Elaine White's Life in Books

Book – Snare
Author – Racheline Maltese & Erin McRae
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 60

Cover – Mysterious
POV – 3rd person, present tense
Would I read it again – Yes

Genre – LGBT, Supernatural, Paranormal, Vampire, Contemporary/Alternative Future


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


I really enjoyed this one. At first, I really wasn't sure, because you don't come across many 3rd person, present tense books, so it took me out of my comfort zone for a while. But, once I got into the bones of the story, I really liked it.

This could have been a 5 star but for four things:
1 – errors in spelling, grammar and missing words etc (This is an uncorrected proof, so I'm not actually marking down for that, but it was enough to interrupt my reading and understanding of sentences, which was a problem)
2 – the constant, short, half page scenes that I didn't find necessary at all. They often didn't add anything that we didn't already know and, when they did, the scenes deserved to be much longer. So, I'm unhappy with the consistency of the scenes, because the space these unnecessary scenes took up could have been put to better use elsewhere.
3 – the ending. I find it really unsatisfying and a little rushed. Everything just suddenly happened at once, in the last few pages and it was hard to get an emotional impact from that. If the main parts had been rushed, but Elliot's part had been better explored, maybe I would have been more emotionally invested in his final decision and the impact it had on those around him. But it wasn't, so I didn't.
4 – there are no chapter headings. Anywhere. For 60 pages, I would have liked a few divided chapters. Instead, it was just a fountain of scenes that rolled from one to the other so there was no real opportunity to put it down for a break.

For me, the story was fantastic. A world where vampires are locked down in New York City, held prisoner, but operating their own “warren” communities, is really original and brilliant. The way they operate, with rules and laws and working with humans, is fantastic.

The characters – Elliot, Matthew and Richard – are all great and intriguing in their own way. Richard is that aloof Alpha male – though described in a really unattractive way, despite being irresistible to these two 20-somethings – while Matthew is the heart and soul of the warren. Carefree and fun, when he's not holding everything together, Matthew is actually the best character here, despite the story being told exclusively from Elliot's POV. This is because Elliot is a whiny little wimp and makes snap decisions, stupid choices and often acts like a twelve year old. However, saying that, he does have some shining moments which made me enjoy parts of the story.

However, I feel we don't have enough time to get to know Matthew – we never get to know what brought him to the warren or why, despite it being hinted at as a big secret – and we never learn anything about Richard. Though I really loved their relationship with each other, how it interlocked and twisted with the various events, adapting and moving on, it never felt real. There was an emotional attachment missing that was filled with sexual exploration between all three of them, both together and in individual pairs. This, for me, wasn't enough to built a relationship upon.

It also never really felt as though Richard was included as an equal, except for one moment when Elliot invites him to participate. Even then, it's an invitation not an expectation that they should all be able to function together as a trouple. The lack of chemistry between the three of them was made up, in part, by the chemistry Elliot shared with Matthew. But only in part. Matthew and Richard had fantastic chemistry; Elliot and Matthew had great chemistry; but never did all three work together.

Overall, I would have been far happier if this had become a more cohesive novel, because everything that happened in this 60-page story needed much more elaboration. I needed the history, the background and the chemistry build. I needed the satisfying ending when not only Matthew but Richard – again, completely left out and ignored as inconsequential – discovered what Elliot's decision was. It would also have been much more satisfying if he'd made the decision on something less of a whim. Because it genuinely felt like he only decided at the last minute what he was going to do, never taking other people's feelings into account.

I should have loved this, lapping it up with a 5 star review. But that would be the full explored, well edited novel version of this story. What I just read needs some work.