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Dana is human who has built a normal human life. As much
as you can when she was born in 1912. After making a deal with an ancient vampire
shortly after her marriage, she gave part of her soul to create a vampire – her
soul sister, Ani. After a long journey over the years, the two now live
together, best friends and greatest confidants, the siblings are enjoying their
eternal lives in their own ways.
Except Ani’s reckless behaviour draws more attention from
the powers that be. Until her passionate defence of Dana against an attacker
leads to more public deaths the vampire leader refuses to ignore. He demands their
deaths and can find them anywhere
This launches a battle to find allies, to find a place to
hide which, inevitably, leads to its own revolution as the siblings are forced
to take the battle to the enemy.
This book has an extremely unique twist on the
traditional vampire tale. In this world vampires are created by taking part of
the soul of a human and creating a vampire “twin”. They look very alike and
they depend on each other to survive. If one dies the other dies – resulting in
a vampire and an immortal human. While it’s clear that not every vampire/human
twin has a close bond, Ani and Dana definitely do.
The book also focuses on Dana, the human of the pair, and
her journey into this life. Her life as a human in 1912, her life with her
family and then her husband – followed by how she first made the decision to
give up her soul and create Ani, and how her life developed with her new
sister. Her past is rich and really well built with a full sense of what set
her on the path. So much so that I think I would have liked to see more of Dana’s
past in between the present and the loss of her husband, just to see the
character develop more.
It’s also pretty rare to see a book that focuses so much on a sibling relationship. That mutual affection, care and worry for each other still spaced with that very common frustration at the others actions. It’s a very natural relationship for the most part and underpins the book.
For a long time though, the book does seem to be spinning
it’s wheels. We’re introduced to these characters but they don’t seem to be
overly involved in anything except developing them. Even when the path is set,
they then spend a lot of detailed time training all interspaced with odd little
conflicts as one of the characters gets angry over something – which then
disappears or fades away. The end of the book does pick up very well though,
racing with plot and intensity towards the conclusion.
Unfortunately, while the book had wonderful things going
for it, it was then badly let down by the writing. Firstly, it needed an
editor. I understand this is a later edition and considerably improved on
previous versions but there are still grammar and word issues that need
correcting.
Beyond that, the book just didn’t flow for me, I found
the language and, especially, the dialogue extremely stilted and unnatural,
often bogged down with unnecessary explanation and exposition, too much telling
rather than showing and an almost repetitive need to drive every point home. I
think the best way to show this is with a quote:
“Her friend Tasha said loudly. She said it so loud it left her ears tingling. Dana knew it was her friend Tasha because of the extra drama she poured into saying the simple words.”
After this we get a long explanation of who Tasha is (a
friend – which we already know) and this character never really comes up again.
This kind of writing continues throughout the entire book, stilted, long winded
and often unnecessary.
The setting also jarred me from the story at times. While
I loved the story of Dana’s past in 1912, her travels and how it set her path
on the road she’s on, where she come from and how she lived, the setting got
weaker the further we went in the book. When the team arrived in London it
completely fell apart. They stay in an uptown apartment in London with a forest
out their back door. One of two forests they hunt in containing wolves and
bears. It wouldn’t have taken more than a google search to discover the unlikeliness
of these wolf and bear haunted inner-London forests nor to discover that there
was no way the protagonist could buy a can of coke for “50 cents” from a pizzeria
in the city. Really, it would have been better to treat London the way they did
Madrid – generic with no real description at all. The characters that were not
American all felt American, there was no sense of Spain or England or Ancient
Rome about them at all.
I have to say I found the ending anti-climactic,
especially after the story was picking up towards the end of the book, all that
crescendo fell rather flat. I also just can’t get behind these characters
hailing Ani as a ruler. Maybe if we’d seen more of why Donovan is such a bad
leader, or more depth from Ani, but we didn’t. All we know about Ani is that
she has poor impulse control, casually and remorselessly kills people and has
spent most of her 100 year existence partying. One of the things Donovan chided
Dana and Ani for was for not realising the potential of their long lifespans. I
just don’t see why Ani would be considered a desirable leader.
On inclusion, there are no GBLTQ people in this book, it’s
completely erased. But it does have some excellent racial inclusion. The
protagonist and many of the side characters are POC and that includes during the
flashbacks to 1912 – and none of them are in stereotyped roles. They show a
range and diversity of characters and settings which is especially unique when
showing historical scenes since POC generally have even more restricted roles
in novels looking into the past.
