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Heartless
Bailey lives in a world where vampires are real, and not everyone’s happy about it, least of all him.
Because of a law introduced before his birth, Bailey is a donor, the one person from his family who has to live in a vampire’s compound, and provide them with blood. A life sentence in all but name. Bailey was eighteen when he first came to a vampire’s home, leaving his brother and sister behind, and, six years later, he hasn’t seen the outside world since.
When Bailey is bought by a rich, incredibly old vampire, and moves to a new house, he finds that not all vampires are the same, and his new boss, Cohen, is not what he’d thought him to be at all.
As Bailey begins to feel an attachment growing between him and the vampire he serves, he also becomes aware of the disappearance of donors, and witnesses hideous executions as the terrorist group The Martyred Lamb fights to eradicate vampires, and all humans who sympathise with them.
And then there’s the question of what really happened to his family...
Because of a law introduced before his birth, Bailey is a donor, the one person from his family who has to live in a vampire’s compound, and provide them with blood. A life sentence in all but name. Bailey was eighteen when he first came to a vampire’s home, leaving his brother and sister behind, and, six years later, he hasn’t seen the outside world since.
When Bailey is bought by a rich, incredibly old vampire, and moves to a new house, he finds that not all vampires are the same, and his new boss, Cohen, is not what he’d thought him to be at all.
As Bailey begins to feel an attachment growing between him and the vampire he serves, he also becomes aware of the disappearance of donors, and witnesses hideous executions as the terrorist group The Martyred Lamb fights to eradicate vampires, and all humans who sympathise with them.
And then there’s the question of what really happened to his family...
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 4, 2013
2 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Goodwin
26 books783 followersAlso writing as Amy Cunningham (The Serial Killer's Party) and Amelia Wildwood (rom-com coming in summer 2026)
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 13, 2014
holy shit, what a horror-show.
miseryporn with murdersauce.
I am sorry, but the only way to tell you exactly what's wrong with this book (or whether it's precisely the book for you) is to spoil it for you:
so.
yeah.
...that.
miseryporn with murdersauce.
I am sorry, but the only way to tell you exactly what's wrong with this book (or whether it's precisely the book for you) is to spoil it for you:
so.
yeah.
...that.
July 6, 2013
This is a more rounded story than Goodwin's previous books. I found it gripping and finished it even though had I other stuff I needed to be doing.
I find Goodwin's writing progress quite fascinating. Early books: fucking amazing raw talent. This book: I can feel she's trying to consciously pay attention to the structure of the book. She's carefully working the plot to sync with the emotional journey the MC is going on.
I do have a sense that in the process the love between Bailey and Cohen is present more in idea than actuality. It's as if there is a chapter missing in which their relationship develops.
There's a gap between:
First came the despair that this world was the only one available to me, then disgust at myself, for my own comfortable existence. At last, there was nothing left but a gnawing emptiness inside me. At twenty-four, I had the potential in me to love, and be loved. And all of it was being wasted, withering like fruit left on the vine.
and
I knew, only at that moment, that I loved him. As deeply as I’d every loved anyone or anything, even my freedom. I knew that even if I had to go and live in the basement at Eldale again, as long as Cohen was there, I’d be happy.
which stretches credulity. I didn't see this love develop. I saw the possibility of love, an early ember, but I didn't see the all-consuming passion that would lead Bailey to sacrifice everything for Cohen.
This book is like a waypoint for Goodwin. Now she's got to bring the raw genius and the careful construction together.
Small point: name change. For half the beginning bit the bodyguard is called Elis. Suddenly at location 208 he becomes Elias. Later, Bailey borrows his name for an alias, and the same thing happens. He introduces himself as Elis, and everyone calls him this up till 3349, when suddenly he becomes Elias.
Also, while I'm sure illustrator Vikki Moule is a good friend, her covers are not doing Goodwin any favours. People will avoid this book purely based on that cover.
A very enjoyable story, a world away from your typical vampsex m/m.
I find Goodwin's writing progress quite fascinating. Early books: fucking amazing raw talent. This book: I can feel she's trying to consciously pay attention to the structure of the book. She's carefully working the plot to sync with the emotional journey the MC is going on.
I do have a sense that in the process the love between Bailey and Cohen is present more in idea than actuality. It's as if there is a chapter missing in which their relationship develops.
