Reviews are such a vital impact to an Author’s ability to promote and sell their work-whether traditional or Indie. Now, being an Indie Author myself, I dare say it is even more important for an Indie Author due to Traditional Publishing generally provides some assistance in marketing & advertising. Is this bias? Maybe a bit, but the fact of the matter is your review can influence another reader to take a chance on any single Author-whether well-known or brand-spanking-new (such as myself!).
Here are reviews Snow has received since it’s publication date back on July 31st, 2017! If you’ve been considering on whether or not to read Snow, give this a read :)!
***All reviews were taken from Amazon and/or GoodReads, SPOILERS MAY BE CONTAINED BELOW THIS LINE!
Mikayla Elliot (Goodreads Author)
Gemma McLaughlin‘s review Jul 21, 2018 it was amazing
I’ve been trying to come up with a world that describes ‘Snow’ and honestly, just Wow. Straight away I was blown away by the detailed graphic transition in our protagonist, Neva, becoming a vampire in the first chapter. It was intense. For a completely fictional experience, it felt like Mikayla was reliving the torment to bring the thoroughness in the narrative. It’s been a while since a book has managed to grip me so quickly the way that this one did. I read it in one sitting which kept me up until 3am. It was worth it.
‘My body was an offering to the sadist as his bite rooted itself firmly into my veins. My heart became a cage filled with hummingbirds suffering from rabies; the fluttering and beating was going to break through my sternum and leave a beautiful display of my remaining life, an artist expression covering the room from ceiling to floor. My mind was a blistering of sensors; everything was lighting across my brain, and if seen from the inside, would have held such an array of colours it could have lit the world on fire.’
Neva, or rather Lady Neva as she is now known, is pulled into the world of vampires within the first gripping chapter. With flashbacks into the past, you discover that she was a widow who had lost her unborn child after her knight perished in battle. She has spent her years living at her family’s bakery with her parents, sisters, brothers and nieces all under one roof. When Neva suddenly became singled out to be the next to court Lord Argenal, she knew that nothing would ever be the same as she made her way to his castle. Little did she realise how true that would be.
Waiting for her in the castle was the last woman Lord Argenal courted, Rose, before he had her thrown back into the streets when she suggesting marriage. Nothing repulsed him more than to be tied down to one woman forever. Rose had transformed into a creature that through uncontrollable jealously, attacked Neva to kill her in front of Lord Argenal as punishment.
We’re quickly introduced to Thedryk, a 1200 year old vampire who was commanded to keep watch of Neva. As she was at the brink of death by Rose’s hand, Thedryk made the decision to change her into an immortal being in order to save her, as well as other things. It turns out that Neva has been part of this world before, as well as many other lives she has lived since then. Returning back to the world of vampires, she is the key to ending the war with demons.
It’s a lot for Neva to take in, but she doesn’t fight it. Her unique abilities allow her to see into the past, to witness the lives of others as well as her own past lives. It’s enough to convince her that for now she needs to follow Thedryk to the ‘House’, home of the council of vampires and their queen; Lazy Eliza.
‘His touch felt like pure energy coursing through my veins, and memories surged into my mind. I had remembered but a few pieces from previous lives, previous memories of seeing Thedryk at different times. My mouth opened slightly as the memories burned my heart and mind revealing different ears I had lived; Thedryk had been either an image in those memories or actively engaging my different selves. In each memory, those eyes, always trying to be hard and unyielding, could not hide the sadness that emanated between our souls.’
The book overall was fantastic, I loved the detail in the scenery both inside and out. Every time Neva walked into a room, you felt like you were there with her with the amount of detail laced into the writing. The characters were well written, Neva handles everything her new life throws at her as any person would. She gets scared, she feels ill when she’s pushed herself and her abilities too far, she asks questions only to discover more unanswered truths to the new world around her. I find her relationship with Thedryk intriguing, his love for her has lasted 1200 years from when she was known as Kareese, he’s witnessed every life she’s every had, even with other men, and his heart remained true. Even though Neva can see through her visions that Thedryk has always been there in one way or another, she’s feels the connection but can’t help but sometimes feel angry at him. He’s the one that transformed her into a vampire in this life and told her she could see her family again, which wasn’t possible at all.
