My Thoughts

I was truly inhuman. Humans were prey. I craved their blood like the worst addict on the street. They were sheep, cattle, and I was the wolf, stalking them through the night. I had become a monster.

Oh jeez, where do I begin? Let me just say that I'd probably adore anything Julie writes. But in the sea of other vampire books, this one was in a league of its own. She stuck to the typical myths of vampires and still managed to add her own unique spin on them as well. Gotta say this was the best vamp book I've ever read!

The romance..ahhh! It wasn't the perfect Twilight romance where the vampire can control the Hunger, the human is totally okay with said vamp being a monster, and they live happily ever after. It was beautiful and flawed, sometimes disastrous. It was so realistic and I felt that glorious slow-burn that I love oh so much - because they both resist each other. Zeke was hard not to like. He was sweet and wonderful, and even when you saw the hard and distrusting side of him, he was still endearing!

The characters were so realistic and convincing! I value a book that can make me feel outright hatred for certain ones, instead of them all being perfect and amiable. People are despicable sometimes, and Ruth and Jeb were great examples of that. I loathed Ruth with the passion of a thousand suns! She was a jealous, heinous bitch and I may have fantasized about stabbing her in the eye repeatedly. I kept wishing she would die, that's how much she irritated me. Jeb wasn't much different, but overall he had good intentions. I think that's what made him so disturbing. He was a fanatic about his cause, no matter what the cost.
Allie was a fantasic protag! She struggled with control because she was a vampire, but still managed to cling to her humanity. Jackal was creepy and a bit off the deep end, and Kanin was a fantastic mentor. They all had their own separate personalities.

The visuals were amazing. In certain intense scenes, I could picture them almost perfectly (like I was indeed watching a movie) and I found myself riveted, tearing through page after page on my Kindle app, unable to stop. The rabids were terrifying, and Allie's turning was incredible! I think that was one of my favorite parts.

What I loved most about this book? It wasn't all rainbows and unicorns. It was dark and desperate, and most certainly not a HEA. This book would make a PERFECT movie. It reminded me a bit of Doomsday meets Blade. Can we say awesomesauce?

Quotes: 
"And like I said, if the tent falls on you in the middle of the night, don't panic. You'll get used to it. No one really worries about keeping things erect around here, and... Wow, that sounded bad."

I knew Ruth was terrified of snakes - something I took great pleasure in when I found a garter snake on the road one night and snuck it into her tent. The memory of her screams made me snicker the rest of the evening.