Larna Collins has never understood why her dad skipped out on her and her mother when she was twelve years old. Until then, he was a devoted and loving father.
But six years later, during a renovation of her childhood home, she unearths her father's journal from under a dusty floorboard. According to his final entry before he left, he had recently visited a small parish in England.
The entries draw her to this seemingly quaint village, which Larna discovers isn't as charming as its blood-craving inhabitants want her to believe, and she learns that she isn't the only one trying to track her father down.
Could this explain her father's disappearance? Or was placing her in the center of danger her dad's master plan all along?
Misty Hayes is a professional nerd, young adult fantasy author, and almost-retired cop who spent years chasing bad guys before deciding imaginary ones were more fun (because fiction is the only way to get away with murder).
After decades of writing reports, she spends any extra free time she can muster crafting high-stakes adventures filled with magic, mayhem, and the occasional supernatural showdown.
When she’s not lost in world-building, Misty enjoys defying pizza norms (pineapple and black olives—fight her), embracing the chaos of retirement planning, and keeping one eye out for plot twists—both in books and in life.
Her Blood Dagger Series is a multiple award-winning, high-octane young adult paranormal trilogy.
Book one, The Outcasts, has earned a Literary Titan Award, an IndieBRAG Medallion, and was the 2018 Solo Medalist Winner of the New Apple Literary Awards for YA Fantasy as well as the 2019 2nd Place Winner of the North Texas Book Festival in YA Fantasy. The sequel, The Watchers, took 2nd Place in the 2020 North Texas Book Festival in Teen Fiction.
Misty’s Ascended Guardians series, a spin-off of The Blood Dagger Trilogy, kicks off with Shield and Shade, available now. Follow Misty for updates on her award-winning series and upcoming adventures.
Not what I expected! I'm actually really surprised with this one! This is the first Misty Hayes book that I have read. I loved it. I am looking forward to the next book.
Larna Collins is on a search for her father, who went disappeared when she was just twelve years old. Her search brings her to Bromham, London. Larna quickly learns that there is more to her father's disappearance than she thought.
The book is action packed to the brim leaving you on edge the whole time. It’s one of those books that you can never get bored of because there’s always something happening that’s relevant to the story, and with all the secrets you’ll find throughout the chapters it keeps you hooked until the very last one.
The Outcasts holds a huge twist that I don't want to spoil, but it's full of secrets, betrayal, action, and love. I really like Larna's character and feel terrible for the bullying she's suffered from. I highly recommend it!
Larna is The Outcast at her school. She never quite fit in once her father disappeared and she covered smothered her emotional issues with food.
After finding her father’s diary, Larna heads to London…the last place he wrote about in his diary. Only to be caught up in a vampire war with Larna becoming a pawn in the middle.
I found the The Outcast enjoyable and entertaining. I wasn’t a fan of all the references to her larger size, “sausage fingers,” and didn’t really think it had a bearing at all on story but distracted from the real meat of the plot. The meat of the plot was strong, imaginative and quite original for a teen vampire romance.
There is a love triangle of sorts which I’m sure will develop as the series progresses.
In the end, I found The Outcast balances witty and fun with mystery and thriller while managing to capture some awkward young adult romance as well.
Good strong start to a new series!
I received this copy of The Outcasts from Misty Hayes. This is my honest and voluntary review.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this story! I am VERY picky with my Paranormal reads and this was such a good story. This was my first time reading this author and I loved her writing and her description to detail was excellent! The secondary characters were excellent and I honestly felt like I was one of the gang. The pacing was good and I loved the character development as well. Larna went from being insecure to confident and I loved seeing her believe in herself as the story progressed. At times I questioned her decisions but she’s 18 so I had cut her some slack. One thing that I loved about this story was that the cast of characters were your regular awkward teens! It was so easy to fall in love with them and root for them to win! I’m really curious to see what the future holds for Larna, Corinth and Alistair. The author left me hungry for more and I can’t wait for the next book in this series!
“Received an review copy for which I voluntarily provided an honest review."
In this book, a girl goes on a trip to track down her missing father and ends up with more than she bargained for.
The premise of this story was interesting, but I think the characters could have been fleshened out a bit more. Especially the main character, Larna — I never quite connected with her, and I feel like she was kind of like... the skeleton of what could have been a better developed character, you know? She felt like the outline of a character, and I think most of her struggles were written in a very tell, not show, format. “Oh, my father is missing and I’m devastated.” “Oh, I’m a girl who struggles with having a bigger frame.” But I feel like these plot points are just kinda thrown at us — “I’m an outcast because I’m a big girl and my dad is missing,” but nothing is really done to have us, as readers, sympathize with her. At least, I couldn’t — I’m usually very empathetic, but I simply could not connect with this character at all.
I do think it’s interesting to actually have a parent involved with the supernatural/vampire plotline. In most Young Adult I’ve read (well, I think this book actually straddles the line between Young Adult and New Adult), the parents are conveniently, like, somehow out of the picture. Dead, missing, or just abusive dickbags who doesn’t give a shit what their teenage child gets up to — it’s an EXTREMELY common trope in YA. But, while Larna’s father is missing at first, he actually ends up being a pretty major character in regards to the supernatural elements of this book, which I thought was pretty cool and definitely unique to the Young Adult audience.
As for the love triangle, I... honestly couldn’t tell you much about the two guys. Corinth stuck out to me a little just because the name is unique, but I literally could not tell you anything about the other guy aside from the fact that he was a vampire. I just found it to be, overall, kinda boring and predictable. Not as bad as some other love triangles in YA, mind you, just... not very entertaining.
