Umm… Just umm. That actually summarizes my thoughts pretty accurately.

First and foremost, Alonso, the main character and the only POV character, had no personality. If you asked me describe him in one word, it would be average.

Alonso was also the least curious person ever. He woke up, discovered he was a vampire and that his last memory was from five years ago when he was still human… and then he did nothing. He didn’t ask the people helping him questions about vampirism, he didn’t try to figure out what had happened to him in the past five years, he didn’t even ask Tyler (the person helping him get back on his feet) what supernatural he was or if he was human. If that happened to me, I’d immediately be asking a million questions and wanting to know everything and trying to figure out what the heck I was doing for the last five years. And everyone they did find who might’ve had answers, they just let them walk away without even trying. Then, when Mama sent him to stay with Bobby so that he could learn about being a Charge, he hardly even asked anything about that. Not only that, other than getting a job at the safe house, he didn’t really do much of anything. He didn’t even feed regularly and kept letting himself get too hungry. Everyone around him was putting their lives at risk to help him, and it was like he just didn’t care and didn’t want to do anything. I don’t know if he had a legitimate mental illness, like anxiety or depression, or if he was just poorly written with no real actions of his own most of the time because that was what the plot needed, but I didn’t feel bad for him when things happened because all his mistakes and screw-ups (like taking too much blood from Pasquale and being alarmed to realize that Pasquale was planning on getting off), and even some of the bigger plot twist things, could’ve been avoided or figured out sooner if he’d just bothered to ask questions.

I’m also still confused about certain things. What exactly does it mean to be “whammied”? What is “slipping”—an actual kind of invisibility, or a metaphorical thing? What does it mean to be a Charge? (Like, what changes? What’s required?) *SPOILER* What exactly was Tyler? Because it was stated that he was Paidrig, but then it was stated that he was a construct, and Alonso said something about how Tyler wasn’t even a person and was just parroting Paidrig’s beliefs. And if Paidrig wanted Marcella all along, why couldn’t he have just taken her at any time? Why did he need to use Alonso and create some decades-long elaborate plan? *END SPOILER* Oh, and I still don’t even know what Alonso was being used for, what had actually been happening to him for the past five years.

Lastly, the book ended rather suddenly and easily. And considering what I mentioned in the spoiler, I didn’t really understand what the point of the whole rest of the book was.

I will say that the one thing this book did really well though was the diversity. Alonso was asexual, and Marcella was Hispanic, trans[woman], and I think bisexual.

I also thought the concept of how the vampires don’t really feed on blood, they feed on lifeforce but the blood is how they get it, was cool.

Overall though, diversity alone isn’t enough to make like a book, and I spent most of this book confused about things or frustrated with Alonso.

3.5/5

An eARC of this book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Alonso Munich, a man who has no memory as to what brought him to be in a situations such as having to depend on a kid. But that isn’t the most surprising of things; he isn’t Alive. Alonso has been dead for the past five years and he has no recollection of anything. He is being hunted for something he doesn’t remember doing, and to fight and survive he is depending on Marcy, a transgender woman who works on a Help Centre for supernatural beings in need. Did I mention that he is a vampire?

The story is fluid, but it isn’t that much of an amazing one. Right from the beginning you know that Munich is a vampire and that he is depending on a kid to survive, and on the good will of the workers in the centre to not starve. The nice thing is that the story has a bit over 230 pages, and it feels long and short at the same time. This is enforced by the fact that there are some flashbacks from Alonso’s lost years. Out of all the flash backs, most don’t really complement the story. It’s more like they are some extra details, and only one of them has actual intel as to what might have happened to him.

This extra info is a pain, because even if they are some interesting pieces of the past, they don’t say anything about who is after him. Sure, since one of the first chapters you know that Leah and Brandon have something to do with it, but it feels as if this question is what is bringing the story forward, and not the mystery of Alonso’s last five years.

Anyway, something really interesting in the book is that I don’t think more than a third of the characters are straight. Really. It felt as if the author was trying to cram as many LGBT+ people into the story as possible. It didn’t feel natural. And to top it off, the relationship between Munich and Marcy feels childish. There is a reason for it, I know. But the way it was presented felt as if they were 10 year-olds pretending to be a married couple in their 30s.

Now, finished with the bad things, I’ll say what was really good.

The plot, even with its unnecessary content (later the reason for their existence is explained) and the malformed structure of the characters relationship, is really good. There is suspense, some love, a lot of supernatural beings and powers. And all that combined make an excellent story.

The way the story is told you can see things through Alonso’s point os view, as well as feel with him. The way the other characters fit into the story make it lively, more extraordinary than bland. It had everything to be a cliché, but it somehow managed to swerve away from that. And it’s nice how the conflict between the heads of power in Atlanta is depicted, how you can clearly see who is stronger.

Surely, it could have been better. After all, many things as they go could be better than they are. But in this case, the story although good, wasn’t one of the best that the Less Than Three Press, LLC has ever given to me do review. I’m not going to say that it isn’t worth reading, but there are some parts that definitely will make you question the why you are reading it. But in the end, it’s worth it, for the conclusion is unexpected and expected.

I enjoyed this a lot but it felt like the ending was quite rushed. We took time with each step of the book so the rushed ending felt a bit jarring. It was great though, a fun read.

This was quite enjoyable, and I thought Alonso and Marcella were pretty good characters. However, there was nothing particularly unpredictable about the story, and the antagonists were straightforward and one-dimensional. Doesn't bring anything new to the urban fantasy/vampire genre, but it wasn't a bad read.

I'm sorry, I had to DNF this one.
The blurb Sounded so good, but trying to get into the actual story was very hard, I made it to 20% and gave up.
I don't understand what is happening and there's just no spark in any of the characters and zero connection for me.
Sorry, maybe next time with this author.