Despite the terrors of her past, Vanora has managed live a normal life in Austin with her roommate Rhonda and her boyfriend Dan. When it all falls apart and Armando comes back into her life, she realizes that she can't escape her destiny. Evil threatens her family, and Vanora must venture into the darkness to save everyone she cares about.
Serial Synopsis:
In Darkness We Must Abide is the epic saga of one young woman caught in the dangerous world of the creatures of the night.
Already living in the shadows due to her albinism, Vanora is just a little girl when her older brother inadvertently unleashes a terrible evil from the family crypt that changes their lives forever.
As she grows up in a world where beautiful deadly beings hunt by night, one captures her eye and her heart. Yet, can she trust the mysterious Armando? For there is a powerful entity plotting to claim her when she reaches adulthood in order to fulfill an ancient prophecy, and her enemy has enveloped her in a web of deceit, casting doubt on all she believes to be true. Soon, she will have to fight not only to save those she loves, but also for her very soul.
Rhiannon Frater delivers a chilling adventure once again with this multi-part epic serial with a dynamic cast, old school vampires, bloody action, a smoldering forbidden love, and a terrifying villain set against the backdrop of a modern day vampire war.
Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies zombie trilogy (Tor) as well as independent works such as The Last Bastion of the Living (declared the #1 Zombie Release of 2012 by Explorations Fantasy Blog and the #1 Zombie Novel of the Decade by B&N Book Blog).
She was born and raised in Texas where she currently resides with her husband and furry children (a.k.a pets).
She loves scary movies, sci-fi and horror shows, playing video games, cooking, dyeing her hair weird colors, and shopping for Betsey Johnson purses and shoes.
Destruction is the perfect title for this episode. The plot has become deeply emotional and even darker than I thought possible. With every episode I become so much more invested in the story and connected to these awesome characters. I hate loss, but I also understand it’s part of what makes this story so captivating.
Vanora is headed home to the Socoli mansion, where her brother and sister still live as vampires. She had escaped the horror of the awful things that took place on Halloween and attempted to begin a normal life with her friend and roommate, Rhonda. Or so she thought. Unfortunately, “normal” just isn’t in the cards for this girl. The darkness followed her and wreaked havoc on her normal life. Now that she is back home, how will this play out? Armando seems to be back in the picture at full force (Thank you, Jesus!). Is it horrible to say that I would love to “watch” Armando rip Dan’s neck out, by the way? I despise that kid. How is Vanora going to deal with a house full of vampires again? Her brother and sister have been living without censorship for too long to go back to their reserved ways, right?
We’ve been shown glimpses of Vanora’s trek home prior to this episode, but this time we finally learn the reason behind it. I have LOVED the prologues up until this point, always hooking me from the first page and letting me peek into the unknown. Will there be no more glimpses now that we are up to speed? Those first couple of pages are what pulled me back into the deep dark world that Rhiannon has created. I’m not too worried about it, though, as Rhiannon has never disappointed me.
When the heck is the next episode? This last wait was WAY TOO LONG! I’m grateful to have this opportunity so I’m definitely not complaining, much.
In the 7th episode of this serial, we finally learn what drives Vanora back to the Socoli mansion and to her vampire family.
From Goodreads: "Despite the terrors of her past, Vanora has managed live a normal life in Austin with her roommate Rhonda and her boyfriend Dan. When it all falls apart and Armando comes back into her life, she realizes that she can't escape her destiny. Evil threatens her family, and Vanora must venture into the darkness to save everyone she cares about."
Vanora's life hasn't been the same since her brother and sister became vampires. Because of the violence surrounding them, she's moved to Austin with her friend, Rhonda, and basically given up her family. She also had to let go of Armando as he is part of that violent world. Unfortunately, the darkness continues to follow her as her destiny lies with the vampires.
