A World Apart

Once Upon #5 1/4

by Nora Roberts

A ravishing medieval demon slayer arrives in twenty-first century New York to brave a strange new world -- and a man who will be her destiny.

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Time Travel, Novella, Paranormal, Audiobook

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2011

About the author

Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Hideaway, Under Currents, Come Sundown, The Awakening, Legacy, and coming in November 2021 -- The Becoming -- the second book in The Dragon Heart Legacy. She is also the author of the futuristic suspense In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

Reviews

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A World Apart" is the story of Kadra and Harper.

A feisty, medieval vampire slayer travels through time to meet the man who would help her slay the master vampire, soon realizing he is a human PI. They war, love and soon have their happy ending, after much angst and almost tragedy.

Safe
3/5

[Mistery · Rating 1 out of 5]

Li somente dois romances de Nora Roberts, Um Sonho de Vida e Refém do Amor , ambos agradáveis surpresas, pelo que não podia ter ficado mais entusiasmada quando trouxe este conto (e outro) para a minha coleção, esperando um livro de fantasia paranormal com um agradável slow burning romance. Pois... o melhor é mesmo não confiar-mos nas sinopses. Kadra, uma Exterminadora de Demónios, vive num mundo fantástico de feitiçeiras, criaturas mágicas, e nasceu para ser guerreira. Quando Sorak, o rei dos demónios Bok, foge para Nova Iorque, a caçadora persegue-o, sendo entregue a Harper Doyle, um detetive privado de 30 anos que atribui a visão de uma mulher semi-nua em cima dele ao excesso de álcool que consumiu no dia anterior. Juntos formarão uma dupla caça-demónios e sentirão uma intensa atração um pelo outro, mas só quando Sorak estiver morto poderão discutir os seus sentimentos.

Não gostei de nada - ou quase nada - neste livro. A vertente fantástica já se era de esperar que não fosse do meu agrado, pois não sou a maior fã de fantasia. O romance foi tão ridículo que perdi a conta do revirar de olhos que fiz. Harper Doyle é o típico homem que acaba de entrar na casa dos trinta que é detetive privado, conduz um Mustang e tem uma predileção por mulheres bonitas. Kadra... foi tudo menos a protagonista badass que eu esperava encontrar. Comporta-se meio como uma rainha, meio como uma vigilante ao estilo Arrow (afinal, o seu destino é proteger os habitantes de A'Dair e tal...). «Sou Kadra. Exterminadora de Demónios. Guardiã do sol vermelho. (...) Sou a tua morte». «Cumprimentos, Exterminadora de Demónios» dizem as pessoas quando passa por elas. E o que ela faz? Encosta o punho ao coração enquanto anda. Quão patriótico... Que mais? Corta cabeças a demónios usando roupas de couro que lhe tapam pobremente as partes íntimas, comporta-se como se tratá-la como uma pessoa normal fosse um insulto. Ah, já mencionei que só as mulheres podem ser Exterminadoras de Demónios? É totalmente compreensível que Harper Doyle se tenha babado por ela: ela é uma Dominatrix vinda de um mundo alternativo que fala como se viesse de um mundo alternativo. Não gostei da relação deles e do seu desenvolvimento. Tinha de parar a leitura cada vez que acabava um parágrafo para fazer cara de estúpida. E, por favor, eram mesmo precisas tantas menções às pernas de Kadra e ao seu comprimento? E aquelas indiretas de Harper? Sim, já sabemos, é totalmente compreensível que estejas completamente fascinado por ela e blá blá blá, mas não tomarias tantas liberdades se ela fosse deste mundo, porque eu de certeza que te dava uma chapada por tais atrevimentos. As reações de Kadra à Nova Iorque de finais do século xx fizeram-na na guerreira mais tontinha de sempre. Está bem que se encontra numa nova realidade totalmente diferente da sua, mas não é como se o Harper tivesse feito figurinhas tristes no mundo dela.

