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The Dark Heroine #1

Dinner with a Vampire

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The sexiest romance you’ll read this year…

One moment can change your life forever...

For Violet Lee, a chance encounter on a darkened street draws her into a world beyond her wildest imaginings, a timeless place of vast elegance and immeasurable wealth – of beautiful mansions and lavish parties – where a decadent group of friends live for pleasure alone. A place from which there is no escape...no matter how hard Violet tries.

Yet all the riches in the world can’t mask the darkness that lies beneath the gilded surface, embodied in the charismatic but dangerous Kaspar Varn.

Violet and Kaspar surrender to a passion that transcends their separate worlds – but it’s a passion that comes at a price...

549 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

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About the author

Abigail Gibbs

10 books1,205 followers
Abigail Gibbs was born and raised in deepest, darkest Devon. She is currently studying for a BA in English at the University of Oxford and considers herself a professional student, as the real world is yet to catch up with her. Her greatest fear is blood and she is a great advocate of vegetarianism, which logically led to the writing of her first novel, Dinner With A Vampire. At age fifteen, she began posting serially online under the pseudonym Canse12, and after three years in the internet limelight, set her sights towards total world domination. She splits her time between her studies, stories and family, and uses coffee to survive all three.

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Profile Image for Louise.
375 reviews124 followers
October 14, 2012

0 Stars

Objectively the worst book I have read, not just since I started thinking critically about books or reviewing, but ever.



In short: this book simply too bad for me to hate it. It's so clearly not of publishable quality that I just feel kind of sorry for it for not being given the constructive criticism and redrafting it so desperately needed before being sent out into the world.

Terrible writing, terrible editing, and a terrible plot. 0 stars.

Thank you to Waterstones for sending me an Advance Review Copy.
36 reviews23 followers
November 7, 2012
Is a novel by a certain Abigail Gibbs, who is 18 years old, an Oxford student, and was in 2012 awarded a six-book deal for this novel, which is subtitled "Dinner with a Vampire," and its sequelae. This was because she was first discovered on Wattpad, which is kinda like Fanfiction.net but for original fiction and has some fribbling social networking thing about it as well. On this site, she racked up thousands and thousands of viewers for the tale... then HarperCollins signed her up before the volume was finished and so all her followers had to go and buy it to see how it ended.

This little tale doesn't exactly inspire confidence that it's any good, now, does it?

Well, I therefore considered it a prime candidate for snarking at. And I'm glad I did. Because this novel bites. (Drum fill.)

Executive Summary

More reasons why fanfic-addled teenagers should not be allowed to write novels.

A bit more detail, if you wouldn't mind, hm?

Our heroine here is one Violet Lee, who is posh, seventeen, and the daughter of the Minister for Defence. She's out in London in Trafalgar Square late one night and she espies a sextet of vampires polishing off some other guys, nomming down on their blood, and dumping their body. But before she can raise the alarm, she's snatched off the street, chloroformed, and taken to the vampires super secret base, where she meets a bunch of other vampires. Naturally, they're all gorgeous fellas with their shirts hanging open and/or preternaturally gorgeous and perfect women.

Is it just me, or should this novel's title be changed to "Planet of the Mary Sues," n'est-ce pas?

Anyhow. Once she's been explained the situation and how the vampires are all perfectly normal and harmless and approximately as dangerous as a soufflé (they do eat people, yes, but only out of necessity, and they're predators, not murderers), she finds herself inducted into their underground society, in which they plot, plan, have extravagant masqued balls (to which she is invited), and generally being lusted after by bishie male vampires. Then, shock horror! One of the vampires tries to rape her, partially succeeds, and she has to be turned, well, half-turned, into a dhampir at least. Oh no! This is drastic! Now you probably reckon we're gonna get some brilliant personal horror and densely written, introspective character studying into he who fights with monsters, and so forth, now, don't you. Well... nope. Because that would be original and good, and this is neither. In case you haven't already noticed, it's The Vampire Lestat meets Mills & Boon on a bed of Twilight, and there seems to be bits lifted from classic World of Darkness as well, what with the vampires having kingdoms and princedoms and all plotting against each other, except without the fact that the vampires in cWOD are genuinely creepy and dangerous and can do unpleasant things to you for shiggles, and that one day the stars will align and their colossally powerful predecessors will come forth from beneath the earth and suchlike.

What actually happens is she falls in love with one of them, specifically, Kaspar, who is the other viewpoint character. He manages to be even creepier than Edward Cullen. He was one of the folks who kidnapped her, and held her hostage in a super secret vampire base God knows where, and threatened to slay her entire family if she tried to escape, and this is because, he claims, he loves her?!

I've thought of another new title for this book now: "Stockholm Syndrome: The Novel."

Anyhow. On to the writing. It sucks. In an attempt to cockwave about how erudite and sophisticate Ms Gibbs is, she opens it with a quote from William Blake. Unfortunately, and like many, nay, almost all, teenage writers, she cannot write a believable character. In fact, I am the venerable age of 27 and I am only just starting to be able to generate characters that are believable. This is because to make your characters act like people can believe they ought, you have to have life experiences. You have to get to know the reasons for which people act as they do. At 18, your experience of human interaction will be of necessity limited. I know mine was. My frame of reference when I was 18 was me, my mates Alexander, Craig, Spunky B (whose real name was Ben) and Lumpy Dave (whose real name was Adam - don't ask) who all played endless rounds of Magic the Gathering at lunchtimes, slaughtered each other at Unreal Tournament and Command & Conquer after school, and lied about how much crumpet we were slingin' our peckersnot up at the weekends. Hence, when I tried to write as a teenager, all my characters were, well, STANDARD NERDS! Even when at university, I still had limited frames of reference and experience on which to base believable characters because then it was STANDARD NERDS and university students. So my characters swung from caricature to caricature. So, the vampires of The Dark Heroine act like catty, spoilt teenagers towards each other and Violet. In fact, it might as well be set in a girls school in the south of England, such do they all come over as.

And this is the first of many problems with The Dark Heroine. Abigail Gibbs wrote most of this as a teenaged Twilight fangirl and, especially on a site like Wattpad, her entire audience was probably Twihards as well. She therefore had nobody to tell her, lassie, take note, people do not act like this. For instance, why would you say that Violet, our protagonist, is "feisty" yet have her do absolutely nothing but bellyache about how she's a hostage (albeit a hostage of scrummy vampire men). The plot is also bereft of sense. Why would an immortal, ageless, undead being have any meeting of minds or fancy for a teenager who he doesn't know, especially when there's thousands of tasty vampire women for him to bone, all of whom probably bang like a shit house door when the plague's in town. And why would he not immediately turn loose someone whose family was important as hers was, especially considering that the whole vampire secrecy thing is enforced by secret treaties with human governments, and pay her off to forget about it? Sense is not made by this, and let's be honest. Who's gonna believe a spoilt Robert Pattinson-addled teenager who claims that there's a secret cabal of vampires in London and they're out to have a big fuck-off war with each other? They're just gonna tell her that her Vampire: The Masquerade LARPing group isn't real and ignore her.

Then there's the whole excusing-an-abusive-manchild-and-kidnapper because he's hawt, which I've foamed about in previous writeups.

Then there's the fact that in just 334 pages, there's 61 chapters. The chapters are therefore short and stumpy. Yet while this can be used to make your novel all fast paced, it's really not a good idea when your protagonist spends her days moping about being captured and things go on around her. It breaks up the narrative flow, especially as the chapters keep changing just as you're getting into something. If ever the book has ADHD. No doubt this is caused by the fact that the novel originated on social networking, and we all know what that does to one's attention span.

