The Keeper's Vow

Guardians #1

by Francina Simone

From the day he showed up on her front porch, he desperately needed three things: a new beginning, a place to belong, and someone to stand beside him.

By the time she figured that out, it was too late.

In a world where being half-vampire is a dark secret that tears families apart, 16 year-old Katie Watts must untangle the web of lies that is her so-called life. No one is who she thought they were. Her father is keeping secrets and everyone knows the darker truth except her. She has no direction, no answers, and—when she searches for the truth—no home.

As the web untangles, the truth pulls Katie and Tristan closer together, and they find themselves connected in more ways than she can believe. But—is honesty worth more than blissful ignorance? Can she live with the truths that begin with her dead mother and end with The Keeper’s Vow?

Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Fiction, Ebooks

438 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2016

About the author

Francina Simone is the author of The Guardians Trilogy, a young adult urban fantasy that explores the strength of love and lost. She was born in Germany, spent her childhood in hot the urban jungle of Orlando Florida, and now resides in the Rockies where she spends more of her time far away with her characters in their quest to make the right decisions in worlds brimming with romance, moral ambiguity, and often times, a touch of magic.

Reviews

[Lesia Joukova · Rating 4 out of 5]

UPD: 23.11.2016

This review was prompted by the fact that I suddenly realized my review is in the top right now and all it says is a pathetic "I enjoyed it!". Time to remedy that. Okay, let's get down into it!

If you love YA paranormal books then I think you should definitely give this book a whirl. Why? For an array of different reasons (warning, minor spoilers ahead, nothing very serious so go ahead).
So what are they? Here are some things that are present in the novel that might tickle your fancy:

* The main characters are "enjoying" the full benefits package of a "telepathic" bond, if you will. Yeah, that's just fancy speak for saying that thought-reading has a place in this one. If you like stories that start with a slight invasion of privacy (haha, I'm saying slight when there's really nothing worse than someone invading your personal space), then you'll love this one! I know I definitely enjoy this trope because the best part of it that the characters aren't in full control of their thought process, making for a very interesting relationship dynamic.
* It is a story of a friendship that establishes itself with a lot of difficulties and hiccups. If you like relationships that develop out of enmity then it's definitely something you will love reading. Tristan and Katie are such different characters that they can't help but clash and their relationship can overwhelm them so much that they'll go into typical teenager mode: ignore other friends, prioritize their life wrongly. Basically a wonderful image of teenagers. I know I was exactly like that and the book really reminded me of that silly and wonderful time.
* The main heroine is getting strong. STRONGER. She is just gonna kick ass (but only when she is done whining). I love whiny strong characters. They remind me of Scarlett O'Hara. Own it, girl!
* This book has an unreliable narrator and it is a pure joy to read her perspective. She is so freaking believable, I can't even. I loved her unique perspective as an angsty girl that has to go through discovering that the world that she knows is very different from the world which she has to face.
* The story has vampires. And it's done very skillfully, their introduction, development and explanation leaves no plot holes or questions and has a lot of potential for a sequel.
* The adults in this book are idiots. Morons, really. They made me angry. And that's why I loved it so much, because it was intentional and it really showed that in this book being an adult doesn't mean that you're incapable of stupid decision. Sometimes I rather wondered whether any of them was capable of doing the right things. Major props, Francina.

Got you interested yet? What do you mean "no"?? Don't you like bratty main characters with hidden strength? Don't you wanna see a cool combat training sequence that actually takes place over months of time? No super skillful MC's here that suddenly become black belt masters here!

Is this book heart wrenching? Aaaaalmost. I think by the second or the third my heart will definitely be in the proper shredder place. Did I root for the characters? Hell yes! I cheered them on, pleaded with them to realize their stupidity sooner and was very satisfied with how the book turned out. Is this book fun? Definitely!

And that's quite enough for me.
-------------
I enjoyed it!

[Rae King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (lovers of paranormal or LOP)

I love reading a new book that I have no expectations of. This was an exhilarating YA paranormal novel with clear, detailed writing. The story kept me excited, engaged and invested.

This book is about a teenage girl named Katalina (Katie), who goes to school one morning, not knowing that her entire life is about to be turned upside down. After some weird feelings and someone getting stabbed in the chest, she finds out that her two best friends and their families are guardians - people who protect humans from super-natural beings. And so is Katie! Katie's dad had her memories erased when she was a little girl to give her the chance at a normal life ... so much for that. She is then put on the spot to make a decision about becoming a guardian or having her memories taken, again.

She chooses to train to be a guardian!



..And gets partnered with a mysterious boy named Tristan who is half vampire, half guardian. Tristan seems to know secrets about Katie's past and her family, but he runs hot and cold during the beginning of their friendship, keeping all of his secrets. He can also read Katie's thoughts, which made the development of their relationship very interesting! Here's my Tristan :)



Tristan and Kaite's growing relationship was wonderful when they were getting along, but the back and forth went on for so much of the book that is got very frustrating at times. But, of, course, that type of relationship makes me get addicted and can't put the book down because I want to see how the realtionship plays out so badly!

For the most part, I liked Katie. I think at times she could be very selfish but always stepped up to the plate when she was needed. Near the end of the book, I starting seeing some development with her character that I'd been hoping for around the middle of the story.

I did have a few moments where I wanted to punch Tristan, but they were fleeting. Even though it might be unfair, I am much more forgiving with male characters. Or rather, I am drawn to much different qualities in male's and Tristan had a lot of what I like. Bad-boy, tortured soul, mysterious, don't give a sh*t attitude. Yeah..I like that :)

Anyways, the story flows beautifully, with action and suspense picking up as it goes. More than half the book has Katie in the dark about Tristan and her family history and when secrets finally get revealed, I was genuinely surprised because I was so absorbed in the story, I didn't even make predictions.

The ending was very exciting! In good and scary ways.



I was giving my tablet a death squeeze while reading. Katie definitely proved herself to me and Tristan finally let go of his walls - great ending. I am left salivating for more!

I recommend this book to all YA paranormal lovers. It is fun, fast paced, and addicting.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3* (I feel like an actual plot was mostly just concentrated at the end.)

This book sucks. I mean there's more I actually explained in the review, but when I think about it this book sucks. It's was trying so hard to not have a love triangle that an entirely useless character was left in the book. No plot until the last 30%.