Dana and Ani bounce off each other well for the most part. They have a strong relationship that feels like family – though at times I think tension and conflict is introduced between them for the sake of it and it can feel forced. Dana also has very real bonds with her family and husband in the past. These are strong people with a strong sense of history and place that contains their culture and background without devolving into stereotype or trope.
I liked that Ani was fully in charge of her own sexuality
and I liked that Dana refused Donovan’s interference into their lives for the
most part. Both felt like great, powerful statements – but both were
compromised I feel. Ani was happy to sleep with whoever she chose, but Rebecca’s
beauty and flirtatious ways were condemned and I don’t know if Ani’s partying
was supposed to be considered part of her growing recklessness. Dana rejects
Donovan’s control – but takes his money and holds a rather unreasonable seeming
grudge against him. Does she reject his control for the sake of independence or
because she doesn’t like him? In both cases there could be a strong message
here, but it depends on the angle you look from.
In the end, I’m left feeling disappointed in this book.
Because it had vast potential that I didn’t think it reached. It had an
interesting and unique context that really set it apart from so many of the other
vampire books out there. That major difference in the creation of vampires sets
up a whole new dynamic, a dependence and closeness with humans that goes beyond
the usual romance trope which is fascinating to see. We also have a focus on
sibling relationships which I have never seen in the genre, not truly to this
degree, and a whole different family dynamic. Again, it’s a book about
relationships and love that doesn’t shortcut to romance.
Extremely different and well worth developing. But I feel
it was let down by the writing style I just couldn’t get into, some dodgy world
settings that jerked me out of the story and moments in the plot that were just
bogged down and more where I couldn’t agree with the character’s logic. I hope
this improves in later books in a series because it has the seeds of something
great here.
This book was provided as part of a blog tour organised by FMB Blog Tours
Title: Soul Sisters
Series: Soul Sisters Trilogy, #1
Author: Janiera Eldridge
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: Mystic Press
Ebook/Paperback
Pages: 134
Purchase:
Amazon |
Book Description:
Soul
Sisters is an urban fantasy novel about African-American twin sisters Ani and
Dana who have a rather unique secret: one sister is human while the other is a
vampire. While the sisters have lived peacefully with each other for many years
one fateful night will change both their lives forever. When a drunken man
tries to attack Dana (the human sister) Ani (the vampire sister) protects her
sister with all of her ferocious power.
However,
when the vampire's leader Donovan finds out about the public display he calls
for the sisters to be assassinated for disobedience. Ani and Dana now are in
for the fight of their lives to protect each other as well as the lives of
their dedicated friends who have joined them on their mission for survival. If
Dana and Ani can make it through this time of uncertainty, Ani can take her new
place as vampire queen. Soul Sisters is expected to be a trilogy; The book also
features a multicultural cast of characters that brings a new edge of chic to
the vampire world.
About the Author:
Janiera
Eldridge loves feeding her book addiction and putting all her crazy stories on
paper. When she is not immersed in the world of fiction, she is working as an
entertainment freelance writer.
Janiera
also enjoys connecting with other authors and supporting their work on her book
blog Books&Beauty.
Don’t miss book two Dark Expectations coming November
2012!
Excerpt:
Chapter 6
1915 New York City
Bryson and Dana walked arm
and arm down the blustery New York street laughing about the Christmas party
they had just left. The snow was fresh and powdery. Neither of them felt the
icy cold snowflakes floating down and speckling their coats because they were
wrapped in the warmth of each other’s company.
“Did you see how Charles
acted after taking that last shot of whiskey?” Dana asked.
Bryson could not contain
his laughter thinking about their friend’s drunkenness. Everyone who had been
at the party was probably laughing about it on their way home, too,
particularly the part when Charles took off his pants and danced on top of the
piano. Bryson laughed so hard people gave them odd passing glances.
“Yes.” Bryson gave a bright
smile and grabbed her face to kiss her as they stood in the middle of the
sidewalk. He wanted people to stop and stare at his beautiful wife. He wasn’t
afraid to show her off every chance he got. The women cooed softly at the
sweetness of the moment while the men ushered their women forward murmuring
about how indecent their public display of affection was for the community.
Truthfully they just didn’t want their wives to get any ideas.
It took Dana a few seconds
to catch her breath. She couldn’t believe he would do something that indecent
in public. It didn’t matter to her, however, because it felt way too good to be
wrong. They stepped off the curb without a care in the world; Dana held onto
Bryson’s arm tightly and could not stop staring into his eyes.
