Book It With Briana

It has been a long time since I have read a story about vampires. As many others I went through a phase when Twilight came out and devoured as many stories about them as possible, but it has been years since I read one that established them as main drivers of the story.

I knew that in reading The Bride by Ali Hazelwood I would be traversing a world separated into the different species of Vampyres and Weres and would be told by a Vampyre they call Misery (a truly unfortunate name that didn’t have enough jokes made about it in my opinion). I was able to finish the book in around 8 hours so I would consider it to be a fairly easy read.

Overall I think the story was average for a Shifter/Vampire retelling, but it had moments of strong chemistry between Misery and Lowe (the Alpha husband) that made me keep reading. I am still left adrift after finishing The Night Prince and was hopeful that this book would help me move on, but unfortunately I did not find the plot in this story to be captivating enough. Unfortunately, I was not left feeling much after finishing The Bride which was a bit disappointing since I have seen this book recommended often on social media.

I love the premise behind the story, a woman who would do anything to save her one and only friend, including become the bride of her species enemy, but Misery felt passive in a lot of ways. She is established as a character that her own people view as expendable, and even in the end that didn’t change. She was willing to lay her life down without second thought for someone she only knew for a short while. I did not feel her desperation throughout the story unless we were given a reminder that her friend was gone. I wish we were given a bit more determination to find answers instead of having her sitting around until something else was going on and she decided to break away or until someone else pushed for action.

We were told on more than one occasion that Misery was proficient in self defense, but we were never shown anything to truly support that until a small part at the end of the series. It feels almost inauthentic to the hostility she faced in the shifters lands that she just went along with pretty much any order she was given, other than breaking into a few rooms to snoop.

I am aware that this story was written mainly for the romance, which I would say is the strongest part of the narrative. Lowe showcases a healthy amount of pining, and I appreciated the excerpts at the beginning of the chapters to key us as the audience into what he has been feeling. My main critique with the love story is mainly the communication around why he didn’t want to be honest with Misery, even when she was being honest with him about her feelings for him.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and would probably have enjoyed it even more if my mind wasn’t still hooked on another. I’ve heard that Ali Hazelwood has other good books, so I might be reading more from her soon. For now, I would love to hear what everyone else thinks. I can definitely be persuaded to change some of my opinions if I missed something on this late night (don’t ask me how much sleep I got) read-through.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to some of my thoughts. If there are any books you would recommend I read next or give my thoughts on please leave them in the comments below.