Rating: Summary: Absolutly Captivating Review: (At first I originally picked up Demon in My View, but when I learned about there being a first, I went and read this one before hand. )
I loved this book from start to finish! I was around 14-15 at the time of reading it (3 years ago) and it just captured me! No this may not be a great book if you want something really in-depth adult-ish, but this is great for a good read that will get you thinking. Infact it got me thinking so much I started writing my own book before I was even finished reading this! I even go back today and re-read it just to get that spark going!
This book is very imaginative and very adult for a 13 year old! I applaud her greatly on this acomplishment! And i have read the rest she has done, and have not been let-down once!
~Rista
Rating: Summary: The life of a Vampire. Review: I got the book In the forests of the Night as a late birthday present, 2 days ago. At first, i wasnt too sure who was Risika, or Rachel, but once the story became clear, at the second chapter or so, I fell completely in love with the book. I finished it in two hours. Risika before known as Rachel, is three hundred years old. she was killed in 1701 by Ather, who also becomes her blood mother, meaning that Risika is as powerful, or even more powerful than Ather. Aubrey is her rival. She hunts the nights to feed on humans. She seeks revenge on Aubrey for he killed her brtoher, but Aubrey is stong, and she fails a couple of times. At the end of the book, something unxepected (wont spoil it) happens, witch makes the book even better. Its a really good read. I must of read it about five times now, and can't get enough of it. After reading it, you might even feel as if you are a vampire, you are Risika, fighting for the shread of humanity you have left one second, and the next, admnitting to yourself that you are a vampire and cannot change that, seeking revenge for more than 300 years...
Rating: Summary: Well... Review: I have to review this book on two levels: the first, reviewing only this one book; and the second, reviewing this book in terms of how it stands up against her other books. In the Forests of the Night details a brief encounter between a 300-year-old vampire and her two-thousand-year-old rival. Risika, the protagonist, is presented to us on several different levels: as a human (called Rachel), as a young vampire, and as a mature vampire. Rachel the human is said to be timid, but then she does things like sneaks out of the house and snaps at Aubrey, the vamp who will later become her rival. Risika the young vampire is weak, confused, and still very much prey. She returns to home and Aubrey bullies her, giving her a cut across her chest and forcing her to see that her old life is gone forever. Risika the mature vampire is strong, bold, and yet at the same time timid and still afraid of Aubrey. She is also more than a little immature--a byproduct, I believe, of the author's own immaturity. The book was rushed. Risika's first two personas were revealed through brief flashbacks; her present through brief narratives. Because the whole thing was so short, I felt like I had no idea who Risika was or even why she was so darned scared of Aubrey. Risika was a bit wishy-washy. She couldn't seem to make up her mind about how she felt--which would be understandable, except that she'd lived for three hundered years. Instead of sympathizing with her, I couldn't help but wonder why the heck she couldn't just get over it, or at least have an interesting inner conflict. Aubrey was a decent villain, but their cataclysmic battle in the end had me thinking, "That's it?" As a reader of fantasy (and NO, I don't read Tolkein, who wants to have every single blade of grass Frodo steps on described in careful detail) I felt that the climax was severely lacking. Aubrey was also a bit too stereotypical, a bit too afternoon special, for my taste. He wasn't original; he was, once again, flawed as a byproduct of the author's immaturity. Now, standing up against her other books...with the exception of the superb Hawksong, this one is by far the best, which is partly why it had three stars. The others are silly little stories that have the feel of a remarkably extended writer's block--and trust me, I should know. So if you really, really want to buy it, go ahead, but be warned--you won't be getting your money's worth. This is a book to read when you have a spare hour in the car, going to your aunt's house in Ohio. If you want a good Atwater-Rhodes book, buy Hawksong. That was one of the better books I've read in awhile.
Rating: Summary: I so love this book! Review: I liked how it did the flash backs and explained how Rachel/Risika became a vampire. I also liked how Amelia explained in the book that her vampires were not allergic to sunlight, ect. I loved the ending. We find out what happens to Risika's twin brother Alexander. I recommend this book to everyone.
Rating: Summary: I have to give the author some credit, but... Review: I must be honest. I did not really like this book at all, mainly because it did not have what I expected or wanted. I wanted some romance, and a book with more substance. On the other hand, I know that Amelia Atwater-Rhodes was but 13 when she wrote this, so going by that, I think this book is very good. I mean, c'mon, I could never write a book that good, especially at that age! I applaud the author on her writing, because it is good, I just did not like the storyline personally.