A few seconds later Dana
felt a sharp pain and a crushing blow to her arm. It was as if a freight train
slammed into her right side. She instantly started sobbing from the pain and
confusion of the situation. She felt like a block of ice was on top of her
chest as she lay sprawled out on the ground. Her legs were straight out
together in front of her but her arms were stretched out wide, going in two
different directions. Her head turned slowly to the left when she heard a woman
screaming and she saw Bryson on the ground with his eyes wide open. She blinked
a few times to clear up her vision and then she spotted a pool of blood
circling his head like a flowing halo.
Dana tried to push against
the woman lying on top of her but the person was impossible to move no matter
how hard she tried.
“You don’t want to see
this, you’re safe now,” the woman said softly in her ear; she sounded just like
her.
“Soul sister?” Dana asked
as she felt herself losing consciousness. She heard the chaos of the world
going on around her but then she slipped into a black void. When she came to in
a small nearby hospital she was disoriented and feeling miserable. There was a
dull ache in her head and the vision in her right eye was blurry. She thought
she saw a petite woman standing in the doorway, maybe she knew what had
happened to Bryson.
“Where is my Bryson? Is he
OK? What happened?”
The woman walked over to
the bed and placed a hand on her head. Dana could see the woman was wearing a
nurse’s outfit and she guessed she was in a hospital. The woman’s hand felt ice
cold against her burning flesh.
“I’m sorry to tell you, ma’am,
but your husband was hit by a moving vehicle. He suffered a bad head injury and
he is no longer alive. I am so sorry.”
“No, wait. We were just
coming back from a Christmas party. When did this happen?”
“You stepped off the side
walk with your husband, ma’am. Apparently you could not see the car and the car
could not see you. A woman who looked oddly like you pushed you out of the way
and saved your life. Your husband didn’t make it. I’m very sorry. Would you
like some water or a cup of juice?”
“No, no, thank you. Can I
see him at least?”
“Not now honey. I really
think you should get some rest. There’s a young woman who is here to see you.
She says she’s your sister. Are you ready to see her?”
Dana coughed deeply and
felt a liquid build up in her throat that she quickly swallowed back down; she
was afraid to see who it was.
“OK,” was all she could
seem to get out of her throat.
Her soul sister quietly
stepped into the room as she faced the wall. She didn’t want the woman to see
her nervousness or confusion. As much as she wanted to hug her sister she also
wanted to punch her.
“Why didn’t you save my
husband?” Dana asked choking back tears but keeping a straight face. As the
tears filled up her eyes, her cheeks began to sting and swell
“The car came so fast. I
didn’t have time to save you both. I’ve seen you with Bryson before and I know
how much you loved him, I’m so very sorry.”
“What is your name?” Dana
asked, sitting up against the pillow.
“Ani,” She said softly.
“Ani, I don’t think I want
to live much longer. I sold my soul to save my husband’s life and Donovan took
him away from me. I really don’t see any reason to live anymore.”
Ani sat down in a chair and
moved closer to the side of the bed. She placed her hand on Dana’s head and
felt that she had a slight temperature. She would notify a nurse as soon as she
left the room. Ani loved her sister and if her sister died then she died too.
“Donovan had nothing to do
with what happened. Your husband’s time came up again and he was taken. Donovan
didn’t order his death. I’m sure he is very concerned about this and knows how
much this hurts you. He is good at feeling things like this.”
“Your kind feels? You don’t
want me to kill myself because then you will die too. Frankly, I don’t care
what happens to you right now. You’re such a small fragment of me; I don’t even
think you’re real. This is just a bad nightmare. I’ll wake from it; I’ll be at
home warm and safe with my parents. Bryson never actually existed and I sure as
hell know you don’t either.”
Dana turned her head back
to the wall and let the tears flow freely down her face. She placed her hand
over her mouth to stifle the cries; her heart felt like it had broken into a
million pieces. Now, she couldn’t live for anybody else but herself. Dana saw
the look of despair in her sister’s face but it wasn’t enough for her to let
her soul sister into her life.
“I’ll never turn my back on you when you need
me, no matter how far away you are or how much danger you’re in. I know we’re
supposed to be twins but I feel like you’re my baby sister.” She gave a light
chuckle and then headed for the door. “I’ll be back to visit you tomorrow, and
the next day and the next day. Even if you never want to see me it’s OK, but
I’m not going to be without you any longer. I love you way too much.”
“I don’t care if you come
back a million times. I will never talk to you again. Get the hell out of my
room!” Dana threw a glass at Ani’s head. Ani moved her head slightly to the
left as it flew into the wall and shattered into tiny pieces. She took a deep
breath and nodded her head up and down slowly; she had to give her more time.
Ani had been programmed to take on the evil ways of the world but Dana’s
rose-colored glasses had just been stepped on.
