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The Life And Death Of Lily Drake (2012)

by T. Michelle Nelson(Favorite Author)

4.2 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0985148381 (ISBN13: 9780985148386)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

InkSpell Publishing

series

Lily Drake

review 1: I am amazed how fast I read through this book. It's been awhile since I read a book that I simply couldn't put done for fear of not finding out what would happen next soon enough. When I wasn't reading the book I was thinking about reading it and what would happen next. The writing style of this author just fits me so well. She kept it light but entertaining, dramatic but comedic when necessary, and she chocked this book full of wonderful characters who I enjoyed spending time with.I think this is also the first book where I actually rooted for and liked both of the romantic interests. Mathias and Valentine were different enough that it didn't feel like one guy just replaced the other yet they had the cousin connection going on so it made sense how Lily would feel an attra... morection to them both considering she spent time with both of them a lot and they shared some similarities. Also, I liked how both guys did not enjoy the idea of screwing the other one over even when they fought. They still cared for one another and didn't let a woman get between them. I also like that Lily didn't let her later love for Valentine prevent her from maintaining a friendship with Mathias and she felt guilty about her indiscretion with Valentine, not wanting to cause a rift between the cousins. This is something that is really missing these days for heroines with more than one love interest. Usually the female is so focused on caring about "her feelings" that she ignores everyone else, especially the competing love interests. Lily, luckily, is a more mature heroine.Furthermore, the relationship between Lily and her son, which I thought would completely fall apart later in the story in favor of placing Lily and her love interests as the plot center piece, demonstrated a new kind of story telling in the overloaded genre that is paranormal. The main heroine is a mother of all things and she interacts with her son, IMAGINE THAT!, putting him before everything else, even her own happiness. That, to me, took guts to write. Lately, even adult fiction seems fixated on heroines that are young, immature, and often rather self-centered. I have nothing wrong with females who are young or even a little immature but it is nice to see a change for once. A mother often has more responsibilities, must focus on someone beyond herself, and in some sense is considered more mature because of their life experiences. The side characters in this book are all unique and interesting. Although I did think that Lily and Rose's relationship as a family developed a little too fast and I want to learn a little more about Bero beyond the fact that he loves Rose and they married. I also felt that Luke got a bit shafted seeing as he is introduced in the beginning then basically disappears for the rest of the book. I know he is not really a central character to what is going on in this book but I would like to get to know him a bit more in further installments.Overall, this book is a nice read, easy to follow, enjoyable characters, and some actual maturity present in the main heroine is really refreshing :) Also, love the mother/son dynamic. I look forward to seeing how Keaton's abilities develop.
review 2: When I read the book summary for "The Life and Death of Lily Drake" I was so excited. Too few authors write about mothers as heriones in books. So, imagine my surprise when very little of this book showcased the mother and son relationship between Lily and Keaton. Our story begins with Lily Drake being set up on a blind date by her best friend, Angie. Her date arrives early and soon she discovers that the man she has gone out with is not the one she was suppose to meet. In fact, the man she is on the date with is a vampire and is offering to turn her because she has the gene necessary to make her a fierce warrior. Lily of course refuses even though she is extremely attracted to Matthias. He erases her memory and the next night she goes out on the date with the original guy she was set up with. However, he is a drunken pig and soon she is dying to go home. Matthias comes to her rescue and soon her memory of their brief time together returns. Week after week, Lily has Angie watch her son, while she spends time with Matthias (Some mother for you!). Lily is convinced she is in love with Matthias but is constantly under attack by the Austere vampires who do not want to see her turned. Lily manages to convince her boss she is working with a rich client at one of his companies and she is watched round the block by either Matthias or Valentine, his cousin. This is when Lily's attraction to Val begin to increase although they both realize it is wrong.Here's the thing, this book bothered me on so many levels. First and foremost, there was little to no dialogue in this story. There were descriptions, explanations and a rushed story line. We saw very little of Keaton and did not get a feel for his relationship with his mother; yet, we are to believe she is so responsible. Often I found that the story line was bogged down in meaningless details and minutia (pizza, ice cream etc.). Then, to believe that a 30+ year old woman could not determine who she wanted to be with was beyond ridiculous.The world building was weak, the characterizations too superficial, and in the end I'm not sure that I even liked Lily Drake let alone became invested in her story. This plot could have been amazing; but, the execution totally ruined it. Besides, what is a book with great dialogue between characters? Mediocrity! less

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