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Taste by Kate Evangelista
Taste
By Kate Evangelista
Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Zombie,
Published April 30th 2012 by Crescent Moon Press
I was sent a copy of this book by the author for an honest review
At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans. When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.
I admit I was quite nervous about reading this book. So many people had told me how good it was and I worried that I had built it up too much in my head and that I would end up disappointed. I am not sure what I was expecting but luckily I was not disappointed at all, in fact I really quite liked this book.
Taste is a little bizarre, I am not quite sure what genre this book slots into. The cover reminds me of all the angel books that are currently all the rage in. The writing and tone reminded me of the vintage YA vampire stage that happened a few years back (The Vampire Diaries, The Vampire Academy) but this book is neither about angels nor vampires. I guess the closest thing this book fits into is zombies but it is not really that either. The supernatural beings in this book eat human flesh but instead of being all groany and rotting these ‘zombies’ are super-hot. Not only are they gorgeous they are also genetically better than humans. They are stronger, faster, have better senses. I really love that Kate Evangelista has done something new and it was a risk that really, really worked. The pace of this book is quick and the action starts straight away. There is no lingering here you are thrown into the characters world immediately. Like most paranormal romance books you have to suspend reality for a while but things were never so unrealistic that it pulled me out of the book.
I loved the characters in this book. Phoenix is a bit of a hell raiser. She is also funny and sweet. I would have liked to see her show a little more concern for the situations she finds herself in but other than that I liked her. Demitri in the end he wasn’t and I did grow to like him very much. He is smart, brave and (for YA standards) really quite passionate. My favourite character was Luka. He was a lot more laid back than Demitri. He had an amazing personality and a great sense of humour. Luke was not passionate like Demitri, instead he was playful.
There is a love triangle in this book but it is not terribly heavy or dramatic. It is clear from pretty early on whom the winner in this romantic battle is. The romance itself is great and at times reminded me of the romances you read in adult PNR books. It was heavy and serious without being explicit.
Taste is a quick and enjoyable read that I really quite liked. It has all the elements that we are used to seeing in YA plus something a little new as well. It comes highly recommended by me.
4 out or 5 stars
