Book Review
Title: Dark Secret (Darkhaven Saga #1)
Author: Danielle Rose
Genre: YA/Paranormal
Rating: ***
Review: Dark Secret isn’t something I’d normally read as I have read anything paranormal romance type books since I was in my Twilight phase (and we all know what that did to us), but I was willing to give it a chance because it sounded interesting. The opening chapter introduces us to 17 year-old Ava Lopez, a novice spirit witch and the self-appointed guardian of all the witches and humans in Darkhaven and is tasked with keeping watch for vampires. Ava as a spirit witch, she has the gift of clairvoyance and for the weeks leading up to the upcoming ritual she has been feeling something very dark. When her mother forbids her from hunting one night she plans to go anyway, she has a personal connection as her father was killed by vampires. Ava seems to be an oddity among witches who don’t necessarily use combat tactics opting instead to rely on their magic but it is only at its strongest at specific times in certain seasons. After sneaking out she meets her best friend, Liv, who belongs to a different coven to hunt with her and despite being a fire witch, one of the strongest types, Liv has never trained in combat the way Ava has and it isn’t long before they come across vampires.
Liv and Ava take on three vampires and while Ava quickly kills the first and second, the final vampire is the leader and he manages to bite Ava before Liv kills him with her magic. Liv manages to stop the bleeding but Ava needs a healing potion but she also immediately realises this feeling she has isn’t from being bitten and that another vampire is waiting for her and he promises her that they will meet again before he vanishes into the night, and Ava knows when he returns he is coming from her. However, this is quickly put from her mind when she returns home and has to deal with her mother but despite her mother’s anger she is quickly healed and put to bed. The next night is the time for the full moon ritual and Ava is quick to prepare but when the ritual actually begins the coven are attacked by vampires and Ava does the only thing she knows, she fights back. However, she is bitten and drained almost to the point of death when she asks a vampire to save her as she sees no other way of surviving so he turns her. When she awakes she is a vampire and is banished from her coven by her own mother but her witch and vampire blood collide meaning she has far more control than any other newborn vampire as Jasik, her creator informs her alongside his brother Malik, they leave before the sun rises and the witches turn their power against Ava.
Ava tries to believes that she hasn’t turned into a vampire but transitioned into something more powerful and perhaps more like herself but when she has to feed and kill for the first time she realises that she can never be the same again and it hurts her deeply. It seems that the vampires that attacked her coven where rogue vampires and Jasik and his group were there to kill but a few escaped including the one that drained Ava and her anger is immense. When she returns with Jasik, his leader isn’t pleased that he has sired another vampire without her permission but Ava’s bond to him forces her to protect him but she constantly has the goal in mind of returning home when she has learned to control her bloodlust. Through Malik she learns that bloodlust can only be controlled with time and it was confirmed what Ava thought but as witches are mortal she knows time isn’t on her side if she wants to be with her family again. She also refuses to train with Malik as she already knows how to fight even if it isn’t as a vampire so she doesn’t see the point in it. However, this get interesting when one of the other vampires finds Ava’s cross and stake, she can explain the cross as it was her father’s but the stake she is forced to admit is for protection when she returns to her coven and we already know the vampires are never going to allow this now she knows where they live but her allegiance will always be to her family or so she believes.
One night some humans are attacked and Jasik’s group are going to aid them and despite protests Ava sneaks out to help but things don’t go to plan. The rogues attacking the humans are led by the same rogue that drained Ava and he will stop at nothing until he possesses her. In the first small fight Ava accidently injures a small child and this does a major blow to her confidence and she agrees to train with Malik in order to control herself, not just her bloodlust. On the way back to the manor the rogue attacks them again and Ava shows Jasik, Malik and the others why she was chosen as the vampire hunter quickly dispatching three of them but takes quite a few blows herself and the lead rogue manages to escape. Afterwards she begins training with Malik and it seems she can’t access any of her witch magic despite sharing dreams with her mother which is something she shouldn’t be able to do anymore. In the final pages we jump forward so Ava has been a vampire a month as she watches over her coven’s ritual in order to protect them and she swears that even if they won’t take her back she will protect them no matter the cost. Overall, Dark Secret was a good start to the series, it wasn’t anything amazing but it was good. A solid 3 stars.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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