No, generally I think influence is used as a nice word for plagiarism.-Gilbert Gottfried

Alrighty normally I only review books I really liked and think others might also enjoy, this....is a bit more like a warning.

I accidentally came across two different reviews for this book that said something like, "A refreshing change in the sci fi/fantasy genre from all the Twilight wannabees. Sure a Vampire shows up eventually but it's not a big deal." The synopsis sounded interesting so I thought I'd check it out.

I THINK maybe those reviewers only saw the Twilight movies or something 'cause as I got farther and farther in it became clear that not only was this obviously inspired by Twilight but I won't be at all surprised if the author gets sued for plagiarism. It's really almost exactly the same story only written for grown ups by someone who's a better writer or maybe just owns a thesaurus. Seriously instead of being in a high school it's set in Oxford and the characters are in their 30's rather than their teens. There's a sort of mousy girl who actually has all this inner strength and hidden power and the leading man ("a vampire shows up eventually") is a Vampire who gets obsessed with her. Then there's this ominous group of supernatural government types who don't want them to be together and may have a not so nice reasons for their actions. And let's not forget all the chess references.

All of that aside it's not a bad book. About two thirds of the way through it abandons the Twilight plot and goes it's own way and is interesting enough that I will read the next book when it comes out (assuming the author doesn't get sued and is allowed to publish it).

Note: I didn't know this was going to be a series when I started reading it. I hate when that happens I'm reading along getting down to not very many pages and thinking, "how are they going to tie up all these loose ends?" when suddenly I'm left with a cliff hangar. If I knew ahead of time I'd wait until there were more in the series completed. I'm very nervous of getting stuck waiting years for the next instalment, both Stephen King and J.K. Rowling made me (and every one else) wait for years in the middle of a series right at very tense moments. This will make four FOUR series I'm sitting around waiting to see what happens next (If I could have gotten hold of Jim Butcher right after I finished Changes I would have kicked him in the.....any way). And while I'm ranting I once accidentally read The Mystery of Edwin Drood and want to say, "F you Charles Dickens, why'd you have to go and die! Now I'm going to be wondering forever!"

Deep breaths. In and out. In aaaaaaaand out.

Okay I'm calmer now.

Any how my point is don't let the reviews fool you. If you are tired of all the books trying to cash in on the Twilight thing this is not the book for you. Or if you don't like getting stuck at a cliffy ending not knowing if/when there will be another book this is not the book for you.

And though I said it's better written (Sorry Stephanie Meyers, you tell a good story but you're a terrible writer, but hey you're in good company I say the same for Bram Stoker) it's a bit uneven. At times she uses way more words than she needs and the meaning gets lost and then at times she doesn't use enough and it's like watching a film and there are a few frames missing every once in a while so the action is jerky (though THAT might be an editing problem).

I don't know. You might like this book but I can't say I recommend it even though I did enjoy it.