Eternal Neverland: Steps Before The Fall

Read from October 21 to 22, 2014

Book Info Kindle Edition, 368 pages Expected publication: October 28th 2014 ASIN B00MW8AVPM edition language English other editions None found Source:Netgalley EARC

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BOOK SYNOPSIS

"I’ve abandoned all my principles for you... Broken laws I held to so firm for centuries, did things I never thought myself capable of..." He kissed her as he whispered. "Was it worth it?" His tears wet her lips. "I don't remember."~David

Helena K. Sharpe was raised by a man who had sympathy for supernatural creatures, for the vampires his bloodline hunted for centuries. She was too young to understand how he tried to help them, but she knew it was important. Her father made her promise never to hunt them and she would do anything to keep that promise.

Until he is murdered by the very things he dedicated so much of his life to.

Orphaned and alone, Helena takes to the street, afraid for whatever's left of her life. Without her family, she doesn't know how--or even if--she can go on. Until a vagrant takes her under his wing and gives her a purpose. Revenge.

For six years she learns about the monsters, studies their habits, until, at 15 years old, she feels she's ready to find the ones responsible for her parent's death. All she has to do is become one of them. She's cute, young, innocent...

They'll never see her coming.

My Thoughts

My final verdict on Helena is that she started out a rather naive teenager whose only thought was enacting revenge for her parents killers not understanding that what she planned would have such an impact until it was too late.

As Helena learned from her mistakes she grew wiser, unfortunately though not wise enough to prevent the loss of several key players in the war which erupts between the vampire factions.

As a longtime fan of different incarnations of vampire characters I found this to be a mesh of known and unknown mythologies surrounding vampirism and magic, it was at times confusing but than would make perfect sense.

Not sure where author Natasha Rogue is going with this in the follow-up but am curious to see when the next book comes out in 2015 what happens next to Helena and the rest.

[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]
This review will appear on my blog Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories at http://jacaburintexas.blogspot.com on 12/5/2014 and has been posted on Amazon, B&N (if already released), posted first on both Goodreads and Shelfari.

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and if it has already released than Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Shelfari and then when have a space on my blog it will be posted and sometimes that is months after being read and posted elsewhere.

A unique story idea. I liked it. Good characters. Hoping for more.

Christy – ☆☆☆☆
I want to start off by saying that this book left me debating between 4 and 5 stars. In the end I went with 4 stars due mainly to small things. But this was a very engrossing read due to the wide twists and turns. Once I started there was no way I could put this book down. I had to know what happens with a huge cast of crews that grow on you pretty quickly. My biggest gripe is that is hard to distinguish a timeline in the book and at times you have to really think: “okay, wait who is that again?” I was left feeling the need to have book 2 in my hands already to know what happens next because with the ending there has to be a book 2.
Christy's GR Link - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1090407385 Christy's Amazon Link - http://www.amazon.com/review/RL6I434V903C2

Dawn – ☆☆☆☆☆
I Loved this book. It was a total page turner from start to finish, action packed all the way through.
I love a good vampire story and enjoyed this take on that genre.
With this book there is a cliffy at the end so totally be aware of that going in.

I’m not going to lie, the main character did annoy me a bit, however I had to keep reminding myself that she was young and had had a rough ride in life. I just hope that in future books she learns to grow up and listen to others more, maybe she will get in less trouble that way ;)

If you like a good vampire book, then this is the book for you.
Dawn's GR Link - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1093504517 Dawn's Amazon Link - http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2F5OJ2XFDYPCW

I'm stuck between loving and hating this book. Firstly there are a lot of characters to keep up with but that gives the book depth and a kind of feeling of reality because in real life there are more than just two people in someone's life. The characters (mostly male) were very diverse and there was someone for everyone to swoon over. There was a lot going on in this story and it made the book feel much longer than it actually was. That being said I did find that I couldn't put it down once I started.

The main character really really got on my nerves. At first I thought she was feisty and a fighter but then things changed and she began sleeping with every member of the gang.

In all it was an ok book