Review: Darkness Falls by Jessica Sorensen

Darkness Falls by Jessica Sorensen 

Pages: 286
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: YA Dystopian Paranormal
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When the disease spread through the world, people had no choice but to go into hiding. The Colony is hidden deep underground, far away from the vampires—humans that were transformed by the disease. The vampires are hideous, starving, and they will kill any human they come across.
Seventeen-year-old Kayla is a Bellator, a warrior that protects The Colony. In order to survive, there are three rules she must follow:
Rule #1—Never go out after dark.
Rule #2—Always carry a weapon.
Rule #3—No matter what, never EVER get bitten.
But what happens when the rules Kayla has always lived by can no longer apply?
The Highers run The Colony and accept nothing less than perfection. One slip up can mean death. Kayla has always worked hard to follow the rules and strive for perfection. But during a moment of weakness, she lets her imperfections show. Her punishment is worse than death. She is chosen for The Gathering and is thrown out into a world full of starving vampires.
No one has ever survived The Gathering, at least that’s what Kayla’s been told. But when she runs into a group who insist they were once part of The Gathering, Kayla discovers the Highers have been keeping secrets. Secrets that could lead to a cure.

Review

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I have to say, I really liked Darkness Falls. It's not my favorite book, but it was good. The only thing was, that I read it right after I had finished The Immortal Rules, and in some freaky coincidence, this is extremely similar to it! Darkness Falls was actually published a month before The Immortal Rules, though, so I know that the similarity wasn't intentional. I just think this was a case of two authors having like a psychic link and writing similar stories.

The opening of the book was very gripping. It just drops you righting on the craziness and danger of the world by showing us Kayla in a deadly situation with a vampire. I was definitely intrigued, although I feel like the writing was just average. I was really taken in by the story line, and the fact that the main character Kayla is this sort of superhuman, not quire vampire, but definitely not average.

I don't think I was so invested in the characters or story as a whole to continue it, but for this one book I did like it. The hints of romance didn't pull me in, although I must say I was really into the 'villain' of the story. I'm not going to read the sequel, it just didn't interest me enough to do that.

3 stars out of 5

Other Books by This Author

Review: Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

Pages: 367
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: YA Paranormal

It starts with a whisper: “It’s time for you to know who you are…”


Violet Eden dreads her seventeenth birthday. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. As if that wasn’t enough, disturbing dreams haunt her sleep and leave her with very real injuries. There’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms that wasn’t there before.


Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for the truth. The guy she thought she could fall in love with has been keeping his identity a secret: he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her.


A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

This is a difficult book for me to review, because I have such extremely mixed feelings on it. Before I started reading it, I saw so many raving reviews about is and I figured I would love it too, but then I started reading it and the story really just did not meet my expectations.

I'll start off with what I really liked first. The angel mythology was phenomenal, I will give Jessica Shirvington that. She definitely did her research, and it shows because it was very well crafted and executed. Sometimes angels can come off as cheesy or corny, but I really like the theory behind Shirvington's angels. There is no fine line between good and bad, light or dark. The good can do bad, and the bad can certainly do good in Embrace, which made it difficult sometimes to know who was on what side. So, for the angel mythology, Embrace gets some points.

But, I had two major problems with this novel.

First, the main character Violet. I didn't like her, because she was extremely whiny. I understand, when you discover something so major and life changing about yourself, you're going to be freaked out. But she just shoved away all the people that wanted to help her, and started making some stupid decisions concerning who she trusted. I wanted to smack some sense into her quite a few times. And what really got me was towards the end. I saw what was going to happen a mile away, and she barely even knew what was going on. She did have moments where she stepped up and fought for those she loved, but those weren't enough to redeem her in my eyes. I'm don't want to spoil anything for anyone, so I'm trying to be vague here, but she just really disappointed me as a main character.

My biggest problem with this book, however, was the love triangle. At first, I was pretty intrigued by Lincoln because he was sweet and cared for Violet so passionately. And then he just became the world's biggest jerk. If you love someone, you don't treat them that way, ever. I had a really difficult time believing in his feelings toward the end, because he just ran so damn hot and cold! And there's Phoenix. Ah, Phoenix. I have to admit, I actually really liked him. He's one of those bad boys, except he's quite literally the original bad boy. (Trying hard to stay away from spoilers here, but it's difficult with Phoenix!) I knew from the moment he was first introduced that both Violet and I, as the reader, shouldn't trust him as far as we could throw him. But, he's so deliciously charming and seductive that I just couldn't resist! I don't have an actual problem with him, I have a problem with his relationship with Violet. It just happened, out of nowhere. She meets him at a coffee shop one day, and then BAM, they're hanging out. And then BAM again, and they're... dating? When did that happen? Because I sure missed it. Again, I loved him, but I just didn't believe his relationship with Violet.

Still, I want more Phoenix in my life. *sighs dreamily*

I had a few other problems, such as Violet's father, or her best friend, but those are pretty insignificant compared to the 2 others I stated above.

Overall, I give Embrace a shaky 3 stars. Mostly because of the mythology and Phoenix, those were the two redeeming qualities for me. I'll be reading the sequel, only because I really want to know what happens to him.

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