I think this book was a little too long. The plot is definitely the weakest part of the book and the characters the strongest(even though they were all pretty unlikable). I didn't really get the motivation over some of the drama. Brian was such a pointless character. Dude literally got sent out of the story to his uncle. I dislike Katie and didn't like any of the side characters. What really made the story was Tristan and Katie together along with the mind reading bond between them. That was definitely the coolest and best part of the story. I didn't like the school setting either. The drama was so annoying and dumb. It sounds like I don't like this story much, but it's pretty good I just think there was too much pointless drama. The main characters' relationship carried the story because I liked them together even though as individuals they aren't very likable.

edit: (more thoughts on the 2 main characters)
At first I didn't like Katie much and liked Tristan. By the end of the book I disliked Katie AND Tristan. I'm going to compare this book to Vampire Academy because I saw a few similarities. Rose from VA is a bitch and I mean that in the best way possible because she's also sassy, funny, and tough. Katie has a lot of flaws which makes her realistic, but there's isn't any upside. She isn't smart, tough, fun, or even an asshole-hero type thing. So I don't hate her there just isn't anything that makes her good in any way. Tristan is weird. He's like this quiet, strong character, but he's also becomes a little bit of the bad boy as the story progresses and the combo is strange and I just don't get it. I liked his character a lot more in the first half of the book.

edit: Just being an asshole for fun don't actually have anything against the author. (11/8/17)
Just to throw some shade at the author, no I don't think you can look at books objectively. How you feel about the character development, worldbuilding, and plot is all subjective. To other people that first 70% could have seemed like plot, the worldbuilding could have seemed complex, and having pointless character Brian in there could have been important. I could see the argument that Brian is important because of his parents role in the story, but in my opinion the parents could have just been Katie's friend (forgot her name) parents instead. The worldbuilding is a shitty version of Vampire Academy. I mean some exact same terms get used in both books. The first 70% is random school stuff along with training and I don't think it was that important to the plot. The plot just got put in there after a event (in a shop?) later on.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel a little out of place with this review because most people on Goodreads seemed to really enjoy this book and I just didn’t. I finished reading it because I wanted to find out the answer to the mystery but I ended up disappointed. It’s like everything worked on paper but when I actually read it, it didn’t click with me at all.

Let’s start with the characters. Katie was a bratty teenager – fine. She’s sixteen and you want realism, you get bratty teenager who doesn’t know how to react to the world changing around her. But I really disliked Katie. Oh, I sympathised with her a lot, but I disliked reading about her. Same thing with Tristan, I found the both of them unlikeable. Then, about 75% of the way through the book, Katie gets hit by a clue bat with how selfish she’s being, and is then proceeded to be told this by pretty much all the characters. I have to say, I don’t think any of the characters acted well. It wasn’t just making mistakes, the whole cast of characters were the most selfish bunch of people I have ever read about. All of them, including the adults who don’t have the excuse of being young and inexperienced like the teenagers, were focused on their problems and didn’t give a fig about anyone else. Katie made a very good point when she said (near the start) that she had only been introduced to this world recently and she was still trying to get her head around it, but no one gave her any help. Lucinda, despite being told she is like Katie’s mum, doesn’t have a talk with her about how she’s coping or making sure she’s alright telling her dad despite her knowing how Katie’s dad is concerning the whole Guardian thing. We never find out what’s going on with Brian, both of Katie’s dads are awful parents and nothing is really done about it (seriously Katie’s reaction to her father wiping nearly all her memories out of her head was so bland). Tristan is not a nice person, I know he’s struggling with shit and hearing Katie how horrible he is doesn’t help, but why doesn’t he teach her more about blocking off her thoughts? She can do it, we saw it, and if her thoughts irritated him so much, he could help her pull back. I liked the whole bonded thing but I despised how unequal it was. Then the ending relationship between Tristan and Katie seemed to come out from nowhere – we get one line explaining how the relationship ended up and that was it. No more explanation.

The plot only really got going in the last quarter of the book and when it ended, it felt like it was wrapped up really quickly. I thought I would like the world-building, because it’s paranormal, but I really didn’t and I couldn’t figure out why until I read another review that said it seemed similar to The Mortal Instruments and that’s when it hit me. Guardians of the supernatural world = Shadowhunters. D-Levels (is that what they were called?)= Downworlders gone ‘bad’. The discrimination against vampires etc. That’s figured out at least, I didn’t particularly like The Mortal Instruments worldbuilding so I wasn’t going to like this. I did like the whole ‘Keeper’s Vow’ bit and the history behind it because that was interesting but I can’t believe that Katie found it out in a book. All the time she had been complaining about people not telling her anything and then ignoring the piles of schoolbooks that might help her figure stuff out.

I feel like I’m missing something with this book because everyone else seems to really enjoy it? Everything I liked, there was something I disliked about it as well. Katie being a realistic teenager who avoids schoolwork = answer to one of the biggest mysteries in the book is in her textbook. Soulbond between two strangers = only Tristan is able to read Katie’s thoughts, while Katie has to drink blood to read his. For plot reasons, of course. Past best friends = no one mentions it to Katie because of reasons so she ends up hurting Tristan. Character realises they were unfair and nasty = all the characters tell her this as they ignore all the crap they’ve done in the book.

This isn’t a bad book but I didn’t like it and I won’t be continuing the series. Two stars.

[raf · Rating 4 out of 5]

*i was kindly provided a copy by the author through Lovers of Paranormal*


4 stars




what is the first thing you think when you hear the word "vampire"?
is it this?

this?

this?

or maybe this?


according to wikipedia:
A Vampire is a mythical being who subsists by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures. In folkloric tales, undead vampires often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited when they were alive.

what happens though when a vampire and a human mix?of course,a child that has both of his parents' nature aka an half.
a child who belongs both to vampires and humen.but as we all know,the different isn't always welcome.
The Keeper's Vow narrates a tale of such beings.



“My name is Tristan. Now you know me.”

Thus starts the story of Katie and Tristan.
Katie lives an ordinary life with her somewhat absent father,her two best friends,Allison and Brian and her substitute mother Lucinda.an ordinary life for an ordinary girl,as Katie considers herself to be.
that life tears to shreds when one day Tristan appears.
her life after that moment will never be the same.
tristan is a stranger,a strange,difficult to describe and to comprehend boy-to-man that seems to carry a heavy past and an even heavier destiny.


"How do you fix something so broken you can’t even recognize the pieces?"

this phrase describes tristan perfectly.having lead a very tough life and not capable of changing anything,he turnes to katie so as to ask for her help.well,he doesn't actually turn but the need is all the same.
the sad thing is that katie "hates" tristan for changing her life and her pov about her world.people she knew all her life change.they kept secrets about her,her family,her lineage,her destiny and even though she thought she could lean on them,she finds herself betrayed and hurt.
fear not though,despite the up-and-downs with tristan,she will come to learn that he is one of the few people that will always be there for her, no matter what happens.he helps her,he's there for her and even though they hurt each other over and over,it is apparent that these two are just meant to be.


