Saturday, June 26, 2010

Series Review - Dark Guardians by Rachel Hawthorne

I'm going to try something new. After the loss of my flash stick with my reviews on it *pauses to mourn its passing*, I thought I'd review this series in one go. This way I don't have to re-type a huge review for the first two books and you guys can hear all about this fantabulous series in one go! I'm thinking that this may be a regular thing with series...? We shall see :-)

I've also added some new features to my reviews. A "Read this if you liked..." and "Get this book at a great price from..." (for Australians usually because our books are hard to find at good prices but some will apply to Americans!).

Hope you like them!
Enjoy :-)


Dark Guardians Series by Rachel Hawthorne

Description;

Read about book one, Moonlight on Goodreads.

Read about book two, Full Moon on Goodreads.

Read about book three, Dark of the Moon on Goodreads.

Read about book four, Shadow of the Moon on Goodreads.

Review;

This was a series I wasn’t expecting to love as much as I did. I had heard several reviews about how depthless these books were and that they were just too predictable. But I simply adored them. One reason why I believe in trying anything within the genres you love!



In Moonlight, we are introduced to the Dark Guardians. They are a clandestine society of werewolves with a rare gene. They refer to themselves as “Shifters” and possess the ability to shift from human to wolf in seconds. One of the most important parts of a Shifter’s life is the full moon after their seventeenth birthday (for girls – guys at eighteen) at which they will make their first transformation and become a full-fledged Dark Guardian, devoted to protecting the Shifter race.

Moonlight follows the story of Kayla, an adopted girl who spends her summer at the state park as a sherpa, guiding a group of medical students out into the wilderness for an expedition. In the process, she meets Lucas Wilde – stunning, brooding and distant. Unbeknownst to Kayla, he is also the alpha of the Dark Guardians.

I loved this book. I loved everything about it – the fact that I could count on a happy ending, the enrapturing love story and the reoccurring danger weaved into the plot. The Dark Guardian society was colourful and believable and as a result, so was the relationship between Lucas and Kayla. The danger posed by the humans intent on creating a serum to offer the abilities of the Shifters to the world spices up the book and draws everything to a thrilling climax.



Full Moon is the second installment which tells the story of Lindsey and her struggle to choose between her declared mate, Connor, and her increasing connection with Rafe. I loved that this book wasn’t your typical love triangle in which the girl jerks along two guys because she doesn’t really want to choose. Hawthorne did an excellent job of conveying just how torn Lindsey felt and justified it with gorgeous Connor’s behaviour and the lifetime he and Lindsey had spent together as friends. It was perfectly understandable that Lindsey couldn’t distinguish between her childhood love for Connor and her attraction to Rafe.



Dark of the Moon is Brittany’s story and her struggles when in the aftermath of her full moon, she hasn’t shifted. It encompasses her fears of rejection, her longing to be a wolf and her love for a Shifter (who shall remain nameless to eliminate the risk of spoiling the first two books :-), who may not accept her once he realises she’s not a Shifter. I adored this installment because Brittany was a brilliant female lead – she was strong and feisty and shares a lot of similar attributes to Vampire Academy’s Rose. Girl power, LOL! I also love that this book dealt with old-fashioned human love outside the mind-blowing bonding process of the Shifters. Also, another fabulous installment with plenty of danger, bringing that particular subplot from the first two novels to a dramatic close. (And may I just say that the gym scene in this book was EXCELLENT!).



Shadow of the Moon is the fourth book in the series and introduces a new character, Hayden and her own dilemmas with Daniel. We meet a new foe in this book and all of the Dark Guardians are back for more danger and thrilling action, this time on a more mystical level rather than the threats humanity pose to the Shifters. I loved the Winter setting (yay for snow!) and I also loved that Hawthorne answered questions about Shifters that were raised in the earlier books through Daniel’s character.

Overall, this series is a light, fun read but with still enough conflict to have you on the edge of your seat. All the characters are intertwined throughout the four books, establishing familiarity with the Dark Guardian world. I hope there are more to come (perhaps the next installment should centre around Seth’s mate…?) and I definitely feel this series is perfect for any YA Paranormal Romance fans out there!

Read this if you liked; Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. All the guys are as sweet as Sam and the pace is a lot quicker.

Get this book at a great price from; Big W ($8.84 ea AUD) or the Book Depository ($9.36 ea AUD)

Rating; 5 Horses!
 

2 comments:

Rebecca Chapman said...

Hi, found your blog on the blogger directory. I love that you offer tips about cheap places to buy the books. Im another australian blogger and I know how hard it is to find reasonably priced books. Have you ever tried The Book Depository? Anyway, just popping by, I love finding new Australian bloggers

Emma Kate "Coops" @ Whats Cracking Coops said...

Hey!! Thanks very much for the feedback! :) I decided to include it mainly because I was so tired of Aussies paying SO much extra :( In some cases $30 per book! LOL. Anyway, yes, I have used the Book Depository! It's fabulous! My only critique is that the usual 2 week wait it takes for books to get here is REALLY Hard if you have nothing else to read, LOL :D ;)But otherwise it is brilliant! Thanks for stopping by :)