I love Alma Katsu but this is not my normal genre and I definitely overreached by trying to read it what I did read was interesting but definitely not my cup of tea

Excellent twist on an age old tale of life-neverending ! No vampires, no gypsy curses, but an interesting, twisted old fellow who dabbled in alchemy and had chosen certain 'handsome' men and beautiful women to be 'taken' by him for all eternity, or until he decides to KILL you.
The story jumps from present to past and usually that annoys me, but in this book I enjoyed as the author pulled the tails of young Lanny and her gorgeous Johnathon back and forth thru time revealing their secrets and secrets of the evil Adair.
Halfway thru this book, having learned so much about the years these characters had together that it should have been a series. Easily this book could have been stretched to 3 other in a series then I found out that there are 4 books in the series total (the last due out Jan 2014)
This book wraps up the story of the characters but then leaves the door open for so much more...
I can't wait to read the next in the series this weekend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Alma Katsu, and Gallery/Saga Press for the e-arc of The Taker in exchange for an honest opinion.

During a midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting a night like any other. But when the police bring in a mysterious woman found in the woods, his expectations are thrown out the window. Lanore draws Luke into a thrilling tale of unrequited love, unexplainable power, and the ability of those to either sustain or destroy.

I’m not sure how to classify this novel. It feels like it is supposed to be a paranormal romance, but it missed the mark on the romance aspect. None of the characters ever felt in love, they are all just obsessed with their love interests. Luke is instantly “in love” with Lanore when she is brought to the hospital, despite the fact that she is brought in by the police and she is suspected of murder. Lanore’s “love” for Johnathan is, again, just an obsession with his beauty, overlooking all of his faults and the awful things he did to her. Adare is obsessed with anyone that he deems to have perfect beauty that he can collect. All three timelines are fueled by obsession under the guise of love.

In spite of that, the story is still interesting. I wanted to know Lanore’s story just as much as Luke did so in that regard the story was a success. The writing was very easy to get lost in and was very atmospheric. It reminds me of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue in the sense that Lanore is a woman out of time. She watches the world pass her by, everyone she cares about eventually fading away and she remains the same. However, I didn’t feel quite as connected to Lanore, or have as much sympathy for her.

I’m not sure if I will continue on with the other books that have been released.

The Taker has a spooky supernatural edge to it, but is mostly historical fiction. A story about obsession and darkness, it's a book that left me with some mixed emotions as it wasn't what I expected, which isn't the end of the world. Fans of suspenseful historical fiction would enjoy this book.

I have read stories in the past, that start out hundreds of years in the past, and somehow end up in present day. I have read stories that tell of what life was like way back when, what was done, how a character has changed for the better, and so on, and so forth. The Taker has all of this, but it also has more. What that more is, I don't really know. Lanny starts her story in 1816 when she first approaches Jonathan at church. It is here that their friendships begins. She talks about how their relationship evolved, but, she also says that she loved him from the very beginning. She tells about how things changed and she was forced to leave the town she knew as home, and venture to a big unknown city. It is here that she meets Adair, and her life of immortality begins. It was all very captivating. The Taker was a story within a story, and at one point, I was reading a story within a story, within a story. I really loved the multi-dimensional story telling that I found in The Taker. The story flowed beautifully, and I was never confused by the back and forth between past and present.

The Taker by Alma Katsu was my first Katsu book. Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of Christopher Pike and some of his epic stories. Lanny is from a small village in 1819 Maine. Her one true love is Jonathan. As she grows up she becomes friends with him, but always wants him to love her the way she loves him. I felt this was a great allegory for how there is one person who gives and one who takes, that love can be unrequited and devastating. I am ready for the next chapter.

I’m kind of stuck between really enjoying this book and just not being sure about it. I absolutely love the paranormal romance aspect, but there’s also a lot of triggery material within these pages. I do love Alma Katsu’s work, though. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series just to see how the story continues.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Taken by Alma Katsu, republished with a beautiful new cover, is a dark and dangerous fantasy. I love the brand new cover. I feel like it represents the story and the genre perfectly. It's so exciting to have the cover reimagined; it's like having a makeover. I am also awed at the unique alchemy plot and the necromancer, a disturbingly dark antagonist. The protagonist, and anti-hero of this gothic style story, is Lanore (Lanny), and she is such a complex character, with lots of intricate layers and secrets. The way she narrates this tale is so compelling it is hard to put down. She tells the story using a dual timeline – the present and her past, which began in the early 1800s before becoming immortal. The setting of a logging settlement in 1800's Maine is so stark that it is the perfect juxtaposition to the world of luxury that Adair represents. It perfectly fuels the theme of greed that runs throughout the story. If you are looking for a darkly unique alchemical fantasy story, this one will leave you in awe.

I had read other books by this author and enjoyed them, so I was interested in this one. However, I discovered that this book was not only previously published, but super weird. I’m not a prude (I read romance, for crying out loud!) but the way it discussed sex was just disturbing, and no one grabbed my attention.

