I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

I was given this ARC by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This story was, and is, extremely dark, brutal and, just as the title says, desolate. Unfortunately, I could not finish it.

It was too much for me and I must warn future and potential readers that this is not a light or quick or happy read.

If you have had any sort of traumatic experience, abuse or, to put it in a classic way, “have a delicate disposition” this story will not be for you.

Having said that, I must give the author a tremendous amount of credit for creating such a dark story that made my skin crawl and haunted me in my dreams.

I would recommend this story to anyone, who is looking for a very engaging and dark read.

I enjoyed this book a lot. The characters were relatable and I found myself wanting to know more about them.

Good day! Before anything else, I would like to extend my deepest, sincerest gratitude for sending me a digital review copy of this book (via NetGalley). Thank you very much for the opportunity!

Unfortunately, I am sad to say that I have lost interest in this particular title, and consequently, I have decided against finishing it. Forcing myself to finish a book I am disinterested in (solely for the sake of finishing it) can only negatively impact the entirety of my reading experience, which, in turn, could result in me writing an unfairly negative review. That is a circumstance I hope to avoid. With that said, I believe that the best course of action is for me to simply not read it and to refrain from publicly posting any feedback regarding this book.

I hope you understand where I'm coming from. Again, thank you for the lovely opportunity!

Thanks Netgalley for a copy to read and review

There's no way this is a YA book... no way. Rape, murder, horror being the first things to come to mind. Felt fully adult to me. This was pure horror. Roseline can not escape the pain and torture she's being dealt being married to this vampire who killed her entire family. Good story despite the terror and pain this poor girl went to. I did not receive the other books in this trilogy but I'm not sure I would continue. The savagery this poor girl dealt with from her husband was just horrible. Story was mesmerizing though, four stars of entertainment!

It was good! i like the world as well as the characters!

TW: rape, violence

The only reason I made myself finish this book was because I received a copy from Netgalley, and it was cluttering up my Dashboard and sinking my review rate. Initially, I had requested this when I first joined Netgalley, and I didn’t spend too much time looking at the summary. I saw a pretty cover and that it was “read now” and that was that.

The book opens with utter carnage. The protagonist, Roseline, wakes among the bloodied and burning remains of her family members. Her new husband, Vladimir, has murdered everyone who gathered for their wedding and turned Roseline into a vampire. The opening chapter is engaging; Miller is good being descriptive. That is the only good thing I can say about this book.

After a wedding that puts the Red Wedding to shame, we are treated to hundreds of pages of Roseline being raped and tortured by her husband and his brother, Lucien, for no reason at all. In fact, very little of what the characters in this book do makes sense except to contribute to the utter bleakness of the plot. There are no nuanced characters here. All the men are rapists in waiting, all the women are jealous whores. Too many characters are introduced for no reason, as they are all essentially cardboard cutouts of each other. Fane, the love interest, is inexplicably a Good Guy, despite also being a vampire. Why has he alone managed to remain kind? Because plot.

And speaking of plot. I may have been stomach all the gratuitous torture and sexual violence had there actually been a coherent plot. It is only once we are three-quarters into the book that a hint of plot is even mentioned – apparently Roseline has to compete in some sort of hunt in order to win the right to be Vladimir’s wife for eternity. Not only is this mentioned way too late, the hunt itself begins 90% into the book, which leaves very little time for closure and means the narrative structure of the book is way, way lopsided. The ending is abrupt and answers little. The hunt itself makes no sense, and its rules seem to contradict each other.

There is no chance for us to get to know Roseline. Almost every scene she is in involves her being tortured in some way. She is constantly terrified, constantly abused. I’m not sure what the author was going for here – in the foreword it seems like she hopes this will be an empowering novel for abused girls, but I see very little of that here that isn’t badly written. Even Roseline’s supposed development from scared girl to “confident woman” happens abruptly and seems to hinge only on her relationship with Fane, Inexplicable Good Guy. There is mention several times that Roseline was chosen by Vladimir and Lucien for some kind of “destiny” but this is only hinted at seemingly to make Roseline seem more special than Vladimir’s previous wives, as we are given absolutely no clue as to what this “destiny” might be or how Lucien discovered it.

I had hoped that perhaps since this was the first in a series, that the second and third books would deliver more on their message of “empowerment” with Roseline now in her position as Vladimir’s wife. Unfortunately, according to the second book’s summary, it contains more and more torture of Roseline. It seems that her elevated status has granted her no respect and little protection, which really makes me wonder what the point of this entire series is. I know it’s a prequel series for another set of novels, so does it really just exist to take us through Roseline’s constant torture in excruciating detail?