 “—I love you,” he said, squeezing the breath out of her.  She hugged him back. “I love you too.” “I’m sorry, Katalina. I’ll never lie about it again. Not to myself or you. I love you."

and this is exactly why i loved the romance in this book.not too cheesy,not too corny or clingy(though Katie has a severe jealousy problem).Tristan and Katie are made for each other.i can't even envision a later love lamda or triangle.if and i hope this will never happen,they break up,i hope they don't cheat or hurt the other too much.

i have to admit though that katie was kind of selfish.she spent too much time thinking about herself,how she was the victim of the story,how her life has changed,how nobody understood her and she didn't consider for a minute how the others dealt with the alternations of their lives.
and obviously she missed to notice the great huge elephant in the room that is tristan's past.


i am happy,though,she later on understood what a self-centered jerk she was and try to fix her previous behaviour and finally get her shit together.and thank god she got over her infatuation-obsession with brian.the boy was a jerk thourough and thourough and she had no clue.ignorant female mcs...(shrugs,sounds of gritting teeth,enter eye-rolling)
at least she turned from ignorant to kickass.and i liked her.her personality and reactions were totally true to reality.
as far as the keeper's vow,katalina-annabel's past and her relationship with tristan i have to say that i was really excited and hooked.
i really support these two and whoever has anything to say about half-breeds...come on people i am waiting for your comments

my cast
Tristan

Katalina

alternative cast



fyi they remind me of Rima and Senri


nowadays it's really difficult to find a decent vampire themed book and keeper's vow is definately among the very best i have read.
it has fast pace,interesting plot,developping characters(though i hate ignorance),nice setting and background and of course heart-clenching romance.i can't wait for the sequel.
an honest plea:dear B.F. Simone
please don't turn this into a love triangle!and please don't have these two break up!

in conclusion,
when is the next book due to?
i need

i have to learn what happens next!!!!!!
as for anyone who is interested...i recommend The Keeper's Vow
aka

read the book.
and tristan will

[S.J. Abbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

The story was really good and very well developed. I really enjoy the main characters. They are well rounded and they act appropriate they age. Sometimes they impulsive, annoying, funny, sarcastic, witty, not logical, moody, dramatic but, that is normal teenage behavior. I did get irritated with them in time but then I do get irritated wit my one kids so....
I also loved the romance in this book. Not too cheesy, not too corny and definitely not instant. They fight it till the end (he did ) but then

“—I love you,” he said, squeezing the breath out of her. She hugged him back. “I love you too.” “I’m sorry, Katalina. I’ll never lie about it again. Not to myself or you. I love you."

Keeper's Vow was exciting and hooked me right from the start, kept me interested the whole way through.
Interesting plot, developing characters (though i hate how everybody hide things from main character), nice setting and background and of course sweet romance.

I recommend this book to all YA paranormal lovers.

Did I mention there is vampires, werewolves, guardians and some creatures who can erase your memory? No??? Sorry!!!

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

updated: 9/19/2016

****VERY SPOILERY****

Great story, awesome characters. I loved how messed up the main characters were, made them so much more enjoyable to read, even when I hated their attitudes.

Unlike most people--who's opinion I've read in other reviews--I actually really like Katie. Not because I think what she's doing is acceptable, but because there's something awesome in someone who is so deprecatingly flawed, and in being that, becomes more real. Of course, the only reason this works is because she eventually becomes someone who realizes and accepts those flaws, and tries to do something about them. Sure, Katie is bull-headed, impulsive, and selfish, but that's what makes her character arc so much more interesting in the end. Who wants to read about an average tempered person, who becomes better?

I guess I have a soft spot for Katie because she reminds me of me at that age (maybe I'm still like that). Suborn, could come off as rude and uncaring sometimes, and could become emotional if pushed (I guess I just described most teenagers) I also understand her refusal to allow herself to shine, because I know what it was like to allow yourself to be mediocre just so no one ever expects anything from you. Its the crumbling fear of disappointing someone you care about. If people expect nothing, then they can't be disappointed when you fail. Eventually, she comes to the realization that her attitude is mostly hurting her. This is when Katie finally grows up; she takes full responsibility for her life, for her selfishness, and for the pain she's caused Tristan and the other people in her life.

I also kind of like that Katie starts out by being mediocre at almost everything she does. Schoolwork, sports, relationships, and eventually her Guardian training. Unlike other stories where the hero is naturally really good at the new weapons and/or fighting, or they get really good with just like two days of training, it takes Katie months full of lots of pain, and hard work for her to get better at her fighting and knife throwing. It also takes her giving into her vampire side by finally drinking blood, to reach her full potential.

I like characters that have to work hard to become better versions of themselves. Especially with things that have nothing to do with luck like good grades and athletic ability. Sure you can naturally be good at soccer or basketball, but if you don't train hard you'll get nowhere.

When it comes to Tristan, what most reviewers ignore--when they hate on Katie and slobber all over Tristan--is that he can also be a bully. He's frustratingly ambiguous and as impulsive as Katie. Not to mention he can be quite cruel and mean when he wants to.

Tristan blames Katie for having to take the blood-oath but seems to forget that she too was an innocent child when it happened. When he feels he's been hurt, he hits bellow the belt. Tristan aims to maim, not just hurt. Don't get me wrong, I love Tristan. He's one of the few people who know how to make Katie feel truly good about herself, pushes her to reach her full potential which is something Katie has struggled with for most of her life. He's a little snarky and rude in an endearing way, but all in all, he's a good guy--that's as long as he doesn't feel he's being attacked. Because Tristan is severely insecure about being unloved, any remark, or attack on the subject, will have him flying off the hinges. Sure he's gone through a lot and has real reasons to be angry, and act out, but his behavior is still unacceptable, and self-destructive, e.g. staying drunk for days, and getting beat into a pulp every night just so he wouldn't have to feel the pain of what Katie told him. Knowing Tristan though, he wouldn't have done it if he knew Katie felt all the pain, no matter how much he said he hated her, he wouldn't allow her to be in such pain.

Tristan has believed most of his life that he got the shit end of the stick, while Katie got ice cream, family, and bubble gum dreams. Yeah, okay, Tristan saw his family being murdered, then he was taken away from his best and only friend, and then he was confined to the big empty house, to live on his own for years. That would make anyone hateful, and resentful, but let's be honest, Katie didn't have it all that better. She was essentially forced to take the blood-oath as a child as he was. She was also pretty much given no other choice but to join the very dangerous Guardian program--either that or choose the path that might have turned her into a slobbering moron who can barely remember her own name. She was neglected by her father for years. Left alone at home as a small child, scared, having to call a family friend to come and get her because dad never came home. Being fed Doritos for dinner. Being left with a family friend for weeks, months sometimes because her dad went on drinking benders. She suffered as much as Tristan did, which is why I also understand yet don't approve of her attitude and behavior. Not to mention the only reason she got free ice cream was because the ice cream man was her real father, one who couldn't get over his own guilt and basically ruined both Katie's and Tristan's lives. So they both got the raw end of the deal.

Talking about Larry, the ice cream man. Unlike most characters, Lawrence aka Larry, was unable to get over his own guilt, and it cost him his best friend (Tristan's father), the love of his life (Katie's mother), and it almost also cause him his only child (Katie), all of whom he seemed loved dearly, all for his feelings of guilt towards his brother. Strangely, I don't really think Lawrence really ever loved his brother--if he had, I really don't think the guilt would have destroyed him the way it did because, at the end, the guilt was all about Lawrence himself. Being that self-involved in your own pain, you can't see who you're hurting around you. Lawrence didn't seem to ever learn from his mistakes, and so he paid with his life. He died still unwilling to realize that he was only partially responsible for the way his brother turned out because at the end we are the masters of our own destinies. Eshmael was always going to turn into a version of who he ended up being.