Then there's the fact that the writing style is bland as a very bland thing. I don't think there are any actual sex scenes (I kinda skimmed the last half of the novel because it was completely failing to engage any interest) but if there are, I bet you anything they're of the "insert tab A into slot B" variety.

Finally, I should mention that in the acknowledgements she refers to her 16 million readers on Wattpad as "kaspary." Pass the sickbags.

So that's about it really. If you were thinking that surely 16 million internet users can't be wrong, well... yes, yes they can, and here is the evidence. It's a lazily written sub-Twilight knockoff, flatly written, with no originality, and no believability. That the author netted a six-book deal with it boggles the mind, because I'd rather have teeth pulled than read this again.

And just in case Abigail Gibbs is reading this (which I suspect she will eventually, as I'm gonna cross-post all my reviews of books on here onto Amazon), then yes, I could do better, and one day, should I feel the need to, I will. However I'm still stuck at 39,000 words in "Hazelnut's Completely Indomitable Law Procedural" right now, so expect "Hazelnut's Utterly Bodacious Vampire Novel" much later.

In the meantime, I'm off to read some Sheridan Le Fanu.

(originally written for Everything2.com.)
Profile Image for Fatima.
706 reviews341 followers
November 13, 2012
Soooo , up until the end I was all like ,

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Omg !!! Yaaaaay ! Finally .....

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And just before that crucial moment , like THE FUCKING MOMENT that I've been waiting for .. the book goes :

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And I'm like :

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Damn it !!! I cant wait to read the next book in this series ! Sooo fuckin good !!!

Full review to follow .
Profile Image for NiCoLeTa E. {Addicted To Books}.
1,415 reviews85 followers
October 4, 2015
I have read this book twice and i don't know why i haven't reviewed it yet!!!
I saw that many people hated it and many others loved it!!! I agree with the second half!!! I don't know why but i loved that book...
I loved the story, i loved the characters, but beyond all that, i loved Caspar Varn!!!
With this name is it possible to not love him???

This book had it all inside... Love, fear, political games, a prophecy... Everything inside it kept me on edge...and i really enjoyed that journey!!!


I love the stories with vampires and i have loved "twilight", and i think that i loved this one also for another reasons...
Here the heroes were different...
The vampires were bloodythirsty, ruthless, arrogant and Kaspar Varn was the worst from them all... He was a predator but he had a dark charm that you couldn't resist...
And believe me when i'm saying that Violet tried really hard to resist him but it was impossible...


As for the story??? Everything started with Violet's kidnapping because she witnessed a brutal mass murder... Very soon she realised that the persons that they took her away was royal and vampires...

The things got more complex when the vampires realised that Violet's father was in a high position in the goverment...

After a lot of troubles, secrets and actions, Violet and Kaspar are coming really closer, but the prophecy got in the way...
Caspar is meant to be bound with one of the girls of the Prophecy...
What is this prophecy and what means for the couple??? I really can't tell you that!!!


The only thing that i can tell is that i really love this book and i can not wait to found out more about the other girls of the Prophecy!!!
I only have a small request...
Please, please... Promise me that Kaspar will make some appearances to the next books!!!

Yeah, i know that he was a dark, cocky, brutal and ruthless bastard but i adore him!!! I'm a major majochist, what can i say????
Profile Image for Beatriz.
885 reviews805 followers
December 5, 2017
No puedo valorar este libro sin abstraerme del contexto de su creación. La primera edición se publicó cuando Abigail Gibbs, su autora, contaba con tan solo 18 años y comenzó gestarse incluso tres años antes, en la plataforma wattpad. Realmente no deja de asombrarme el talento de alguien tan joven, al crear un libro de este calibre, que te mantiene pendiente de sus páginas, a la espera de lo que sucederá en el próximo capítulo.

Que nunca amanezca es una historia de vampiros en que, por supuesto, hay una historia de amor en que se ve involucrada una joven humana. Hasta ahí, cualquiera podría pensar que es una más entre tantas. Pero nada más lejos. Abigail desarrolla un universo muy original para su novela, en que incluye varias dimensiones, profecías e, incluso, algunos componentes políticos, ya que su planteamiento es que los representantes de los gobiernos conocen la existencia de los vampiros y allí se mantiene un precario equilibrio entre juegos de poder.

Por otra parte, la caracterización de sus vampiros es de lo más tradicional respecto de su naturaleza oscura; si bien son seres con un alto concepto del honor, no reniegan de su naturaleza depredadora (la mayoría son vampiros de nacimiento y no porque fueran convertidos). Las descripciones del entorno vampírico están muy bien logradas.

La historia de Kaspar y Violet se cuece a fuego muy lento y, a pesar de lo extenso del libro, no sobran páginas ya que todo lo que ocurre nos conduce y prepara para el desenlace. También me llamó la atención que no hay medias tintas al abordar la relación y los encuentros íntimos de la pareja.

Si bien el libro tiene algunos fallos, principalmente relacionados con la caracterización de algunos personajes o en la continuidad que da a algunas líneas argumentales que abre y no cierra adecuadamente, tampoco es algo que moleste tanto y lo más seguro es que la autora pula su estilo en futuras obras, de las cuales estaré muy pendiente.
Profile Image for Nicki.
400 reviews9 followers
February 24, 2014
This book is dreadful. It was written by a 15-year-old girl and it shows. Everybody in it behaves like a stroppy teenager, even the centuries old vampires, who should know better. It's all breathless teenage romance, darting from "God, I hate him!" to "God, I love him" and back again throughout the entire book.

The heroine, Violet, is bland and boring, and a complete Mary Sue to boot. Kaspar, the vampire prince love interest, is thoroughly unpleasant. He's arrogant without being charismatic. He's apparently gorgeous, but entirely unattractive. He also oscillates between "God, I hate her!" and "God, I love her!".

None of the characters in this book ever develop. They start off two-dimensional and remain that way. The readers are simply expected to accept plot points and vague explanations about why these two are destined to be together. Violet's abrupt change of heart about vampires is waved away as Stockholm Syndrome. She fails to take her chance to escape captivity because she doesn't want to see her ex-boyfriend. It's all pretty laughable really.

The writing is atrocious, overblown and painfully laboured. There are spelling and grammar mistakes throughout. The editors and publishers should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves for this.

The chapters are mainly told from Violet's perspective, but sometimes jump to Kaspar's point of view. This doesn't work at all. Neither do Violet's dreams, when the reader is suddenly thrown to a different narrator, with no warning.

Throughout the novel, Kaspar calls Violet "Girly", which the author seems to want us to take as a term of endearment, but is actually irritatingly patronising.

Which brings me to something else that really bothered me. Many of the characters repeatedly refer to Violet as a bitch, a slut or a whore. These are words that are only ever used for a female character. Kaspar, who is undoubtedly much more promiscuous than Violet, isn't referred to like this. I found it quite disturbing that a young female writer felt the need to resort to using sexist slurs like this so often.

There are so many things wrong with this book, I'm amazed that it got published. Apparently, it was a internet hit, so it smacks greatly of a publisher trying to cash in after the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon. I, for one, certainly won't be picking up the sequel.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Naoms.
706 reviews166 followers
February 15, 2014
Originally Posted on: Confessions of an Opinionated Book Geek"

I have to be completely honest. I didn’t finish this book and I honestly don’t believe I can. I just can’t. I have finished some not so great books in my life. I finished “Fifty Shades Freed,” “Beautiful Bastard” and “Eve,” just to see how they would end, but I just cannot continue. More than not being my style of book, it is just horrible.

