Anyone who reads my reviews, I think there's two of you now, knows that I generally stay away from young adult. However, it seems, recently, that I've been hit with some truly fantastic books in the genre, and knowing how much I love Sam Kadence's alter ego, it only seemed fair that I try out one of her young adult books. The fact that 'Evolution' has a world where vampires and the supernatural are "out" didn't hurt my desire, either.

Genesis (Gene) Sage is seventeen, living on his own, and the lead singer of Evolution. He has a job as a waiter at a gay club, and he sees ghosts. One night, on his way home, he accidentally runs over Kerstrande Petterson, former lead guitarist of a well known rock band and a vampire, although Gene doesn't know that last part when they meet. In a strange, or not so strange, twist of fate, Kerstrande ends up recruiting Gene, and Evolution, for the record company he part owns. But this book isn't that cut and dried. Not even close. It's not so simple as vampire rocker takes teen band to stardom, while lead singer and vamp fall in love.

There's darkness all around Kerstrande, which only Gene can see. Kerstrande's sire is trying to take over the entire city, and with it, Gene, and being signed by a record company isn't nearly as exciting as it should've been. Gene's life is filled with strange happenings, and for a guy who can see ghosts, he's still pretty innocent about life. "Like a child, he felt everything, saw everything, gave himself to everything without hesitation. I didn’t know how he had survived so long without being tainted by the brutal real world, but it just made me want him more."

'Evolution' is a very dark ride. It is, by no means, light or fluffy. Not even in the same realm as those two words. At times, I adored Gene and I wanted to protect him. At other times, I wanted to smack him and tell him to wake up. Kerstrande is a whole different guy, and one I had a very difficult time warming up to. Although, to be honest, that's more my fault than the author’s. I think I had a preconceived notion of how I expected him to behave, and Kerstrande was nothing like that. As to the story, it's complicated and not easy. At times it depressed me, and then it would turn and reveal something completely unexpected. Did I like it? Hmm. Like is a tame word. It made me think, and it made me feel. Sometimes, that's a whole lot better than like.

NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

Read the full review on Bookaholics Not-So-Anonymous.

Note: This ARC was provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a refreshingly different story from the usual vampire fare that you find in the urban fantasy genre. The vampire culture here has a familiar feel to it but the author also puts a creative spin on things. The story tends to be somewhat dark and gritty but then vampires aren't supposed to automatically evoke thoughts of sparkles and sentimentality because they are what they are: bloodsucking creatures who have been known to kill. With the music industry as its backdrop, the book evokes thoughts of Faust, a fictional character who makes a pact with the devil to attain knowledge and pleasure, only here we have a sire creating vampires in order to make members of a band become immortal and legendary, whether they choose to accept it or not.

The story does end on a cliffhanger, so don't expect to get resolutions to Genesis and Kerstrande's relationship or the future of Evolution. Cliffhangers are frustrating (and evil!), but when it comes to books like these, they whet your appetite, enough so you can't help but anticipate the release of the next one in the series, no matter how long you have to wait. Book two, entitled Evolution: Genesis is slated for release in October of this year, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that it'll live up to my already high expectations. That's what happens when the predecessor is actually quite good--you want the wait to be worthwhile. Evolution has certainly set the bar pretty high as far as I'm concerned and I'm giving this first in a series five stars. ♥

This book had a LOT of potential, I just hated the execution. I had so many questions that were left unanswered entirely too long, and things just didn't make sense. For instance, MC Genesis dropped out of school at 16 due to bullying. Ok, I get that. But he felt that he had to move out of his house, if he wasn't still in school. He seemed to have a great relationship with his mother, so I'm sure she'd much rather have had him living at home and getting a decent job, than out on his own at 16, working in a gay club. Not even sure how he was able to work there, underage as he was.

And then the other MC, Kerstrande, or KC as Gene called him, was so darned hot and cold. I know, it was the monster inside him, but I just couldn't really see why Genesis kept chasing after him.

Add this to some stuff that happened with Genesis and his friend Rob in high school, and Genesis comes across as a bit of a naive doormat. He's 17 at the time of this story, and at times he seems far older, causing me to forget how young he really was, but then he'd go chasing after KC again, and I'd be reminded.

Toss in the fact that Genesis isn't quite human either, the kid has signed a record contract, spends his time practicing, recording songs, doing interviews, even does a tribute show, and can't even afford to buy new shoes? Yeah, this just didn't make sense to me, in too many ways.