"...They were selfish. They never looked passed themselves to truly see the other person for who they were. They couldn't do what we did. What we've done,"--Katie to Tristan, talking about Lawrence and Eshmael (Chapter 17)

What's interesting, is that a lot of characters suffer from a lot of guilt brought on by their acts of selfishness. Not to mention, feeling responsible for others' suffering. Take Katie, for example, She felt guilty over the way she treated Tristan (which was pretty horrible, actually, considering what she knew about him). At first, she took that guilt and drowned in it, allowing herself to join in on Tristan's suffering--which she believed she was fully responsible for. Of course, that didn't really help anything. The only thing that this created was suffering for Katie, and for those that had to watch her suffer, like her dad and Lucinda. Katie didn't understand that while drowning in her own guilt and shame, she was actually not helping Tristan, and to make things worse, she was neglecting, and hurting other people in her life in the process. At the end Katie realizes all this, and instead of just suffering and feeling guilty, she does something about it: She re-connects with her friends, she asks for forgiveness, she started working hard at school, and ultimately, she goes to Tristan's rescue, this time with help of others, not just impulsively jumping into the fray as she'd done in the past.

Selfishness and guilt, those are the two main catalysts that drive this story.

I also love how other characters don't let the main characters get away with their shit and their abuse. A story that is pretty bad at this is Twilight. Now before you roll your eyes, I don't actually hate Twilight, I just have a lot of opinions about the way it reads. Take Edward for example, our hero, and main love interest of the blandest teenage girl in literary existence. Edward is creepy and obsessive, and controlling, and sneaks into Bella's room to watch her sleep at night (even before they start dating, not that them being a couple would have made that less creepy, but I digress). The way that's accepted with the story makes it seem like that's fine in the real world. It's as if people should be okay with having some dude creeping in your room because he's handsome. If he'd been a nice, but scrawny, carrot-haired, pimply, bucktoothed dude, Bella would have called the cops on him. I guess being white and handsome means you get to creep into girl's rooms and not go to jail.

I understand that its first person narrative and that Bella is an unreliable narrator like Humbert Humbert who actually is so well written that he manages to convince the reader that he's not actually just a pedophile. Although in Humbert's case, the other people in the story don't think its cool for him to form romances with pre-teen girls. But it seems to me like everyone in the world of Twilight thinks, and accepts, that Edward's behavior is an acceptable one. No one calls Edward out on his creepiness. No one that's not biased (Jacob, and Bella's dad.) Everyone else is just like, oh he just loves you. To me, that means that in that world that is acceptable, which means that Mayer thinks that's acceptable, which makes it bad writing.

Simone did a much better job at having the characters think their behavior is completely warranted and acceptable, and everyone else around them is like “No, no it's not... who the hell do you think you are...” A good example is the quote bellow:

"He hates that you're a selfish ass. That you don't see how much you mean to him. Anyone would hate that..."--Allison to Katie (Chapter 21)

I'm also a sucker for funny characters. Simon from the Mortal Instruments, Harry's internal narrative in the Harry Potter books (he isn’t really all that funny in the movies). And in the Keeper's Vow, Katie. She was really funny--when she wasn't being a douche. Here are some funny parts I highlighted:


1. Something about collecting an original made her feel like a distinguished hoarder. -Katie

2. Her bookbag was full to the brim with toiletries and knickknacks, and her duffle bag full of resentment, guilt, and playdough. -Katie

3. "She can't ground me," he said, looking over his shoulder. "She can't even ground you. You're homeless." - Tristan to Katie.

I also think its funny when Katie “runs away” from home, and she packs like an eight-year-old. She has like clothes that don't fit, a kitten poster, and playdough. That made me laugh so hard.

Now, of course, the book had its issues. Some of which I think I'll discuss below:

1. Sudden beginning: I feel as if the beginning was kind of sudden. We are introduced to Katie's world starting at school, that's fine, but then suddenly we are introduced to a stranger, Tristan, like maybe a page in? (I read the ebook so I'm not sure the exact page). To me, honestly, it would have made more sense if she met him at her porch. Introduce the main character a bit, and her “normal” world and then introduce the catalyst for the changes, the unknown that is here to change everything for her, in this case, Tristan. To me, it's as if Harry Potter starter with Hagrid giving Harry the cake at the lighthouse. We'd all be like, who the hell is that guy? Do these people live in a lighthouse? Why does the kid's uncle have a rifle? Or if Han Solo showed up within the first five minutes of Last Hope without us meeting Luke and his world first.

2. Spelling errors: Now, I'm no grammar or spelling expert, in fact, I can be downright awful, but there were some obvious flaws in the spelling that completely took me out of the narrative. The word "through" was spelled as "threw" twice, which threw me for a loop.. pun intended.

3. Brian shooting Katie: Okay so Katie got shot twice: once by the Vampire (A graze I presume by its description), and second by Brian's bad aim. When Tristan asks Katie were she's been shot, she answers rib cage, he answers. "No, I took care of that one..." or something along the lines. My head just turned and I went “whaaaaaaahhh?” How the hell did Tristan take care of her bullet wound? As far as I know--or maybe I missed it and I'm an idiot--Tristan does not have any healing abilities. Lawrence had, and possibly Katie if she's inherited it from Lawrence. That bugged me to no end, and I kept having to go back and read the same section to make sure I read it right. Once again, it pulled me out of the narrative. Not to mention the fact that everyone but Tristan seemed cool with Brian shooting Katie. It's like he's just a bad boy. No, he's an idiot boy.

4. Brian: Okay let's talk about Brian. I mean I don't really think he meant to shoot Katie, but still, there should be consequences to almost killing your oldest friend. If there's a second book, I really hope Brian makes amends for what he's done. That there are family and social consequences to the way he treated people that obviously loved and/or cared him. If nothing happens, it just seems like he got off scot-free after breaking his best friend's heart, being shitty with his parents, becoming a big ass and a bully, ignoring his schooling and training, outing his cousin in such a petty way and in the process possibly destroying his parents' careers, but worst of all, shooting his friend--shooting anyone really should have consequences. I don't mean like he needs to go to jail because let's be fair, they are supernatural warriors and stand by different laws. Still, it needs to be acknowledged as something stupid that he did.

5. Untouchable?: Also this untouchable thing--or whatever it's called--the whole thing with the core that Katie spent so much time training and worrying herself sick over... she never used it. Tristan kind of used it for like a second but it didn't help with anything but burning some guy a little. I think he used it at the club when he was fighting those dudes, but really it was just like "ow, you're an untouchable” and then they tazed him I think before taking him and Katie up to see Larry, so Simone might as well have left it out, unless it's going to become some great big thing in book two (which still would have made no sense since I watched a video where she says she had no intentions of writing a sequel when she finished this book.)

6. Mortal Instruments: Okay. let's be honest here. The Keeper's Vow is a great book, but can we talk about the elephant in the room, and admit its a lot like the Mortal Instruments? At least the rules and backstories?