The first thing I noticed about this book is that the writing isn’t very good. Ok, I will admit that most YA paranormal books are not Pulitzer winning, but this was immediately difficult for me to stomach. The dialogue is stilted, dry and just plain cheesy. The author tries to make Kasper into this dangerously powerful guy, but he just talks too much. Before I was fifty pages in, he’d alluded to his royal status, made false cliché vamp threats and used an abusive amount of force against Violet many, many times. Due to his nonstop bragging, I could not take him seriously. Powerful men don’t have to yell “I AM POWERFUL.” A good writer should be able to show us power without the characters telling us.

I read books like this and realize they are the reason why I am forced to abide stares and mockery when I admit to reading PNR, fantasy and YA. This book is receiving a lot of hype. The author is a teenager who was given a substantial book deal. The news will get out about this book. Just like with “Twilight,” people not familiar with the genre will pick this book up and assume this is what all the books are like. And once again the genre will get a bad rap.

Violet, similar to Kasper, talks too much. She is arrogant, sarcastic and cannot shut up to save her life. The opening sequence consists of a bloody battle, a revelation of a new species and a kidnapping. Through it all Violet snaps at these violent beings, complains, throws out accusations and declares that she cannot run any longer, because she is dying. Yup, on many obituaries you read that a person died due to running too long. I am sure that the author made Violet outspoken to show that she is strong, etc, but I found her to be annoying and unrealistic. A realistic teenage girl would be in shock at all the carnage, she would be terrified, she would be stunned and then traumatized. A normal teenage girl would then find the will to survive and find a way to get out of there alive or at the very least try her best not to be noticed or gain the wrath of her kidnappers. Violet just runs around calling people mad men, ignoring rules and all around missing the incredibly dangerous situation she finds herself in.

Besides the not so great writing, I just cannot abide this romance. I can’t. There is a scene where Violet is coming through from being unconscious. We see this from Kasper’s point of view, so we know that he knows she is regaining consciousness and he slaps her really hard! This is not a healthy love story. Violet obviously is suffering from Stockholm syndrome and I think that this abusive male love interest is getting really, really old. Especially in YA! Come on Young Adult authors, write teenage girls love interests that are worthy of them, that are respectful and kind! This guy Kaspar is one of the worst love interests I have ever read. Just a horrible person.

I feel bad. I know this is a young writer and it’s great that the next generation is writing, etc, but honestly, why did the publishers not make her revise, revise and revise! Why does it feel like a first draft? Why wasn’t it fine-tuned and adjusted? I just can’t believe how awful this was.
Profile Image for Ayra.
14 reviews
December 7, 2013
The sequel, Autumn Rose, has a publication date of January 28, 2014!!

I was one of the lucky ones to have read this on Wattpad up to chapter 61 before chapters were taken down. It was formely known as "Dinner With a Vampire. Did I Mention I'm Vegetarian?"
However, the author who is known as Canse12 on Wattpad never posted the ending. So now I'm on the edge of my seat anticipating the release of this book so very very badly.

EDIT

I'm finally reading this after waiting for what felt like a very long time. I find the edited version more concise, though because I've read the Wattpad version I know all this extra info on the plot of the story. Reading the story on Wattpad has me knowing the plot of most of the story and yet the story is still captivating and interesting.
I was hooked from the first page and the ending was a high and dramatic one.
Profile Image for Marina.
304 reviews462 followers
April 28, 2013
BEAUTIFUL. BEAUTIFUL. BEAUTIFUL.

Read in 2 days, completely sucked in (pun intended).
Why is it so hard to write about books you loved? I feel at such a loss for words and that familiar warmth when you have trully enjoyed a read.

The originality of this story blew my mind in bits and fireworks. When you hear the words "vampires" and "romance", you think you have everything figured out. But in all earnest, there is absolutely nothing predictable.

How is this for a first meeting?

‘Kaspar, are we going to clean this one up or just leave it?’ said the one who stood nearest the fountain,
even his fiery red hair dull compared to the water he swirled his fingers through.
‘We’ll leave it as a little message for any other hunters who think they can cross us,’ he replied.
‘Scum,’ he added, spitting on the nearest limp body.
His voice had lost its cool and had been replaced with a deep, satisfied sneer, and anger began to
override the fear as I watched him carelessly kick the arm of another dying man out of his way, causing
him to let out one last meagre moan.
‘Jerk,’ I breathed.
He froze.
So did I. I held my breath, stomach knotted. He can’t possibly have heard me from across the square.
That’s just not possible. But slowly, almost leisurely, he turned so that he faced me.




You think Violet is smitten by Kaspar, swoons, melts, drops her panties the moment he sets eyes on her?NO Perhaps the moment he corners her?NO Maybe when he first bites her?WRONG AGAIN



No no no. don't pull the charmer on me, buddy.

God, I can honestly say the following:

Violet is one of the most level-headed, perfectly written, mature and complete heroines I have ever read about. Not to mention the insurmountable wittiness, sense of humour, stubborness and courage.


“Kidnapped by a vampire, death by a squid. How tragic.”



Kaspar is the perfect example of the bad vampire lost in his inhumanity, resigned later on to a fate that has other plans for him, but is ultimately found in his darkness by the person he chose to treat with indifference and contempt. Little did he know.:)


“He sighed, his hands tangling themselves in my already-knotted hair. “Violet, don’t ever leave me. Whatever happens; however things get, just don’t go. Please.”



And finally the action. No. THE ACTION. That was really something to behold. You freakin never get bored! The mix of political games, deception, evil plots, fate and romance, all destined to make your head spin till you turn page after page, gulping down the amazingness of this story.*sigh*:D


Profile Image for Mizuki.
3,103 reviews1,285 followers
August 12, 2019
What should you do if you wanted to read good vampire romance (okay, gay or lesbian ones, please) these days?

I found I only have two options:

(1) Search through a sea of vampire fanfics and find the few good ones.

(2) Write the stories yourself.

*sighs* Ah, woe is me.

Note: I read the Chinese translation of this novel.

Sadly, this vampire romance novel doesn't live up to any of my expectation---and my expectation has never been high when it comes to the mainstream heterosexual vampire romances. I'm not saying you also won't like this book just because I don't like it, but the heroine doesn't do any meaningful thing in a whole freaking 400+ pages book, and I don't even want to befriend any of those vampires not to mention forming a romantic relationship with any of them. I mean, even a few vampires who were nice at first turn out to be jackasses later), it's really disappointing.

Plus, a male vampire sleeping around with tons of females is accepted and allowed with no question asked, but when a human girl slept with one single male vampire? Then she is slut-shamed by the whole community! How great!

In this novel, vampires can live for 1000+ years and more but I swear I can't see one single homosexual or bisexual vampire in this crowd...

Last but not least, the male love interest is rude to almost everyone, especially to the heroine......I get that vampires are supposed to be ruthless, warlike, blood-crazed and rough around the edges.....but sometimes there is no excuse for this level of rudeness and arrogance.

Since I don't have time to write vampire fanfics for my own pleasure, I'll just go back to read the Immortals After Dark series instead.
Profile Image for Erin.
3,214 reviews478 followers
August 3, 2017
3.5 sexy and fun stars!

I hauled this out of the bargain bin at a boxing day sale, so really it didn't owe me a lot. However, I was promised the sexiest read of the year and well it did gain some points there.

