Review ~ Savor (Vicious Feast #1) by Kate Evangelista

Synopsis:

Mature and explicit content. Not recommended for readers below 18-years-old. Yup, you've got to be that old to read my story. Consider yourself warned.

I’m Dakota Collins, a tough talking, eye patch wearing, workaholic photography student. Why am I important? Well, maybe because I get to spend an entire month with Vicious, only the sickest indie rock band out there.

You see, I needed a subject for my Spring Showcase introspective in order to graduate. During a chance encounter at a club I’d been sent to cover for the Daily Gossip, our ironically named college paper, the features writer I usually teamed up with introduced me to the band—by accident, I might add. It involved a run in with a scary, bald bodyguard. Anyway, long story short, I signed a contract to take pictures of Vicious.

I should have known their handsome, yet way too serious for his own good bassist, Luka Visraya, wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself. He’s gorgeous and all, but the way he smiles spells trouble with a capital L. I’m in for a long month with him around.

Crazy shit happens and then some. So, if you want the skinny on Vicious and the events revolving around my stay at Lunar Manor, read my story.

Again, refer to the warning above.

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Review:

If you do not have enough time to read my review, I can summarize it for you in six words: You. Have. To. Read. This. Book.

Savor is amazing and very addictive. I kid you not when I say it’s difficult to suck me in a book completely these days, but this one did just that. It may be the author’s awesome writing, or the interesting concept of the book, or the badass heroine, or just simply all of the above.

I find Dakota Collins a badass character. It’s the way she sounds in the book. It’s very easy to get lost in it. She’s very sassy, too, which I liked very much.

I liked the way the author executed this book. I like it that Savor did not focus on just Dakota and Luka’s chemistry, but also on the Dakota’s project, which is photography. The descriptive way Kate Evangelista wrote the photo shoots and all of Dakota’s ideas are very vivid, which made it easy to visualize. It felt like I was the one looking through the camera’s lens. It felt like I was looking at the picture itself, not merely reading words describing it.

I also liked the all characters’ interaction with each other. Their friendship had a very natural feel to it and it made me think of my own friends.

What dampened my enthusiasm in this book is Luka, the lack of back-stories, and not enough conversations/moments to build the intense chemistry between Dakota and Luka.

Okay, so Luka is your typical rock star who oozes sex appeal. He’s hot, he can be intense, and he . . . can be very unreasonably violent, too. There was a time when I really hated him because he came across as childish and deranged. He had his moments, though, and there was also a time when he was really sweet and I can see why the readers would fall in love with him. Still, I think his violent side overshadows the sweet one—or at least for me, anyway.

I understand that Savor is mostly about Dakota’s photography project, but there was no back-story to make me know the characters a little more, be it Dakota’s or the band’s. This is something that raises a red flag for me.

I hate it that the chemistry between Luka and Dakota is there just because the book says it’s there. There’s no build up of whatsoever. There wasn’t a getting-to-know you conversation and no back-stories were mentioned. The only thing they have is sexual chemistry, but when it comes to the romantic department, they have none. The only thing there is attraction, but no emotions.

Also, during the whole book there was no mention of anything paranormal except in the epilogue, which made me a little confused. It’s a very interesting build up for the sequel, but it’s just a little weird to me, reading something paranormal so suddenly after seeing none during Dakota’s time in Lunar Manor. The disclaimer is readers do not have to read Taste before Savor (and I didn’t), but if these two are closely related and the other is paranormal, I think there should have been a mention of something unusual in this book, even just a little (and I mean not just in the epilogue).

If you’re looking for an awesome read and a good writing style, I recommend this book and author to you.

~ Zee