There's a gap between:
First came the despair that this world was the only one available to me, then disgust at myself, for my own comfortable existence. At last, there was nothing left but a gnawing emptiness inside me. At twenty-four, I had the potential in me to love, and be loved. And all of it was being wasted, withering like fruit left on the vine.
and
I knew, only at that moment, that I loved him. As deeply as I’d every loved anyone or anything, even my freedom. I knew that even if I had to go and live in the basement at Eldale again, as long as Cohen was there, I’d be happy.
which stretches credulity. I didn't see this love develop. I saw the possibility of love, an early ember, but I didn't see the all-consuming passion that would lead Bailey to sacrifice everything for Cohen.
This book is like a waypoint for Goodwin. Now she's got to bring the raw genius and the careful construction together.
Small point: name change. For half the beginning bit the bodyguard is called Elis. Suddenly at location 208 he becomes Elias. Later, Bailey borrows his name for an alias, and the same thing happens. He introduces himself as Elis, and everyone calls him this up till 3349, when suddenly he becomes Elias.
Also, while I'm sure illustrator Vikki Moule is a good friend, her covers are not doing Goodwin any favours. People will avoid this book purely based on that cover.
A very enjoyable story, a world away from your typical vampsex m/m.
September 8, 2014
Heartless
By Sarah Goodwin
Four stars.
OK. That was different.
As a major vampire aficionado (going back to the 1960s) I was a little startled by how far this story veers off from the new “mainstream” vampire tropes of the early twenty-first century.
I love that Sarah Goodwin opens the book with a quote from Dracula: “Where ends the war without a brain and heart to conduct it?”
And I love that there is a recognizable “True Blood” echo in the core premise of the book: that vampires make themselves known to the world, and the world manages to cope.
Sort of.
There it leaves the track, and gets both darker and more philosophical, bringing up unlikely thoughts of “1984” and “Animal Farm” in its dystopian worldview.
The time is now, and the place is here (here being America). People have gotten used to the presence of vampires—or, rather, used to the pervasive influence of vampires, who seem to live isolated, gated, high-security lives like Middle-Eastern oligarchs.
They also seem to have gained enormous control over the nation’s financial markets and political systems, without visibly seeming to have done so. For one thing, a national law requires that every family offer one of its members in each generation as a volunteer donor—a live-in food source—for a vampire. Another law label all people who work to harm vampires and their employees as terrorists and mandates nearly instant executions. Televised executions.
Bailey Oldcastle is a second-generation donor, and his first-person narrative begins as he is sent off to live at a vampire’s compound, providing his host with daily sustenance in exchange for room and board.
Well, that sounds a little too much like slavery for my taste. However, it is only with Bailey’s “transition” (i.e. sale) to another vampire, the ginger-haired Cohen, that we begin to see a slightly bigger picture; one that hardly paints vampires as sweethearts, but also demonstrates that they are all not cut from the same ancient, evil cloth.
Just as Bailey begins to find his bearings as the pampered blood bag for a primeval vampire, the vague disquiet of the earlier part of the book gives way to heart-stopping alarm and violent chaos that barely lets up until the book’s eerie, resigned conclusion.
The parallels with ongoing terrorism and political violence in our own world are not accidental, and the moral complexities of vampires in a world full of anxious humans are not tidied up with group hugs and romantic aphorisms
If ambiguity is not your thing, then don’t read this. But even as I was more or less weirded out by Goodwin’s bleak vision and unforgiving plot twists, I was strangely satisfied by a book that manages to be romantic and harsh; a book that forced me to think as well as feel.
By Sarah Goodwin
Four stars.
OK. That was different.
As a major vampire aficionado (going back to the 1960s) I was a little startled by how far this story veers off from the new “mainstream” vampire tropes of the early twenty-first century.
I love that Sarah Goodwin opens the book with a quote from Dracula: “Where ends the war without a brain and heart to conduct it?”
And I love that there is a recognizable “True Blood” echo in the core premise of the book: that vampires make themselves known to the world, and the world manages to cope.
Sort of.
There it leaves the track, and gets both darker and more philosophical, bringing up unlikely thoughts of “1984” and “Animal Farm” in its dystopian worldview.
The time is now, and the place is here (here being America). People have gotten used to the presence of vampires—or, rather, used to the pervasive influence of vampires, who seem to live isolated, gated, high-security lives like Middle-Eastern oligarchs.
