The Vampire's Daughter (Of Light and Darkness #1) by Shayne Leighton

Wednesday 6 March 2013.

The Vampire's Daughter (Of Light and Darkness, #1)The Vampire's Daughter by Shayne Leighton
Published: 28th June 2011
By: Decadent Publishing
Source: Netgalley

My rating: A high 3.5 stars, but not quite 4

This may be one of the more disturbing YA books that I've read but I did really enjoy it and Shayne had no trouble holding my attention from the word go. But it wasn't perfect, and I did have my issues with it. There were some mistakes I noticed, not spelling or grammer, but one thing being said at one stage and then this being completely changed later on. Like at one point, Valek doesn't want Charlotte in the room when he is going to "sleep" because he's most volatile at this time and might attack her, but later, it's ok for her to lie in a coffin with him for this.

The vampire Valek finds Charlotte as an abandoned baby on the streets of Prague, takes her home and raises her like a daughter. Makes him sound like one of the nice, romanticised vampires right? But no, he's actually quite disgusting. As we first meet eighteen year old Charlotte, she is out hunting for a human for Valek, as he's not allowed to pass beyond the walls of the occult, she isn't noticed as no humans are supposed to be on the inside.

She's also developing quite an un-daughterly like crush on Valek, which he eventually comes to return. Quite disturbing!! But, I feel these characters changed completely under the strenuous circumstances that they find themselves in, and as we don't really see much interaction as parent and child, I had to keep reminding myself of this. I couldn't really invest in the whole romance between them, but I could of course, understand how they would love each other. But then predicaments that Charlotte finds herself in because of Valek, leaves me questioning that love.

Charlotte, unsurprisingly, is not like other eighteen year old girls, having been raised by a vampire, and not being too bothered by him drinking human blood, killing humans, and keeping bodies in the freezer, maybe the inappropriate relationship is not surprising under these circumstances. But, he's the man who raised her, protected her, and comforted her when she was upset. She knows the way she feels about him is wrong, but she can't help her feelings.

Valek is a nasty type vampire. He needs blood daily or the monster arises, he has claws as hands and when he sleeps during the day, he actually dies and becomes corpse like. I can't see the attraction, but I enjoyed him as a character, and as weird as it was, I eventually found myself rooting for them, when an even more dangerous arrangement is put in their way.

I enjoyed the world building. There's all kinds of supernaturals in these books, but they all live under the rule of Wizards. Aiden, one of Charlotte's closest friends, is a wizard, and I found myself really liking him. Things really take a twist around him, but I won't say anymore, don't want to give too much away. There's quite a few interesting secondary characters who add to this story. It has a lot of action and living on the edge, a fast paced page turner.

I didn't like the cover for this book, but after reading it, it's actually quite fitting. And while I did have a few problems with this book, I still enjoyed this story overall and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

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11 Comments:

Emma said...

I have this on my Kindle, and I've been meaning to read it for a while! I have yo say it does give that impression of being a deeply disturbing book. Slightly reminds me of Lit text I'm doing at college at the moment, where the sister and brother fall in love :/ but not quite to that extent! I do like the sound of Maiden, he sound quirky for a Wizard! Lovely review! :)

Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...

Oh, wow, I love it when vampires are evil as they should be. I'm not entirely sure I'd be comfortable with these feelings between Charlotte and Valek, but at least the author was brave enough to take risks and I can certainly respect that.
great review, Suzanne.

Unknown said...

Interesting sounding book. As Maja say's, it's a brave author who goes into those kind of relationships. Good review.

Unknown said...

Okay, like you, I'm not sure that I could really go for the whole romance aspect, considering the circumstances. But he's not really her dad, so maybe I could live. *shudder* I think it's nice that the vampire is actually evil like he's supposed to be, though! Great review, girly! (:

Loves,
Megan@The Book Babe

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

I am happy to hear that the world building is well done and that this features more than just vamps, I have no desire to read a vampire book these days. Glad it was a decent read for you, Suzanne.

LoveOfBooks said...

First of all, I agree about the cover. Don't like it. I honestly don't think I could read this book. Their relationship sounds way too disturbing to me. I'm so not cool with something like that - vampire of not. I hope I don't already have this book. lol. Great review. I'm glad I have a heads up about it now.

Eunice said...

I can see why at some point you find this disturbing! I did too just through your review. Haha! But like Maja had said I have to give the author some credit from making the vampires really evil here (as they indeed really should be). And I think I might go check this out. :D

Eunice @ Book Overdose

Sam (Realm of Fiction) said...

I'm not sure if I'd react well to the relationship between Valek and Charlotte, but it does sounds like an interesting approach. There is something quite compelling about disturbing topics... Still, I don't think this would be for me. I'm glad you liked it overall, though. Great review!

brandileigh2003 said...

That is disturbing the crush and returned feelings, but oh wells. It could have been an intriguing premise though without the twists.

Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog

Unknown said...

Oh, yay for good old vampire! Is it weird that I actually prefer my vampires to be bloodthirsty and have some disturbing qualities? :P The romantic relationship sounds quite disturbing though, so I'm not going to touch it during my worse days. This seems like a very interesting take in vampire tales anyway. Strange characters are always... intriguing. ;)

Lovely review as always, Suzanne! I'm glad that you enjoyed it mostly. :)

A Canadian Girl said...

Oh, I think I'm going to have to pass on this one. I'm not a big fan of vampire novels to begin with and the romance would gross me out.

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