A New Vampire World Has "Risen"

I received a free ARC of Risen from NetGalley and Entangled Publishing in exchange for an open, honest review.

In case you haven't heard about Risen yet, here's the quick blurb to get you up to speed:

My aunt has been kidnapped by vampires, and it’s up to me to save her. Only…I had no idea vampires existed. None. Nada. I’m more of a reader than a fighter, and even though I’d been wishing to escape my boring existence in the middle of nowhere, I’d give anything to have it back now if it meant my aunt was safe. Then there’s the vampire Sebastian, who seems slightly nicer than most of the bloodsuckers I’ve run into so far. Yes, he’s the hottest being I’ve ever come across, but there’s no way I can trust him. He swears he’s helping me get answers, but there’s more to his story. Now I’m a key pawn in a raging vampire war, and I need to pick the right ally. But my chances of surviving this war are slim at best, when the side I choose might be the one that wants me dead the most.

Check out the excerpt of Cole Gibsen's Risen, below, then continue on to hear my thoughts of this new take on vampires.

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Excerpt from Risen:

“Don’t say it like that, Charlie. I wanted to protect you.” She tugs on the edge of my cardigan, pulling me toward her. “I love you. You’re the most important thing in my life, do you understand?”

There’s a desperation in her eyes that tightens my throat. Swallowing hard, I nod.

She lets go of me with a sigh. “Maybe I took it too far.” She sweeps her dreadlocks over her shoulder and twists them tightly. “All I’ve ever wanted was to keep you safe.”

Safe. The world spirals, cold and slippery, down my spine. “What are you so afraid of?”

She opens her mouth only to shut it again.

Jax growls.

We turn as he claws at the door.

“The only thing there is to be afraid of,” she whispers. “The monsters.”

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I know it's going to sound wrong or make me look totally crazy , but I cheered at the end of the excerpt. Since I was little, I've loved the monsters (aside from a brief period of time in which I was scared of EVERYTHING).

I've devoured books about vampires, werewolves, demons, shifters, djinn, Fae (sometimes good, sometimes bad), and anything else that remotely goes "bump" in the night, so I was pretty excited to find a novel that took one of my favorite monsters and added its own spin.

The Monsters & Mythos

Gibsen didn't just cash in on the tried and true vampire mythos; she's created her own. Risen doesn't just have standard bloodsuckers- there are three vampire courts and each has their own strengths (and disdain for one another).

First, there's the Anima- vampires who want to coexist peacefully with humans and only feed on willing donors and animals. They look the most human, and have itty bitty fangs (slightly larger than humans'). Cool thing- they can transform into animal form- usually bird.

Next, we have the Mentis clan, who see humans as their own personal Happy Meals. They're the charismatic ones (or at least their Compulsion will make you think so). On top of that, they're ridiculously attractive WITHOUT any ridiculous sparkling.

Case in point:

Last, and definitely least, are the Corpus. Take one guess what they're like. Corpus vampires are the Great White sharks- they'll eat just about anything, including each other. They have the power to move through the shadows, and that's a good thing because you'd definitely rather not look at one (think: Walking Dead).

The three clans have been at war for a long time, and poor Charlie has found herself thrust into the middle of it.

Aside from the clans, Gibsen has created an unexpected backstory for her vampires, tying them closely to another supernatural group that many readers might be surprised by (totally not going to spoil that). Trust me, it's an interesting twist, and I give a lot of credit to any author that can take my favorite creatures and reinvent them into something new. There's a lot of world-building and backstory left, but Risen provides enough that readers get pulled in and can eagerly follow along.

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The Main Characters

Charlie is fun and surprisingly normal considering she's grown up in a one-bedroom cottage with her completely hippie, soap-making aunt, Rachel. She faces her new chaotic and entirely life-threatening reality with what I consider a healthy case of sarcasm:

Come on, your life is most likely in danger and you still have the spunk to whip out the sarcasm? A girl after my own heart. As far as Charlie knows, she's a regular girl aside from the mountain-woman method of her upbringing. Lucky for us, and her reluctant savior, Sebastian, there's more to her than she ever thought possible.

Speaking of fantasy crushes, enter Sebastian. At first, he has that whole brooding and deadly thing going on, but there's a personality lurking underneath that ice. He's been a vampire for who knows how long (he actually has no clue), and he's a bit out of touch with mortal life.

I'm not going to lie, he grew on me real quick. There's something endearing about his snark and his own naivete about his origins. Charlie starts to make other parts of his personality rise to the surface, and I think he has the potential to be an awesome character with a lot of growth in future installments.

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Overall Impressions

Risen is an engaging and well-paced step into a new world of vampires. Gibsen's characters have a quick chemistry that makes them work and fight well together.

The conflict is clearly explained, and there are a lot of complexities to it that give Gibsen room to continue developing this first story arc into a pretty awesome sequel.

ARC or not, I'll be ordering the next book, so I can find out more about Charlie (who and WHAT she is), Sebastian (where in the world is he from???), Opal, and Jax (is that REALLY a dog?).

BUY HERE: https://tinyurl.com/ycw882qb