Master by Bridget Morrow

"All she could think about was how careless she'd been, and how now she was dead"

The book Master takes place during slavery. The year is 1861 when we meet Lila, a 17 year old slave. She had just witnessed the lynching of her boyfriend, Percy. She is captured by Percy's killers (one of them being her owner, Mr. Benjamin).  She struggles but resigns herself to meeting the same fate as Percy. Just when she thinks her life is over, Lila is rescued by a mysterious man. She is not scared of him. When he removes the noose from around her neck and lifts her off the ground, she asks him if he is God. Lila is in and out of consciousness for several days. She finally wakes up but she doesn't feel the same. She learns the name of her rescuer, Alex, and that she is now like him. A vampire.

I first heard of this boook on the Goodreads webiste. The premise of the book piqued my interest. I was in my vampire stage after reading the Twilight books and the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. It took almost a year for me to find a website where I could order the book. I was so excited when I ordered the book from Publish America and it arrived a couple of weeks later.

Alex and Lila has a love that is like no other. Alex fell in love with Lila when she was an infant. He knew that he was going to "turn her". He didn't count on it being so soon. Reading this and it's only 20 pages into the book, I couldn't wait to dive into the life of Alex and Lila. A love that strong and passionate makes for a volatile and interesting relationship, especially since they are vampires which only amplifies the emotion.

Unfortunately, the focus o fthe majority of the book was not on Alex and Lila, but on Sally and other characters, which Alexa and Lila were a part of. The vampires were secondary characters in my opinion. I wanted more of Alex and Lila without Sally. I could have cared less about Sally and her life.  This was not what I expected. When the plot would shift from Alex & Lila and onto someone I had no interest in, I was disappointed. You can't tease the reader with this great love between two vampires and not write in detail about that love! I felt that Bridget Morrow, in her writing, would all of a sudden remember, "oh yeah. I need to write that Alex and Lila are madly in love". And then she'd move on to another character.  I know that due to their living circumstances, Sally was an important person in their life. But I didn't think it warranted being the majority of the book. 

I was ready for the book to be over. My disappointment continued with each turn of the page. Maybe I set my expectations too high.

It's an easy read. Some parts were a little confusing due to flashbacks or references to events that happened in that the reader was not aware of or that wasn't explained clearly. 

Don't expect this book to be like other paranormal romances or vampire books out there. 

My rating: 2.5/5

Fall into Reading Challenge - Update

One week into the challenge and I've already finished two books and I'm halfway through my third. Woo! I am on a roll. Thanks to the challenge, my summer book purchase pile is slowly dwindling. I think I may actually be able to finish my book list by the December deadline.

Here's my updated list:

Books I need to Finish:

Black Hills

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Living Dead in Dallas

Morrigan's Cross

Books I've purchased but haven't read:

Feminista

For Colored Girls...

Master (currently reading)

Club Dead

Valley of Silence

Push

Say You're One of Them

I'm tempted to add more books to my list since I'm on a roll. But I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Happy Reading!!

Fall into Reading Challenge 2009

I found another reading challenge for me to join. Oh boy! Happy days!!

This is how the Fall into Reading Challenge works:

This challenge is hosted by Katrina from Callapidder Days. I found the challenge post via Bookmagic.

1. Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this fall. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like. (Also, feel free to modify your list during the challenge if it’s not working for you.)
2. Write a blog post containing your list and link it to this post.
3. Get reading! The challenge goes from September 22nd through December 20th.
4. Check out other participants' lists and add to your own to read someday pile.
   

Write a post about your challenge experience in December, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how Fall Into Reading went for you. But remember: this is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun. As long as you do some reading this fall and enjoy it!