The story..

Violet Lee is just an ordinary 17 year old British girl hanging out in Trafalgar square until she witnesses six vampires annihilate 30 men. She is kidnapped and brought to the royal house. Violet is pretty pissed that she is now with a bunch of murderers and does what she can to drive the royal family crazy especially heir to the throne, Kaspar. Kaspar is a an absolute asshole and treats Violet like crap and of course this means that the two are totally going to hook up. Of course, Violet also has to deal with her father, secretary of defense minister being a little more involved in the vampire world than she thinks AND that she just might be the key to an ancient prophecy.

My thoughts...

I see all the one stars and I totally get where everyone is coming from, except that I do find the writing is good(not great, but good) and the plot had a lot of potential. There are some great secondary characters in this- Fabian, Layla, Cain, the King etc. Sure, I would like to sit young Violet down and explain why Kaspar is not the fellow on which a gal should build her future on,BUT despite that I couldn't stop reading and I freaking loved it. Cotton candy for my brain!
Profile Image for Eleni Ouzouni (Life is Art).
280 reviews146 followers
August 5, 2015
H ιστορία μας ακολουθάει την Violet όπου γίνεται μάρτυρας μιας αιμοδιψής δολοφονίας στο κέντρο του Λονδίνου από μια συμμορία βαμπίρ. Έχοντας δει με κάθε λεπτομέρεια την ανατριχιαστική σκηνή απάγεται από τον αρχηγό της συμμορίας Kaspar Varn. Για μήνες θα ζει κλεισμένη μέσα σε ένα σπίτι γεμάτο βρικόλακες στην αρχή το μίσος και η απόγνωση θα την κατακλύσουν αλλά με το καιρό θα αρχίσει να γίνεται μέρος αυτής της κοινότητας...

Αρχικά η πρωταγωνίστρια μας Violet δεν ��α χαρακτηριζότανε ένας πολύ δυναμικός χαρακτήρας ειδικά για τον κεντρικό ρόλο. Αν και αρχικά οι ενέργειες της ήταν δικαιολογημένες από κάποια στιγμή και μετά οι κινήσεις της είναι απλά παιδαριώδης και αψυχολόγητες. Ήταν άκρως εκνευριστική και δύσκολα μπορούσες να ταυτιστείς μαζί της.

Από την άλλη ο Kaspar στο βιβλίο παίρνει ουσιαστικά τον ρόλο του αντιήρωα. Αλαζονικός, δυναμικός, ανελέητος, κτητικός, άκρως ψυχρός και αιμοδιψής παίρνει πάντα αυτό που θέλει. Είναι ακριβώς ένα πραγματικό βαμπίρ!

Τώρα από θέμα πλοκής υπάρχουν πολλά θετικά και πολλά αρνητικά κομμάτια. Η αλήθεια είναι πως μου πήρε αρκετό καιρό να μπω μέσα στην ιστορία του βιβλίου και με 549 σελίδων κάνει σίγουρα μεγάλες κοιλιές. Μου άρεσε η ιστορία γύρω από την προφητεία, το πεπρωμένο και τις σκοτεινές ηρωίδες. Νομίζω θα έχει ενδιαφέρον να δούμε τι θα γίνει στην συνέχεια γύρω από αυτήν την κεντρική ιδέα. Μου άρεσε επίσης πολύ τα πολιτικά τμήματα του βιβλίου. Η πολιτική των βρικολάκων, οι σχέσεις τους με τους ανθρώπους. Από την άλλη όμως η ιστορία δυστυχώς κουράζει αρκετά μέσα από τις σελίδες. Το ερωτικό τρίγωνο που δημιουργείτε ανάμεσα στον Kaspar, την Violet και τον Fabian είναι απλά εκνευριστικό και χωρίς λόγο ύπαρξης απλά για να γεμίσουν μερικές ακόμα σελίδες. Και τέλος η ιστορία θεωρείτε ένα ερωτικό μυθιστόρημα ενηλίκων αλλά όταν η ηρωίδα σου είναι στα 17 για 18 δύσκολα μπορεί να σταθεί αυτό. Σε σχέση με άλλα μυθιστορήματα παρόμοιου περιεχομένου που κατατάσσονται όμως στην εφηβική λογοτεχνία το The Dark Heroine είναι σίγουρα πολύ πιο ρεαλιστικό, ωμό και βίαιο.

Όσο αναφορά την γραφή τώρα, η Abigail Gibbs ξεκίνησε την συγγραφή του μόλις δεκαπέντε χρονών και αναπόφευκτα αυτό φαίνεται ξεκάθαρα μέσα στο βιβλίο. Το The Dark Heroine είναι μια ακόμα ιστορία του Wattpad που εκδόθηκε και σίγουρα ο εκδοτικός που το έκανε θα μπορούσε να κάνει καλύτερη δουλειά, να κόψει και να συμμαζέψει καλύτερα μερικά κομμάτια. Το σίγουρο πάντως είναι πως η συγγραφέας έχει μεγάλη αίσθηση στο χιούμορ και ξέρει πολύ καλά να αποδίδει τον νεανικό αέρα των χαρακτήρων ως έφηβη και η ίδια.

To τέλος με σύγχυσε λίγο με την εισαγωγή τόσο πολλών νέων χαρακτήρων και κόσμων αλλά μου άρεσε το πως εισήγαγε η συγγραφέας την όλοι ιστορία με το μυστικό της προφητείας και έδωσε το ενδιαφέρον για την συνέχεια της ιστορίας των υπόλοιπων σκοτεινών αδελφών.

Το βιβλίο σίγουρα διαβάζεται ευχάριστα και πιστεύω ΑΝ είχε γίνει μια καλύτερη επιμέλεια πάνω στο μεγάλο σε όγκο συγγραφικό κείμενο της Abigail Gibbs θα είχαμε δει σίγουρα πολύ καλύτερα πράγματα.
Profile Image for Paige (Illegal in 3 Countries).
1,269 reviews424 followers
June 28, 2016
The love interest attempts to rape the heroine after she steals his condoms as a prank. There is absolutely nothing more to it than that. He attempts to rape her over a prank, she forgives him, and they have a happily ever after. Of course, it's bad when other people try to rape her. He's Special and is allowed to try to rape her.

Yes, this is the most vile novel I have ever read. There are many that are also incredibly horrible, but this one will always win. Always.