A. The Guardians are essentially Shadowhunters. They are born from bloodlines of Guardians that go back centuries. There are older more respectable Guardian families, Shadowhunters follow those same rules.

B. Katie was kept from her truth, and her training because of her father, an ex-guardian who left the guardian society after a great tragedy. Clary is kept from Shadowhunter world, and her training by her mother, an ex-shadowhunter who left the shadowhunter world after a great tragedy.

C. Both Clary and Katie are daughters of prominent figures and/or bloodlines in their world, and so are Jace and Tristan.

D. Both Jace and Tristan start out being douche bags, then turn into lovable douchebags, then just lovable.

E. Jace and Clary are basically being hunted by Valentine, Clary's father, who didn't learn about her until the last minute and decided to include her in his plans. Tristan and Katie are being hunted by Katie's uncle, Eshmael, who doesn't learn about Katie until the last minute and decides to use her for his plans.

F. Clary has a father figure, Luke, that is not related to her but has been there her whole life. Katie has a mother figure, Lucinda, that is not related to her but has been there her whole life.

G. Both Clary and Katie have funny best friends, Simon and Allison... one thing I must say, Katie is a lot funnier, and a lot more complex internally than Clary.

All in all, however, I really, really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. The characters were well thought out and three-dimensional. They were funny and quirky. The story was interesting, and at times overwhelmingly heartbreaking. The imagery is amazing. The way Simone describes the feelings smells, and looks of things, made me feel as the character did at that moment. Like at the beginning when Katie is covered in Tristan's blood. Her emotional reaction was very realistic, considering the situation. She freaked the shit out, which is what would have happened to someone who has never before been covered in someone else's blood.

The book was not perfect, but its very much worth the read, and worth waiting for a sequel if the author writes one, which is not necessary for the enjoyment of this one, but wouldn't hurt either.

I give this 4 out of 5 because blood lickers.

[Kariny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing!!! The start was pretty straight forward and the author managed to skip the dramatics. It's action packed and thrilling from the very start with never a dull moment. I loved all the characters and the author did a great job at describing them. The plot was complex with a lot of shocking revelations throughout the book.

Tristan and Katie- SWOON!! I absolutely adore these two and they were absolutely hilarious especially that part when Katie had put a shirt that was too tight on! I was laughing throughout that scene. Stuff happened with Tristan as we discovered his past and i felt so bad for him. I loved that there love story was not from the start-they worked through problems and came out together in the end.

I really did not see the Larry part coming or the ending but it was absolutely well written. Katie was a selfish protagonist and i did get irritated with her but then i realized that this is what the author wanted all along. Katie's selfishness was one of the main catalysts of the plot and there was a kind of self-discovery thing going on as Katie rose above her selfishness. There were times when everyone wasn't talking to her, i wanted to crawl under the bed of her, i kept asking myself how she was going to get out of this. But Katie managed to stay strong and put everything right.

Overall this is definitely one of my favorite books-so good i read it one sitting last night!! and i cannot wait to read more of Tristan and Katie!!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was released today, and I would have finished it in one sitting, but I had work to do and chores to finish. I really enjoyed this YA Urban Fantasy. It has familiar themes, but also new twists, to make a fresh view. Definitely a page-turner.

April 18, 2017: Re-reading because the second book came out yesterday. I am enjoying it again.

[Luv · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally done with this book. It only took me all of 2 months to complete. The characters are dreadful. Couldn't connect with a single one. Story is ok, but it lacks proper execution. 1/2 star for the pretty cover

[Rexton Cook · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sad to report that I'm joining the small group of reviewers who did NOT enjoy this book. This came as a real disappointment due to the fact that I *really* enjoy Francina Simone's YouTube channel and her book reviews. This book was extremely difficult to get through, however, and the only reason I pushed through to the end was because of my love for FS. I'm not one to usually finish a book I'm not enjoying.

As for details, I echo similar sentiments as other reviewers who gave this book low stars. By a quarter of the way through the book I could not figure out why the characters liked each other, let alone themselves. They are all selfish and mean and if my friends acted that way towards me, I would not stick around. This never really improved until the last several chapters when the plot finally moved forward, but by this point I was not at all invested.

World building was trope-y and unoriginal. I was seeing shadows of Twilight (secret society of Vampires/Werewolves) and Harry Potter (secret school/world) among many other pop-culture novels but with nothing new or exciting to make it stand out. In addition, it never became cohesive and I felt like I was chasing a moving target (school, home life, secret society with no clear structure or purpose, school again, underground city?). The plot was listless and could have been condensed dramatically and the story could have been much improved had some of the elements been removed. The pacing was also hard for me to sit with as pages dragged on with so much pointless information and then in key moments, details were confusing and too quickly thrown together. The dialogue was also a struggle.

I could say more, but I'm really glad to be done and I'm ready to move on. I can only hope that her writing improves in her subsequent novels, but I doubt I will be the one to find out. I'm gonna need a minute before I try FS's books again.

[Kellyn Hawley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I came into this book not knowing anything and left it not caring about what I learned. As you read this book you keep feeling like the author is building to something. It's that feeling that keeps you reading even when the main character doesn't grow as a person until the last three chapters and spends almost all her time crying while her friends and family call her selfish. Unfortunately that something that was being hinted at never landed. It felt like the end of the book caught the author by surprise and she had to wrap up everything neatly.

However, the world building was good and she gave depth to the different societies. I think if I was a fan of vampire romances in general I would of given this a higher rating.

[Az · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it !

[Ari Ovalle · Rating 5 out of 5]

*A complimentary ecopy was given by the author in exchange for my honest review.*

I'm going to keep this short. Kind of. Hopefully. So at first, I was like, "Yea, let's do this!! I was born ready!!" (I needed to calm down) As I was reading I really liked the world building, getting to know these characters, and then BAM!! I was in a fetal position NOT wanting to talk to no one and it was a little rough because the incident I'm speaking of is when the main character finally broke down, and in front of her tormentor AKA protector. Then the chick had the audacity to tell herself SHE'S the coward because HE'S the one who stormed into her life and wreaked havoc and on top of that, he can read her mind? NO. I'M SORRY. BUT NO. KATIE DIDN'T OWE TRISTAN SHIT!! NOT EVEN AN APOLOGY. WHY? BECAUSE HE CAN READ HER MIND?? UH, NO. NO. NO. NO!! (I am so sorry for using bad language there but I feel so strongly about this) KATIE HAD EVERY RIGHT TO FEEL WHAT SHE FELT. TRISTAN IS NOT THE FEELINGS POLICE. HOW CAN YOU THINK YOU'RE AT FAULT FOR FEELING? I COULDN'T WRAP MY HEAD AROUND THAT. Ok, so now that THAT'S out of my system, I have to tell you that I hate the freakin' dreaded back and forth!! Oh, God!! This book had so much of that it got on my freakin' nerves. And you're probably wandering, "Well, you've pretty much bashed this book, why give it five stars?" Well, I haven't really bashed it. It was a great, solid story and when I finally got past the back and forth, it was WONDERFUL!! And there's a neat, unique, and intriguing story-line here. I want more!! And if an author makes me hate their characters then I end up loving them, well...I'd have to say she's a genius. And that's pretty much it from me.

