For years, Tristan has been forbidden to even speak to Savannah Colbert. Then Savannah disappears from school for a week and comes back…different, and suddenly he can't stay away. Boys seem intoxicated just from looking at her. His own family becomes stricter than ever. And Tristan has to fight his own urge to protect her, to be near her no matter the consequences….
Frankly, I'm sick to death of vampires. I loved vampires (mostly the Buffy kind,or the Interview with a Vampire kind) before they stormed the YA field and flooded it with cliches. Plus, I've always been a Team Werewolf kind of girl. I try to avoid vampire books, and I choose them sparingly since there are too many opportunities for me to be irked by Twilight comparisons or unoriginal thought. I chose to pick up this book for two reasons: 1) the cover is freaking gorgeous and 2) I like the concept of the "Clann." Needless to say, this book was a nice balance of magic and vampires - so it didn't drive me crazy.
I did, however, like the magic - witch Clann - half of the book better. When it got into the vampire council, bloodlust thing I felt my eyes glassing over - even so, the book was more about the magic and about the relationship between Savannah and Tristan than vampires so I enjoyed most of it. I do think Savannah gets the raw end of the deal, being torn between the vampires and the Clann - but Tristan does make it all better.
I also have a tendency to criticize those books that focus on the hot, hot boy over the actual plot - but I loved it in this case. Seeing both Savannah and Tristan's point of views, and watching them come together was the entire thing that made this book worth reading. It made the involvement of vampires only an obstacle, rather than the center of attention. Plus, Tristan was pretty dang dreamy...
It was definitely interesting to see the melding of two different paranormal groups and to see how they clash. Also, in my endless fascination of generation gaps - this was great, as these characters are cast based on the choices their parents made (something that I always love to analyze). This book was entirely entertaining - but it didn't rock my world (which might just be the vampire thing...) This is one that I'd encourage you to read and judge for yourself, because my opinion on the book is entirely biased (again, the vampire thing). Still, I did enjoy it and I think it was worth reading.
(Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for a review e-copy!)
