Shifters and Fae and Vampires Oh my Chloe Neill! haha
This book ended up on my radar when a few friends recommended the Chicagoland Vampire series to me recently. Then I noticed Wild Hunger was being released and it was a ‘spin off’, so I decided to give it a shot.
I was provided this ARC by Berkley via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So let’s get it started!
Wild Hunger is set around 20ish years after the closure of the Chicagoland Vampire series.
If you’re curious on how many books the series is, it’s 10. Ten books to get you here… OR you can start here. (I said it…. hahahha)
This book is a spin off and you can absolutely read it out of order BUT, you will have spoilers of the original series as you’re later in the same timeline. For me, this is not a big deal as I like reading backgrounds and will go back and read to get the full history.
This novel follows Elisa Sullivan, who is the child of the main characters from the original series and also the only known ‘born’ vampire. (aka she wasn’t made but birthed, and it’s a big deal) The story starts with Chloe Neill developing the back story of Elisa, her relationship to the main man, and also how she’s ‘struck out on her own’ from the family name.
“My smart and kind and beautiful girl.” He liked to say that, had been saying it for years, and had always put “beautiful” last. Whether it was true or not, he’d tell me it was the least important of the three. “You are smart,” he’d say. “You should be kind. And if you are, you’ll always be beautiful.”
― Chloe Neill, Wild Hunger
Wild Hunger was a bit slow to start. I understand the background and foundation needed to be built for the series but for the first 20% of the book, I was struggling to understand where we were going. Some things were hinted but nothing was connected fully. However, about 35% into the book you finally get the witty banter, the introduction of important side characters, and the love interest. This all GREATLY helped to start the plot moving.
Chloe Neill has given us an awesome main character and Elisa is super kick booty (keeping it PG here), along with the people she hangs with. Conner, our main man, is very supportive actually. His character, when introduced, even came off as more mature to me than Elisa’s and I liked that. I liked that a lot. Conner is fun, protective, and logical. I may even like him more than Elisa…. my favoritism for side characters strikes again. LOL *shrug*~ We also have Lulu! I like the idea of Lulu’s character and I hope to see more of her in later books. I need more insight and character development.
From page one of the book, there is a lot of political talk about the vampire hierarchy and I don’t mind it too much but it does come into play in almost every single chapter. Wild Hunger is very much a ‘set up’ book and is good for starting a new series but did leave me a bit wanting.
Overall, this book was a quick read and prepares the audience for a new series in the CLV story. It was enjoyable, had good action, and I will read book two when it’s released before deciding how I feel over all about the series.
- Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars
- Plot: 4 Stars
- Character Development: 3 Stars
- Dialogue: 4 Stars
- Writing: 3 Stars
I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys paranormal romance and fantasy. Chloe Neill has provided a great foundation and lift off for her next series.
Happy reading!!
~Ash
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