**Many thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion of this book.**

Actual rating 3.5

This book is about becoming a vampire and the consequences that arise from making that decision. It is very slow going and I nearly dropped it midway. The plot is a new version of the same old story.. And it didn't feel fresh. It can also be ery confusing because of the multiple POV changes. Definitely some improvement is needed there.

It did pick up towards the end of book and I would say it ended on a mild note for me. I don't hate it but I don't love it either.

Rating: 1.7 / 5

Unforunately, 56% is all that I can force myself to read of this. If I had followed my first instinct as a reader, I would have put this down much earlier and never looked back, but since I'm reading this and reviewing this got Netgalley feedback, I forced myself to proceed.

Ah, the things I do for charity!

If I had to sum up this book in the shortest way possible, I'd categorize it as Alternate Twilight. It starts off with Bella, I mean, Mariah and her waking up from a dream in which she sees Edward, I mean Miguel, and can't seem to remember who he is or anything like that, but sees Rosalie, I mean Elisa, an attractive blonde woman stepping between them. Both are under the control of Aro, I mean Theron, who has turned both of them into vampires, and now controls their minds. Although this is never directly stated, it's obvious that Mariah allowed herself to be turned into a vampire by James, I mean Sophus so that she can be with Miguel, but now Sophus and Theron are keeping them apart, and Miguel can't seem to remember who Mariah is.

Bit by bit, our heroine starts to remember things about herself, at the beginning not affected by her bloodlust as a vampire until her thirst is pointed out to her, as she has amazing self-control apparently, and playing games of chess to pass the time, all whilst living in a cave. Meanwhile, we see Elisa struggling to make Miguel forget even any traces he has left of Mariah, but at the same time kissing Theron's ass as she's probably(?) attracted to him as well. There's a lot of cave dwelling and mixed perceptions, and a huge lack of memory as to what happened, etc.

And, of course, there's blood drinking, but Mariah is given mostly animal blood to drink, as this apparently will make her a more tame vampire who can live longer and control her lust for blood better.

Gee, doesn't any of this sound familiar? Because I am getting a sense of deja vu here...

However, to be fair, the author must be given credit for not making it exactly like Twilight, though it's obvious that that was her starting point. Partial credit for my being able to get halfway through the book at all, and only due to the Elisa-Theron relationship which I kind of liked due to its creepiness, perhaps one of the only original aspects of this book, though Elisa herself is a deplorable vixen.

Other than that though, Mariah is as bland as unsalted butter on dry bread--or, Bella--Miguel is kind of an angsty pushover--or, Edward--Elisa is an unlikable jealous bitch--or, Rosalie--Sophus is a sadistic stalker--or, James--and Theron just literally sits on his throne and does nothing whilst his minions bring him everything he needs--or, Aro.

The story has a lot of blanks and is limited in both location and imagination, and the writing itself is just average at best. Overall, not a recommended read for anyone interested in serious literature.