Reviews of Vampire Origins - The Strigoi Book 1 - Project Ichorous

Although the summary of this book made me a little wary, I was enticed by the opening chapters (Alexei and Anastasia Romanov: Vampires! Give this to me now!). Unfortunately, I only made it a few chapters further than that. What I read of this book was chock full of relationship cliches, lazy expository shortcuts, unlikeable characters, and bad research (since when does New York City have an "office district"?). Also, convoluted and with way too much going on. I just couldn't get into it at all.

I would like to thank Never Too Old For Y.A. & N.A. Books and the author Riley Banks for allowing to read this book for a honest review.

I would like to start with the cover of the book, it just does not appeal to me, but I tend to not judge a book by its cover. I honestly did not love it or hate it but I enjoyed the book very much, mostly the different point of views on which the story develops; it was very interesting to read what other characters thought or feel than just one person.

My favorite characters were Caleb and Alex, but I like Alex more at the end, I just thought from the beginning that Alex was going to be the main male character then the more I read about Caleb and I tended to favor him best and later on I completely fell for Lachman but he ends up to be a major jerk so I like Alex the most even though I resent that I didn't read more about him until the end. Scarlet was very gullible and naive, I wished that she was stronger and a little smarter about who she hangs out with and who is foe and friend. Bear, the cat, O.M.G I just couldn't imagine that he was what he was. Tash, I did like her at the very end, her actions and commitment and then her sacrifice, seal the deal for me.

I recommended this book to anyone who likes paranormal especially vampires, shapeshifters and even has witches, yeah witches, a little of everything but very entertaining. The cliffhanger will leave you wanting more, well it did for me and I can't wait to read the second book.

I received a copy of this book for free as part of Goodreads' Read for Review and I thank the author for her generosity.

I really like the premise of this story and it's a really intriguing take on the origin story of vampires. The characters are interesting and the book contains a couple of great twists. I think the story is really good but the way the author jumps between different story lines without any kind of pattern or effective device was annoying and at times confusing. Sometimes she even advanced the story by a week at the same time as shifting story lines from one paragraph to the next. This did get easier to tolerate but it took hundreds of pages to happen.

The author writes emotions well especially the darker ones. The tensions between Alex and Lachlan and Lachlan and Caleb are some of the most enjoyable reading in the novel. I'm interested to know why there is so much antagonism between the werewolves and vampires. I also enjoyed learning Rose's back story, though I think there's more to learn and I'm curious as to the reasons for Vlad's attitude to her.

So while I found the time and story shifts disconcerting and poorly done, the fact that I'm left curious about what happens next and about what has happened in the past is a sign of good story telling and well-constructed characters. I also think the author makes daring choices with her vampires that are a nice break away from the trend towards vampires as good guys that a lot of current vampire lore uses.

Congratulations to the author for an original work of vampire fiction: something that is getting harder to find these days.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun book to read! I actually got so into it that I had a dream about one of the scenes involving Angeline & Ruby on Halloween lol. It was wonderfully written and so entertaining.
The story was told from many different points of view. It gives the reader the opportunity to get to know each main character personally. Not all of them are likeable, which is one of the many elements of this book that made it so fun to read! I really can't wait to read the next in the series because I was barely able to put this one down! Now i'm so anxious to find out what's going on because we were left with quite the cliffhanger! Thank you Riley Banks for a great read!

I loved this book! I can't wait for the next one. A wonderfully written story with an intricate plot and amazing characters that are so believable and realistic. What a great cliffhanger! The only reason it did not get five stars is because I felt at times there were not enough descriptions of the characters appearances, times when it was not clear who was saying what and some scene jumps were a bit confusing as to where the scene was and who was there.I would definitely recommend this book! This book was given to me and this is my honest review.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so in general I really liked this story - a group of vampires, werewolves, and other creatures living together in their centuries old traditional hierarchy, until a group of humans is moved in by their demeaning leader, and all hell breaks loose. I also like the idea of the series in general, weaving vampire myth into centuries of world history is genius, and I think Banks handled those aspects really well.

However, the story itself left me we lots of questions, and in many places was let down by poor planning. There were a lot of points where I was simply confused, or had questions, and even thought most things were explained/discovered by the end of the story, I felt they would have been better explained earlier on. Like why did everyone hate Lachlan? (aside from the obvious fact he was an ass) And what was so wrong with him in particular turning humans, when Vlad appeared to be running around doing it all the time? (because he was a Cambion, as it turns out) How were Vlad and Lachlan so powerful - just because they were old, or were there other reasons (that remained mostly unanswered).

