3 out of 4 stars
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Adam is a high school student who has been totally overlooked and ignored for most of his schooling career. Targeted by bullies and generally treated unkindly, Adam is the epitome of an oppressed teenager trying to get through the days, weeks, and ultimately, his last year of school. What his fellow students don’t know, however, is that Adam is destined to save the world. He is an Endohuman - part vampire, part werewolf, and part fallen. He has a plethora of abilities which range from super-strength to mind reading. With all of these capabilities, it is more taxing for him to try to act normal, than for him to actually be bullied.
Adam’s grandfather has trained him from birth, but his long life is running out. He needs to ensure that Adam is ready to be the last Endohuman on Earth. As one of the most crucial teachings, Adam is forbidden to fall in love with a human. Evie, however, is someone he is struggling to keep this pledge for. He has loved her from afar for as long as he can remember. He may even be willing to break the primordial rules for her. In the meantime, there is an ancient evil brewing, and Adam needs to decide on duty or love.
Endohuman: Love Vs Duty is whirlwind of a book. Scratch that. A whirlwind doesn’t quite cut it – more like a hurricane. This book has so much going on. There were twists within the twists… within the twists. I feel like my mind has been thoroughly flummoxed. As a quick read (just over 300 pages), this is definitely one that I would recommend to any sci-fi fan.
With the overwhelming amount of information in this book, it was difficult to keep up with the story at times. The number of characters, the facts about ancient Endohuman laws, and the story flashbacks, all made this book very intense and brain muffling. I lost track of a few character names, and at times found myself thinking “who is this person again?” The main characters, however, were very carefully developed and I had no trouble feeling connected to them.
I still have a few basic unanswered questions; explanations of which I found were all quite vague in the book. My main question was, where did Adam actually come from? There is no real backstory to him, apart from him being with his grandfather for 18 years. Did he have parents? Were they also Endohumans? Did his grandfather change him into one? Again, this could have been answered in the book, but not coherently. The sheer mass of material was difficult to get a handle on.
With all of this being said, I couldn’t put this book down. It really kept me quite captivated. Even with the multi-layered plot, I found that I would love to read the next book. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I had a really tough time trying to put a rating on this one. In the end, I removed a star because the second half of the book unravelled a bit. With the story developing too quickly, I think the narrative became slightly rushed, with huge plot points being hastened in order for the next big “wow” moment to occur.
As a self-published book, I feel like Nick Dream has done a superb job. I found only a few grammatical errors which I easily could have overlooked. I don’t think this book should be categorised as young adult - the language is a bit too raw. The first word of the book is PG-13. Other than that, again, I really enjoyed it! It was full of action, romance, and a bit of the paranormal, so really – what’s not to like?
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Endohuman: Love Vs Duty
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Great review I love the vampire love relationship. Love the action but wasn't a fan of how they fell in love seems too predictable to me.