Não detestei, mas digamos que o que li foi o equivalente ao que esperava que fosse Twilight: piroso e ridículo, a acrescentar o excesso de fantasia também com muita piroseira à mistura (e Twilight foi muito melhor que isto). Não acredito que não possam gostar, mas eu, pessoalmente, não recomendaria a ninguém passar por o que passei. Foi uma leitura fácil (confesso que já me custou mais ler outras obras), pois as poucas páginas contribuem para o avanço rápido na narrativa e um desfolhar de páginas constante. Mas o conteúdo não é nada do que eu esperaria desta autora. E certamente não me aventurarei tão cedo nas suas obras/contos de fantasia (ou, muito provavelmente, nunca mais). Não posso, no entanto, afirmar que esta tenha sido daquelas desilusões que me provocam um desconforto no peito (até porque foi mau desde o primeira capítulo). Vivo com isso.

Classificação: * * [2 Estrelas - Não Gostei! :( ]

[Lyndi W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one. Kadra is a medieval demon-slayer from an alternate dimension who goes to modern-day New York City to hunt the demon king. And she is hilariously literal. Her reaction to a television had me rolling with laughter. I also liked how Harper rolled with the punches. I would have really enjoyed this story as a full-length novel.

[Paraphrodite · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Re-listened in 2020. Frankly I don't remember listening to this before but I did like the role reversal of a female demon slayer jumping dimensions to New York where she's helped by a P.I. in eliminating the demon king who wanted to consume the city.

Of course, when the PI was being transformed by the demon's kiss, it only took a kiss from our heroine to save him as again true love conquers all. Even when the hero himself thought it was quite embarrassing. :)
________________________


Short but really interesting. Wish it was longer.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

A World Apart was a very different story than I am used to from this author. I have read some of her other fantasy tales, but this one was a bit more gruesome. The scenes in subway were reminiscent of any creepy vampire-demon movie. The evil demon, in this case, is changing the homeless into his minions by giving them a nasty kiss. Gross. Cadre has come from another world to try to defeat this demon and stop him from destroying both worlds.

The love story was a bit rushed, but what else would you expect from a novella? I loved Harper and how he was so accepting of Cadre. Cadre took me a bit longer to warm up to. It was also amusing to watch her discover the technology of this world.

I love these quick older stories by Nora because they are great when I need something short and sweet in between heavier books. It's only 3 CDs long, so if you have a long work commute, it's perfect. This story was originally published in the anthology, Once Upon a Kiss. The book also includes stories by Jill Gregory, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Marianne Willman. If you are looking for just the Nora story, try out the audio. The narrator Angela Dawe was great!

[Roos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but good story building. She did good with the time travel between multiple dimensions. Time travel is hard to get right and usually there are plot holes the size of Canada.

Thank you Nora Roberts for writing so much.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

A demon hunter from a different realm and is a lot like Wonder Woman falls on top of private investigator. It was a hella a lot of fun!

[Taveri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I don't usually care for zombie stories (here a kiss converts rather than a bite) I enjoyed the telling. I liked the continual amazement of encountering the various aspects of the different cultures. Other such "time travel" tales usually dispense with the puzzlement early.

One quote by a character was a puzzle for me "I must leave you... I will always be with you..." Kind of like the end of a book you finish it but the story stay in your mind. This one will stay longer than "Montana Sky".

[Karen Joc · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is no original concept with this book it's a mish mash of snow white meets time travel meets slayer. Except for the role reversal its hers kiss that saves him, meets time travel. Quite boring unrealistic and really not one of my favourites.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful story by the talented storyteller Nora Roberts. This book was intriguing focusing on different worlds and demons and demon slayers. I loved the characters of Kadre and Harper. I loved her child like wonder of Harpers world and his discription of her Amazon Valkyrie warrior. This book was highly entertaining and enjoyable book to read. I highly recommend reading this book or any book written by Nora Roberts.




