jeudi 4 octobre 2012

Midnight's Daughter ( Dorina Basarab 1) By Karen Chance

Hello to all,

             This week being the first anniversary of this blog i'm trying to see how i will improve it for the future so i decided to make this post a mix of the past, using the review format from the beginning, and the present with the color boxes, i've just learnt to make this week. Because yes i'm still a beginner and i still have a lot to learn and to improve ( my english included).

Today, i introduce you to Midnight's Daughter first book of the Dorina Basarab Series, a spin off the the Cassandra Palmer series, written by Karen Chance.

Happy Reading!



Summary from Goodread:  


Dorina Basarab is a dhampir-half human, half vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. So far Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing.

Now Dory's vampire father has come back into her life. Her Uncle Dracula (yes,
the Dracula), infamous even among vampires for his cruelty and murderous ways, has escaped his prison. And her father wants Dory to work with gorgeous master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back there.

Vampires and dhampirs are mortal enemies, and Dory prefers to work alone. But Dracula is the only thing on Earth that truly scares her, so when Dory has to go up against him, she'll take all the help she can get… ...


Story:
         Dorina is a Dhampir so she lives apart of the vampires' world and just on edge with the human one. She fights for life and that’s also a necessity for her. However, she isn’t a simple dhampir she is the daughter of Mircea, master vampire and high member of their “power board”. It’s for that and personals reasons that she is chosen to go against Dracula, terrifying and mad vampire, also her uncle. Dorina doesn’t like her family, she isn’t really part of it but when her roommate and best friend disappears  the vampires can be her only opportunity to find and save her so she accept, with difficulties, her new mission and partner.
 Louis-Cesare receive a task, an important one for him that means that his family recognizes him but at the same time he must work with what he always thought was an abomination. Not easy, even more when said abomination is a sexy woman who likes to fight and doesn’t like orders.
Begin a search for their prey Dracula but in time of wars, things aren’t always what you thought there was, alliances can be forged or destroyed and soon the prey isn’t the one they thought but them and they haven’t  a big advance.

Style:
      Karen Chance offers us a new aspect of her universe without making it a simple spin off. The story is complete and well written even if the action can be packed sometimes. She invite the readers to discover more about the vampires part of this world and their secret however while doing so  Karen introduces us to a lot of others creatures and the consequences of a world in secret war. If the beginning can be hard to follow since she literally drop the reader in the middle of the situation, after less than 20pages we are immersed in the universe.
The characters are suffering from their past and to make them understandable, she reveal this past by memories or stories. That way the story isn’t ended shortly or disrupted but the readers learn about them in the same time that they discover or reveal themselves.
Intrigues, traitors, secrets, alliances and conflicts for power are well presents in the book without forgetting humour and just a bit of romance.

My opinion:
I was positively surprised, I didn’t expect to feel so at home at this universe. It’s the Cassie Palmer's world even if it’s from another part so we can discover more about characters we already know and at the same time discover new ones and the world better. It took my between 5 and ten pages to make the connection but it’s can also be read without knowledge of the other Karen Chance’s series. If you are new to this author, perhaps you will need some pages to be completely  drawn in the universe. You will discover a world at war but from characters that are apart of this world at first, a bit like a external point of view. If you are a fan of Cassie Palmer, you can discover the consequences of her actions and understand some hints and links left in the series (remember, the album picture in book 4…)

We discover Mircea under a new eye but still…. I don’t like him. He is really bad at loving and showing his love. His actions always have destructives consequences and he doesn’t seem to learn ( I mean, this was what? 500 or 400 before Cassie and still act like that!). Louis-Cesare is coping with the result of the time slip and sometimes I wanted to slap him so he could see what was just in front of him.
Dorina is a lovely heroine who is trying to find her place in a world that is against her existence but, she first has to accept herself and she is doing a good job of it.  She fights but protects, has morals even with her “genetic” enemies and makes real friends without realising it (look at the good pet she gains ^^;;)

Score : 4,5/5



Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review


Challenges:
This book enter in the Romance and Me Challenge

Book read for the 2012 TBR reading

2 commentaires:

  1. Congratulations on your first year anniversary! I always love a good vampire series. I'll have to give this one a try.

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