The second difficulty I had was with connecting with the characters - any of them. Whilst I felt for Alex, Anna & Rose at the beginning, that quickly ran out, and I was soon frustrated with them. Even the humans I gather I was supposed to feel for seemed to contribute too much to their own issues - especial Scarlett (I get that vampires have a certain effect on people, but even on her own she couldn't think anything through, and she was way too emotional/hot-headed for me to sympathise with what was happening to her). Even Ruby, whilst cute and innocent, just didn't connect with me.

And finally, the ending irked me. I can see the point in ending the first book in a series with a cliff-hanger, but I felt it was poorly done - it just ended mid-scene, making me wonder if I was missing the last few pages. Sure, it's suspenseful, and despite all the issues I want to read the next one to learn what happens, but I think it could have been executed a lot better, so that it felt like an ending as well as leaving us wondering what will happen next, rather then just seeming like half a scene.

Would have been 2.5 stars if that were possible.

The story begins with five different vampire tribes Strigoi, Cambion, Strix, Nosferatu and Bretonnian. Scarlette along with her brothers, baby sister and father moved to Romania for her fathers construction project.

She knows of vampire stories but doesn't think much of them. She and her brothers make new friends and she even gets a boyfriend. But things are not always what they appear to be.

Vlad, the man her father is working for is an ancient vampire and his plan is to dominate the world. This plan will only work with one girl, and that is Scarlett. Soon she and her family are in great danger and it is up to her to try to put an end to this before Vlad puts and end to her and all of mankind.

A fantastic Vampire story. Had a lot of nail biting moments and I was hooked from the first page until the last. I look forward to reading the next book in the series

Who knew there were different clans of vampires?

Join the world of vampires and live forever. Do you have a choice? Probably not because the lost Romanovs, Anastasia and her brother, Nicholas would surely have turned down everlasting, bloodsucking life if they had a choice. Yes, the Romanovs are now undead and residing in Vlad's castle in Transylvania. Vlad Strigoi is a vile character, sucking the life out of anyone who strikes his fancy, but an innocent teenage girl might be able to destroy him. Scarlett is a beautiful redheaded teenager with three brothers and a younger sister, raised by a single father--because Vlad killed her mother and turned her into a vampire, too. Scarlett's barely able to control her raging teenage hormones and conquer the world of dating. Can she really be the one to kill a vampire who is thousands of years old and one of the original five?

There are five different clans of vampires with different rules of existence, the Strigoi, Cambion, Strix, Nosferatu and Bretonnian. Who knew? The author has created a history for vampires dating back thousands of years. We learn some of that history in this first book of the series, and avid readers will surely learn more in future volumes.

It might be difficult to "like" any of the vampires when they feed on humans regularly, but the author makes us understand their problems and hope they can overcome their blood lust. Some of the vampires fight their tendencies, feeding on volunteers or taking blood from packages, but Vlad Strigoi wants to create an unending supply of blood by enslaving comatose humans and draining them slowly. Humans are just a food source to him. Can Scarlett fulfill the prophecy and rid the world of this evil vampire?

The author fleshes out various characters, delving into the teenagers' relationships with young vampires, and making the readers care about the innocent humans. We cringe as they fall under the spell of their vampire lovers, and pray that they can escape a terrible fate. This is just the first volume, so we'll need to wait to learn the whole story.

Take a castle full of vampires and their shapeshifting servants and throw in a family of humans. This was an excellent story. With real characters from history, you learn what really happened to the the Romanov children in Russia, I'll give you a hint, Vlad Tepes. With a cliffhanger ending, I will absolutely be picking up book 2 the day it comes out!

(no rating)
Vampire Origins - The Strigoi Book 1 - Project Ichorous (Riley Banks)

The story begins with five different vampire tribes Strigoi, Cambion, Strix, Nosferatu and Bretonnian. Scarlette along with her brothers, baby sister and father moved to Romania for her fathers construction project.

She knows of vampire stories but doesn't think much of them. She and her brothers make new friends and she even gets a boyfriend. But things are not always what they appear to be.

Vlad, the man her father is working for is an ancient vampire and his plan is to dominate the world. This plan will only work with one girl, and that is Scarlett. Soon she and her family are in great danger and it is up to her to try to put an end to this before Vlad puts and end to her and all of mankind.

A fantastic Vampire story. Had a lot of nail biting moments and I was hooked from the first page until the last. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.