Featuring Kristy Berridge - Part 1
Hi, folks. My favorite thing about having this
blog is talking about books and authors that I like, and I’ve been looking
forward to featuring this particular author for a while now. During the next
two weeks I’ll focus on Kristy Berridge, the Wonder from Down Under. This week
we’ll look at her books. Next week we’ll have an interview!
Kristy Berridge, The Wonder from Down Under
At Amazon.com
This is a great book. Reading it
will enrich your life.
I really liked it. I’d recommend it
to anyone.
I liked it. I can't
recommend it due to some major flaw.
You won’t see this rating. It’s not
worth the time.
It’s bad. You need to be warned.
Click on the link to order:
The Dragon of Doughton Park ----------------------------------------------------------
Although Ms. Berridge is in the process of
publishing an interesting crowd-funded side project called Diary of a Teenage Zombie, her main body of work to-date
encompasses The Hunted books. There are already two of the eventual five novels
out in this paranormal fantasy/horror series which chronicles the coming of age
of the vampire-werewolf hybrid Elena Manory.
I’m a fan. Let’s get to it.
The Hunted
Description
Elena Manory is by no means an ordinary teenage
girl. Being born with the ability to heal herself from any injury, and with the
knowledge that on her eighteenth birthday she will become a Vampire, Elena is
aware that she is more than a little different from other girls her age.
It isn’t until she meets William Granville, an
alluring and impossibly handsome vampire, that she begins to question her
destiny and what secrets the Institute of Magical Intervention and her adopted
family have withheld—secrets that could change the fates of not only her own
life, but of the lives of all the immortals.
As events spiral out of control, William may be
the only person Elena can place her trust in. He, and Elena’s magical family,
must fight to save her, joining forces to defeat a common, deadly foe. For
William, it is his chance to save the girl that he has searched eternity to
find.
My Review (from March, 2012)
I became aware of this author through several
Facebook groups, where her posts caught my attention as occasionally witty. I
likewise found her blog posts enjoyable, but was hesitant to purchase this
paperback because of the hefty price tag. I couldn't bring myself to pay over
$18, but I jumped at the chance to get it for half that when it finally became
available for Kindle.
I wasn't
disappointed. Berridge has created an interesting universe with some unique
twists on the origins, traits, and capabilities of her vampires and werewolves.
The book is generally well-written. It was easy to immerse myself in nearly
every scene, and there is lots of action. By the time I was two-thirds through
the book, I found myself unable to put it down - one of those I stayed up until
the wee hours of the morning to finish.
Several
things prevented me from giving it five stars, however. I did not find the main
character particularly likeable, nor the inevitably hunky vampire love
interest. And the propensity for Berridge to dump pages of backstory upon the
reader at inconvenient times also put me off. The preface and the first chapter
contain enough background information to spread over several novels, and
Berridge chooses to reveal much of it while her character muses between steps
as she stalks two werewolves in the opening scene, which effectively kills the
suspense.
Despite those few drawbacks, The Hunted was a
good read and I plan to read the next in the series, at the right price. My
rating? Four stars.
The Damned
Description
Life for Elena Manory skipped past ordinary just
over a month ago. Discovering she was born a practically invulnerable
vampire-werewolf hybrid was shocking enough; but she’s also become a target,
hunted by an Alpha werewolf known as Roshan, who’s fixated on the properties of
her unique blood and the pleasurable possibilities of her flesh.
Moving to the Institute of Magical Intervention
in Romania was supposed to provide her with protection and anonymity, but Elena
soon realises her enemies are legion. No one is who they seem, no agenda truly without
nefarious intentions.
A strange twist of fate and the actions of a
vampire previously pressing for her affections lead Elena into the arms of
another—one whose middle name spells trouble.
Himself a vampire, Sebastian is handsome,
arrogant, and perplexingly familiar. He introduces Elena to a world she never
thought possible, uncovers a past believed buried, and unearths a future she
may not survive.
My Review (August, 2013)
I lost patience somewhere over the 16 months I
had to wait for this sequel to The Hunted to be ready for my Kindle. And now
it’s even worse, because now I have no idea how long it will be before the
third book is available and I can find out how Elena’s going to get herself out
of… Oh, wait. No spoilers here!
The Damned is a great second offering in this
series. It starts with the introduction of a new villain and a brief
warm-up/update of what’s been going on since the last book, then takes off with
non-stop action until the final page. Elena has matured some over the last few
months, but not enough to keep her out of immediate trouble as she tries to
keep her family safe by leaving home and placing herself in the custody of the
Protectors in Bucharest.
“Custody’ turns out to be the operative word,
because she soon realizes that, instead of being protected, she is actually a
prisoner. She manages to exacerbate the situation by alienating almost everyone
with her snarky attitude and sarcastic comments. To make things worse, everyone is out for her blood…
literally.
I was intrigued with how the story expanded in
this book, in which more of the secret of Elena’s origins are revealed and some
older, more powerful characters are introduced. Of course, there are more
gorgeous, hunky male vampires (a necessary evil in these types of novels, I
suppose) to create plenty of sexual tension, which makes for nice reading but
emerges as a theme I’m sure will be more explored as Elena approaches her
eighteenth birthday, where I bet the excrement will really hit the fan.
My rating: five stars.
So there you have it. I highly recommend you
immerse yourself in this series, after which we’ll be able to share our
frustrations about having to wait for the rest of the books to come out! And if
you’ve already read them feel free to commiserate with me in a comment below.
Next week I’ll have an interview with Kristy. In
the meantime, you can find out more about her and her work by following the
links below…
---
A note about my five-star rating system:
This is a great book. Reading it
will enrich your life.I really liked it. I’d recommend it
to anyone.I liked it. I can't
recommend it due to some major flaw.You won’t see this rating. It’s not
worth the time.It’s bad. You need to be warned.
See y’all next week. Until then, Happy Reading!
----------------
My Books
The Draculata Nest -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Click on the link to order:
The Dragon of Doughton Park ----------------------------------------------------------
Click on the link to order:
ebook for Kindle in Paperback
ebook for Nook in Charlotte
ebook for Kobo Smashwords
ebook for Kindle in Paperback
Very cool, John. Kristy is rather awesome. She certainly cracks me up on that blog of her's. Thanks for sharing your space for her work.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week, my friend.
-Jimmy
We're on the same page there, Jimmy. And thanks to you for stopping by. Don't work too hard (I mean that!)
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