Author: BK Walker
ISBN: 9781435763234
Purchase Information:
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*Novel provided by the author via Book Lovin' Bitches eBook Tours
For more information please visit BK Walker's website.
"You are a Warrior, you just don't know it yet." ~Jin Cao
Raine was an average girl with an average teenage life. Always loving anything to do with vampires, she never expected they would be real. When a Rogue vampire hunts her, she not only learns that vampires are real, but that the two boys that her heart is caught between are in fact a vampire and a werewolf.
As both boys vow to keep her safe, Raine learns of her true destiny...she is a Shijin Warrior born to win the war against an evil Warlock named Fala. Fala is creating half vampire half shape shifting creatures to take out all of immortal kind.
Will Raine be able to fulfill her destiny and save immortals, or will her hearts desires make her lose everything in the end?
Immortyl Kisses by BK Walker is yet another addition to the growing world of dark paranormal romance out there for young adult readers. With the predictable love triangle between human, vampire and werewolf, this story still managed to be original with a plot line that held lots of promise. However, in the end the tale also left a lot to be desired thus making the world and the novel fall a bit flat.
The world Walker created was quite intricate with just about every type of supernatural creature you could think of. But, instead of war between the different factions there seems to be a sort of unification if not a sense of peace. There is also a structure to this underworld society which governs the races keeping them from exposing themselves to the human race. However, while there is a fount of knowledge and insight into the world most of it comes off jumbled with little bits and pieces seemingly added at random. This is the same for the histories of the characters which sort of randomly appear when explanation is needed. While the ideas and histories themselves are interesting and do make a sort of sense, the way they are presented to the reader needs a lot more attention. Instead of just injecting them into the story more care should have been given to making them flow from the character to organically wrap around the situation thus making them not only interesting but meaningful to both the character and the reader.
The characters themselves fell a bit flat with me as well from their first introduction. In truth, I honestly didn't like Raine at all, especially after only a few pages she begins to make fun of the boy her best friend has a crush on. It was just beyond rude and petty. As the story progresses though, she does become more likable, however, she's still rather one dimensional with little to no emotional appeal. Tristan, a vampire who essentially stalks Raine, doesn't really come off that much better. His possessiveness over her is just weird and the relationship they fall into almost immediately is utterly ridiculous. There was no pull there for me to actually enjoy their bond and honestly, Tristan comes off as way too pretentious for my tastes. Logan on the other hand was probably the best written character in the novel. He's more organic and his jealousy and desire for Raine comes off much better as you can actually feel that he cares deeply about her. The triangle between the three is okay, but still I felt little connection either way especially as Raine is desperate to ignore even the slightest chance that she cares about Logan. Add to that the fact that Raine's best friend soon becomes interested in Logan and is sort of a third wheel in the whole story, well, you begin to see my flagging interest. In truth, I think a lot of this could have been salvaged simply by delving more deeply into the characters and more properly expressing their feelings and thoughts. Instead, we are given a confusing array of point of view shifts that seem to alter between characters with nearly every paragraph. Also, working on the dialogue of the characters could add a lot to them as well. As it stands, they are all a little rigid showing little inflection to either their emotions or desires.
The story itself was interesting and kept me reading in the hopes that I might come to enjoy the characters. In that respect I was rather disappointed, however, the premise was quite good. The potential is definitely there, but what ended up coming across was mostly unrelatable and unbelievable. A lot of this had to do with the confusing POV shifts, the inconsistency of time and the confusing jumble of history and facts. The flow was definitely an issue as was the pace. While this was a quick read the effect of that was felt mostly in the glossing over of scenes. Action packed and romantically charged moments were quickly by-passed leaving mainly filler all culminating in the ending which was extremely rushed leaving it anticlimactic and seeming to hang there. Many questions are left unanswered, the situation is no where near resolved and the relationship between Raine, Logan and Tristan just sort of dangles there in the breeze.
The promise of this novel still leaves me to have hope for this series as a whole because it is quite evident to me that Walker definitely has talent. What I hope to see alter from this book to the next would be more in depth character development, more attention to the organic flow of the novel and simply to stop trying so hard. I think that's what was really the down fall here was simply the need to keep upping the anti when she felt things were getting a bit stale. Instead, she should have focused on rounding out the characters and instead of pushing towards romance, let it grow naturally be letting the readers come to know and care about the characters. To me, it just really seemed like Walker was struggling with her confidence trying to make a bigger and better story when it wasn't exactly needed.
In the end, I liked the novel well enough and am curious to know what happens. However, I will definitely be expecting more polish and development. Would I recommend this book? Yes because like I said the potential was there and I did enjoy the premise. Now, if Walker can just convince me to care about the characters I'll be all set!
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Scars
Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of the Book Lovin' Bitches Ebook Tours and a copy was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Book Lovin' Bitches Ebook Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review nor was there an obligation to write a positive one. All opinions expressed here are entirely mine and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, the book's publisher and publicist or the readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
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