Rating: Summary: Kristen's review Review: I usually dont like books and with this book I could not put it down. It is one of the best books that I have ever read.
Rating: Summary: Great Debut Novel! Review: It's absolutly amazing to see someone my age write a book and have it published. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes is an amazing author, and should get major credit for writing at her age. This is her first novel, so there are some minor flaws but it doesn't take away from the quality of this book. Basically, this story is about Risika, a 300 year old vampire who struggles battles between human manners/morals and vampire ways. Soon, as the story continues you meet Aubrey, an even older vampire, who threatens Risika and her tiger Tora. The story has a alternating sequence from 1701 to the present. This book is full of action and suspence that'll make you want to read other books by this author, and you will! Amelia Atwater-Rhodes is treamendous, and if you are looking for other books by her you should try "Demon in My View" and "Shattered Mirror."
Rating: Summary: Tiger, Tiger! Burning Bright! Review: Risika, as you may know from other reviews, is a 300-year old vamp that lives in a New England town. Even since Risika, or Rachel(her birth name) was "changed", she has hated another vampire, named Aubrey, for killing her brother. Though we don't really find out very much about Risika's character, except through her relationships with others(her family, Aubrey, the tiger, etc., this book is still highly entertaining.
Yes, you hear the reviewers who say,"She copied Anne Rice" or "Her writting is primative", but really who cares whether or not a book is well-written.(As for the Anne Rice comments, I wouldn't know because I haven't read her work). What Atwater-Rhodes has done is create a work that not only inspires a younger generation of writers, but she actually creates an enjoyable read. I would much rather read something good that a tiresome, well-written novel.
But-as in every book-there are some things that got on my nerves. For example the countless amount of times she used the word aura, and how Risika's relationship with the tiger wasn't explored as it should have been. The book was just to short. I look forward to reading more of Atwater-Rhodes' books.
R
Rating: Summary: Rough Forests Review: Thanks to authors such as Anne Rice, vampire novels have become the bread and butter of horror literature. The fact that In the Forests of the Night is a dark tale of the graceful, cold, pale, blood-sucking immortals and their emotional turmoil isn't what makes it stand out from the crowd. The book itself is nothing special, save that author Amelia Atwater-Rhodes wrote it at the tender age of thirteen. If the reader keeps this in mind, he or she can appreciate In the Forests of the Night. Otherwise, it's very easy to dislike.The barely comprehensible plot revolves around a vampire named Risika who lives in Concorde, Massachusetts. Getting to know her in the first few chapters is, at first, a treat. She dispels several vampire myths; "I do dislike the smell of garlic, but if your sense of smell was twenty times stronger than the average bloodhound, would you not dislike it as well?" she says. The story of her mortal life as Rachel Weatere in the early 1700s, told in flashbacks, is fascinating, if not well researched. The book goes downhill, however, as the story becomes more complicated. The reader learns that Rachel's pious brother Alexander was murdered by a pair of vampires, who later killed Rachel and turned her into the immortal Risika. From there, the reader is forced to endure ridiculous plot twists, awkward descriptions, gratuitous biblical references, cursory religious commentary and minimal character development. It seems as if Risika, at the age of three hundred years, has the emotional and intellectual maturity of a ten-year-old. Over and over, she says she has accepted her bloody, emotionless life as a vampire. She doesn't think twice about slaughtering humans to survive. Yet she is bent on destroying her brother's murderers, and she is friends with a beautiful tiger in the zoo. One would not expect her to be so sentimental about tasty humans and dumb animals. Despite all its shortcomings, In the Forests of the Night has moments of beauty and wit. The author adds a few satisfying twists on vampire culture and, at times, writes with intensity. These good points, unfortunately, are exceptions in In the Forests of the Night, a book that all too well reveals the author's age. Hopefully, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has grown as an author since dragging us through these tangled Forests.
Rating: Summary: not the best but still great Review: this is the first book amelia wrote and i must say it is very impressive for a thirteen year old. yeah i know a thirteen year old. i was truly amaized by this book because being a thirteen year old girl myself i couldnt believe how much potential a thirteen had. i mean she writes almost as good as annie rice bu my god this girl has tallent. this is a book for people who like sci-fi and the unatural.
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