Red dawn and thought it was the movie! Sorry these didn't stand out. Lack of character development will drag down even the best plot.

    PS your mini reviews are almost as long as my regular ones :/

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  13. I do think you sold me on Bleeding Hearts. I do want to try that one. I'm not happy with Red Dawn. Not enough character development and it's the second book. Hm... will wait until more are out before I try it I believe.

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  14. I love the cover for Bleeding Hearts, but it is a real shame about the romance. It's such a cop-out when we can't become invested in a novel, but I'm interested enough to consider reading it still. Wonderful mini-reviews, Jenny! :)

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  15. Bleeding Hearts doesn't appeal to my YA heart but it didn't seem to appeal too much to your well rounded heart either. Sounds like the character problems would be too much for me to like it. I need fully developed characters and a building romance not all at once.

    I do love the cover of Red Dawn, but it seems to be the only appeal. I don't remember the first book at all. Obviously I didn't read it. But such a pretty cover only gets you so far, right?! I hate middle book syndrome.

    Heather

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  16. The adjustment is abundantly written. I acquire bookmarked you for befitting beside with your new posts.
    Gebelik

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  17. I love the second cover but I think the character development aspect (both of them) would drive me bonkers.

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  18. Aww, I love Red Dawn. It go so exciting. Thanks for being honest in your review Jenny!

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