Fuck this novel. May it burn in the deepest pits of hell.
Profile Image for Cassandra.
235 reviews45 followers
August 24, 2013
The sexiest romance you'll read this year...
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I really should have listened to the bad reviews I read,but when the price dropped to just 2 dollars I just couldn't stop myself...Oh how I wish I had.
The book starts out with Violet Lee in Trafalgar Square where she witnesses a mass murder of about 30 people and the murderers see Violet and decide to kidnap her.She's taken to their home and finds out that they're vampires.Kasper(the not so friendly vampire)is the prince of the vampires.He continually taunts,abuses,and threatens to rape Violet throughout the book but..."close up,I could not help but notice how staggeringly handsome he was."
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Yeah,yeah she puts up a fight and resists him for half the book then all a sudden she just gives in to his awesome charm?and all is forgiven?Damn,she even forgives him after his father tries killing her for something SHE DID NOT DO!But Kasper totally abandons her to her fate.And yet again she forgives him!
I had no connection to any of the characters,all of them sucked,haha.The romance,wait is that what they're calling romance these days?Wasn't feeling it bruh,one minute they hate each other,the next they're making out like wild animals.
Fabian the other "supposed" love interest turns on Violet when she confesses she has no feelings for him and she reveals her feelings for Casper.For the first half of the book he's the sweetest nicest vampire the next he's evil douchey vamp calling her bitch same goes for Lyla Kaspers sister she's super nice and friendly to Violet then all of a sudden she's calling her slut and whore...it was just all kind of awkward.
The book was just hmmm...twitchy I guess I got really confused.
When Violet finally figures out that she's one of the prophesied heroines,which I still don't really know what that really entails,she decides to fulfill the prophecy and betray her family!For what purpose?
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Damn,this was just bad.If you're curious my advise is to skip this one,soooo not worth it.
Stupidest line in this book...
"No I can't deny it.If I do,that would mean a human had done that to another human.Vampires are monsters.Monsters do horrible things.Humans don't."
7 reviews
September 26, 2012
I really wanted to like this book. There was a lot of hype surrounding the author, who is just eighteen and landed a six figure publishing deal. It is definitely a different take on vampire lore, but it wasn't enough to keep me interested. When I was 75% done with the book I actually thought about putting it away, but I figured I had come this far...

What bothered me the most about this book was her writing style and lack of character development. It didn't flow at all; each time I picked up the book it took me a long time to get into it. Her characters were weak and a lot of them just felt superfluous. I think she has promise as an author in a few years, but this book isn't a winner.
Profile Image for Nikoleta.
698 reviews316 followers
March 21, 2016
Διασκέδασα με την αναγνωση του, παροτι μερικες φορες επαιρνε σαδιστικες, περιεργες διαστασεις που τελικα απενεχοποιουνταν απο την ηρωιδα (και οι δύο ήρωες είναι απίστευτα ανώριμοι, αν και το κατανοώ αυτό απο τη στιγμή που η συγγραφέας του βιβλίου είναι και η ίδια ανήλικη) , παρ'αυτα ειχε κ αυτο τη χαρη του. Δεν ειναι ενα ακομα "Λυκοφως" το "Dinner With a Vampire", διότι ένας απο τους σκοπούς της συγγραφέως είναι να σοκαρει τους έφηβους φαν των γλυκαναλατων βαμπιρ, με μια σκληρη μερικες φορες (για ρομαντικο εφηβικο φαντασυ) αλλα σαγηνευτικη σεξουαλικοτητα! Στεκομαι στην σκληροτητα διοτι ο Πατακης το εχει στα εφηβικα, κ στα βιβλιοπωλεια που το ζητησα με εστειλαν στα παιδικα!! Ε οχι! 3.5/5 αστεράκια
Profile Image for Jess.
156 reviews37 followers
August 11, 2016
So I'm writing this review as I just finished the book ; it's 3am and I can't sleep so I apologise in advance if I don't make any sense.
Erm how can I say this? You see how Twilight is internationally known as being the lowest form of literature there can be right now, along with 50 shades? This book was worse than Twilight. Yes, you read right.
Twilight actually had LIKEABLE characters. Alice was quite enticing, was she not? This book contained no Alices, no Edmees, no character to make this terrible reading journey more readable. They were basically all annoying jerks.
The big Love Interest, Kaspar, is a potential rapist and reaaaaaally scary. Everytime he touched the heroine, I wanted to recoil and her to call the police, kick him in the balls, anything. He kept forcing himself on her until she finally decided, god knows why, that the attraction was mutual and that she accepted his coming onto her. But honestly, this made me extremely uncomfortable as he did not exactly wait for her permission to bite her, touch her in inappropriate way, threatens to RAPE HER and yet he is supposed to be the swoon-worthy love interest.. Wtf?
The other love interest, well, just another vampire that expressed interest towards the MC, Violet (because her eyes are purple, geddit? HAHA OH THE FUN YOU'LL HAVE READING THIS.), at first he was nice and kind and I thought : "why does she have to end up with Kaspar instead of with Fabian? He's perfect". Well, everything changed when she refused his love, he transformed into an abusive asshole. I also loved how the next day after Violet gets almost raped, he asks her to be with him. WHAT PERFECT TIMING. And note that Kaspar also starts touching her something like 2 days after and it's noooooooooooo problem at all.
The main character, Violet, is a textbook Mary-Sue. She's beautiful and she has VIOLET EYES. HOW SPESHUL. And of course, in the first chapters, Kaspar teases her about her eye colour and she complains in her head with something among the lines of "No, not the mockery like at school". Ooooooooof course. If a pretty girl has violet eyes, she's going to get bullied because of them. I can see that happening LOL She has all the drama, she is a CHOSEN ONE and everyone falls in love with her : Kaspar, Fabian, the asshole who tried to rape her... And can I add that I'm sick and tired of the "rape trope" to make your heroines more desirable and arrange some nice comfort scenes with the love interest, YA-authors? Rape. is not. an acceptable trope. It leaves people broken and it certainly wasn't portrayed in this story (yes I am aware that the rape did not actually happen, but what happened to her was still extremely traumatizing.). She supposedly doesn't have any flaw besides being endearingly stubborn and Kaspar calls her many times "feisty" fondly. Can I just express my deep hatred for that condescending word? It's as if he said "I love how you try to fight me, a real turn-on but now let's go to my flat, m'kay luv?". NOT. A. COMPLIMENT. And her reactions were completely inappropriate, at moments : she sees Kaspar murder 30 people so she mutters "jerk". REALLY? THAT'S IT, VIOLET?
Also all the other female characters were either ugly (Autumn), mean (Lyla, who went from nice doctoring girl to rageing bitch without no one knowing why and no apologies?!), old (the vampire ladies) or dead. Seriously.
The book itself was unnecessary long, the plot stupid and the sex scene god-awful. I spent a nice time snorting to myself. In spite of this being published, I noticed a few grammar mistakes that annoyed me.
Honestly this book does NOT deserve its publication. I would read it as passable fanfiction at best and I can't believe the publisher's nerve to make this rubbish into a trilogy.
Profile Image for Barbara Elsborg.
Author 88 books1,652 followers
December 1, 2012
I bought this book for a number of reasons - liked the cover (call me shallow), liked the blurb, liked the little round sticker thing telling me it was a sexy romance. Sadly, that was more or less all I liked about it. It was YA. WHY didn't it say that on the book? I wouldn't have bought it. I don't want to read a romance involving a 17 year old. I've seen comments that say this is something that will appeal to older readers but it didn't appeal to me.
The plot had so many holes it was laughable at times.
The spelling and grammar mistakes made me cringe. Where was the editing? The author is attending a top British university and the mistakes are bad ones. Draw and drawer muddled. Missing apostrophes etc
The dialogue tags are ones all professional writers are told to avoid.
The repeats of words like smirked - are annoying.
The characters are even more annoying.
Why would she want Kaspar? He's horrible.
Why would he want her? She's insufferable.
She had the voice of an arrogant teenager floucing all over the place. He didn't sound like a century old vampire.
I could go on and on, I won't.
I did think some of the descriptions were well done. The ball, the dancing, the way she was passed from vamp to vamp was well written and chilling.
I know the author was very young when she started this and I commend her for actually writing a novel but she has to be judged on adult terms when a big publisher puts her on the shelves. I'll be writing to complain to them that they mislead with not stating this book is YA - or at least telling the potential reader the heroine is 17 in the blurb.
So I don't feel I'm the target audience and in that respect the review will seem harsh. I wish I'd found it compelling but I didn't.
Profile Image for kirstin ✿.
96 reviews81 followers
October 22, 2013
NOTE: My review is based on the original draft she has posted online on Wattpad.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

Abigail Gibbs is already a big thing in the world of Wattpad. When you say her name, Dinner With A Vampire is always associated. I discovered her story a long time ago. And I'm one of the earliest readers of the novel. Glad I had stumbled upon it.