They also seem to have gained enormous control over the nation’s financial markets and political systems, without visibly seeming to have done so. For one thing, a national law requires that every family offer one of its members in each generation as a volunteer donor—a live-in food source—for a vampire. Another law label all people who work to harm vampires and their employees as terrorists and mandates nearly instant executions. Televised executions.
Bailey Oldcastle is a second-generation donor, and his first-person narrative begins as he is sent off to live at a vampire’s compound, providing his host with daily sustenance in exchange for room and board.
Well, that sounds a little too much like slavery for my taste. However, it is only with Bailey’s “transition” (i.e. sale) to another vampire, the ginger-haired Cohen, that we begin to see a slightly bigger picture; one that hardly paints vampires as sweethearts, but also demonstrates that they are all not cut from the same ancient, evil cloth.
Just as Bailey begins to find his bearings as the pampered blood bag for a primeval vampire, the vague disquiet of the earlier part of the book gives way to heart-stopping alarm and violent chaos that barely lets up until the book’s eerie, resigned conclusion.
The parallels with ongoing terrorism and political violence in our own world are not accidental, and the moral complexities of vampires in a world full of anxious humans are not tidied up with group hugs and romantic aphorisms
If ambiguity is not your thing, then don’t read this. But even as I was more or less weirded out by Goodwin’s bleak vision and unforgiving plot twists, I was strangely satisfied by a book that manages to be romantic and harsh; a book that forced me to think as well as feel.
August 2, 2013
The first half of this book is great. It's slow but mesmerizing, as the details of Bailey's daily life as a vampire's blood donor unfold. I loved the scenes of his arrival at Cohen's house and his exploration of his surroundings. It's all very atmospheric and creepy and delicious.
The second half of the book takes a darker turn. It's almost all violent action scenes. It's mostly done very well, but I missed that "oh, this is so fascinating" quality of the first part. My main criticism of the story is Still, I liked the story a lot, and Sarah Goodwin is one of my favorite self-published authors.
The second half of the book takes a darker turn. It's almost all violent action scenes. It's mostly done very well, but I missed that "oh, this is so fascinating" quality of the first part. My main criticism of the story is Still, I liked the story a lot, and Sarah Goodwin is one of my favorite self-published authors.
July 28, 2014
I start this review with an apology. When I saw a self published book by an author I had not encountered before I made the assumption that I would be reviewing typos and grammatical errors. Well you know what they say about ‘assume’ and in this situation the saying is apt. I did find some typos but after a few pages I stopped caring. This is a gem of a vampire novel.
Sarah Goodwin’s writing is dense, dark and sucks you into a tale of an almost dystopian alternate present. Here vampires have come out of hiding and now have their rights enshrined in the laws of the land. Part of these legal rights include one member of every human family, with no history of wrongdoing, being allocated as a donor to a vampire. These donors leave their homes and live in the vampire households usually until they die or another member of their family grows up enough to take over.
Bailey, the main protagonist of this novel, is one such donor as was his father and grandfather before. Even though he is the youngest member of his family, his older brother’s ill health and his older sister’s relocation, to serve in a vampire household in Alaska, means the burden fell to him. Needless to say the taking of donors, and the strangeness and isolation of vampires themselves, cause opponent factions to set up. One such terrorist – or revolutionary – organisation is called The Martyred Lamb. Where your sympathies lie in this novel evolves as the story progresses, which is what makes this novel so believable for me. Experiences and beliefs are not set in stone, and I think some reviews I have read for this book do not allow for this. The opposition of TML and other terrorists ensure the vampires are paranoid about security even though there are laws, which ensure terrible consequences for those who hurt, betray or kill a vampire. The usual punishment is execution by gas, live on national Television. As with any draconian, possibly unjust law and punishment, these executions do not further any sympathies for vampire situations.
Bailey lives for six years in virtual isolation in a couple of basement rooms, after being made donor to a vampire called Desane. The descriptions of his dull daily routine and boredom are absorbing and started the empathy and understanding I had for Bailey. His only distraction in life is feeding, and occasionally sexually servicing, his vampire master. He has become institutionalised by this existence, which makes him feel useless with no purpose in life and we find his thoughts about suicide have been many and creative.
