Review for 'Alpha Kane'

Review

- Please note that I do not have prior experience on book/story reviews aside from reviewing a family's member's published story, more notes at the end on this matter.

I was asked to review a novel by @AminaAdamou and an editor by the name of @Leora-Sordahl-950 here on Wattpad. Leora first sent me a snippet of it since the story is exclusively on AnyStories app, and is a paid story, so please take note of that should you further advance in reading it. I did not read the entire story, so this review is based upon the first few chapters I was able to read. Apologies for that! This is my honest review, so I do hope you can appreciate it and get a feel on it based upon my opinion, thank you again for this opportunity.

Without further ado, here is my review of the story:

The story first starts off with a young female omega by the name of Ember Yale, which I appreciated the use of a unique name, in highschool. At first glance and within the preview, she appears like any other cliched omega at the bottom of the food chain, but at a deeper look as you go on, there is a twist. I will be recalling the beginning snippet so please be aware of any spoilers. During the beginning, she quite literally runs into Alpha Kane whilst in the halls, and much like the cliche omega female is portrayed within these types of books, she is quite nervous, flushed, and awkward. Just from the beginning, I can widely appreciate the use of the vocabulary, her internal thoughts, the detailing, and the visionary details that allowed me to picture what was happening whilst reading it.

Within this scene, she is then rejected by her mate, which is seen as a very big deal and horrible fate for anyone, and thus begins the true part. From that awkward omega we were first introduced to, she then turns that humiliation around and uses it to anchor herself to her anger, which is thus transferred into strength.

After this, we are introduced to a new chapter in her life: University. At this, like most would suspect, she is forced to face her past humiliation in the form of Kane Wilder, her mate. Through these first few chapters until chapter 4, there is quite a bit of a resemblance to Twilight, in which one could make the comparison between Kane and Edward, but luckily, it did stray from that to become its own story.

In the chapters I did get to read, I was introduced to Ember's only friends: a werewolf named Ian and a faery named Aster. Personally, I enjoyed the fact that not only is she friends with a creature other than a werewolf, but that other creatures exist within this. I find that in other books, werewolves, vampires, and humans are the only known existing creatures mentioned or introduced, which this book has the advantage of, considering the variety. Besides her friends, we are also introduced to her mother, who works the night shifts and sleeps during the day.

Now, at first, it does seem incredibly clichéd and there are quite a few similarities to Twilight, as mentioned before, that almost seemed to transition into fan fiction but with different characters, names, and slight personality adjustment. At times, I felt the punctation and grammar could've been adjusted in terms of sentence fragments, but nothing that I couldn't handle, got mad about, or felt too peeved or mad, for anyone who's also big on grammar issues.

The only thing that really bothered me was the quick, unexplained transition between her time in highschool to suddenly being in college. Rather than getting any details on the time between it like real life, it was more like a 'blink-and-you-miss-it' type, and I wouldn't have picked up on the difference had it not been revealed within the story. Personally, I would prefer more time to permit the audience/readers time to adjust to the original setting introduced in the beginning. Otherwise, it's more unexpected and doesn't flow as well as other times. This was also the case in a scene in the second chapter which introduced suspense and wasn't explained until the next chapter, which I'd recommend a satisfactory explanation should one make that cut-off.

As I continued down the chapters and it railed away from Twilight, we're introdcued to other characters, more plot lines, background details, and conflict without waiting too long to introduce it, thus getting the story back on track. It does introduce characters quite slowly as well as their world/setting, which does leave more to desire. I wasn't able to continue on after it picked up, unfortunately, since that was it for the free chapters. In an optimistic point of view, that does reel one in to read more.

At first, I was a little suspicious and didn't enjoy the story, not only for the scary similarities to Twilight, but also for the above mentioned reasons. It reminded me of most stories I'd read also in the werewolf/rejection genre before, and the fact that it was very clichéd in the beginning. I do appreciate the use of a unique name, a variety of characters and creatures, and a different setting beside highschool, despite the quick transition. It does speed up and get more interesting as you read on, which did reel me in and intrigue me to read more.

I cannot give an accurate rating out of 5 stars since I wasn't able to read more, thus it wouldn't be entirely accurate nor fair as most books don't really automatically pick up in the beginning. As it is exclusively on AnyStories and is paid, it might a be a cap point for those who'd like to read it, but if you are able, I would recommend giving it a go. Do keep in mind that a review isn't the actual experience, and everyone's views are different from others. Some of these things I wasn't a big fan could be vastly different from another's opinions.

I must admit that my interest was piqued, and I was grateful to have been reached out to make this review. In what I read in the first few chapters, it didn't just give everything away automatically and one has to make a few inferences, which I believe is a great thing within books. In the first few chapters, it does show promise to be a wonderful story and thus has my recommendation. It does introduce the themes/lessons of strength, forgiveness, self-worth, and possible romance, for those who are wondering. It does seem interesting for those who also fancy a dose of paranormal, fantasy, and romance. For those who do like Storie upon soulmates and rejection, this does seem like a good read just on the beginning.

A reminder that it is a paid story and exclusive on AnyStories, and should you decide to give it a go (which I recommend, if only to also give support), I do hope you enjoy the novel.

A big thank you to @Leora-Sordahl-950 for giving me this opportunity, I hope my review was helpful and what you were looking for. I wish you and your friend luck in your writing, there's tons of potential from what I've seen. It was a pleasure writing this review, reading it, and working with you, a huge good luck to you, Amina, and any others involved in the journey of this novel!

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As I mentioned before, the only prior experience I have on book reviews is one for a relative, which was published on Barnes & Noble, and is an anthology by various authors. This does not make me a professional, but was just a personal opinion based upon what I've seen before and with a new outlook from someone of a more unprofessional audience, which hopefully is more relatable.

If you'd like to give the book I have reviewed, a read, I largely recommend it. A warning for violence and gore, as it does center around zombies and an apocalypse. It's called Beautiful Apocalypse by Tarina Anthologies, which I highly recommend for those who'd like to try something new and appreciate apocalyptic-style stories with fresh twists from usual shows and movies.