Official Review: Twisted Fate by Mel Evers

[Poppy Drear]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Twisted Fate" by Mel Evers.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Twisted Fate by Mel Evers is a lesbian vampire erotic romance novel. That string of adjectives, in essence, contains just about everything you need to know about the book. It follows Melissa, a centuries-old vampire, and Sage, her soulmate, as they attempt to stop Melissa's vindictive ex-boyfriend from ruining their lives. Sage's mother hates vampires, and Melissa is constantly concerned about her vampiric nature somehow harming Sage. By a conservative estimate, about a quarter of the novel is taken up by sex scenes, even when they have little impact on the plot.

While there's nothing wrong with this premise, it's rather overdone within the genre. Twisted Fate isn't terrible, but it isn't especially exceptional. Melissa and Sage fall in love at first sight, giving the author an excuse to completely avoid any significant interpersonal conflicts between them. All of the conflicts in the novel ultimately stem from Melissa's ex-boyfriend. As a result, Melissa and Sage are deprived of any real character depth.

Melissa's constant concern with her "monster" also became tedious somewhere around the twentieth time it was mentioned. Once again, it hinders character depth since this is the only real flaw in Melissa's character. Arguably, it isn't even her fault! Complex characters are flawed, and there was a distinct lack of flaws in both Sage and Melissa. Many of the side characters were more engaging than them.

Despite overusing common tropes, there's nothing inherently wrong with Twisted Fate. The plot was exciting, and the worldbuilding, while fairly standard, was effective and believable. There was a strong supporting cast, even if they didn't get as much attention as I would've liked. The sex scenes, while plentiful and often shoehorned in, were at least well-written.

In my opinion, the strongest aspect of Twisted Fate is the distinct lack of homophobia. As a bisexual individual myself, I find it extremely refreshing for an author to stay focused on other aspects of the plot, rather than making homophobia a major aspect of the book to attain a flimsy sense of realism. Melissa and Sage were teased, never shamed, about the amount of sex they had. In reality, this wasn't much more egregious than many heterosexual vampire romance novels.

Twisted Fate is a great book for committed fans of vampire romance, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't enamored with this genre. It doesn't add anything particularly interesting to the typical premise, but it accomplishes what it set out to do in an enjoyable way, so I rate it 3 out of 4 stars.

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Twisted Fate
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Like ViziVoir's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Libs_Books]

Thanks, my vampire romance tolerance, whether hetero or homo, is pretty low, so this one is definitely not for me. I'm inclined to the view that centuries of being undead is usually bad news for character development. Loved your review opening, though.

[Alice Heritage]

It sounds as if this is a standard bread-and-butter of the vampire romance genre, which isn't one I know. It's good of course that there's no homophobia, but it sounds as if the same-sex aspect just adds a different flavour rather than addressing any issues. At any rate, I enjoyed reading your review!

[Sahani Nimandra]

I have never read a book related to vampires before so this is a starter. The cover was something that made me look at it a lot. Thank you but I will pass for now.

[kandscreeley]

I think you told me everything I need to know about this book. It's definitely not something I would read, but I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review, but I won't be reading this one.

[Sara15]

Great story love the romance in it

[Frasha_franc]

I read a lot about vampires especially the hetero ones but this one, no thanks

[Manang Muyang]

I'm not into vampires, whether they be the bloodsuckers (of the original Dracula stories) or the lovers (of Twilight fame). I don't think this book will turn me around as you have clearly stated.

I am glad, though, that you enjoyed it.

[Eileen R]

I love that the author is evolved enough to make the characters lesbians. It's about time we see more books like this. However, this book isn't for me. I'm not a vampire books fan

[Riszell]

I have not thought that this one is a vampire story when I saw the book cover. I like reading vampire romance as the Twilight saga is one of the first book series I got hooked, but I don't think I would like bisexual romance. I got intrigued by the cover so thanks for the review.

[Bigirimana Celestin]

I had never thought that vampire's story may be good, but this seems to be enjoyable. Thought the book is for vamparism, the story could also happen in real life. So, everyone can enjoy it. Thank you .

[crediblereading2]

Thanks for your honest review but this is definitely one that I will pass.

[bnoy]

I often find vampiric stories to be a little overdone now. However, seeing that it was a lesbian story was so exciting to me but reading your review I don't know anymore. I really struggle with stories that don't develop their main characters enough. I wouldn't count this book out but I probably won't be jumping to read it. Thanks for a great review.

[babym]

Kudos Mel Evers!
I'm all in when it comes to vampire romance, bt i haven't really read the lesbian part of it yet. I hope Melissa and Sage find their happy ending without her ex causing harm to either of them. Nice review

[Duchess1]

I believe twisted fate could have been something more than this same sex story. But in all the storyline sounds interesting. I might have gone for it if not for the same sex part, so thanks for the heads up.