Hmph! . . . I am not exactly a fan of vampire stuff (well, except for 'Twilight Saga'), and this cover page almost scared me off. But tempting is the offer of a free book and so here I am. Larry is indeed blessed with an enchanting language, the narrative is so gripping that it is impossible to put it down without finishing.
Some of the plot can be predicted, but not the climax. And isn't their some truth in Laszlo's question? If there is a devil that sucks your blood out and turn you into a blood longing vampire, shouldn't there be a God to cure the virtuous? Too bad this book too follows the age old dictum; once a vampire, always a vampire.
The total atmosphere is eerie, which suits to the theme. But I would have preferred some comic relief in between. There is the absence of a parallel plot which is often felt as the story goes on in the same place circling around a few characters. On the whole a good book for one time reading and much better if you are travelling.

Having been approached by Larry Rodness to review Perverse, I was intrigued by the blurb. It's not often I read about Goths, let alone second-generation Goths!

Being honest though, I wasn't overly impressed with the beginning of the book. While it wasn't bad, I was a little disconcerted by the disconnected narrative of Emylene's life that led up to the start of the plot. There's setting the scene, and then there's over-egging it a bit. I didn't understand why such a big deal was made about Emylene being a 'princess' (except maybe to explain why she acted so spoilt), and certain characters (such as Nostra-Dame) have no bearing on the ultimate plot, so I'm sorry to say that if I hadn't agreed to review it, I probably would have put it down.

However, upon hitting the middle of the book, the plot got decidedly better and I found it really enjoyable. It was fairly different to anything I'd read before, and I loved the idea of there being a certain part of town that offers your wildest dreams at night in exchange for a piece of your soul and a slightly hungover feeling. Then, there were different aspects of Goth lifestyle I found interesting and were explained well by Rodness. Once it got going, it was fast-paced, and Emylene became less annoying as she had more of a purpose. There's also a sense of dystopia the further in I got (revenants taking over parts of town and slowly expanding), and you should know how much I love those by now!

So, while I admit it was a weak start, the book gets a healthy 3 stars from me for pulling it back and creating an unusual and interesting plot.

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