[Dana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very disappoined with this book. I was supposed to get a strong, kickass heroine but instead I got a whiny, spoiled teenage girl that behaves recklessly and lusts for an eternity after male main lead.

The idea for the story was nice and the world building was consistent. BUT the thing I disliked right off the start is this: stranger boy follows girl for a day and wants to talk to her, she ignores him until he gets shot and then she is willing to listen but he suddenly becomes "mysterious" and unwilling to discuss why he was following her in the first place. That was the beginning of the end for me.

The characters were pretty terrible:

Katie, main character. As I mentioned already: whiny, spoiled brat that consistently acts in a reckless manner when people are literally trying to kidnap/kill her. Stupidity at its finest. She supposedly sees her shortcoming near the end of the book but I didn't buy it. She was still awful.

Tristan: the "mysterious", handsome boy who suddenly comes into Katie's life. He has some serious communication issues: just TALK dude. That's all it takes for people to understand you and help you.

Brian: I can't wrap my head around his personality. He's even worse than Katie. He's just useless.

There was also Allison I think: the only reasonable and likeable character in this book. Of course we saw very little of her. Too bad.


I liked none of the characters except Allison and later the werewolf girl so no matter how well written the book was overall, I was just hoping they would all die at the end. Spoiler: they didn't - just some minor characters died.

If anyone wants to check it out from the library, feel free to do so. But I don't recommend you spend money on it.

[Mary Flynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep bouncing back and forth between two and three stars. I do love Francina's videos, so you can take that into consideration with me being on the generous side.

The interesting thing about reviewing a book by a booktuber (especially one who actually goes in-depth in her discussions like Francina) is that you know the author's values in writing. In this case, it's
1. internal consistency, which goes into
2. characterization, plot development, and world-building
I do have to commend this book, it did get the internal consistency point. However, I would still say it only hit the characterization point.

Let's start with the negative, shall we?


I'll start with world. What was there to it? I stand by my earlier statement that there was no internal inconsistency to it. However... that doesn't mean there was development. I get some fuzzy ideas of social hierarchy and a paranormal society with some ideas of the beings involved and kind of how they relate to each other, but I never felt grounded. What orders this world? What values underpin it other than that they don't like halfbreeds? Can we get some more clarity on the paranormal beings and this society and how these human agents play into it? Why are you there? There are good things there, but at times, it felt like background dressing which didn't actually influence the experiences of the characters.


On to plot. I have two main complaints.
1. At a lot of points, I didn't find it different or new
2. I would like more set-up

It didn't feel different: For a lot of it, I felt like I was reading a reworked version of City of Bones (and, honestly, with a less interesting and necessary world). Beyond that, it just seemed cliched and tropey. There were evil popular kids, which kind of got reworked but then that got derailed and didn't go anywhere until it came back in full force in the end. There's the broody love interest (though I will say Francina did Jace Wayland better than Cassandra Clare did Jace Wayland-I'm sorry, I just couldn't stop connecting the two in my mind). The romance angst took over everything else. There's nothing really new done with the paranormal society. I think some of the ideas could have been worked in a more unique way.

I want more set-up: When I think through the book, there are a lot of moments of action. But my overall impression of well over 50% of the book was that it was just a lot of romance angst and her school schedule. When we got to the climax, I could see where there had been threads pointing to it throughout the story, but they didn't build and connect throughout the plot to prepare you for what was coming. And it culminated with a long explanation from the villain.

On that point, there were a number of long info speeches.

Like the world, there were good ideas there, but I didn't think it was worked out so well.


On the final point, she did very good character development. It was definitely the strongest point in the book. Katie wasn't a self-insert in any way, and her actions were in keeping with her established character. Her growth was also organic. She and Tristan both had me tearing my hair out, and it wasn't sugar-coated. And she got called out for her crap, which I always love! I also found the secondary characters to have good development and roundness.


To some other points, I found the writing solid. There weren't the pitfalls of overwrought metaphors or an abundance of modifiers. However, it could still feel whimsical without cluttering the book itself. It didn't make attempts and profundity. Other than the catch-up monologues, I found it tight and pleasant.


As a final point, there is one other thing. This book has lots of typos, which also interfered with my enjoyment. It's either self-published or from a small house, so usually I'm more forgiving of it, but there were A LOT.

[Carrie Stoller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose this book because I’ve enjoyed watching Francina Simone’s youtube channel. She brings up some great topics about YA fiction, and even fiction in general. Sadly, because of her insightful discussions, I was disappointed with this book. I had a hard time choosing between 2 & 3 stars since the story itself does have potential to be great, but there was too much holding it back.

The writing was immature. A lot of, “Katie did this. Tristan did that. Katie went to an ice cream shop. It was her favorite ice cream shop. Tristan was moody.” A lot of telling instead of showing or allowing the reader to understand the characters’ feelings. There were also a lot of typos. Sometimes multiple typos on the same page. To the point that it became a distraction. Both of these are fixable with the help of a good editor, and I think it would have made the story stronger.

The plot dragged in some places but was rushed in other places. And there were several plot holes. What’s with the strong animosity between Brian and Tristan? It seemed like there was more than just jealousy brewing but we never found out what was there. And if Tristan was already living with Brian’s family, why did Brian recognize him when they saw Tristan on Katie’s porch? Why did Ivan feel obligated to allow Tristan to take the Keeper’s Vow for Katie? Because his best friend was her estranged father? Or to make up for the parental abandonment caused by his best friend? I would have liked a little more explanation there.

I didn’t really feel attached to any of the characters. I liked the telepathic connection between Tristan & Katie, and there was some funny banter between them, but I just didn’t love the characters. Katie is self-absorbed, insecure, and lazy. (Stop jumping to the conclusion that Tristan thinks you’re ugly, Katie!) She often came across as air-headed, too. Tristan was probably the most likable character, and I felt sad for him when they were memory surfing and he showed Katie some of what he’d been through. But I didn’t like how abruptly he’d become aloof and cold towards Katie. Probably because she would immediately think he thought she was ugly. 🙄 Allison is a weird character. She’s competitive and aggress, but really doesn’t seem to bring much to the story. It was easy to forget about her when she wasn’t around. And we’ve already discussed Brian’s character. The adults were pretty messed up, too. Katie is oddly numb to some pretty big revelations—particularly the ones involving her dad. But, seriously, anyone could have died and I would’ve felt mostly indifferent.

I could have used better world building, too. Better explanation of how the guardians thing worked (is it just training? Paranormal powers? What exactly is their role? I need more details). Some of the terms were thrown out like I should know what they meant in this context (meditation, for instance).

