Title: Darkest Fear (Birthright #1)
Author: Cate Tiernan
Release date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 368
Source: Edelweiss
Reading level: YA
Vivi’s animal instincts are her legacy—and maybe her downfall—in this start to a romantic fantasy series that will appeal to fans of The Nine Lives of Chloe King.
Vivi has known the truth about her family—and herself—since she was thirteen. But that doesn’t mean she’s accepted it. Being Haguari isn’t something she feels she’ll ever accept. How can she feel like anything but a freak knowing that it’s in her genes to turn into a jaguar?
Now eighteen, Vivi’s ready to break away from the traditions of her heritage. But all of that changes with the shocking, devastating deaths of her parents and the mysteries left behind. Vivi discovers family she never even knew she had, and a life open with possibility. New friends, new loyalties, and even romance all lay ahead—but so do dangers unlike anything Vivi ever could have imagined.
Darkest Fear is the first book I’ve read by Cate Tiernan and I was supremely disappointed by it. Maybe my expectations were just too high but I found myself not wanting to read this one at all. I’m honestly amazed that I managed to finish it.
My biggest issue with Darkest Fear was with the shape shifting. I’ve never been a fan of books about people who shape shift. It’s weird. However, most of the time I can get past that. Not with this book though. The really weird thing was that Cate Tiernan continued to tell the story even when Vivi had shifted in a jaguar. She just changed the style of writing so readers can tell the shift. When Vivi’s a jaguar, her thoughts are disjointed and run together. Nothing really makes sense and I found those sections of the book to be pointless. It just added to the weirdness.
Also, I didn’t really like Vivi. She was selfish, whiny, and annoying. She didn’t want to be Haguari and so she pushed away everything to do with it, including her parents. She was a bitch to them, right up until their deaths. Then she felt bad, when it was too little, too late. Yet shortly after their deaths she finds herself living in a house full of Haguaris, not pushing them away. She was also very much a crybaby. She cried way too much for me. I wanted to slap her many times. Then there’s her completely superficial attraction to Rafe. He may be described as hot but that’s all he has going for him. He has no personality and way too many secrets. All these secrets were hinted at but not a single one was addressed.
The ending was the only thing I liked. The book dragged until the end when things finally picked up. It was fast-paced and unexpected. The cliffhanger ending was not unexpected though. It’s the only thing that’s going to get readers to want to read the second book.
Overall, Darkest Fear is a book I highly recommend skipping. There are too few good things about it so don’t waste your time.
What others are saying about Darkest Fear:
Books Live Forever’s review: “Darkest Fear was a pretty good book, it might not have wowed me like I was hoping for, but I loved the Jaguar shifting and the mystery, and look forward the next one.”
A Book Obsession’s review: “DARKEST FEAR had an interesting premise, therefore giving it a lot of potential. Unfortunately that potential never seemed to go past that initial stage of interest as I kept waiting for things to take off.”
Sorry to hear that this book didn’t do it for you. I really liked her book IMMORTAL BELOVED and what I read of the SWEEP series, as I think Tiernan’s writing style is addictive, but it sucks to hear that it’s not hitting the mark with this one. :/
Much to my shame, I didn’t even finish this book.
But there’s LJ Smith and she does a good job with the shape shifting stuff because she doesn’t really go into it much.
I’m glad this is the first I’ve heard of this book. There’s only been a couple (literally) shape-shifting books that were okay. Personally, I don’t think I could read this one based on your description of the main character. It is frustrating when all you want to do is bop a character
throughout the book.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Hope your next read(s) are better.
Orchid @ The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
LOVE shapeshifting, and I thought this book would’ve been a stellar example of interesting paranormal and romance – it’s too bad Vivi isn’t the kind of heroine you root for or like. That makes or breaks a story.
Lovely review 🙂