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Children of Cain #2
The Offspring
A murder behind her and the wilderness before her, friendless witch Gwenevere flees to survive. Yet Mother Nature is not kind and even Gwen’s magical gifts can’t save her from a deadly winter storm. Narrowly escaping death, she is rescued by an unlikely hero and taken into the shelter of a mythical realm. Has Gwen at long last found her own kind? Will she finally solve the mystery to her own identity, or her mother’s murder? Or is innocence blinding her to the true reality of this dark sanctuary?
542 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2014
1 person is currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
R.J. Craddock
9 books100 followersBorn Ruth Jerraisetti Harris in Oka Tamuning, Guam, Ruth is the youngest of eight children. As a young child, she began telling stories, developing unique characters, and conjuring fantastical worlds in her mind. As she grew older, a thirst for reading overcame her and she devoured all kinds of books, finding kindred spirits in classic novelists such as Dickens, Bronte, and Fitzgerald. She started writing her first novel at age eleven. After high school, she attended the Art Institute of Phoenix to pursue her other great passion: Art. Ruth now lives with her husband and five children in Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 22, 2015
The first book showed us Gwen, a girl with a hint of magic power, growing up in the real world. She encounters the bad that exists right in the midst of us and must overcome.
In book 2, she has found the children of Cain (all faerie creatures are descendants of Cain and Lilith). She finds out that bad that exists amongst the children of Cain can be far worse than the bad of humanity. Too young to overcome the evils of Legion, can she simply survive his evil?
In book 2, she has found the children of Cain (all faerie creatures are descendants of Cain and Lilith). She finds out that bad that exists amongst the children of Cain can be far worse than the bad of humanity. Too young to overcome the evils of Legion, can she simply survive his evil?
August 12, 2014
I read and reviewed The Forsaken a few months ago, and I was interested to see what kind of trouble Gwenevere has gotten herself into. Boy, if you though her interactions with humans were tragic, wait until you see what happens when vampires get ahold of this little witch.
In The Offspring, Gwenevere is whisked away to an underground fortress named Bac LeNuff where the children of Cain love the night life and the vampire king has evil intentions for twelve-year-old Gwen. Friends become foes and foes become friends as a child witch discovers that an offer of love should never be taken at face-value.
Like The Forsaken, I struggled with the pacing and POV shifts. The premise is good. The story is heart-wrenching, but the plot moves a little slow for my taste at times and too fast through others. Again, this is probably a style difference, but the fight scene at the end makes the middle worthwhile. I should also warn that there are also some disturbing scenes involving the rape of a child, which is a difficult concept for me. If you have a sensitivity like I do, you’ll probably want to avoid those parts.
In The Offspring, Gwenevere is whisked away to an underground fortress named Bac LeNuff where the children of Cain love the night life and the vampire king has evil intentions for twelve-year-old Gwen. Friends become foes and foes become friends as a child witch discovers that an offer of love should never be taken at face-value.
Like The Forsaken, I struggled with the pacing and POV shifts. The premise is good. The story is heart-wrenching, but the plot moves a little slow for my taste at times and too fast through others. Again, this is probably a style difference, but the fight scene at the end makes the middle worthwhile. I should also warn that there are also some disturbing scenes involving the rape of a child, which is a difficult concept for me. If you have a sensitivity like I do, you’ll probably want to avoid those parts.
August 23, 2015
There are not enough stars! I couldn't put this book down!!! It gave me all the Feels!! I enjoyed every minute of this book and can't wait for the next installment! R.J Craddock, you rock!!
March 7, 2016
And the saga continues. I started reading this book immediately after I finished the first one. I was hooked. In the second book, Gwen's story continues. She still thinks of Raven and finding him but sometimes Fate has other ideas. Gwen is still wise beyond her years but at the same time she is still a child; a naive, innocent child and she finds herself married (or trapped) to a vampire who controls her every move.