They say she is the next Meyer. I don't know whether to agree or not. Because if they were talking about her writing, Gibbs has proven better. I think what they wanted to imply is that Abbie will be the next big name on the vampire genre.

I have only read the drafts, for like, a hundred times. Thought she was gonna abandon her story. Then one day she's announced to be getting published. Hurrah! What a big surprise for us. And a gift too.

In her interview she said that The Dark Heroine was actually inspired by Twilight. Had she not told us that, it would have never occurred to my mind. Because really! There's nothing alike except for the fact that they revolve around vampires and that the female lead is a human.

Gibbs did her research upon writing it. She didn't just throw everything on the plot without considering the elements and facts and information about vampires. And what I also love is that how Dinner isn't just about vampires. There's a bigger, completely different world of mythical creatures out there.

The Dark Heroine exhibited a much realistic approach to vampires. How they truly live. How they truly act. That they are notorious, sexy, -real sexy I mean- cruel, lustful, and so on.

Of course they are all wealthy, -except for the rogues- and sophisticated, and are pretty much royalty-like.

Unlike Twilight, Dinner With A Vampire has a backbone; plot, storyline. And not just any other, but a well-written, well-polished, greatly developed novel. She's woven it all intricately and produced a very 'kaspary' output. Her sentence construction, the grammar, descriptions, settings: they all worked their ways into our minds and produced a vivid imagination for the readers.

The twists, turns, cliffhangers. They're a maze of questions and mysteries that will leave you hanging on the edges of your seat.

I remember how much I awaited, anticipated her uploads. Especially when the current chapter ended with a cliffy. It's killing me! And when she didn't upload for a year I thought another great story would be left unattended.

As I'm saying, it has a plot. Another, it has characters. Characters with personalities: daring, strong, quirky, funny, slutty, creepy. I could go on, for the characters she created have their own distinct personalities. They're not repetitive, monotonous. The diversity of the characters was what made this novel interesting and realistic.

Violet Lee. She's not the typical girl we are so tired of reading about. I can proudly say the she is a true figure of a heroine. She knows how to stand up and fight. She knows what she's doing. And on top of those things, she knows when is the right time to cry. After all, she is still a human. Violet's capable of breaking down.

But what makes her very different from any other female lead is that she isn't the clumsy, damsel-in-distress type. Violet has her own ways to cope up with the situation. She is strong, gutsy, and somewhat reckless whenever she showed the daring side of her.

Another thing was that Violet valued humanity.

As for Kaspar, the yummy Kaspar, he and his whole community were the symbol of the very creature that kidnapped Violet. They kill human for blood. They lust. They're nightmares.

While you girls might have been drooling over him, I, on the other hand, was swooning over Fabian. He was my type, at least in the early parts of the book when he still wasn't being shitty with Violet.

Speaking of which, I must open up what I though of the romance in here: That the love-triangle wasn't forced. It wasn't instant, either. The romance took their time to develop. Even though lust was present, it still was realistic.

The world Gibbs constructed was fascinating, mesmerizing. The whole vampiric community really was a timeless vast of elegance and immortality. They were a sophisticated society, full of luxury and traditions so rich that Violet herself would have admired, and be gradually succumbed into.

I love how almost everything in the story was connected to each other. For instance,

I have so much to say about the book, but I am at a loss of the right words to say. And I have just read the 60-chapter draft of it on Wattpad. Although she reduced it to 20-chapters.

Abigail Gibbs is a very talented author. She has managed to create a mesmerizing world of fantasy, while blending every element perfectly. Given her age, 15 years old, the time she first came up with a terrific story, she has ideas no other teens her age would have formulated. Very talented is an understatement actually.

As a proud fan of Canse12, I'm very happy for her. From an online sensation, to being a published author. She has striven hard. And now her dream came true.

I'm encouraging you to take a shot on this one. It might be something you haven't seen yet. Who knows?
Profile Image for All Things Urban Fantasy.
1,921 reviews616 followers
October 16, 2012
I should have known better. THE DARK HEROINE began as Twilight fan fiction in the mind of then fifteen year old Abigail Gibbs. Three years later, hot on the heels of another Twilight-fan-fiction-turned-huge-best-seller, Harper Voyager is publishing this sloppy, poorly written, and often upsetting mess.
Violet witnesses a vampire attack, and the vampires decide to abduct the witness and keep her at their family estate until she dies or agrees to turn. The Cullens they are not. They intimidate, threaten, and assault Violet regularly. Kasper is basically a sexual predator with fangs. He tells Violet that he will have sex with her eventually whether she wants to or not. He has has loud, wall shaking sex every night in the room next to her. At one point he even breaks down her door and attacks her when she thwarts his “date” plans one night, pins her to the bed–in front of his ‘date’–and threatens to ‘use her instead’:

In a blur he launched himself across the room. He collided with my side to take me with him, and I was sent rolling across the bed, coming to a halt when my head hit the bedside cabinet. I let out a scream as he landed on top of me, pinning me to the bed. I winced through gritted teeth as the corner of the cabinet dug into my spine.
“Get off me, you horny git!” I screeched, kicking and flailing, revolted at his closeness.
“Why, am I making you uncomfortable? Maybe I will use you instead!” he snarled, a tormenting smirk twisting his face. His eyes were devoid of any emotion—he meant it. Straddling me with one leg either side of my stomach, he forced me deeper into the mattress, pinning my hands above my head. He began to pull my shirt up, and I heard squeals of protest from Charity, which merged with the protests of the mattress as I tried to fight free.


The breaking point for me comes when Violet is brutally attacked, and sexually assaulted by another vicious and psychotic vampire. He says and does truly abhorrent things to her including detailing his plan for necrophilia. A scant second before he rapes her, she is rescued by Kasper. Days later, they have their first sexual encounter when Kasper attacks her in her sleep:

He snarled, hastily clamping a hand down over my mouth. I attempted to bite at his fingers but found myself quickly subdued.
“Play nicely now,” he mocked, pressing himself closer. I caught sight of the deranged, lustful glint in his blood-red eyes. My eyes widened and I was hushed to silence, terrified.
“Come on, Girly, just a little drop of blood. I’m so hungry. You’ll enjoy it.”
I scowled and thrashed about as he lay draped across me, pressing his crotch hard into my stomach.


It just got worse from there and I gave up.
Profile Image for Vasya.
381 reviews25 followers
September 14, 2012
First, I would like to say that I've read this story on wattpad.com before it was published, so some of my references in this review might be a little bit confusing to some, but I will try to clear it up as much as I can.

Second, I've been a fan of Canse12 (aka the author) for a while and I never would have guessed that the story is inspired by Twilight. I mean, There is just no connection that my mind can grasp and establish between the two works other than it revolves around vampires, and that is even a greater blasphemy of this work in connection to the Twilight, because this one actually has backbone. The world the Varns live in, the dimensions, the blood and gore is incomparable to Twilight, so if you are a fan of it, don't expect anything similar to this book. If you're not a fan, read it because you won't find anything similar in it.

