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!