Sometimes, random, obscure books turn out to be gems. Other times, like this one, they turn out to be horrible little books that make you grimace and roll your eyes as you force yourself to turn to the final page.

Desolate begins with a foreword, warning about elements of a sensitive nature. As this is classed as YA, this was definitely needed. Desolate is not for younger readers due to graphic violence and abuse. I researched a bit before reading, learning that Desolate is a prequel for the Arotas Trilogy. This is an in depth backstory of Roseline, only slightly alluded to in the trilogy.

After a massacre at her wedding, and being left alone in the world, Roseline Dragomir has to find the will to survive. With a murderous husband, and evil brother-in-law and a castle full of demons, Roseline begins to give up on her life. But being immortal has it's downsides until a mysterious stranger offers his help. With him on her side, will she survive the upcoming hunt?

Reading from Roseline's point of view allows you to understand her as a character. What she's thinking. How she's feeling. What happens when she loses control. Roseline is definitely one of the smarter protagonists I've read, although she let's her despair think for her throughout the beginning. She begin's to develop and toughen up by the end, becoming cunning and outwitting her enemies. This is what I enjoyed most about her.

Vladimir, also known as Vlad the Impaler, played the tormenting husband. With his brother, Lucien being his truly evil right-hand man. These two play perfectly off each other in both their words and actions. You also can clearly see the difference in character. Miles has created two different antagonists, without using two stereotyped villains.

The love interest wasn't rushed or made into an instant love scenario. We see Roseline converse multiple times before she even think's of her interest in him. Mile's definitely thought out how to incorporate the romance plot into the overall story rather than adding it for no reason.

The main issue is that the book is quite slow in places. A lot of the middle section is a lot of violence and hatred, but Roseline just puts up with it and doesn't do anything. Consequently, it gets quite dull but also difficult to read. It picks up as you get towards the end though. Another problem I had was imagining the fighting and wounds afflicted. All our characters seem to be immortals who can endure a lot more than humans. Therefore, the unrealistic wounds are hard to think of. As well as the actions which inflict the wounds.

Other than the pace, and the difficulty of imagining some scenes, I enjoyed reading Desolate. I would, again, like to specify it is not for younger readers.

Desolate- the title tells you the story.
Desolate by Amy Miles is brutal, unforgiving and dark. Don't let the YA genre mislead you. I honestly don't know if I would have chosen the genre anyway.
We are lead into a medieval world, full of vampires. But this is no romance, no sexy vampire meets shy girl and they fall in love. In this story, you will find an amazing plot with all the right twists, a beatiful, imaginative and entertaining writing style that will make you reading on and on even if you might have to skip a gruesome page. You will find intriguing characters, but you won't find a feel-good novel that you can just forget after you have read it.
I said it before, Desolate is a dark novel and I would recommend reading it, but you should make sure you know what the book is about before you give it away. as a present.
I only gave four stars because I didn't know what I had gotten myself into when I requested the book from Netgalley and the first scene just shocked me out of my mind but I was hooked instantly.

Let this be a warning, there are no graphic descriptions of all the gore, but it is not a light read. If you can, read this book because it is highly entertaining, deep and a totally new experience.

I really didn't know what to make of this book when I first received a download of it, particularly after reading a number of negative reviews regarding violent content. Well, I finished this book in one sitting and almost cried when I realised that the sequel hadn't yet been released.

It was actually brilliant.

It's gory as hell but what do you expect when you a) purchase a horror novel, b) purchase anything with vampires and c) purchase a book that clearly displays warning that it contains graphic content? Stop moaning, people. Yes it was dark and yes it was grizzly but I loved it. It was certainly a wonderful change from the growing number of books that shy away from any controversial content at the risk of losing readers. Since books such as Twilight and shows like The Vampire Diaries have become mainstream, I think that people have forgotten that creatures like vampires and werewolves originally stemmed from the horror genre and until very recently, were not something to be romanticised.

This book was certainly no Twilight. Virtually all of the characters are barbaric, sadistic and depraved and whilst that might not be for everyone, I thought it was an excellent change from the tweeny-pop representation of horror that has come to dominate this genre. This book was fast-paced, engaging, horrific to read in some places, and was ultimately a very basic but amazingly gripping story. I haven't yet read anything else by Amy Miles but having read Desolate, I will certainly be purchasing more of her work in the future.

If you like books about the proper kind of vampires, women's empowerment, and anything on the more shocking side of fiction, then definitely give Desolate a try.

5 Stars *****