As I await my next round of editing for my own novel, I’ve been reading a lot. Part of it was that I had a list of novels both in print and on digital that I have been meaning to get to as well as some non-fiction. One problem with joining the writing group is that I have been reading/editing other people’s work so often, I haven’t had time for reading for pleasure. So with the holidays coming, I decided to focus on reading a book a week. Well–that’s all sounds good except, I don’t take a week to read novels. Especially on days like yesterday: I had a nice long bus ride to contend with and when I got home Dennis was watching a show about becoming a Ranger. Perfect reading time. So I am on a rampage! A reading rampage.
So where to begin:
The Human Cure is a fun fast-paced paranormal romance. The anti-legends that Auerbach added about vampires and vampirism were awesome. She added a new twist to the world of vampires which was consistent in her created universe. This is the best part for me. I always love seeing people’s takes on vampirism and other old legends.
The book revolves around Kate Plesser–an office assistant who tends to fall into bad relationships– as well as the vampire cousins Hunter and Chase. Kate meets Hunter in a bar. They have a one night stand and she is kidnapped. She assumes he is a psychopath until the truth of his existence is thrust upon her.
This is not meant to be a negative comment, though it may sound that way: The vampires are the true main characters of this book. The book becomes alive during the descriptions of Hunter, Chase, Jonathan and the underground village where humans are farmed for feeding and breeding.
Kate is a bit dull in comparison, however, that is just because she’s more of an “everywoman” type of character–which I love! I love that she has true emotional responses to the crazy events that are happening in her life: disbelief, rage towards Hunter for kidnapping her, etc. She cries at times in fear. She is not a superwoman or even idealized. And in my opinion, this made the book worth reading.
Oh one more thing: this is a sweet romance–not a hot romance. Though it was written for adults, I would say this is pretty safe for a young adult audience.
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