And, more plot holes. How did the royalty thing play into the Vampire world? Why is that significant? Are both Tristan & Katie royalty? What does this mean? What’s going on with the “tattoos”? At first, it seems like all vampires and werewolves are bad but then we see that some are good and work with/for the guardians. So how does that work? Oh, and what significance did Preliminaries have on the plot? Or was it just a plot device to get Tristan to beat up Brian and to see that Katie can sometimes hear Tristan’s thoughts?

I bet it sounds like I hated this story, but I didn’t. The story itself had a lot of potential to be great. I just wish it had been better written.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Francina Simone through her hilarious, sassy YouTube channel and was especially intrigued by her critiques of the current YA scene and the quality of so many of these overhyped books. YA isn't something I normally read much (the Booktube Corporate Machine frankly soured me on it, and I haven't been too impressed with the quality of what I have read either) but Simone seemed like a really cool, intelligent person who cares about good, authentic writing so I decided to give her a shot.

As usually happens, I had trouble connecting with the teenage characters and just found the high school drama eye-rolling. But the story does a great job eventually showing us how Katie grows up and confronts her own selfishness and generally bratty behavior. The Keeper's Vow is fundamentally about leaving behind the safe, innocent bubble of childhood and discovering the darkness and dysfunction underlying the places and people you thought you knew. This is an experience I remember very well, although my life didn't involve vampires, werewolves, and the undying vengeance of centuries. Thankfully, there is no love triangle and the Keeper's Vow itself is acknowledged to be a horrendous burden and invasion of privacy (whereas many paranormal romance plots depict similar magical bonds as Super-Speshul). There are no true villains or good guys either. All of the adults are depicted as deeply flawed and guilty of big mistakes and poor judgment, which in turn impacts the lives of their children.

While Simone excels at characterization, I would have liked to have seen more physical description. There is never any sense of place, for instance. The book is set in Boise and a hidden Gray City but you never get much of a feel for either. Maybe it's just a personal preference of mine, but I love reading about fantastical cities like China Miéville's New Crobuzon or K.M. Alexander's Lovat, as well as the local flavor of smaller cities like mine. I hope they explore Gray City more in another book. Will probably check out the sequel.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75. *sighs*

I love watching this author's YouTube videos. She is a hell-of-amazing person.

She is not her book.

I don't think this book had proper editing in pacing and plot point reveals. It takes reading past the 50% to really get a feel of the actual plot. Most of the time people are not revealing what's happening, and Katie is too much of a whiner to figure it out herself. She doesn't even seem to be curious about her lineage or possible abilities. She's just naive for most of the book, and that doesn't make for a well-developed protagonist. Until the end, where we actually see development and her applying herself actively.

I would also like to have seen more world-building, because there wasn't enough paranormal until the end. I found it frustrating. Do we have goblins, or pixies, or elves? Or is it just fates, werewolves, vampires and a Glock? Was the question ever answered about Katie and Glocks communication?

Did I enjoy the characters? Yes. Did I love the funny awkward moments? Yes. Shipping Katie and Tristan? Yes. Would Allison have been a better protagonist? Maybe.

Even with these struggles, I still had fun reading it. The sexual tension at 63%? My heart was racing. I sped read and finished it in less than 24 hours. There's so much love put into this and in a lot of moments it really shines through.

The characters are there. The witty quips and storyline is there. But the beats of the narrative just don't flow well.

Side note, my ebook had an error in it and had breast in singular, so I pictured our protagonist in a dress trying to cover her uni-boob.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will start this with a couple of negatives. The writing is rough in spots and some typos and grammatical errors did slip through. This is self-published though, so I didn't reduce my rating due to these issues. The other problem I had with this was in the plot, toward the beginning of the book there is a lot of mysteries and unknowns that the main character seems to only care to try to find out about when something happens that directly reminds her of it. Some of the other characters initially fell into tropes. This annoyed me, but thankfully also didn't last long enough to impact my review.

Now for the positive: the book is definitely YA paranormal romance, but with better storytelling sense than average. The characters felt genuinely teenaged, and their growth was earned, not just given. The plot was interesting and the twists were spaced out well so that just about the time you're fed up with the main character, something new happens to liven things up and give her a new direction. This was a good first effort and I'm going to immediately jump into the sequel to see where it goes.

[Literary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished and will hopefully be putting out a more detailed review once I've gone over my notes. Overall, i still intend to support Francina Simone in her endeavor to better her writing, and I still look forward to reading the sequel to this book. However, I found it to be riddled with spelling and syntax errors. The plot was also a little too fast-paced and jarred me out of my suspended belief. Though Katie and Tristan were well developed characters, the secondary characters felt a bit lacking. The world was also a little difficult to follow. I know it sounds opposite but I really did enjoy this book. There were moments that really pulled the humanity of the characters into the spotlight and I loved that so much. There were also moments where the development and the other world seemed to grip me and hold me on the edge of my seat. Katie's progress from wimp to boss was believable and didn't leave off on an overpowering or disingenuous note. Her development was believable and Tristan' s development was visceral. Great job for a first book.

[Jailyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a lot of problems with this book at first. There were grammatical and other copy editing mistakes that bothered me. A book deserves to be polished at publishing, much less 4 years after it's been released.

I also had trouble with the world. I know Katie was coming into it not knowing what was going on, but I don't think D-Range was explained until book two, and yet it was brought up multiple times in book 1. I was very confused through the first third of the book with the world that was introduced.

I agree with other readers that the book didn't find its own until the final third. But I think the world is beautiful. Katie is a pain in the ass in this book and that lowered my enjoyment of the book too, but she grew throughout the book as did Tristan. The other characters were more incidental.

I think it's worth reading through this book in order to read the second.

[Melissa Jacobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 4.75

I remembered that I had started to read this on my kindle a few days ago and I finally had time to read it yesterday and today and oh my gosh guys. Sooooo goooooood! Francina is not only a fantastic booktuber, she is also an engaging and unique author. This was the perfect thing to read as I was coming off of my Cassandra Clare, Lord of Shadows high. I picked it up because I knew it was an urban supernatural book and I ended up loving t for it's plot and characters. Katie is aggravating and flawed but I had to love and root for her and allison was precious and of course Tristan. Pure angsty vampire baby. Love him to pieces. I cannot wait to hop into book two which I just purchased on my kindle :)

[Stella Reeds · Rating 1 out of 5]

I reached a bit more than half of this book then DNF-d it for the time being. It is well written and gripping from the start. There is no slow beginning so you are actually propelled to read on. But I just could not help myself and find it boring. Maybe I am too old for this kind of YA or maybe it was the paranormal reality theme thing but I was just never in the mood for this. I frankly found it boring. I am a little disappointed, because I really like the author's youtube videos. I really think she's a genuin and interesting person. I just did not find the world in this book interesting enough to continue. I couldn't see the point of it all. And the revelations come so late in the book that it did not matter for me any more. I just couldn't care for these character.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to be overly critical, because I know this is an indie author and this was her first book.

But this book is unreadable. It feels like it’s missing 300 pages of exposition. I never figured out what was happening, how anything worked, or how the main character was supposedly being selfish.