This book is a fantastic blend of historical fiction and paranormal romance. An epic tale of love and lust (lots of lust) with wonderful characters and tons of atmosphere.  I have read a couple of other books by this author and greatly enjoyed them but The Taker completely blew me away.  Thank goodness there is more to this amazing story for me to look forward to.

This was not at all what I expected, from reading her prior books, but I did truly enjoy this dark fantasy world Katsu created! She definitely created some phenomenal characters that really made you get into that anti love mood! It was beautifully written and a bit addicting! I think it’s a start to a series, which is great because I do think it’s one that I’ll continue to the end with! I recommend to those who love anti love, dark fantasy that’s truly amazingly written!

Will buzz around platforms and use low Amazon reviewer number on release!

Dr. Luke Findley is working his midnight shift at the hospital in the rural town of St. Andrew, Maine when a mysterious woman, Lanore McIlvrae , is brought into the ER by the local police. Lanore is a murder suspect, whom they are unable to identify and Luke immediately feels drawn to her. Lanny asks for Luke to help her escape and in return tells him the story of how she came to be what she is...a tale of immortality, love, betrayal, and fate.

The Taker is the first novel in the Taker Trilogy by Alma Katsu and centers around a mysterious immortal woman and her tale of unrequited love and betrayal. The tale begins with Luke, a doctor in a rural hospital who is suffering after his divorce and the death of his mother. When Lanny is brought into his ER he feels immediately drawn to her and gets caught up in her tale of how she became immortal. The story shifts between present day and historic St. Andrew's Maine, early 19th century, where Lanny and Jonathan St. Andrew's story begins. I really enjoyed how the novel started out and I enjoyed Lanny's origin story and how her "love" for Jonathan played a role in her fate. I will warn that fairly early in the novel it becomes quite graphic sexually including: sexual assault (rape & sodomy) as well as discussion about consensual sexual acts throughout the novel. Overall I found this to be an interesting novel and I am curious to know how Lanny's story continues through the series.

Warning, this book includes: Child abuse, violence, sexual harassment, child slavery, rape.

In all fairness it was extremely hard for me to finish this book. It's so depressing and dark... It made me feel emotionally exhausted...

As of the writing in general it's very easy to read, pages simply flow by. Author brings in some interesting ideas, but they just didn't seem appealing to me...

When I laid my eyes on this book cover and then its synopsis I was immediately interested in reading it. The plot of the story seemed just the kind of reading I'd most likely enjoy, so quickly requested it.

Maybe my expectations were very high or maybe I was expecting something the book wasn't, but my disappointment at the story was extreme. The story had such a great potential and Katsu has a unique writing style, but the YA touch just didn't match with the rest.

I couldn't have empathy for any of the characters, only being angered at their superficiality and arrogance. Not even Luke got me sympathising, but questioning why would do everything he does. Adair then is just a plain jerk but in the skin of a wanderer.

It took more than two weeks to finally finish reading this book, and although a few parts were somewhat interesting, it just didn't hook me to want to read the next volumes. I won't say it's impossible I'll read the next, but surely I worthy l won't be so eager for them.

I'm very sorry to dnf this one (42%) : the writing is good and the story is intriguing but I simply can't go on.
It started pretty well, and I was quite eager to see where it was going and how the mystery of Lanny's existence would be explained, but after a while I understood that it was taking a problematic road, at least for me.

>> To sum it up, every single character's a horrible person and even if reading about a full-on despicable cast can be an interesting experience, it got exhausting quite quickly.
>> Also, this book is basically a Trigger Warning dictionnary, and I wish I'd known before starting it.
>> And finally, every horrible and triggering things happening to pretty much every character are barely addressed and are kinda brushed away by the victims like "sheesh, another piece of bad luck", or at least it was how I felt - and considering the repeated horrific abuse (on page), it felt illogical and made me feel very uncomfortable.

This is a quite a sordid book, not without quality but definitely not for me.

Excellent. Fast paced well written and interesting blend of historical fiction and the supernatural. Will definitely read other books by Katsu as well as the remaining two books in the trilogy. Highly recommended.

The story follows Dr. Luke Findley when he runs into Lanore McIlvrae one day. She is a murder suspect and tells him her story, or rather her immortal past. She was in love with a puritan man whore and then she ended up with a creeper who gave her immortality in exchange for, oh, owning her body. The story is told in different time lines, and overall I just did not enjoy it. i just didn’t like any of the characters and there was a LOT of sex. It was hedonistic and sadistic, and uncomfortable kinds of sex and it just was not for me. ****ALSO TRIGGER WARNING: . Gang rape, child molestation, kidnapping children to use for sex, torture, rape, violence ***

This book, sadly, was not my cup of tea. I loved the writing style but it simply fell short of drawing me into the story. The author jumped back and forth between perspectives and times and places constantly which made it harder for me to follow the story.