Now, the story is great. From it's rough draft to it's published version, it simply enchanted me and I never would have guessed, although I hoped, that it would come this far. I love Violet, I love Kaspar, and almost everything in this novel has a kaspary feel to it.

I gave it four stars instead of five because there were some inconsistencies in the book that were rather obvious to me because I've read the draft, but that won't be to those who are not familiar with the work Gibbs published on wattpad. There are some references to events that have not occurred in this version or are slightly different - and there were just enough of those mistakes that I just couldn't enjoy it to the fullest, as I would have liked. I also had a problem with the roundabout way everything near the end worked out - it was a tad too slow for it to be a culmination point worthy of an epic ending - but I liked it in the end and I do plan on reading the next book.

I am quite happy that this book has got it's ending. I always felt that I left something unfinished with it, but now I am able to bring it to a type of closure, because I will be waiting for that sequel - and I sincerely hope that it will come soon.

P.S.Kaspary: a level of awesomeness so high it kicks everyone’s arse leaving them breathless and bewildered - just so you know the definition :)
Profile Image for Emily D.
580 reviews463 followers
December 18, 2014
*This is a review for an New Adult/Adult book

I requested this title on Edelweiss because I was curious. I had heard this was originally written on Wattpad when the author was 15 and was later picked up by a major publishing house in a six figure deal. That is enough to stir anyone's curiosity. Unfortunately, curiosity can also get you in trouble and that was the case for me.

First off this isn’t going to be a nice review. I had so many problems with this book that is was impossible for me to enjoy. To illustrate my point I am going to do something a little different for this review, I am going to review it using my Goodreads status updates so that you can see exactly what I was feeling as I progressed through this novel.

1. Page 1 "There are so many mixed reviews about this book I'm both nervous and excited to read it. I will keep my expectations low so I can either be pleasantly surprised or not disappointed."

See look! I started this book off with some apprehension but was going to keep my expectations low so that I didn’t get hurt.

2. P 61 "Is this book YA or NA? Its ok so far, a little wordy but I'm intrigued."

I found out as I continued reading that I would probably class this book as New Adult because the protagonist is 18 and there is sexual content. Also the wordiness NEVER STOPS. It was like the publisher just took exactly what was on Wattpad and never edited it. The purpose of editing is to take out the parts that aren’t needed or do not advance the story, unfortunately that never happens in this book and instead we are left with a wordy, disjointed and lengthy novel.

3. P.331 "Well this is taking a turn for the weird/disturbing. I actually think I hate all of the charterers in this book. No one has a redeeming quality. And now the girl with Stockholm syndrome is sleeping with the kidnapper who is a complete jackass, great."

This is the heart of why I hated this book. None of the characters were likable. None of them had a redeeming quality. The heroine, Violet Lee, witnesses a vampire murder and then to keep her silent the vampires take her back to their mansion. While at the mansion she falls for Kaspar (Stockholm Syndrome much?). Kaspar treats women, vampire and human alike terribly and then for some reason these two absolutely terribly people fall for eachother. I think at one point there is also an edict from Kaspar’s father that they can’t touch. I mean things just got SO ridiculous and disjointed the story became painful to read.

I also want to mention that this book has the honor of having the least sexy sex scene that I have ever read. There was no passion, no emotion it was completely blasé and sort of grossed me out to be honest. With this scene you could really tell that someone young and inexperienced was writing it.

4. P.381 "I'm debating whether to stop reading this but I feel like I've already made it this far...also random aside this whole Dark Heroine business feels like a completely different story that was just tacked on to the one I began. No foreshadowing or linking things up so they flow."

Randomly during the last quarter of the book Gibbs stops focusing on the relationship/problems between Kaspar, Violet, and Kaspar’s family and begins focusing on a Dark Heroine prophesy. It came completely out of left field and didn’t link up to the story at all! If the story had focused on the Dark Heroine from the beginning it actually might have been an interesting story.

Overall, I did eventually finish the story but it took months and it was the worst book I have read in recent memory. The story had good potential but was poorly executed and even more poorly edited. I think Gibbs has potential as an author with a little polish and a serious editor. Hopefully her next novel someone takes all this potential and turns it in to something worthwhile.
Profile Image for Mara.
2,504 reviews249 followers
September 25, 2012
Update: I rated it. Can't say it's a book I liked nor I connected to it in any way (so no 2 stars): 1 1/2

Hush, hush. I know, GR. You did warn me. This is fan-fic being published after the Book That Shall Not Be Named became famous. This is sparkly going dark and vegetarianism being swapped.

Reading this book was like watching a train wreck or the scene of a big road incident. You stare in horrified fascination. You are ashamed of yourself for it. You know you should turn away and respect the dead, but no way you can.

At the moment I can't give it a rating. Because I found it terribly bad, but I did read it all and I couldn't stop. As I said "horrified but fascinated". This is YA, definitely YA, but with sex in it....I can't even tag it. It's not YA: violence, rape and sex are not exactly right for it. It's not urban fantasy: where's my kickass H/h?. I can't even say it's PNR as I doubt this is love.

If this story had been a poem, it would have no sense or rhyme. The plot is full of holes, the characters are terribly deja-vu (ie Amanda Hockins, just to name the less famous...), juvenile is almost a compliment if I have to think about the voice.

Spoilery

Holes in plot and world-building:
-There is no need for her "prison term" once she is known as the daughter of a government official. (The powers that be know of the existence of vamps.) So the same beginning of the book is based on shaking foundations.
-They get punished because they have sex. Above all she is, because she knew she shouldn't have gotten involved with the family. ...Err. How? When was this said, explained, inferred?
-She understands of all a sudden what her father did (when nobody else could). Again how? Because of dates? You believe your father is a murderer on something this flimsy and without explanations? There is no explanation of how she gets to this conclusion. We are told she did and buried this knowledge. And that's it.
-Death penalty scene. How could anyone know about her secret?


Characters: the only thing you can say about her is feisty. There's nothing else: no brain, no real defiance. Sometime she read bipolar. I guess in her own way she is strong. But hell if there was a reason for her behaviour and depth to her. (And please: no more marysuism. Do we need every single heroine to be this special?) Him: snarly and jerky. Same as above.

Relationship: abusive is being nice. Sociopath is a better tag. Find nearest stake, please.

Writing voice: no nuances among characters. They all sound teenagers even when they are supposed to be a thousand year old.

Worse of all? Yes this is fan-fic, but it has been published by Harper Collins. And I expect the level of control, being much, much better of a self-pub. I do not want to find missing words or to read things like "pressed pressing".

A good thing?...
-the price. At 2.99 it makes the sting slightly less burning...
-the violence, in a sense. Vampires are dark beings, literally. No glitter on them, no romanticized versions. They are killers. They aren't made into something different.


Do you think she'll save the world? I'm not going to read the sequel, but I'm ready to bet on it.

Sorry, I'm going. The roadkill made me sick. I need a scotch, a tumbler of whiskey, some rum. Hell, even a beer. Nope, a cuppa will be better. I really need to meditate on my choices... < grin >
Profile Image for Ashneet.
13 reviews21 followers
January 13, 2015
I absolutely adored this novel. I thought that the two protagonists were great. This novel is written in the POV of Violet Lee, which is our female protagonist and Kasper Varn who is our male protagonist. However there are considerably more chapters from Violets POV.

Violet is a headstrong, kick ass and all in all an awesome character. But their were moments where I was screaming at her. Kasper Varn however is just SEXY! that's all I have to say on him. He is just amazing!