His life changes totally when he meets vampire Cohen. What I loved is how during his short period of luxury, understanding, friendship and burgeoning feelings for his vampire, Cohen, Bailey’s doubts about his usefulness and purpose in life remain. He doesn’t see himself as a victim rather as someone who simply has no purpose in society. However, the part he will play in his society would shock the Bailey we meet at the beginning of this story. ‘Heartless’ contains progression and change in all of its' characters, which is no mean feat to achieve. I think this is one of the best vampire novels I have read in a long while.
I did not find this novel depressing, which is one of the criticisms levelled at it in reviews. When I finished I was alive with thoughts for discussion. It opens up so many avenues for social and political investigation and opinion. This novel takes you on a very intense journey and then gives you a good ending, which is happy and believable.
Do not expect a Twilight, this is Vampire as political situation not as sparkly, love interest. This would be an excellent novel for a book club, as the discussions it would instigate would be many and interesting. A 5* read for me.
Sarah Goodwin’s writing is dense, dark and sucks you into a tale of an almost dystopian alternate present. Here vampires have come out of hiding and now have their rights enshrined in the laws of the land. Part of these legal rights include one member of every human family, with no history of wrongdoing, being allocated as a donor to a vampire. These donors leave their homes and live in the vampire households usually until they die or another member of their family grows up enough to take over.
Bailey, the main protagonist of this novel, is one such donor as was his father and grandfather before. Even though he is the youngest member of his family, his older brother’s ill health and his older sister’s relocation, to serve in a vampire household in Alaska, means the burden fell to him. Needless to say the taking of donors, and the strangeness and isolation of vampires themselves, cause opponent factions to set up. One such terrorist – or revolutionary – organisation is called The Martyred Lamb. Where your sympathies lie in this novel evolves as the story progresses, which is what makes this novel so believable for me. Experiences and beliefs are not set in stone, and I think some reviews I have read for this book do not allow for this. The opposition of TML and other terrorists ensure the vampires are paranoid about security even though there are laws, which ensure terrible consequences for those who hurt, betray or kill a vampire. The usual punishment is execution by gas, live on national Television. As with any draconian, possibly unjust law and punishment, these executions do not further any sympathies for vampire situations.
Bailey lives for six years in virtual isolation in a couple of basement rooms, after being made donor to a vampire called Desane. The descriptions of his dull daily routine and boredom are absorbing and started the empathy and understanding I had for Bailey. His only distraction in life is feeding, and occasionally sexually servicing, his vampire master. He has become institutionalised by this existence, which makes him feel useless with no purpose in life and we find his thoughts about suicide have been many and creative.
His life changes totally when he meets vampire Cohen. What I loved is how during his short period of luxury, understanding, friendship and burgeoning feelings for his vampire, Cohen, Bailey’s doubts about his usefulness and purpose in life remain. He doesn’t see himself as a victim rather as someone who simply has no purpose in society. However, the part he will play in his society would shock the Bailey we meet at the beginning of this story. ‘Heartless’ contains progression and change in all of its' characters, which is no mean feat to achieve. I think this is one of the best vampire novels I have read in a long while.
I did not find this novel depressing, which is one of the criticisms levelled at it in reviews. When I finished I was alive with thoughts for discussion. It opens up so many avenues for social and political investigation and opinion. This novel takes you on a very intense journey and then gives you a good ending, which is happy and believable.
Do not expect a Twilight, this is Vampire as political situation not as sparkly, love interest. This would be an excellent novel for a book club, as the discussions it would instigate would be many and interesting. A 5* read for me.
January 14, 2014
I'm tired! This story wore me out. Vampires against the Human Race....it's a different world and families now are tied to Vampires as donors, it's the law. But how does a human world deal with a race that lives so long that they lose their humanity, and how do Vampires live safely in a world were gangs of terrorists/resistance fighters want your kind dead. There's two sides to this story and characters that have two ways of dealing or feeling with what's going on around them!! Bailey and Cohen are just one part of this crazy, violent story of war around them. Bailey's own story of survival rings of truth of what some people are facing today....what happens to me now?
Want to read
July 31, 2013Another freebie from Sarah Goodwin at Amazon US! 7/31/13!
August 2, 2013
Dark and pessimistic is this novel by a self-published author.
Set in an alternate, dystopian US even more deprived of basic human rights than it currently is, it takes the myth of the vampire and strips it of any drop of charm.
