JAY MARINITCH, witch and vampire hunter, shouldn't be among the glittering array of predators at the vampire empress Kendra's fabled Heathen Holiday bash. So...why is he there? Of the many lures that have pulled him into the territory of his natural prey, perhaps the strongest is this: Jay Marinitch just doesn't do sensible.
Jay has always hurtled through life without a plan, often finding himself in dangerous situations--like Kendra's party. During the course of the evening, Jay meets a beautiful, totally psychotic vampire and finds a shapeshifter lying on the forest floor, her hair streaked with moonlight.
A hunter is supposed to kill, and a witch...a witch can make any number of choices. Against his better judgment, Jay comes to the aid of both the unstable vampire and the mysterious shapeshifter. Could a more thoughtful being foresee and avert the chaos that will be unleashed? Perhaps...
Complex magic must be channeled, dangerous alliances must be forged, competing desires must be overcome. Will it all be enough? And if it isn't--what then?
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has created a mesmerizing world filled with fascinating creatures sure to thrill both new and longtime fans.
I found myself in yet another dilemma with Amelia Atwater-Rhodes's Promises to Keep, the final book in the Den of Shadows series. Perhaps it's been too long since I was in this world, or perhaps it was all the new characters and worldbuilding were just too much to absorb. Something obviously didn't click for me with the latter half of the series. I'm not sure what it was to be honest, but I kept hoping to be wowed with these books like I was in the beginning of the series.
This one started off pretty strong, we have Jay from All Just Glass, as our main character and hero. And since he basically came from my favorite book of the later half of this series, that spoke volumes! But yet, there was still a disconnect for me. I could never quite grasp what the main issue was. Why it was so dire. Who was the villain or somewhat villain. It was all very convoluted.
I did like seeing, at least in mentioning, beloved favorite characters. There was Sarah and Nikolas, Jager who I haven't read since Midnight Predator and even my favorite Aubrey, but I had wished we got to see him and Jessica (because yes, I still believe they are together despite a lack of mentioning her name!). I also felt like things that happened in Midnight Predator were important here. At least in some respect, because it mentions Midnight and the slave trade it dealt in.
Though I don't think a series re-read would've helped. Maybe a bit with Midnight Predator, but only vaguely. That's my sense of things anyway.
In this one Jay basically works with a vampire trying to help save the world, or perhaps just the paranormal world. Many started to get sick about halfway through and no one could figure out what was wrong or how to fix it. How things actually get fixed is still a bit of mystery for me.
I hate having to give yet another low rating to a beloved childhood author, but there was just something about this one that I couldn't connect with. Maybe it was because there were always so many new characters. I'm all for having different characters tell their story throughout a series, but I'd at least like some prior introduction to them. Kelley Armstrong does this with her Otherworld series and even when starting her YA series that were apart of that world, I never felt confused. Each trilogy dealt with the same group of teens and it was easier to follow along. Here, it's like the first book each and every time. While you struggle to adapt and get to know characters, but the end, it means nothing because the next book you basically start all over again.
If I were to recommend Amelia's books to you, I really would just stick with the first four books in the Den of Shadows series. And perhaps All Just Glass, because that's basically Shattered Mirror's sequel and was a pretty good read itself! I really enjoyed the first four in this series and like to refer to them as my "old school paranormal YA" titles. They're not like the ones I read from authors today, but they were really something special to me in my teens when I was craving paranormal books and there was a serious lack of them in the YA section.
Overall Rating 2.5/5 stars
Sigh, I felt the same way towards MANY of the books that I loved when I was a child. I loved them, then a new book comes out when I'm way older, and I find myself not liking them at all D: It's probably because I matured over the years and preferences have changed. Always a sad day when it happens, though.
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