Kadra a demon Hunter is on the hunt for Bok demons, in the middle of a battle with the king of the demons Sorak he uses a stolen key to escape to a different world. Kadra is informed by Rhee the sorceress that he’s traveled to a different world much different from hers and that she must seek help from a man named Harper Doyle if she wishes to succeed in defeating Sorak. She’s teleported to the other world and meets Harper Doyle who initially doesn’t believe her until she shows him her world. Both Harper and Kadra feel a connection to each other and are attracted to each other. They begin the hunt and it leads them to the zoo where Harper gets hurt by a demon she takes him home and treats his wounds he recovers and is happy to discover she likes pizza, abs baseball, they have sex. They’ve both fallen for each other. He tells her he’s willing to go back to her world with her if that’s what it takes to stay together. They head to the subway next on their hunt for the bok demons and Sorak. Harper sacrifices himself to save a little girl, he manages to kill Sorak but not before being poisoned by him with the demons kiss he begins changing, desperate to save him, Kadra takes him to Rhee who tells her to heal him with a kiss of love and life which works because the love they share is true. She tells him she wants to stay in his world with him.

[Space · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my kind of book. Recommended by a friend. Way too folk-lorey/fairy-taley. When he looked across and saw a unicorn I almost threw up in my mouth. I found myself slapping the book down on my lap about every five pages, saying, "Of course he did," or, "of course she was." For instance, she had a 'magnificent body'. Of course she did. Of course there was a unicorn. Of course she back-flipped up onto the bed and landed, straddling him. Sigh.

I read through the whole novella in one sitting, and felt bad about telling my friend that this was equine excrement, but - well, I think it was pretty bad. Maybe if there had been time to develop the characters more then it would have been more believable, and thus, more fun. Likely I would still be having trouble with the plot that a warrior princess has to use a crystal ball to come through a portal to fight demons in New York, but - well, never mind. I will never be okay with reading stories involving crystal balls and unicorns.

It did have a couple of moments in it where I smiled to myself. Like, oh, that was clever. Nice! And I enjoyed those. But they were few. Sorry, Spark, I just can't call myself a fan of this genre. And yes, that's what it is. I'm sure Ms. Roberts is a fine author - but this just happened to be my first taste of her writing, and I am already so stoutly against this genre that nothing within it will get a fair read from me. Not her fault. Not Spark's fault either. Hell, it's why I have not, nor will I ever, read Lord of the Rings. Or Harry Potter. Or Twilight.

[Waverly Nyx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Booktube-a-thon book 3 has been completed. There wasn't a specific challenge for this book, as I added it onto the end as the last challenge which is "read 7 books" so I technically haven't passed this challenge, but I'm one step closer :P

3.9*/5*

[Danthony74 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for this story of passing thru portals to different worlds. I just couldn't get my imagination to wrap around that possibility.

[RaChelle Holmberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Downloaded from my public library, this was a switch! Not your "regular" Nora Roberts but man did I love it. Great premise and very exciting, kept me riveted!

[Carmen Davalos · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always her work is awesone

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

gr read

[Viviana · Rating 2 out of 5]

[audiobook]

[Thenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC

[Laurissa Yip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay. A fantasy novella where the relationship just didn't work with the timeline but it was entertaining enough.

[A G A VAN DEN BOS · Rating 2 out of 5]

What starts of as a potentially solid fairy tale, rapidly deteriorates to instantaneous sex drive to finish the task at hand, in order to reach a Snow White (or self-proclaimed Sleeping Beauty) ending.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short fantasy read.

[Carla Marques · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mais um pequeno conto de Nora Roberts, desta vez temos Kadra (uma guerreira) que persegue monstros Bok no mundo dela.
Opinião completa em:http://aviciadadoslivros.blogspot.pt/...

[Carla Simoes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leitura 1:
Este e o último livro da nora publicAdo pela revista flsh, conta a história de kadra uma caçadora de demônios que viaja no tempo até ao século XX e encontra harper um Detetive privado,juntos tem de caçar o rei dos demônios sorak k viajou também prA nova Iorque.