Gone are the currently trendy tall, dark and handsome vampires usually more bent on courting their human love-interests than bloodyind them, but gone as well are the Stoker-style monsters of yore, evil and terrifying to the last page when the hero finally manages to expose them to the light of the purifying sun.
What is left are everyday predators manipulating people and stocks to suit their own very selfish needs.
Investment bankers and financial sharks, harbingers and culprits of the current, very real economic crisis, come to mind and one can wonder whether the author is implicitly referring to them and to their responsibility in the current sad state of affairs while portraying her vampires and their minions.
Her writing -despite the random typo- is good from the first to the last word of the book and I am sure her professors of creative writing must be proud of her.
Her language is neat, her pace is compelling, her plot is tight.
Action scenes are not perfect but generally well managed and they nicely counterpoint the more numerous contemplative moments.
Everything can be improved but, if this is the starting point of her career, one can only expect good things.
Some problems must be pointed out and they all involve the content of the story.
While avoiding cumbersome background information is always commendable, Ms Goodwin takes it so far that it is impossible to believe that her plot could actually take place, even in the US that allow Guantanamo to exit and people condamned to death but later exonerated from the crimes to be executed.
It is true that in the US and in most of the Western world people have lost many of the basic freedoms and rights their grandparents earned after WWII, but if a government were really to take the first-born child of EVERY family and force it into life-long servitude with no rights, no wages and no chance to ever retire, said government would face huge unrest even in our current sleepy world where corporations rule more than governments do. Policemen themselves would lose dear ones and I cannot think they would enforce such laws.
I think the author should have rather described a system apparenly giving "donors" full rights and then somewhat disattending them. This would be more believable and more in tune with our current, corrupt governing systems.
Another problem is the character of Cohen.
The POV belongs to Bailey we only see him through his eyes and as the two are rarely together what should be the second lead of the novel is a loveable but pale figure indeed.
Bailey is even more problematic.
At the beginning of the novel he is said to be a "handful" but throughout the novel he is rather meek bordering on the "doormat".
The point of the author is clearly that of showing us how he learns to take his life into his hands but I think nobody -not even Bailey- would accept to be essentially sentenced for life, not even to save a brother. Personally I should take that brother and try to flee to Mexico or something.
Throughout the novel his inner thoughts are vividly and convincingly described but his general characterization is flawed in its basics.
Another point of contention, for me, is how he looks at his lot.
I know Usonians consider being jobless a public shame, but I cannot honestly believe that any person -closed in a constantly illuminated basement with no access to the outside world, deprived of any form of entertainment and human company, fed with dull food and hurt every single evening by a cold-hearted vampire with no hope of ever escaping- would consider himself a parasite because he does not earn his keep, his keep being said basement and dull food.
All the psychological journey bringing a mentally healthy youth to such a state of absurd despondency is omitted.
I also wonder how people working for the same vampire could look at this youth with contempt knowing what he must go through.
As a result my opinions on this work are mixed and I am sure I am not going to reread it.
On the one hand I encourage the author to keep on writing because she is really good at it; on the other hand I disliked this work because it is too gloomy -this is personal taste- and its setting is not rich and detailed enough to make such gloom acceptable or even reasonable.
Set in an alternate, dystopian US even more deprived of basic human rights than it currently is, it takes the myth of the vampire and strips it of any drop of charm.
Gone are the currently trendy tall, dark and handsome vampires usually more bent on courting their human love-interests than bloodyind them, but gone as well are the Stoker-style monsters of yore, evil and terrifying to the last page when the hero finally manages to expose them to the light of the purifying sun.
What is left are everyday predators manipulating people and stocks to suit their own very selfish needs.
Investment bankers and financial sharks, harbingers and culprits of the current, very real economic crisis, come to mind and one can wonder whether the author is implicitly referring to them and to their responsibility in the current sad state of affairs while portraying her vampires and their minions.
Her writing -despite the random typo- is good from the first to the last word of the book and I am sure her professors of creative writing must be proud of her.
Her language is neat, her pace is compelling, her plot is tight.
Action scenes are not perfect but generally well managed and they nicely counterpoint the more numerous contemplative moments.
Everything can be improved but, if this is the starting point of her career, one can only expect good things.
Some problems must be pointed out and they all involve the content of the story.
While avoiding cumbersome background information is always commendable, Ms Goodwin takes it so far that it is impossible to believe that her plot could actually take place, even in the US that allow Guantanamo to exit and people condamned to death but later exonerated from the crimes to be executed.
