Author: C.C. Hunter
# of Pages: 400 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: For Della Tsang, Shadow Falls isn't just a camp: it's home. As a vampire who's never fit in with her human family, it's the one place she can truly be herself. But when a mysterious new guy arrives at camp, Della’s whole world is thrown into turmoil. Chase is a vampire with secrets, who knows more than he’s telling. But the more time she spends with him, the more she begins to trust this attractive stranger—and feel drawn to him. But romance is the last thing she wants—as she keeps telling Steve, the hunky shapeshifter who won’t stop trying to win her heart. And if Della isn't careful, he just might succeed. When a new case puts everyone she cares about in danger, Della’s determined to do everything she can to save them . . . even if it means teaming up with Steve and Chase, who leave her more confused than ever. With their lives on the line, will Della and her friends survive—with their hearts intact?
Review: This is one of those books where I know I should give it a lower rating. Why am I such a sucker for paranormal-romance?
It's been years since I read and fell in love with the Shadow Falls series. I purchased this book right around when I finished the main series because I loved Kylie's story and couldn't get enough of the characters. However, Reborn, along with many other books I purchased around the same time, have been sitting on my shelf for too long and my taste in books has changed. After just reading the Savage Drift and not enjoying it, I was concerned I would have a similar experience with Reborn.
The problems with Reborn could also be applied to every book in the Shadow Falls series. I believe I failed to mention it in my reviews for Whispers at Moonrise and Chosen at Nightfall, but most of the characters like to censor themselves despite them all being in their late teens. I'm not saying that all teens curse (but let's be honest, a lot of them do), but it would be much more natural and age appropriate if the characters actually cussed instead of saying "B with an itch." Hunter may have avoided including a lot of cursing in her books to broaden her potential audience, however, not censoring words such as "damn" and "hell" is enough to deter readers who care about strong language from reading the book. If Hunter was uncomfortable with putting cursing or using the correct terminology for reproductive organs in her book, she could have omitted it completely, and the dialogue would have sound much more natural than it does now.
It is very important for the reader to have already read the Shadow Falls series; most of the supernatural concepts are better explained in the original series than in Reborn. This series definitely cannot stand alone. As far as originality, it does not seem that different from the typical paranormal-romance book; two guys who like one girl (Della). Cliché and predictable, Reborn was giving me every reason to rate it two stars. However, there's something about the way Hunter writes the romantic scenes that makes the book addictive (halfway through the book, I told myself there was no way I was going to continue reading this series, but by the time I finished, I found myself wanting to know more about Della's love life even though deep down I already know Della is going to end up with Chase). There are even times when Kylie, Miranda, and/or Della are giving relationship advice to each other that seem overly abstract and unrealistic, but despite those poorly written segments, I still found enjoyment in reading Della's story.
I would recommend this book to those in their early teens (I believe this is Hunter's target audience), and only to those who have already read the Shadow Falls series. At this current time, I don't think I will read the rest of the series but it's not entirely out of the question.
No comments:
Post a Comment