A Spoiler Free Bit About The Book
When Dom wakes up to find he's the victim of a vampire, his life is never the same. After escaping the draw of his vampire master he decides the vampire race must pay for what they have done to him and he becomes a fanghunter.
My Review
I was excited about reading a vampire book again when I picked up Fanghunters. I hadn't read a vampire book since July when I struggled through half of the dreadful Dinner with a Vampire and I'm pleased to report that Fanghunters was a whole universe better!
The first chapter had me hooked. I was thrown straight into this universe and that was great. The first chapter was very gripping and action-packed and it made me want to read on.
I had a sort of love-hate relationship with the protagonist, Dom. Sometimes his narration would make me laugh and sometimes I'd be a little offended by his internal monologue but I think that was part of his charm. I was glad he didn't seem to have unrealistic strength or skill, his relatability kept me reading. It was amusing that he didn't really know what he was doing and that he wasn't your normal vampire hunter. It was great to see him learning and not thinking of everything, I think that's really lacking in vampire stories and it was a breath of fresh air.
However, the weird way he talks to himself throughout the entire book was distracting and bizarre. His internal thoughts almost had a personality of their own and I thought this was plot related but it turned out not to be. This other voice calls him 'buddy' on almost every page and I thought I would get used to this but I couldn't, it was too irritating. I could put this down to the fact that nobody calls anyone 'buddy' where I'm from (Essex, England, where everybody is known as 'mate').
Also, I wanted a little more emotion from Dom sometimes. His fear came across really well and I found myself curling around my Kindle as I read but it was other emotions I was missing. I wanted some more sadness and loss when he escapes from the vampire at the beginning. I wanted frustration at the things he couldn't remember. He seemed numb a lot of the time and I was waiting for something more.
I wasn't too thrilled with the other characters but I'm putting that down to the fact that Dom didn't really have a lot of time to interact with anybody. But I must just say that Beauchamp's typical English manner makes a real life English person cringe. I'm not saying he can't be posh, he can, but I've never ever heard anyone say "my boy" in real life. Some of the phrases he used jarred for me.
When the POV character changed I enjoyed the shake up but I wanted a little bit more from their narration. It was short and sweet and to the point but I wanted a little world building in there somewhere.
There were a few other little things I jotted down. The phrase "baited breath" was used rather a lot and it jumped out at me because I don't think I've ever used it before, not that I'm criticising the phrase itself, just the amount of times it was used. It was at least five times in 120 pages. Sometimes 'The Father' had a capital 'T' for 'The' and other times it didn't. There were just a few little bits like that that jumped out at me but the more I proofread, the more stuff like that I notice.
Fanghunters felt a little bit too much like a prequel rather than the first book in a series. I felt like I was being set up for something much bigger and this was just the beginning.
But saying all that, I must've enjoyed it because I finished it in three sittings!
Evaluation
Overall 6/10
Would I recommend it? Yes, if you're looking for a quick vampire read.
Would I look up the author? No, but some day book two might call to me.
Fanghunters was an entertaining, quick read setting you up for book two.
Happy to have my first book on the Molten Reading Challenge 2016 list!
Happy to have my first book on the Molten Reading Challenge 2016 list!
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| The first book in a series: Fanghunters - Leo Romero |
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