It is true that in the US and in most of the Western world people have lost many of the basic freedoms and rights their grandparents earned after WWII, but if a government were really to take the first-born child of EVERY family and force it into life-long servitude with no rights, no wages and no chance to ever retire, said government would face huge unrest even in our current sleepy world where corporations rule more than governments do. Policemen themselves would lose dear ones and I cannot think they would enforce such laws.
I think the author should have rather described a system apparenly giving "donors" full rights and then somewhat disattending them. This would be more believable and more in tune with our current, corrupt governing systems.
Another problem is the character of Cohen.
The POV belongs to Bailey we only see him through his eyes and as the two are rarely together what should be the second lead of the novel is a loveable but pale figure indeed.
Bailey is even more problematic.
At the beginning of the novel he is said to be a "handful" but throughout the novel he is rather meek bordering on the "doormat".
The point of the author is clearly that of showing us how he learns to take his life into his hands but I think nobody -not even Bailey- would accept to be essentially sentenced for life, not even to save a brother. Personally I should take that brother and try to flee to Mexico or something.
Throughout the novel his inner thoughts are vividly and convincingly described but his general characterization is flawed in its basics.
Another point of contention, for me, is how he looks at his lot.
I know Usonians consider being jobless a public shame, but I cannot honestly believe that any person -closed in a constantly illuminated basement with no access to the outside world, deprived of any form of entertainment and human company, fed with dull food and hurt every single evening by a cold-hearted vampire with no hope of ever escaping- would consider himself a parasite because he does not earn his keep, his keep being said basement and dull food.
All the psychological journey bringing a mentally healthy youth to such a state of absurd despondency is omitted.
I also wonder how people working for the same vampire could look at this youth with contempt knowing what he must go through.
As a result my opinions on this work are mixed and I am sure I am not going to reread it.
On the one hand I encourage the author to keep on writing because she is really good at it; on the other hand I disliked this work because it is too gloomy -this is personal taste- and its setting is not rich and detailed enough to make such gloom acceptable or even reasonable.
August 11, 2013
Lots of talent, lots of potential. This is the 2nd book I read by this author. Same result. Good beginning, interesting world building, but this time the characters left me cold. The pacing is uneven and the 2nd half of the book is an exercise in suspension of disbelief, even further than required by a story involving out-in-the-open, real vampires, living among us.
The resolution was way too easy and pat, the ending was, once again, rushed and unsatisfying. I can't see myself re-reading this or recommending it to anyone else.
The resolution was way too easy and pat, the ending was, once again, rushed and unsatisfying. I can't see myself re-reading this or recommending it to anyone else.
dnf
October 7, 2019**DNF @53%**
Not having good luck lately.
Flat characters. No build up to the first kiss. I had to go back a few sentences to see if I had missed something. The vamp MC is dull as HELL! The story arc is more of a flatline, tbh. I had high hopes for this book in the beginning.
Not having good luck lately.
Flat characters. No build up to the first kiss. I had to go back a few sentences to see if I had missed something. The vamp MC is dull as HELL! The story arc is more of a flatline, tbh. I had high hopes for this book in the beginning.
October 7, 2014
This book had so much potential. When I read the blurb I wanted to read it so badly, and I read it very quickly the beginning was amazing, incredible even. But then it failed me and I have to say I skipped a lot of the book as I didn't want it to happen.
Heartless explores the journey of Bailey, a doner to a Vampire, who only se humans as bodies to be fed from a 'dirty necessity.' Sounds great right? especially since Bailey is sold to another Vampire who is kind to him and looks after him, still sounding great? i thought so too but then for me it goes down hill when Bailey thinks Cohen is dead and works for the terrorist group who believe Vampires should not be aloud to live. For me it loses it here asI expected Bailey to be the one targeted and Cohen has to save him.
Sorry about the spoilers but I was just a little disappointed with the ending, However I did really enjoy the beginning of the novel and definitely needed to finish it quickly to see what happened to Bailey, I guess I just wanted more angst.
Also who else did not like the front cover? What is the spike supposed to represent I think Goodwin needs to re think her cover design.
Heartless explores the journey of Bailey, a doner to a Vampire, who only se humans as bodies to be fed from a 'dirty necessity.' Sounds great right? especially since Bailey is sold to another Vampire who is kind to him and looks after him, still sounding great? i thought so too but then for me it goes down hill when Bailey thinks Cohen is dead and works for the terrorist group who believe Vampires should not be aloud to live. For me it loses it here asI expected Bailey to be the one targeted and Cohen has to save him.