‘”I recognise you do not trust me, I cannot blame you for that. I hope, with time, you will come to trust me.”
“As Kareese did?”
Pain touched the corners of Thedryk’s mouth; the muscles tightened ever so slightly across the facade of his face.’
I even found Zachariah fascinating as the bad guy. You know he’s up to something and it’s difficult to read the way he treats Eliza, but when he’s around his adopted daughter Amelia, you feel that there is more to him than the shady vampire he’s made himself out to be. Add his new identity as our very own Lord Vlad and you’ve got yourself a lovely spin to our already distinctive character.
I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
on January 3, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion & review
‘Snow’ by Mikayla Elliot is a dark, adventurous tale, which follows the a young woman named Neva.
A widow working in her family’s bakery, Neva is delivered to the local Lord– a distasteful man to say the least. Instead of marrying him however, she kills him and his jilted lover during her transition into her new life as a creature of the night.
The mystery and tension increases as Neva is whisked away by Lord Thedryk, one of the original ‘vampires’. As Neva learns more about this new world, she is both equal parts terrified and curious to see just how far the rabbit hole goes.
Overall Quality of the Story Line
★★★★✩
Four out of Five Stars
There is no doubt in my mind that Mikayla Elliot poured hours into crafting this dark and intriguing story line. The plot twists are well thought out, and it is clear that Elliot wrote the book cohesively with the end in mind.
I personally enjoyed reading a vampire centric novel with a storyline which has not been overdone, and avoids cliché. The elements of reincarnation, all vampires having different abilities, and love not being immune to time were refreshing and interesting.
The only reason ‘Snow’ earns four stars instead of five is the pacing. Elliot takes her time getting into the meat of the main storyline, and while everything is written beautifully, the first four – five chapters may not hold everyone’s attention.
Ability to surprise / hook / interest the reader
★★★✩✩
Three out of Five Stars
Elliot writes with finesse, her prose is gorgeous. The descriptions of the rooms, outfits, people, landscapes– all are painted in a vivid light. While at times I reveled in the vibrant descriptions, there were many other times where I found the action/tension/emotion slowed or all together negated by the interruption of over-description.
The moments of over-description coupled with moments of repeated words and some small point of view errors made this book difficult to ‘devour’ for me, personally. Typically I am a voracious reader, polishing off a book of this size in three days or less. Snow took me more than a month to complete, simply because I could not slip into the emotion of the page a flow, uninterrupted.
The above being said, Elliot does include some delightful and clever plot twists, some of which were indeed a surprise.
Spelling and Grammar
★★★★★
Five out of Five Stars
‘Snow’ reads as if it has been professionally edited, if there were any spelling or grammatical errors in Elliot’s text, I did not see them.
Dialogue Quality
★★★★✩
Four out of Five Stars
All the characters read with their own distinct and unique voice. This was important, as Neva interacts with many people, all with very different personalities, backgrounds, and motivations.
I felt that particularly between Thedryk and Neva there was some opportunity for Elliot to further perfect Thedryk’s dialogue. Given what he knows about her when they first meet, more clues or at least more subtle strangeness in his words could have been included to make the later revelation fall heavy more heavily upon the reader.
Depth of the Characters
★★★★✩
Four out of Five Stars
All of the characters were well developed and believable, with obviously rich backstories to fuel their in-story motivations. For that I sincerely applaud Elliot, the work she has put in is distinctly obvious.
This section loses a star however because of Neva. For me, it was difficult to become emotionally invested in her inner journey, and feel what she was feeling. She doesn’t consistently ask the questions I imagine a typical human would in her situation. Combined with her unwavering politeness and willingness to accept everything these strange creatures say to her as truth, it was hard to see her as ‘real’.
Overall Rating
★★★★✩
Four out of Five Stars
Overall, ‘Snow’ by Mikayla Elliot is a very well written and well edited piece of literature. If you are looking for a vividly descriptive non-cliché vampire novel, I would recommend this story to you.
