Another Irish writer – always good to find one of those
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Book One in the Ava Delaney Series.
Thirst is a nice change of pace from the typical vampire universe – the vamps in this book are not the usual heartthrobs of modern YA stories. In fact, they’re quite unattractive and smell of rot. Lovely! Their bodies begin to decompose if they don’t have fresh blood, and they’re not exactly great in the bedroom department. No fresh blood means no particular body parts getting what they need to perform…
Ava isn’t your usual kick-ass heroine either. She gets pinned down a lot, is as physically strong as about the average woman, until she learns to embrace who she is.
Ava is a twenty-five year old hybrid (human-vampire) living in an unnamed city in Ireland. She keeps to herself, too afraid to get close to humans in case she attacks them. Her mother was bitten while she was in the womb, and as a result, Ava ingested poison. She’s a daywalker and thirsts for human blood, but she lacks vampire strength, or so she believes.
When she saves a human from becoming a vampire’s meal, she unintentionally binds that human, Carl, to her. He becomes her slave, and Ava sets about trying to undo this accident. She meets a vampire hunter, Peter, and some kind of magical being, Eddie. Suddenly, Ava is the hunted one. In a world where vampires haven’t been able to turn humans in over a century, Ava represents hope to their dying race.
This is a quick, enjoyable read, just right if you want to spend a few lazy hours curled up on the couch. There’s no real romance here, unless you count Carl’s minion-like adoration for Ava, or the tentative attraction between Ava and Peter. It’s actually refreshing for a vampire novel not to have any love triangles or angsty romantic undertones.
Peter was probably the most interesting character for me. We know his family was killed by supernaturals, but how? He’s not your typical six foot plus hunk of a hero either. Peter’s an average attractive guy who can handle himself. I liked Peter and hope he plays a bigger role in the second novella in this series, Taunt.
One thing I felt the story lacked was setting. There wasn’t much description in this book, so I found I had to simply imagine my own landscape. Also, there was a lot of dialogue. That being said, it piqued my interest enough to go and buy the second in the series. Thirst is free from Amazon, so why not give it a go, and see if this series is for you. ****
Check it out on Amazon (It’s FREE) and Goodreads
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Has anyone read or heard of the Ava Delaney series?
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Emma's Ramblings on Supernatural Fiction 
No romance with vampires? Deal breaker.
Not for me. Sometimes it’s nice to take a breather from all the paranormal romance.
Ok good point. And I do like things that are different…
It definitely sounds different from the usual vampire novels. I’ve always liked the idea of vampire hybrids and the juggling of two worlds. I fell in love with that concept from an anime movie, Vampire Hunter D. Insightful review, Emma!
It is different to most of the paranormal stuff going around at the moment. And I really like the character Peter. He’s a normal guy, not out of this world, and therefore relatable. Hopefully we’ll get more of his backstory in the next book.
I’m not familiar with Vampire Hunter.
Vampires + Ireland = To read list!
Great.
I love Claire’s books! I haven’t read all of the Ava Delaney series, but I’m getting there. I would definitely suggest this series to anyone who likes a little of the paranormal.
I’m glad I stumbled across Claire’s stuff. Must read Taunt soon.
Sounds pretty interesting, and the cover is very cool! Thanks for sharing will go grab my copy off Amazon!:O)
Yay. Glad you grabbed a copy, Michelle.
:O)
This definitely sounds like a difference change of pace where vampires are concerned! It does get a bit repetitive after a while.
It really is a nice change of pace. I recommend it for a lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon.
Just got it. And I love this cover 🙂
Woohoo. I love the colours in the cover.
I actually got it from Amazon for free a while ago, but it never totally convinced me… I liked hearing your thoughts about it, now I feel more confident to give it a try! 🙂
Hi Emma Well I didn’t know I was reading a book from an Irish author a refreshing change, as I am English and took this to be American. I am currently reading thirst as a bedside read, 🙂 enjoying too as I was getting a bit bored with the current books which all seemed to be going on the same lines. Don’t get me wrong I love paranormal romance but hmm never mind.. I do like the cover of Thirst the cross means a lot in the story “Yes” and the binding across the eye’s you could make anything of unless you read it. Very Gothic I think anyhow but that is me, Love the write up I guess I will finish my Thirst tonight, …
I think it’s because the setting isn’t really described, you can’t get much of an Irish vibe from the story. Sometimes it’s good to be able to dream up your own landscape.
The cover is a beauty.
Thanks, Debs.
A novel where no one is super hunky or adamantly beautiful, and the vampires are rotty and deadish. I love it. Nice cover too.
Average looking folks – quite refreshing. This is the anti-sparkly vampire novel.
Sounds very interesting! I’ll have to check this out! Thanks!
It’s a quick read if you do check it out. I breezed through it in a few hours.
This sounds really different and the cover is awesome. I also like the setting. Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
The cover is gorgeous, definitely. I love her hair. 🙂