Sorry about the spoilers but I was just a little disappointed with the ending, However I did really enjoy the beginning of the novel and definitely needed to finish it quickly to see what happened to Bailey, I guess I just wanted more angst.
Also who else did not like the front cover? What is the spike supposed to represent I think Goodwin needs to re think her cover design.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2014
A Dark Vampire novel. This reminds me somewhat of the novels by Charlaine Harris, the tv series based on her novels, "True Blood," although this is dark for different reasons....homelessness, despair.
I couldn't connect, nor empathise with the protagonist, I didn't feel the love, neither the beginnings of the love between human donor and Vampire. It was just too depressing, there was no hope.
Sarah, I'm sorry. I love your words, your writing but I felt little empathy with the characters and the story depressed me. The Vampire and his donor made it to Scotland but I needed that HEA until the human dies.
I much preferred the novels by Ulysses Grant Dietz. They had hope. For me this novel had only despair.
3 stars means I enjoyed reading it and I kind of liked it.
I couldn't connect, nor empathise with the protagonist, I didn't feel the love, neither the beginnings of the love between human donor and Vampire. It was just too depressing, there was no hope.
Sarah, I'm sorry. I love your words, your writing but I felt little empathy with the characters and the story depressed me. The Vampire and his donor made it to Scotland but I needed that HEA until the human dies.
I much preferred the novels by Ulysses Grant Dietz. They had hope. For me this novel had only despair.
3 stars means I enjoyed reading it and I kind of liked it.
August 10, 2014
Superb.
Superb.
I don't think another word could describe this book. If you hate vampires then please give this a go. I mean it - this may change your mind about them. Heartless is set in our world where vampires are known. Some people like them, hate them, or just ignore them. But they're a part of the human world. Humans work for these vampires and some become donors. Bailey is one of them and his story is heartbreaking.
This is flawless storytelling. It is gutsy and it is raw but above all it is original and so good.
I am all for reading self-published and indie authors. They get way too much flack and guess what books like this show me that there are so many authors that are unheard of because of the bad reputation.
I thought this book was phenomenal.
Superb.
I don't think another word could describe this book. If you hate vampires then please give this a go. I mean it - this may change your mind about them. Heartless is set in our world where vampires are known. Some people like them, hate them, or just ignore them. But they're a part of the human world. Humans work for these vampires and some become donors. Bailey is one of them and his story is heartbreaking.
This is flawless storytelling. It is gutsy and it is raw but above all it is original and so good.
I am all for reading self-published and indie authors. They get way too much flack and guess what books like this show me that there are so many authors that are unheard of because of the bad reputation.
I thought this book was phenomenal.
January 17, 2017
Don't let the low ratings on Goodreads, or the non-so-fancy cover, keep you from reading this one. I grabbed it because it was free at the time. I probably wouldn't have grabbed it because of the low rating, but I'm glad I did.
It's a very dark story, so if that's not for you, then find something else to read. But, wow, I was glued to this one from start to finish. What a horrible world the author has painted, but I can totally see the real societal issues woven into this one.
I also don't hold the small editing issues against the author because they self-published this one. Without an editor, my books would be much much worse. Lol Kudos for self-publishing, though!
It's a very dark story, so if that's not for you, then find something else to read. But, wow, I was glued to this one from start to finish. What a horrible world the author has painted, but I can totally see the real societal issues woven into this one.
I also don't hold the small editing issues against the author because they self-published this one. Without an editor, my books would be much much worse. Lol Kudos for self-publishing, though!
March 2, 2016
Sarah Goodwin is brilliant. This book is brilliant. Elegant, subtle, mature and stylish. It makes you feel like you've gone through a real experience, and oh, the feeeeeelings. Dear Ms. Goodwin, please, please, please keep writing. This review is very brief (I have to run) and utterly undeservingly so, and fails as a review to live up to just how great a book it was. My inexcusably inadequate review doesn't alter the fact that this was just a wonderful book from a great writer.
July 7, 2013
Though it felt fast paced at times- I still genuinely enjoyed it! There is something so charming about the way Sarah Goodwin writes. 5/5 stars just because it was so enjoyable.
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