Title: Afterlight
Author: Elle Jasper
Series: Dark Ink Chronicles #1
Cover Art: Oceana Gottlieb
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Signet
Date Published: November 2, 2010
ISBN-10: 0451231678
ISBN-13: 978-0451231673
Review Copy Source: Bought
Reviewed by: Abigail
Book Description
The Dupres have been Savannah's guardians, appointed by a band of root doctors and hoodooists, for nearly two hundred years. They've all grown...complacent.Now, the Arcos brothers, who've long been entombed at Bonaventure, have been inadvertently freed by a group of teenagers horsing around in the cemetery. Determined to take revenge on the city who entombed them, the Arcos' gather strength in the city's youth. Within the moon's full cycle, the gang's quickening will be complete--they'll become vampires. Newlings, out of control and craving human blood will ravage the city.
The one thing the Arcos' didn't count on was the powerful love of a sister. Riley Poe will stop at nothing to get her brother back. The one thing Riley didn't count on was the powerful love of a vampire. Eli Dupre will do anything to get her.
Follow Riley, Eli, and the vampires of the Dupre House into the shadowy, underside of Savannah.
Review
It’s a sad but true fact that rarely do excellent covers yield equally excellent books. AFTERLIGHT has one of my favorite covers of the year and I honestly was afraid to read it because I knew the story couldn’t possible live up to the stunning cover. Wow was I wrong.AFTERLIGHT is like The Lost Boys meets L.A. Ink (Elle Jasper actually references the movie in the book). Hot vampires, badass chicks, and wicked tattoos. Seriously, if Corey Haim was somehow in this book I could die happy. The fictionalized version of Savannah in AFTERLIGHT is sultry and seductive with a supernatural secret: vampires. Afterlight vampires are the non human killing—most of the time—variety, and strigio vampires are the drain-you-dry-and-feast-on-your-still-beating-heart kind.
Tattoo artist Riley Poe is a former wild child trying to make a life for herself and raise her younger brother Sean when he unwittingly releases two of the the most notorious strigois ever. The sibling relationship between these two was instantly relatable and endeared both brother and sister to me immediately. Riley herself is a smartass. She talks a big game but she actually delivers. She’s got more street smarts than people twice her age (and the emotional scars to prove it) but her hard life hasn’t managed to destroy her ability to care deeply. I loved that resiliency about her. I also loved her honesty. She doesn’t play games with anyone including herself. She doesn’t always understand her emotions, but she does freely acknowledge them.
I was not expecting the romance in AFTERLIGHT. Usually there are cover clues, or major cues in the description (which in hindsight there were), but I was totally caught off guard by the white hot relationship between Riley and the Afterlight vampire Eli—in a good way. It’s maybe the best I-want-you-but-I-might-kill-you romance I’ve read all year (and that’s saying something).
And Eli…I loved Eli. He has a mocking humor and possesses a powerful intensity that I could literally feel while reading. Vampire desires warring with human desires and control barely held onto by willpower alone. This is the kind of romantic lead I want more of.
Overall, AFTERLIGHT is very reminiscent of Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series. The heat of the romance coupled with the UF emphasis on world building is balanced nearly perfectly (no easy feat). There is a preview for the next Dark Ink Chronicles book at the end of AFTERLIGHT which only makes the wait until next summer for EVERDARK, when it releases on June 7, 2011, that much harder. Loved this one!
Sexual Content: Masturbation. Graphic sex. References to rape, References to prostitution.
My Rating:
4/5
Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel.
AFTERLIGHT Book Trailer
Previous books in the series:
- N/A
Okay, so I know I've been commenting more than usual lately, but we must have similar tastes in books. This sounds right up my street - I am going to have to buy it, now. Damn you!! :)
ReplyDeleteHonestly? When I first heard about it and then saw the cover, I was like... "It looks pretty, but is it going to be any DIFFERENT?" That what I look for in UF these days. But your review has convinced me to give it a try.
Cheers!
Kaz
I can't wait to read this. Great review!
ReplyDeletexx,
E.J.
From the Shadows
This definitely sounds like an interesting read, and I do love the cover art!
ReplyDeleteKaz - I love it when authors can comment :) And seriously every time you and I agree, it makes me want to read THE IRON WITCH even more. It sounds awesome.
ReplyDeleteEJ - Hope you love it!
Simay - Great cover, great book. I love it when that happens :)
Sadly I didn't much care for this one.
ReplyDeleteJ - That's a bummer. I had a lot of fun with AFTERLIGHT.
ReplyDeleteWow. I really want to read it now since you said it was reminiscent of the Night Huntress series! Nice review!
ReplyDeleteSmash Attack - That's how it struck me.
ReplyDeletethanks for the review! I just finished this and loved it! I live in the Savannah area and it was really neat to be able to really recognize and visualize where they were driving, hanging out, etc, since she always listed the road names! Very neat. Can't wait to start Everdark tonight~
ReplyDelete