I won't go into the plot as you guys can just read the description but I can say that I was not satisfied with the end. The ending left me with a lot of questions that I wanted the answers to. However now that I know that their will be a sequel titled 'Autumn Rose', I hope those questions are finally answered.

Overall I recommend you read this book as its entertaining and can be pretty funny at times. Also it's set in England which I thought was a good change as most YA novels are set in America. Even though this novel is about vampires and there are a million other vampire novels out already, I found this to be quite a unique take on them. All in all I think if you enjoy reading about vampires then I think you will like this novel. Also don't be intimidated by the size. I finished this novel in two days. It's an easy read so you will just fly right through it.
Profile Image for Sara.
157 reviews2 followers
May 10, 2015
Ensinnäkin, todella arvostan kirjailijaa joka on niin nuorena lähtenyt toteuttamaan unelmaansa. Mutta nyt ei vain kyllä napannut.

Minä inhosin tätä joka solullani. Ensimmäiset 250 sivua olivat jotain niin hirveää etten kestä. XD Kirja oli täynnä ristiriitoja ja hahmot olivat rasittavia. Varsinkin Kaspar jota kaikki niin tuntuvat palvovan. (sekä kirjassa että kirjan fanit :D) Yyh puistattaa koko jätkä.

Alku ja loppu olivat keskenään kuin aivan eri tarinoista. Niillä ei ollut keskenään juuri mitään tekemistä. Muutenkin kirjasta olisi saanut tiivistä reippaasti 200 sivua. Tästä todella huomasi, että se oli saanut alkunsa Twilight-fanfictionina. Jokseenkin samankaltaisia kohtauksia huomasin. (ja minähän en ole edes lukenut kaikkia Twilighteja...)
Profile Image for Kara-karina.
1,681 reviews268 followers
September 30, 2012

I'm obsessed with this book, peeps. I'm bullying my fellow bloggers to read it and I keep talking about it.

Thing is there are plenty of faults with the plot and writing in general, but it's just such a compelling, powerful and magical read, that I haven't noticed much of that while I was blazing through The Dark Heroine *grinning*

First of all, it's a gritty, violent, sexy and pretty raw read. The main character, 17 year-old Violet is not a damsel in distress, she is a daughter of a powerful man who just happened to be in a wrong place in the wrong time. She sees a massacre of vampire hunters by a bunch of young arrogant vampires, who sweep her away to their manor in the countryside. The rule is: humans who know of their existence are killed or turned. However, when vamps find out who Violet's father is, either choice will bring both societies on a brink of war.

So, snarky, stubborn and get even Violet stays in the manor as a hostage, gets embroiled in complicated vampire politics and develops hate/love/weird friendship relationships with a young, vicious vampire prince, Kaspar Varn.

I did not move, still rubbing my chest. “My name is not ‘Girly’! It’s Violet!”
Like a shot he was just inches away from me, forcing me against the wall as his hand wrapped around my neck. A single finger was pressed against my vein, stroking it.
“And I’m the fucking Prince!” he snarled, grip tightening. My eyes widened and I struggled under him but his grip just tightened. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his face, so close to mine and reeking of blood. A single image flooded my mind behind myclosed eyes: the lifeless body of Claude Pierre, crumpled and bleeding on the stone flag.
“I could snap that pretty neck of yours in two with less effort than it would take for you to squeal,” he whispered in my ear. “So I suggest that you do what we say, because you can’t outrun us and the police won’t stop us.”



Kaspar *sigh*, he is a a dreamy, dreamy monster. He is a proper anti-hero, and by all means I should have hated him for being a jerk and all. He kills, he maims, he is being cruel and cold, and yet at the same time, there are certain reasons for his behaviour, and the more he connects with Violet the more they are both changing. She acquires some of his ruthlessness and he softens up.

According to urban dictionary, kaspary is a level of awesomeness so high it kicks you in the ass and leaves you breathless and bewildered. So here you go, Abigail Gibbs created a new word for us to use :D

There is a complicated plot of vampire mannerisms and rituals, an ancient prophecy and even different dimensions, so I wouldn't call this book your average vampire YA. Oh, and the vampire balls are alien and magical!

There is also plenty of violence and some sex involved, the latter shows how blatantly screwed modern teenager's views on women and how a girl should perceive herself. I don't blame Abigail for that because she writes what she knows, however it is sad that young girls feel that they deserve so little respect.

The world Abigail Gibbs built is an ambitious one. It's also very flexible, so I wouldn't really know what to expect from the book two. It just reads like a twisted, dark fairy-tale. I only know that book #2 is on my autobuy list and that this 18 year old British author has a wonderful potential for growth, if she can write like that at her age.

Very much recommended. I...uhm... even made a playlist for this book on YouTube. Embarrassing, I know...
Profile Image for Andrea Heltsley.
Author 15 books327 followers
October 27, 2012
An absolutely amazing read! I can't believe how awesome this book was. It was a long read and I was hesitant, but it looked so good, I had to snag it for an ARC:) I'm so glad I did. The sequel will be out next year and I can't wait to get it!

I was completely engrossed in this book and all the emotions it invoked in me. It was sexy and dark. I love a well put together vampire story. This was the perfect vampire romance. I enjoyed seeing Kaspar go from dark and frivolous to complex without apologizing for his past.

Speaking of Kaspar, what a sexy vampire! I can't blame Violet for any of her choices.

The plot was complex and full of back story that wove into the story seamlessly. It's hard to believe someone so young wrote something so beautifully dark.

I can't even put into words how much I loved this read. it's one of those books that comes along ever once in a blue moon. I couldn't put it down and I didn't want it to end. It deserves more than the honor of five glittery stars I have to give.

Check it out March 5th 2013 when it's released and quickly add the sequel to your to read list:) You won't be sorry!
Profile Image for MischaS_.
785 reviews1,420 followers
January 19, 2014
Musím říct, že kniha mě velmi mile překvapila!
S Violet si pořád nevím rady, spíš k ní mám takové mile negativní pocity.
Kaspar, Cain a Alex mi hned padli do noty. Zato Fabian, Charity a Lyla byli na facku. :D
Sice jsem několikrát měla pocit, že začátek knihy si v něčem odporoval s tím, co se dělo ke konci, ale nebylo to v ničem až tak zásadním, takže to nebyl až takový problém.

Několikrát se mi něco nelíbilo v překladu, přišlo mi,že některá slova se opakují moc často po sobě. A na konci zaměnili Lylu za Lily.

Líbilo se mi, jak Kaspar s Violet po sobě štěkali a hlavně, že on se hned nezměnil na miliónové chlapce. Navíc oceňuji, že Violet to měla pěkně těžké.
Rozhodně jsem zvědavá, co nás čeká v dalších dílech, i když ta celá problematika s temnými hrdinkami je mírně na hlavu. :D I když mě trochu/ hodně mrzí, že další díl už nebude hlavně o Kasparovi a Violet.
Profile Image for Νόρα.
256 reviews31 followers
May 11, 2019
Βαρέθηκα! Πολύς σαματάς για το τίποτα.
Οι χαρακτήρες ήταν όλοι αντιπαθητικοί και η πλοκή ήταν γελοία.
Ένα ηλίθιο,κακομαθημένο, ατσούμπαλο μέχρι αηδίας κοριτσάκι που ερωτεύεται ένα σαδιστή βρικόλακα.
Αφού δεν έχει πλοκή,βάθος στους χαρακτήρες και λεξιλόγιο πολύ άνω του μετρίου είναι απλά ένα κακό βιβλίο.

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