While we didn't see much of the mysterious albino vampire in this episode, we did get a lot of Armando - never a bad thing. Vanora seems fairly happy with Dan but she does start to see that he isn't as perfect as she thought. This quote in particular made me start to really dislike him: "But a lot of women, like your roomie, really shouldn't be wearing white on their wedding day, huh?" Um, Dan, I've got news for you. Rhonda is worth 10 of your judgmental self.
Destruction is full of action and a lot of sadness. I am hopeful that Vanora will finally find a way out of the fate that seems to await her. In a perfect world, she will find a way to be with Armando but I'd settle for peace for both. Fingers crossed.
5/5 stars. Thank you to the author for providing an e-copy through the Readalong.
Dude!! This serial is seriously freaking epic. As you get further into the story, you become more and more invested so it really hits you hard when things get intense. Now being quite far into this, I am having a hard time knowing what to say in my reviews!! Things are really getting intense now, and it's getting super scary. Aeron is not someone to be messed with and he is terrifying!!
Vanora is still away at school, she has an apartment with Rhonda, and is dating Dave who is a nice guy. She finally is having a somewhat normal life. The only thing is her dreams are getting worse and she is in constant fear. She is afraid for everyone around her and also her family back home. When Armando comes back into the picture, I really love how strong she is. She really keeps a pretty clear head about things. When something really tragic happens though, she has no choice but to listen to what Armando is telling her.
I can't really go into much more about this except to tell you that I did have tears in this one. The story is really taking it's toll on me at this point. Each episode is totally addictive and I need the next one the second I read the last sentence! Rhiannon Frater is a master at investing you into a story and making you really feel the whole atmosphere along with all the emotions! I need to know where this is going, but am also afraid of what will happen next. The suspense is killing me, but in a really good way!! I need more now!!
*An advance copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any compensation.
If you have not read the first season or previous episode of In Darkness We Must Abide then this review may contain spoilers.
Ah it’s almost here! The tension is building and things are beginning to fall into place one motion at a time, and I can’t wait! Vanora breaks my heart. She’s a sweet girl who wants a normal life, who wants her family and her friendship with out the lies…but she doesn’t really have that option. She’s the text book definition of a ‘good person that bad things happen to’, and I just want to shelter her in some way. Though I guess that’s where Armando comes in, he at least tries to shelter to her…Roman seems more stubborn now than he ever has and it frustrates me, but he’s naturally skeptical about most things so it makes sense. Though I think it would do him some good to listen to his sisters every now and then when they issue a warning.
Overall this is another solid episode that provides the suspense and connections we need to get this party started soon. I’m super curious to see just is going to happen and I would love to know the more detailed reason of why.
Destruction (In Darkness We Must Abide #7) by Rhiannon Frater
You now what I like to see? A picture from Armando.
I can not seem to make it in my mind, but I think he must be awesome good looking. I like a man with long hair, especially black. (I hope he looks a bit like that)
Rhiannon, can you please make some sort of picture lol. Vanora we know from the covers.
This time I cried at some part in the book, witch I can not say because of the spoilers. But I think Rhiannon knows the part.
I liked this book very much. I loved the dream parts, back to the mausoleum.
What did I think? Hmm. This episode was so emotionally draining that I kind of want to block it out. Rhiannon Frater knows how to push my emotional buttons and she was all over it in this episode. She literally takes Vanora through the emotional ringer in all ways. Her boyfriend is kind of a sha-douche. Armando is well Armando, and she once again loses someone close to her. It really is Destruction and it's something that Rhiannon does so well.
We're moving apace in the series. The prophetic visions that Vanora and her vampiric sister Alisha are having all point to the death of their brother Roman upon Vanora's return to Houston. So of course, something destructive must happen to convince Vanora that her normal, human life in Austin is over. In the meanwhile, we get to learn more about Armando and how deeply he is embedded in destruction yet to come - that of Aeron the White and Terrible. Sounds corny, I know, but this is high vampire drama - I liken it to Spanish soap operas: everything is high intensity from here on out!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.