Title: Hearts at Stake Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Pages: 248
Publisher: Walker and Company
Source: Katie's Blog Session @ CO Teen Literature Conference
Back of Book Summary:
Solange Drake always knew she was destined to become a vampire queen. And as the only female vampire ever born, not made, she is surrounded by danger on all sides- from vampire suitors who want to join with her lineage to bounty hunters who are set on destroying her and her family. When she is kidnapped, it's up to her older brother Nicholas and her human best friend, Lucy, to save her. But can Lucy save herself form Nicholas, who tempts her with every look? And what will be Solange's own fate if she surrenders her heart to the vampire hunter helping her survive the deadly intrigue a the royal court?
Let the Drake family be your guide into a secret vampire society full of epic battles, Gothic seduction, undead drama, and wicked humor.
My Review:
Characters:
There are way to many characters to keep straight in this novel. Solagne's own family is huge. There are 7 protective brothers- of which only one truly stands out among the others. The parents and aunts and uncles seem to blend together. In addition to the direct family there too many enemies to keep straight. The number of suitors, the different types rogue vampires, the vampire hunters, and the current ruling court are so numerous that it is hard to distinguish who the real enemy is. Even among this mass of characters there were four that stood out. I like Lucy (Lucky) a lot. She Solagne's human friend who is immune, for the most part, to the vampire powers. She is fun and humorous and she stands out among the mass of other characters. Nicholas, I also like. He is Solange's only brother who stands out amongst the other 6. He a gorgeous, annoying, protective vampire who can be two things at once- a ferocious warrior and a gentle boyfriend. Solange is okay- though not my favorite character. There is something about her, I can't quite put my finger on it, but I don't like the way Harvey developed her character. The last character worth mentioning is Kieran, the bounty hunter who decides that Solange is worth saving. He is one that you just find intriguing because of his dark conflicted nature due to his grief over the death of his father.
Other than these four characters, there are some minor characters that you can manage to keep straight if you really concentrate.
Plot/Conflict/Theme:
I enjoyed the premise of the the novel itself, however, there was too much going on too quickly to be able to enjoy the novel. The romantic development between Lucy and Nicholas occurred extremely fast with little romantic indications. The same type of quick and dirty development went into the rest of the story. There were attacks and battles left and right, with no clear understanding of who or what the Drake family was actually battling. In the final battle of the book, there were so many changes and attempted plot twists that it was next to impossible to follow. This book moved like the Vampires- so quickly that it was all a blur.
I think that the intention for all of the battles was an attempt to create a action packed novel that never let the reader rest, but instead the author created a confusing jumble of quickly moving vicious vampires and a helpless human battling about their political standing.
Quality of Writing:
The writing was average. I was neither impressed or disappointed in the quality of writing produced by Harvey. The descriptions of the brothers, and the Lucy's family were interesting and well developed, but other than those incidents, there was nothing that caught my attention.
Rating:
Book: L for Lacking
Cover: A for Average
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