Praise
I really liked the world you built here. While there is “vampire conflict” the characters are not interesting because ‘they are vampires” – they’re interesting because they are relatable. Additionally, the vampirism causes problems, not solves them – so it’s not like a character can just “do the vampire thing” and solve their problem. This crafts a world that leads to fun characters, engaging conflicts, and interesting fight and sex scenes. Well done!
Nicala, A Vampire Story is an intriguing slow-burn novel that painstakingly establishes a world like ours, but one in which vampires are a known quantity in society. Nicala struggles to find her place in the world, navigating the challenges that her new vampire status throws at her, approaching the moral and emotional quandaries from a relatable perspective, bringing humanity to her no longer quite human existence. The novel sets up fascinating future of conflicts that I am excited to read about as additional novels are published.
A refreshing change from the typical vampire novel. I generally struggle to stay focused on a book, but I read the whole thing in 2 days, and then read it again. It's always interesting to think about what it would be like if vampires existed in our world, and this story felt jarringly real. You can feel the connection to our daily lives, and how they would be viewed and treated if they showed up on our doorstep. Just enough drama to keep it interesting, enough romance to keep it steamy. Nicala may be the protagonist, but every character in the story had their own to tell. Now I'm just waiting for the second part!
I like to be surprised, and Nicala sure did that. This is not the romantasy I was expecting—you know, the trope-heavy style you usually expect from a vampire novel. This was different. This was fun. This was gritty, and it felt more like a memoir (and I mean that in the best way).
The writing was easy to read, and I found that Nicole Zele handled tension really well. I really, really want to read the next book in this series now. If you like Vampire origin stories, then this Is a fresh take on it.
This book is action packed. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't read it fast enough. Thank you Nicole for letting be an ARC for you. You are a great writer. This story flows together so seamlessly. I look forward to reading more of your books.
Nicala a vampire story is an enjoyable & different take on a vampire tale.
Brilliantly written, I was pulled in from the first paragraph & its action packed too! No issues with pacing either, the story flowed beautifully & truth be told I'm already hankering for my next Nicala fix & to see what's next for Nicala.
Highly recommended
This book was quite the read. It started off interesting, and here I was thinking, "Oh, we are going to get a vampire/Lycan triangle similar to Twilight," based off the tags. Let me spoil it now, just a little: this is NOT that type of vampire story.
The protagonist, Nicala, is so relatable. The things that happen to her and her reactions are exactly how I think I would react in the situations she is in.
My only thing is that you can tell that this author has been working on this novel for a long time through different age ranges, as the writing definitely evolves throughout the first half of the book.
All in all, I can't wait to read the second one.