The author answers a lot of questions in this book, specially about the thirteen tribes of Cain and how these creatures came to be. I like how she connected the dots and helped to explain everything....except for the role of the prologues. I want to know how that is connected with Gwen.
Does the story end in a cliffhanger? Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that you don't know what happened to Gwen after the big battle against the Vampires. No, because this is Gwen's story. You know she will live, you just don't know what happened. So it's not a cliffhanger where you'll be throwing your kindle against the wall, only to be piecing it back together and rereading it to see if you missed something.
Great series, I will read it again, several more times as I impatiently wait for the third book to come out.
The author answers a lot of questions in this book, specially about the thirteen tribes of Cain and how these creatures came to be. I like how she connected the dots and helped to explain everything....except for the role of the prologues. I want to know how that is connected with Gwen.
Does the story end in a cliffhanger? Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that you don't know what happened to Gwen after the big battle against the Vampires. No, because this is Gwen's story. You know she will live, you just don't know what happened. So it's not a cliffhanger where you'll be throwing your kindle against the wall, only to be piecing it back together and rereading it to see if you missed something.
Great series, I will read it again, several more times as I impatiently wait for the third book to come out.
June 22, 2016
This series is just great! I got both books for another person and I ended up reading it myself. I was fascinated with the story!
I loved the first book but I was hooked from the first page the moment I started the next.
In this second installment, Gwen is trying to fit in this world where she seems to belong. And through this journey she meets interesting people/creatures and must face a lot of situations, full of adventure and heart-wrenching.
RJ work is awesome. It's full of thrill, excitement, adventure, a dark touch, love... There're so many feels I experienced through this reading! I love the way she built this fantastic and sometimes terrifing world, and how these greatly developed characters evolve along her writing.
I need to know what's next! I'm looking forward to the third book. Definitely a book I'd recommend!
I loved the first book but I was hooked from the first page the moment I started the next.
In this second installment, Gwen is trying to fit in this world where she seems to belong. And through this journey she meets interesting people/creatures and must face a lot of situations, full of adventure and heart-wrenching.
RJ work is awesome. It's full of thrill, excitement, adventure, a dark touch, love... There're so many feels I experienced through this reading! I love the way she built this fantastic and sometimes terrifing world, and how these greatly developed characters evolve along her writing.
I need to know what's next! I'm looking forward to the third book. Definitely a book I'd recommend!
April 30, 2015
Second book in the series, this great fantasy novel begins with a duel between the black-attired Onan and a white-clad Deverick Hawthorne, the rightful heir to the throne, hurling magical missiles at each other. The scene then shifts to Rosenblaze Manor, a mansion grown out of the earth, where lives a young woman, ambitious and ruthless, eager to be Queen. Such is the stunning start to the continuation of the adventures of the child-witch, Gwen, whom we follow through a series of encounters with an array of characters, incorporating heroes, villains, witches, vampires and other incredible fantasy figures in a tautly-and-authentically-drawn mythical world. The imaginative setting is brilliantly-sketched and the tension and twists in the plot-line keep us hooked. Not to be missed.
July 4, 2014
Wow I blew right through this one even though it's quite a bit longer then the first, and I loved it! The lead character Gwen just keeps surprising me with her strength. She's a tough cookie that's for sure. My man Raven wasn't in this book very much, so that's a down side. Besides that I really enjoyed this one, maybe even more then the first! This writer really likes to write dramatic endings. Over all a great read with some great new characters, and some real growing done by our little lady Gwen. Very good read!
July 4, 2014
Wow I blew right through this one even though it's quite a bit longer then the first, and I loved it! The lead character Gwen just keeps surprising me with her strength. She's a tough cookie that's for sure. My man Raven wasn't in this book very much, so that's a down side. Besides that I really enjoyed this one, maybe even more then the first! This writer really likes to write dramatic endings. Over all a great read with some great new characters, and some real growing done by our little lady Gwen. Very good read!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews