Disarming by Alexia Purdy
(Cover picture courtesy of Kristina’s Books & More.)
The world has changed. One must adapt to survive or hold on to the crumbling shards of humanity.
April continues to hold her fragile world together, but the ties that hold her family together are quickly unraveling. Rumors of a massive human underground settlement draw her to the shadows of the city once more in search of other survivors more like her, even with the hybrid vampires opposing her every move.
The darkness hides secrets along with the continued threat the Feral Vampires create, but a greater evil hides within the city. Something tells April that the humans will be less than welcoming of her, and that’s if she can find them before the Vampires do. Joining sides with the enemy might be the only choice she has left.
[Full disclosure: Alexia Purdy provided me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
And April’s back, this time with more romance, more blood and more excitement than the first book!
Remember how the only thing I really had to criticize in Reign of Blood was the unrealistic dialogue? Well, that’s mostly resolved in Disarming, thank goodness. We get a lot more character interaction so good dialogue is essential and although it’s far from perfect, it’s so much better. As for the plot, it’s just as fast-paced as ever. We start out with April and the lovesick Rye trying to solve the mystery of a large colony of humans still living in the city and once we learn the truth of their colony everything spirals out of control.
I don’t think I’m spoiling too much when I say that yes, there’s a love triangle in Disarming. Is it annoying? No. Is it believable and does it develop organically? Absolutely! I love that huge twist Alexia Purdy used the love triangle to create because heaven forbid love triangles have a purpose in the plot other than to create needless drama. Just when you think everything will develop perfectly between April and Rye despite April’s reluctance, an old friend from the first book pops up and we have ourselves the first good love triangle in a long time.
April and Rye are still awesome characters and I have to say that April really did a lot more maturing in Disarming. She was already mature, but she becomes even more like an adult in this book because so much happens to her and her poor little brother. Some of the choices April has to make in the last part of the book show how much she’s changed and they definitely make me eager for the third book, Amplified.
Aside from the crazy fast plot, my favourite element of the book is the actual vampires. You have your feral vampires, your traditional sane vampires, humans and then there are hybrids like April. I don’t want to give too much away, but you’ll discover a terrifying new type of vampire by the end of the book. It just goes to show that not everything is as it seems and like all species, vampires also evolve as time goes on. Truly, even if you aren’t a big vampire fan you’ll love Disarming.
I give this book 5/5 stars.