Promises to Keep by Amelia Atwaters-Rhodes

Series: The Den of Shadows (bk. 9)

Genera(s): Paranormal/Fantasy

Subjects: witches, shape-shifters, vampire, magic, supernatural, empathy, psychic ability

Setting: A secret vampire run place called Midnight, and modern day Massachusetts

POV/Tense: 3^rd person POV, past tense: Jay Marinitch

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 236 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $16.99

Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “The compendium of creations (SingleEarth, the Bruja guilds, the Midnight empire) intertwine in an exciting, unsettling plot featuring happenings both accidental and deliberate that will forever change the alternate landscape inhabited by vampires, Tristes, shapeshifters et al. It all begins with a wrong turn and a crashed party, and from there it's an epic clash of elements and the promise of more chaos still to come. At the center of the storm is Jay, a young vampire hunter that no one would ever have predicted might be earth's best bet to thwart the rise of a vampire-controlled slave empire called Midnight. Teens will find themselves drawn to Jay, who struggles to prove his worth even while he has his own fears that those who have written him off may be right to do so.”

My Review:  Promises to keep is the ninth book in the Den of Shadows, and is connected to the prequels, the Kiesha’ra series. There are vampires and witches that were in the Den of Shadows series. Lady Brina and Jeshickah and Jaguar were all first introduced in Midnight Predator. There are also some shape shifters. Lynx the cat is back, and the main character is a young male witch with empathy name Jay. I had a hard time remembering where other characters came from, so I was mostly confused reading this book.

Jay goes to Lady Kendra’s Heathen Holiday, the Yule Party and meets a guy named Xeke, and Lady Brina there. He appreciates art and tries to dance with people. Something happens to Lady Brina’s Pet, who’s a shape shifter. Jay leaves the party and comes back and some other crazy stuff happens. Brina become human. In this book, the character I enjoyed the most was Lady Brina. She’s an artist and vampire. I did not care for Jay at all.

I did like the fantasy elements from all of the authors other books. I learned that Bloodwitch, a book by her that came out recently, is actually a prequel set in the early 1800s in the old city of Midnight. I like the magic stuff and shape-shifter mythology. Amelia’s world building is awesome, but not all her characters are well flushed out.  I prefer when she writes in 1^st person because it gives the characters a lot more depth. 3^rd person has a lot less emotion. The book was pretty short and not much really happened in it. There wasn’t really room for character development, I guess. There was some adventure, but only towards the end of the book.

If you never read anything by Amelia, then give it a try. Her series is similar to Cynthia Leith Smith’s Tantalize and Eternal, or Feral Nights, or L.J. Smith’s Night World series. There are a lot of reoccurring characters and the books usually read as stand-alones or companion novels.

Cover Art Review: The cover is kind of creepy and like the other book covers in the series. Not the greatest cover though.

The Prey by Andrew Fukuda

Release Date: 1/29/2013

Series: The Hunt Trilogy (bk. 2)

Genera: Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: Vampires, survival, adventure

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 322 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Saint Martin’s Griffin Press

Summary/ product description: “For Gene and the remaining humans—or hepers—death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast... and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.
When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilization begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behavior is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found—and Gene begins to wonder if the world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other... if they can only stay alive.”

My Rating: êêêê1/2

My Review: The first book in this series was good a unique. This is very different kind of take on vampires/zombies, with humans as the minorities. It’ was the Hunger Games with vampires. This sequel was kind of awesome. Gene and Sissy may have escaped the hunt, but they are still the prey. They’re looking for what Gene’s father, the Scientist, called, the Land of Milk and Honey, Fruit and Sunshine.

And when they meet a girl named Clair, who’s been expecting them, they think that they’re almost there. She asks them if they have the Origin, but they have no clue what that means and they later one on try to figure it out. Clair agrees to take them where ever she came from. They end up in this secluded society of hepers/humans. Gene feels that something’s off about this place. To me it did seem a little sexist, how they treated the women, but there’s a lot more to this. You’ll find out later.

I love the world building. I know there’s a few other series in which vampires take over the world (The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, Darkness Before Dawn by J.A. London. Both of which I have not read yet). There’s also the movie Daybreakers, but the main character in that was a vampire. The main character in this series is a human, and he thought of himself as a heper his whole life. I feel that he’s lacking in personality because the way that he was raise. Gene is very introverted, and a loner. He fell for this girl he calls Ashley June, who turned out to be another human in hiding in the last book. She’s not really in this book. Sissy and the other kids from the dome are in the book. Sissy is tough and awesome at throwing daggers. I like her better than Ashley June anyways. There’s Epap, who likes Sissy. Sissy’s little brother, Ben. There’s also Jacob and David.

Besides the characters, interesting plot and amazing world building, I love the author’s descriptive writing style. He writes in first person, present tense, and he describes the setting and whatever’s going on in a beautiful, horrifying way. There’s some really gruesome description in some parts. It’s really easy to picture the scene with all the description. There isn’t too much that it seems to dag, on but there isn’t too little.

This book is exciting, not boring. At the beginning there were some slow parts, but the speed up. I had to remember the characters. I forgot how they looked, and who was who since reading The Hunt. But once I got into, I got really into it. There was this part where Gene and Sissy find out some really important, mind-blowing things. I did not expect this at all. It’s like the story did and 180, and what Gene thought was true was actually a lie. There’s also something about Gene that I figured out pretty quickly because it seemed kind of obvious. The main character always seems to have an important purpose, but I like that cliché. And then later on towards the end, there’s another twist. Two actually. One, I was right all along, and the second was something I didn’t expect at all.

Andrew Fukuda. You are a sci-fi genius. And a plotting genius. Now I’m eagerly anticipating the third and final book of The Hunt trilogy. I’m guessing it’ll be called The Kill. Four letters. The Hunt, The Prey, The Kill. HUNT, PREY, KILL. It’s not Eat, Pray, Love, but sounds similar in a way.

Thank you, Loren Jaggers at St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan for providing me with a hardcover copy of The Prey almost two weeks before its official release. I did not expect to get a hardcover. Thank you so much. This is one of my favorite dystopian series.

Cover Art Review: This cover is not as good as the first book. But I do like the colors, the use of the letters and the texture (which is velvety). I don’t like the girl running photo, though. Wish there was something scary instead.

This book is also available as an Audiobook! In case you're interested, there's a clip below:

 

 

~Haley G