Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Review: Promise by Kristie Cook


Book: Promise by Kristie Cook
Alone: Series, Soul Savers #1
Pages: 368
Genre: Young Adult / Paranormal Romance
BuyA Copy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
Publication Date: July 30th, 2010
Description: Alexis Ames decides to learn who she really is, with or without the help of her mother, who guards their secrets closely. After meeting Tristan Knight and discovering that he s not normal either, the secrets begin to unravel. Their union brings promise to the future of mankind. But it also incites a dangerous pursuit by the enemy. Because they are a match made in Heaven and in Hell.


 
Promise by Kristie Cook was a pleasant paranormal romance.  I am a bit confused as to who exactly the target audience is – there are conflicting elements concerning this. It is billed as a young adult story, but I honestly wouldn’t classify it as that. I would tend to say that it is a book more for adults, or at least older teens. The book capitalizes on that wholesome idea of soul-mates and an epic love, but then it really pushes the boundaries with a number of graphic love scenes. The characters themselves are also on the cusp of adulthood – Alexis is starting her first semester of college. This gray area of genre did not bother me, because I read both young adult books and adult paranormal romances, but I just thought I would mention it.

Like I said before, it is really more of a love story than anything else. Cook pushes the whole “epic romance” vibe with Alexis and Tristan, who are working the star-crossed lovers angle. Their relationship develops over time, which I really appreciated. They certainly had a connection right off the bat, but they were not instantly madly in love. A lot of paranormal romances force the issue right from the get-go and it feels unrealistic. I was glad to see them go from acquaintances, to friends, to lovers – it was a nice progression.

Although I was a fan of Tristan from the start, it took a while for me to warm up to Alexis.  I thought she was a bit self-absorbed and I found it difficult to believe that she had such a hard time accepting peoples.. “differences”. She was very reluctant to believe and accept the fantastic elements of those she loved, even though she could heal herself. I feel like if you had always been able to magically heal yourself, you would be more accepting of the magical differences in others. Instead she went the “Oh, I cannot believe this is happening!” route and I found it kind of irritating. 

While I was reading this book, I could not help but see the similarities to Twilight. It’s hard not to compare these types of books to the infamous saga – I mean it’s sort of the white elephant in the room. And I have to say, there were numerous connections to Twilight. First of all we’ve got same basic characters. There is the older  “evil” boyfriend who has to fight actual urges to kill his girlfriend. Then, we’ve got the almost mousy, innocent girlfriend who thinks she isn’t good enough for him. Both heroines spend a great deal of time complementing what their gorgeous male counterparts see in them . Then, against all odds these two opposites fall in love, much to the dismay of all those around them. We even have the same “look how dangerous I am” where the gorgeous and slightly creepy boyfriend throws heavy objects around and tries to act all intimidating, because his girlfriend is so darn “breakable”. Twilight fans, you know the one I mean? When Edward is running around the meadow throwing tree branches around? Well, Tristan does the same thing – but indoors and with a granite table.  Then, both heroines have the same reaction to the outburst – they claim that their epic love is stronger than anything else and that they trust their destructive boyfriends. I will say this – Alexis seems to have more of a backbone than Bella. She has other goals and interests in her life; she wants to go to college and she wants to write a book. 

Despite these overwhelming similarities, I did enjoy Promise. I certainly did not love it, but had a good time reading it. Obviously, there isn’t anything ground breaking here, but if you like paranormal romances that center around the concept of soul-mates and star-crossed lovers, you will probably enjoy this. If you are a fan of twilight, I can pretty much guarantee you like this.  

 
Favorite Quotes

"As he fired up the bike, he glanced over at my car and I started my own engine so he wouldn't think something was wrong. Don't mind me. Just ogling."  
"My brain couldn't take another mind of studying and the sun was low in the sky anyway, hovering just over the horizon, like a timid swimmer not quite ready to make the plunge." 
"I hadn't realized it before, but I knew now. He'd already cracked my shell and eventually he'd make the whole thing crumble, leaving every bit of me exposed for his scrutiny."
"It's just who you are naturally, what you do to me. Nothing special or extraordinary. Just being you. You bring out the best in me." 
"I wanted to just melt into him and let him feel that I really did love him"
"This is a dangerous love we share."

1 comment:

Kristie Cook said...

Thank you for reading and reviewing! I really don't know how Promise became billed as a YA. Neither the publisher nor I have done that. In fact, I've written all kinds of blog posts and such emphasizing that it's NOT YA. Unfortunately, I can't contact everyone and tell them to change their tags. LOL Thanks, again!

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