Dave Ferraro

2 stars for too many POV's/main characters which just confused me constantly.

Pros:
The bad guys are fun and weird. The descriptions of the made up creatures (vs. the typical vamps/weres etc.) are really tantalizing and I really enjoyed the novelty of most of them. The main bad guy is just scary and a few of the other described bad guys are soooo creepy (spoiler:
Mary – ugh! So gross. I loved every minute of it!)

The grammar/spelling mistakes were rare – yeah!

Lots and lots of action in the latter half of the book especially and scattered throughout.

LGBT’s! Despite how open UF is there are few gays/lesbians, etc. It was nice to see them get some play.

I like the idea, it's cliched but classic. Bad guys. Group of good guys. Battle!

Shanna's character is clearly being built to something good. That could be entertaining

Unfortunately the Cons:
Narration voice was very stiff and formal. That works great for Pride and rejudice, not for a book about fighting demons/vampires/shapeshifters/werewolves/witches. It didn't allow a lot of flow for me as it took me out of the fantasy feeling

Stretched thin with the monsters: Way too much of a good thing. I felt like the vampires/werewolves/whatevers were leaning toward unique but there were so many different kind of evil beings that none of them got fleshed out. Are vampires good or bad? What's with the werewolves? What's the difference between a sorceress and a witch?

Too many characters: once again, too much of a good thing. There are at least 8 main characters it feels like, maybe more, maybe less. On top of it the POV switches constantly so half the time I didn’t know what POV I was even reading. I would have enjoyed it more if he’d stuck with Shanna, id’ed 1 or 2 buddies for her and given me a good introduction to them. Floating through everyone’s head was not amusing. As this is supposed to be a series (I assume) it would have been easier to watch characters develop over time, maybe choose 2 POV’s per book to develop things. Even at the end of the book a name would come up and I would have trouble remembering who it actually was because there were so many people floating around.

YA habits: Shanna’s way too whiny, which is age appropriate but annoying in what I assumed was an adult book. The guys and girls are too pretty and of course all seem to have instant love connections/attractions. Everyone loves the main character. Spoiler: Love triangle.

Spoiler for end of book: If vampires/whatevers are the enemy and are killed indiscriminately why are they suddenly objects of lust at the end? Honestly the 2 vampires were enjoyable but it just made me dislike the hunters because they apparently are killing off plenty of good people, so in my book that makes them murderers and not good guys.

So, I like a lot of the ideas. The problem is the story gets lost behind the constantly switching POV's and that slows down progress. I don't need to watch the same fight from six different angles. It also means you read a lot of information over a short period of time so the plot gets clipped short. The language was even more distracting as it didn't fit a bunch of modern teenagers fighting demons, etc. For a story bringing in a lot of different groups/monsters/characters, the Women of the Otherworld nails it. This story tries to cover too much in a short time and comes up short.

That said, I hope the author keeps writing. I want to see some development so I can delve into all the gruesome bad guys! Some editing and paring would make this very fun.

… (plus d'informations)

I received a e-copy of this book through Read It & Reap's read to review opportunity. I loved it! As always, I am trying not to do any spoilers; this is definitely a book I want you to read and discover on your own as you read!

So...yes five stars. I loved the plot, the characters, and the relationship development. I liked the parallel universe, the monsters, and the action. This was SUCH a satisfying read, although I do admit to panicking around the 80% mark as my kindle was telling me I only had 40 minutes left and wondering how this is going to end!

From the beginning, this book is ripe with action. That was a helluva way for our MC to wake up and what a way to start the book. As she wakes up and assesses the scene around her and then just begins to lay waste to the vamps she encounters, I was cheering "GO BUFFY! I MEAN ALYSSA!" But this is no simple Buffy-esque plot.

I thought the ties from this parallel universe to ours was incredibly smart: the Japanese covens and their ability to meld into shadows like the ninjas of our world, the mythological beasts come to life and HOW they came about in this world, the creation story of Lilith, with no Eve in sight.

The draw between Parker & Alyssa was well done; sweet romance without overblown sex scenes. I liked how the characters developed and how their friendships solidified.

Lots of paranormal monsters, a bit of steam punk, a bit of fairytale, a bit of horrific bug monsters, a kickass heroine who only has one moment of true despair (she's definitely not whiny), and blossoming love affairs, this was a GOOD read. Highly enjoyable.… (plus d'informations)

Alyssa, woke up surrounded by dead bodies, not knowing where she is, missing memories. This book kept me hooked from the get go. Alyssa saves women and makes many friends on her quest to find out who she is and why she is in this world of magic so unlike her world. In the end she has to make a very tough decision and it was quite a surprise. She makes very good friends along the way, I like each character, a couple keep you wondering whose side they are really on. There were some editing problems, but it can be fixed and the one that stands out the most is in chapter 40: " There is life in them yet," Mia said, rubbing her arms as if to ward off goose-flesh. "Their souls are trapped here." This is a major need of fixing because Lady blood had already killed this character unfortunately. I strongly like this book and I would like to read more books by this author. I would also like to thank Dave Ferraro the author for giving me this book for an honest review through my goodreads group - Shut Up & Read.… (plus d'informations)

Her Dark Destiny (Hunters of the Dark, #1) by David Ferraro.

The first of the series this book starts off with action and adventure. The main character of course is a strong young woman who is a demon hunter, taking a night off from hunting she decides to go out with her best friend to a club to have fun and dance. During the evening she soon realizes fun is not what she was going to have. She ends up in a fight for her life and meets up with two other hunters who help her out in battle. When the night ends she gets more information from the other hunters about The Agency, they have been trying to recruit her to go work for them. Losing her only friend she decides to go and try to work with other hunters to rid the world of evil creatures and not just demons. We see many different types of paranormal creatures in this story; demon’s (many different types), vampires (good ones and bad ones), giants, werewolf’s etc.. So you know this will be an action filled series.

Dave Ferraro did an excellent job with this book, with his excellent writing skills he gave us a beginning to each character and you can see many future books in this series (hoping that is). What I really liked is we get to see each characters point of views while he is telling us this story.

And of course besides action and adventure there are love interests, young woman meets cute guy, then she meets handsome vampire, and like most women we kind of cheer for the bad boy vampire type. Well at least I do.

I know this is a good book because when I finished it I went a purchased Night Cries (Hunters of the Dark #2).
… (plus d'informations)