Black Beast by Nenia CampbellGenre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Shadow Thane #1
Publication Date: April 2nd 2014
ISBN: 9781310692048
Page Count: 284
Rating: ★★★
Review Copy: ARC
Reviewed by: Lynsey
Synopsis: She walks the line between the hunter and the hunted.
Vampires want her blood.
Witches consider her less-than-human.
Slayers simply want her dead.
As if being in high school wasn't hard enough, Catherine Pierce has to deal with a whole other set of problems that arise from being a shifter that hasn't settled. Because after puberty, shifters are supposed to stop changing--and Catherine, well, hasn't.
Even among her own kind, Catherine is regarded as a freak.
To make matters worse, she'd caught the attention of the witches' Council because they think she's been dabbling in dark magic because of a stupid old book that popped up at her work. And she's been having nightmares about a terrifying man who calls himself the Shadow Thane and plans to end the world in a burst of darkness and dragon fire.
Just in case that wasn't enough, a branch of Slayers are infiltrating Catherine's town, under the guise of a community youth group called Sterling Rep.
Times are changing and that means, for Catherine, it's time to Change.
This is about as dark and twisty as it gets, you guys. Nenia never pulls any punches when it comes to her characters and this lot are no exception. It's filled with unlikeable, antagonistic a-holes, and one that is just plain creepy-crazy. I'm not even sure I particularly like the main character, Catherine, but this may be deliberate. A test of my reader prowess, perhaps.
I liked the world-building introduced in Black Beast, enough to continue with the series, but I have to say that, as a novel in its own right, it was a little messy in places. Most especially the ending. It was very abrupt in a manner that felt more unfinished than cliffhangery. There were some really gripping moments and scenes, however, that make me keen to see more. I liked how the intense dislike between Shifters and Witches was made very clear, and that it wasn't just mere posturing and peacocking. They, like, really hate each other in a stabbity death way.
Catherine is a school girl going through a bit of a personal crisis. Her Shifter nature hasn't settled like it's supposed to - they're meant to change into various animals until puberty when they stick to one forever. Add to this her normal teenage woes - annoying younger brother, being partnered up at school with a childhood friend who disowned her - and it's got all the ingredients for your typical YA, of which it is unequivocally not. Your typical YA, that is. I wouldn't even class it as YA. Its themes are far too mature and... sinister.
3 Stars ★★★
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by:
No comments:
Post a Comment
We love to hear your comments!