A história porém rÁpida e bonita e achei imensa piada a kadra e as reações dela com as modernices do nosso tempo por exemplo com a tv :-)

Leitura 2:

Precisava de um livrinho pequeno leve e descontraído e lembrei me desta coleção da Nora Roberts.

Percebi que não recordava nada da história e resolvi ler de novo, gostei mas não mudei a classificação que já tinha dado.

A kadra e o Doyle formam um bom par e a demanda pela caça ao sorak é gira no entanto previsível.
Adorava que tivesse sido um livro mais completo e que eles tivessem demorado mais a apaixonar se.

Para uma short story é muito boa e adoro as atitudes da kadra sobre o mundo moderno.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demonslayer Cadre comes from a world other than Earth and chases a Bok demon king through time and space. She joins with Harper Doyle to fight the demons in New York City. I enjoyed the story and particularly liked Cadre's literal interpretation of everything Harper says. For example, Harper says something about New Jersey and she asks, what happened to old jersey. Of course, she has the typical reaction to televisions, microwaves and toilets as all time traveling characters. He's a joker and she's so very serious that one provides comic relief for the other. A really fun read regardless of how short it is.

NOTE: I listened to the audiobook so I apologize if my spellings are incorrect.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Logo a seguir a ter lido o quinto conto da colecção da revista FLASH! acabei por pegar no sexto e último de imediato pois estava na expectativa em relação ao que iria encontrar – e, ainda que não tenha gostado tanto deste como dos dois anteriores, deparei-me com mais um conto bastante interessante!

Tal como os outros contos, esta foi mais uma história repleta de magia, coragem e amor que, infelizmente, acaba por se desenvolver de forma algo abrupta o que confere pouca profundidade aos acontecimentos – ainda assim, gostei das personagens e dos cenários retratados que, sem dúvida, prometem cativar facilmente o leitor.

Desta forma, esta acabou por ser mais uma leitura leve e rápida mas que eu apreciei!

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure what to say about this one - ahem - tough demon slayer meets big hunky New York P.I. They kick some demon ass, then have some great "wrestling" matches. As an audiobook, it was entertaining enough. Not sure that I'd pick this one up and read it, however. My first Nora Roberts. All I know about her is that she publishes a new novel a minute, or something like that. Kudos to her for being so successful. I'm just not that into demon visits NYC scenarios - though the pizza and beer descriptions made me hungry.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um mundo novo, monstros novos, cultura nova. Tudo isto mas a protagonista é transportada para a nossa Terra e confrontada com a nossa realidade. É forçada pelo destino a trabalhar com Harper Doyle que por sua vez é confrontado com toda a sua bagagem. Uma boa história mas que peca pela pouca complexidade dos intervenientes e das suas atitudes e pela enorme rapidez com que se desenrola toda a história entre ambos. Claro que o tamanho pequeníssimo do conto obriga a alguma leveza e rapidez, ainda assim é tudo muito abrupto e algo superficial, embora tenha as suas qualidades.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Nora Roberts and count her amongst my most favourite authors. However...this just doesn't cut it for me. If I had not known the author I would have said it was a first attempt by an independent novelist. Very amateurish, silly plot and although a fantasy novel it was much too far removed from reality for me to be able to accept the story. Please get back to your familiar stories that I love so much!

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think part of the problem with this book is that it was simply too short to make the most out of the plot, so it felt a little rushed and false. I enjoyed the story, I just think there could have been more to it. It was witty but still for the whole 150 pages to cover only two days... it could have been better. A decent quick read at best.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Nora Roberts short story that made me smile. Kadra is a demon slayer that followed the demon king from her relm to New York City. She is destined to find Harper Doyle, a Private Investigator, to help with hunting and killing Sorak. Her induction into Harper's reality is clever and humorous. It is entertaining at how the two worlds collide.