*This review may contain spoilers*
Since the Blood Moon battle six years ago, Lucy and her hot vampire boyfriend, Nicholas Drake, have kept the peace between the vampires of Violet Hill and the Helios-Ra hunters. But breaking up fights between rogue hunter Aggie and irresistible rebel Callahan is proving a big challenge; Aggie just can't accept that behind Cal's burning blue eyes, he is in control of his bloodlust. As Lucy's best friend and Nicholas's sister, Solange, returns home for the group's Winter Solstice celebrations, Aggie struggles to admit the real reason she finds Cal a threat – and risks far more than her heart...
I've been a longtime fan of The Drake Chronicles, so when I found out about a short story a jumped at the chance to find out everything I could about it. It was released in eNovella form on December 17th, but I restrained myself and saved it for Christmas Eve.
I'm so glad I did, because I actually needed some time to mentally prepare myself for jumping back into Violet Hill and visiting my old friends. That's what happens when you revisit a beloved book/series, or find out about a spinoff - deep down you know you'll love it, but that doesn't mean you won't start protecting yourself in case of tears.
Come on, I can't be the only one that cries at all my favourite books?
Nevertheless, The Longest Night certainly didn't let me down.
Reading the first chapter, even, was like an emotional roller coaster because I was starting a new journey with old friends. I can't explain how awesome it felt to read about Lucy bedazzling stakes, and Quinn and Hunter being engaged. I kid you not, Quinn actually manned up and proposed to Hunter, wtf this is too perfect.
I think this short story is like a set up for a Lucy spinoff (Harvey likes to tease us, but I just know there will be one), introducing some new characters as well as reconnecting us with old ones. I did enjoy reading about some new characters, but to be honest, as a hardcore shipper of every single Drake couple, I would have loved the story to just be about that. I know that's not what it's supposed to be about, but jumping right back into Violet Hill made me a little nostalgic for Logan and Isabeau's magical romance, Connor & Christa's dorky lovefest.
Set five years after the Blood Moon battle, Lucy has started up a halfway house for troubled supernatural teens. It's basically a place for angsty teen vampires and hunters to be, to help them work together and all that jazz. Of course, a romance between said vampire and hunter is inevitable. I'd like to introduce Aggie; a girl with anger management issues as bad as Lucy's, and Cal; a mysterious vampire with a crow tattoo. Aggie's hatred of all vampires and fascination with Cal was at times kind of disturbing, I guess it was pretty believable. Alyx did a good job with Aggie's character development and you got to see her grow over the course of the story. Her sister was killed by a vampire, as was her dad. Her family has instilled a hatred of vampires in her long before she came to Violet Hill.
I guess Cal's character was supposed to be a mystery, but I still feel like something is missing. I just have to know the depth of this change into a vampire, his human life, why he is who he is. It sucks that you don't get to know him on a deeper level, but that can be totally forgiven seeing as it's a short story; leaving little time to explore the character's lives in more depth.
One thing that annoyed me about The Longest Night was the scene in which Aggie and Cal confess their feelings for each other. Although their attraction has been brewing for a long time, and Alyx wrote this extremely well, the scene felt a little bit abrupt to me; like it was missing a little piece. I feel like I can gloss over this, though, because of the great writing and the feeling that these two people are meant for each other. Was anyone else reminded of Lucy and Nicholas? These two couples are insanely similar.
Maybe it's just because I'm a long time fan of The Drake Chronicles, but I couldn't find a single flaw in this short story that really stood out. Although The Longest Night might not be everyone's cup of tea, even for some fans of The Drakes, I also can't imagine not enjoying it. I also can't imagine a book about Violet Hill without some Lucy and Nicholas scenes to make you swoon - The Longest Night certainly supplied enough of that And we also got to see some Solange & Keiran scenes as well, which were really sweet.
Rating: 9/10. It would be a 10/10, but to be honest, I can't seem to ship Aggie and Cal just yet. Plus Aggie can get as annoying as Solange was in Blood Moon and Blood Prophecy.
Set five years after the Blood Moon battle, Lucy has started up a halfway house for troubled supernatural teens. It's basically a place for angsty teen vampires and hunters to be, to help them work together and all that jazz. Of course, a romance between said vampire and hunter is inevitable. I'd like to introduce Aggie; a girl with anger management issues as bad as Lucy's, and Cal; a mysterious vampire with a crow tattoo. Aggie's hatred of all vampires and fascination with Cal was at times kind of disturbing, I guess it was pretty believable. Alyx did a good job with Aggie's character development and you got to see her grow over the course of the story. Her sister was killed by a vampire, as was her dad. Her family has instilled a hatred of vampires in her long before she came to Violet Hill.
I guess Cal's character was supposed to be a mystery, but I still feel like something is missing. I just have to know the depth of this change into a vampire, his human life, why he is who he is. It sucks that you don't get to know him on a deeper level, but that can be totally forgiven seeing as it's a short story; leaving little time to explore the character's lives in more depth.
One thing that annoyed me about The Longest Night was the scene in which Aggie and Cal confess their feelings for each other. Although their attraction has been brewing for a long time, and Alyx wrote this extremely well, the scene felt a little bit abrupt to me; like it was missing a little piece. I feel like I can gloss over this, though, because of the great writing and the feeling that these two people are meant for each other. Was anyone else reminded of Lucy and Nicholas? These two couples are insanely similar.
Maybe it's just because I'm a long time fan of The Drake Chronicles, but I couldn't find a single flaw in this short story that really stood out. Although The Longest Night might not be everyone's cup of tea, even for some fans of The Drakes, I also can't imagine not enjoying it. I also can't imagine a book about Violet Hill without some Lucy and Nicholas scenes to make you swoon - The Longest Night certainly supplied enough of that And we also got to see some Solange & Keiran scenes as well, which were really sweet.
Rating: 9/10. It would be a 10/10, but to be honest, I can't seem to ship Aggie and Cal just yet. Plus Aggie can get as annoying as Solange was in Blood Moon and Blood Prophecy.
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| I think I might be incredibly lame for finding this funny, but if you're a big fan of the Drakes, then hopefully you'll laugh at this too! |
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