I expected better because of Simone’s Youtube channel… but it looks like maybe that channel doesn’t exist anymore, anyway?

The typos and grammar mistakes are distracting, but I would’ve forgiven them if the story was good. But I could not follow the story at all.

Anyway, I hope she learns a lot from this and tries again later. This is one of those cases where a trad-publishing editorial team would’ve made a huge difference.

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent read. Very well developed, flawed, wonderful characters and a perfect storytelling pace just drew me in. It was funny, and painful, and uplifting, and mysterious, and angsty, and scary, and (oh my!) the romantic tension was fantastic. I devoured the book :)

One of my favorite things about this YA novel is - hooray! - that the MC cast of teens actually have parents, mentors and meaningful relationships with them that have an effect on their lives. The adults are not perfect either, they are complex people and have their own hangups. But, ultimately, they are parents who care and are trying their best. Francina, thank you for that.

I am excited to continue with this story.

[Josie Cruser · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style was weird and there were sooo many typos, but I really liked this book. I couldn’t put it down, even tho Katie was really annoying and kind of a pick-me. She was just calling people whores all over the place and I was like WHAT. But, but, regardless, the book was captivating. For some strange reason, I can’t give this book less than three stars, even though I know it doesn’t deserve three. I think I read this at the perfect time, which is why I feel so obligated to give it a somewhat okay rating. Katie was always angry and pushing people away from her and yelling at people and really was a bitch, which would normally make me hate a book completely. In this case, I was feeling everything that Katie was in my own life, and it was almost therapeutic, reading about someone screaming and raging in a way that I wish I could release all my emotions.

[K.S. Marsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received a free copy (Shut Up & Read) in exchange for an honest review*

When a strange new guy starts stalking her, Katie suddenly realises that not only is the world more complicated than she could have thought; but her friends and family have been lying to her for years.

Katie is now aware of the guardians, and their duties; and the vampires and werewolves in the world.
After her rather forced decision to become a guardian, she is thrown in the deep end with training. There is a lot to learn, and as her friends have a three-year head-start, Katie has a lot of catching up to do.

I really liked the world that Simone has created, with its histories and prejudices. The school with the secret extra courses. The vampires, werewolves; the untouchable guardians. It was all wonderfully creative!
I liked the plot as well, I'd say that it's at the older end of the Young Adult spectrum; dropping the f-bomb and scenes of graphic violence. It nicely balances the danger of the fantasy world; and the realistic issues and stresses between family and friends.

I felt very sorry for Katie, she has put her trust in Lucy (basically her surrogate mum); and her best friends Allison and Brian. But it turns out that all of them have been - if not lying outright - hiding the truth of the guardians from her.

I loved the romance between Katie and Tristan, it is slow to develop and questioned throughout. It is so refreshing to read something where the guy isn't immediately infatuated and over-protective. If anything, Tristan goes overboard in pushing Katie to reach her full potential.

Which is all great, but I wish it had been executed a little more smoothly.
The first thing I will admit, is that I did not like Katie. She is very selfish, blind to whatever problems even her closest friends are going through. On the one hand, her selfishness is done in an intentional way, and is resolved by the end, and I'd rather her keep that personality flaw. I dunno, maybe if her personality didn't bleed so much into the narrative, it wouldn't hinder the story, for me.

I was often confused, in the first half of the book, and had to keep going back and re-reading. There were sections that were disjointed, going in one direction before jumping track, or being constantly blocked by Katie not wanting to know and/or other people refusing to tell. I suddenly felt like Tristan (the mind-reading vampire), overwhelmed by the unconnected thoughts being thrown at you.
There were parts that I never worked out:
Why did Brian shoot Katie?
Why wasn't everyone more concerned about that?
Why didn't Lucy help rescue Tristan?
Where did Mercedes disappear to when Katie faced Eshmael?
Why did the "untouchable" thing pop up in some scenarios, and not others?
This got smoother in the second half of the book, as the story and plot picked up pace.

There were a few typos that made me pause. It only bothered me because I had to concentrate on the text so much because of the above point. There was probably one error per page - there were a variety of homophone errors, that wouldn't show up on a spell-check, but I'd hope an editor would spot.
The one that pestered me most: being "a part" of something, is very different than being "apart".

Overall, it is a creative world with an enticing plot, and I will be continuing with the series.

[Amara Luciano · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

There was so much I liked about this book, so much of it was authentic and well written and funny and romantic. Katie was as endearingly annoying and selfish and good-hearted as Serena from Sailor Moon, and very realistic for it. I loved her evolution by the end. But, I struggled to attach to some of the characters and there were a few points where the pacing lagged and I got a bit bored with the plot. Overall, though, I loved Katie and Tristan, and found their relationship heart-warming and lovable.

[Shannon Rohrer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't remember the last time I blew through a book in under 30 hours, much less a 400-some-odd paged one. The fact that I did with The Keeper's Vow indicates something: Francina Simone is one hell of a storyteller.

Was the writing perfect? No. On a technical scale, I came across a lot more misplaced commas, typos, and other errors than is typical in a published work. Was the storytelling masterful, however, with authentic, well-rounded characters, and a completely fresh plot? Hell yes.

To clarify, the amount of technical errors I came across normally would ruin a story for me--but since the storytelling itself was incredibly gripping (and because I knew the errors weren't born of a lack of knowledge on Francina's part, but likely one less edit than was necessary to clean it up) I was able to ignore these issues, and enjoy the story for what it was. So, let's get into a spoiler-free nitty-gritty of it all!

Characterization: The characters were fantastic. Not because they were perfect--they weren't--but because they were flawed. They had weaknesses, physically and mentally; they had emotional hang-ups, skeletons in their closets, bouts of self-doubt, bouts of selfishness, bouts of anger, periods of growth and regression, and most importantly, they felt real. Not everything they said or did was likable--at times, Katie was downright unlikable--but guess what? That's what made her a fantastic character. Because she was so human, so very much like a lot of other people in how she acted, how she treated other people, how she felt when she was called out on her shit, etc. The same goes for the other characters, like Tristan, Lucinda, Allison...everyone. And the side characters: they weren't just props for the MC to move around on a chess board. They all had lives, problems of their own outside of Katie's, successes and failures. Characterization alone deserves a full 5 stars.

Plot: The plot was very original. Yes, it had elements that reminded me of other things, and that's unavoidable--you'll find that everywhere, no matter the genre. But it came across as something all its own, while still portraying situations that felt familiar--if only because part of this story fell into the contemporary setting. I love how it dove into vampire and werewolf lore; I love how there's an entire civilization under Katie's town dedicated to such beings, and that there is a class of humans who both protect normal people from the dangerous ones, and educate the next generation of guardians about these creatures. Most importantly, I love how these creatures aren't seen simply as good or bad, but the way people are seen--as individuals. I love that the story touched on themes of prejudice, on acceptance and love, on becoming a better person than the one you were yesterday.

I could go on forever. Suffice it to say, I loved this book--warts and all. I would recommend this book to anyone, and I can't wait to dive into the sequel!