Sidetracking a little, but as I’m typing out this review, I’m realizing something. The plots in this book and the last book I reviewed couldn’t be more different (aside from the fact they both involved love triangles), but they have common ground in that I thought the plots were fairly interesting, but I didn’t really care about any of the characters and so, as a result, kind of checked out of the read itself. Whenever I take awhile to read something, it’s usually for one of two reasons: either I loved everything, the plot and the characters, and really didn’t want it to end, OR I just found it to be not very interesting, but at the same time kind of interesting enough that it kept me from DNFing.
This book, for me, kind of ended up falling into Category #2.
HOWEVER.
As far as vampires go in YA, I definitely do not think these vampires were bad. They could have been fleshened out a little more, maybe — as one review on Goodreads said, they didn’t really feel like vampires aside from the fact that they could suck blood — but FAR from the worst portrayal of vampires I’ve seen (I’ve read about some vampires so cringe that they make the portrayal in Twilight look good). On a scale of Twilight to Interview With A Vampire, I think they fall somewhere towards the middle, with a slight lean into Interview With A Vampire territory. (No matter what you think of Anne Rice, I think we can all agree that ITAV is iconic enough that even people who’ve never read it, most likely, have at least a very basic understanding of what the vampires are like).
Overall, I’m just... eh. As I said above, this is far from the worst vampire book I’ve ever read, and if you want a fairly unique portrayal of the creature I would certainly consider giving it a go. I, personally, could not connect with any of the characters so they all felt very underwhelming, but that’s not to say other readers can’t find something to like about them. They just were not for me, and ended up dulling down my experience of this read.
The Outcasts: The Blood Dagger follows young Larna Collins on a summer trip to England. With her father having left years ago, Larna hopes she can find clues as to his whereabouts. However, upon arriving in England, she finds herself in mysterious company, and soon enough, mortal danger.
~Characters
Larna was an interesting character. At first, I wasn’t sure I would grow to like her, however, she soon became a bad-ass and I found myself rooting for her all the way to the end. Both witty and a tactical thinker, she proves her worth again and again. She felt like a real person, like someone you might actually meet in secondary school.
To counter Larna, we have our villain, Gabriel Stanton, a mysterious and charming nightmare of a character. Although Gabriel maintains a pleasant enough façade in public, behind the scenes he is cruel and calculating, willing to do absolutely anything to get what he desires.
~Writing Style
The book is narrated in first person, told directly from Larna’s point of view. The story felt personal and relatable. Not only does Larna deal with supernatural phenomena: she also deals with regular high-school drama, like any other teenage girl.
The story moves along steadily, exploring Larna’s thoughts and emotions as the world she thought she knew comes crumbling down around her.
~Likes
I loved how close I felt to the characters and how personal the story felt in general. I also really liked how the author set the scenes up so well, along with how intense the fight scenes were.
~Memorable Quotes
As always, I’d like to end with some memorable quotes from the novel.
‘The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance of knowledge: it is the illusion of knowledge.’
‘What you’ve been through and endured- it makes you who you are.’
Both of these quotes caught my attention immediately, the first because of how knowledge seems to be used as a weapon in many instances: ‘knowledge is power’ as the old saying goes. Without it, we would be powerless.
As for who we are, our individual selves are shaped by our early experiences and how we react to them. For the rest of our lives, we react in similar ways, as though a blueprint of behaviour were created for us after those initial years of life experience. Everything we go through makes us the unique individuals we are and I find that beautiful.
~Overview
Overall, I loved reading The Outcasts: The Blood Dagger. It was highly imaginative and entertaining, definitely a book to buy in print.
Rating: 5 stars. Recommended: For lovers of Paranormal Fantasy, with vampires and kick-ass female protagonists.
I liked so much of this book, but the overall thought I kept having was why does the author hate fat people. To make a plus sized character and then continually say fatphobic things got really old really fast. It was really hard to get through this book because of it. The story itself was really good which is why this isn't a 1 star review. Unfortunately reading derogatory fat statements every other page for the entire first half of the book killed most of the enjoyment.
Larna Collins is on a search for her father, who went disappeared when she was just twelve years old. Her search brings her to Bromham, London. Larna quickly learns that there is more to her father's disappearance than she thought. When a stolen dagger brings a stranger to her, she suddenly realizes that her worst nightmares are becoming a reality. She doesn't know who to trust. Can Larna recover the dagger, survive and protect those closest to her?
This is the first Misty Hayes book that I have read. I loved it. I was quickly drawn into this easy to read, paranormal drama. I enjoyed it so much, I am looking forward to the next book, expected to release in December.
The story has great world building, as the story develops at a steady pace. I love that most of the story takes place in a London setting. A young adult drama with real life situations in high schools today.
The characters in the book are very well thought out and developed. I love that some of the characters are flawed and easy to relate to. You can imagine being in their shoes, walking through the story.
The author puts a unique twist vampires as we know them today, making the story refreshing and interesting. Alastair is my favorite vampire. He has such a sweet side to him and he is very protective over Larna.
Larna is a overweight 18-year-old, who has a very low self-esteem. She really starts to develop more courage and confidence throughout the story. Larna is teased and bullied often. No one can understand how such a good-looking boy like Corinth could be her best friend. He is like her personal cheerleader.
This book is an action packed adventure. It is thrilling and exciting. This book will have you on the edge of your seat at times and shed a tear or two at other times. The story flows smoothly and is well written and thought out. Fans of Cassandra Claire's Mortal Instruments, would enjoy this book. A 5 star read.
I have read this book and giving my honest review. A new author for me. What can I say what a awesome book. I love vampire books, this was exciting from the beginning to end. A twist here and there, laughed in parts. Keep me on the edge of my seat. You became part of the book, plot. I really enjoyed it and looking forward to book 2. Not spoiling you have to read it’s really a great exciting book .
I read the Outcasts: The Blood Dagger Volume 1 and I only have one question. When is Volume 2??? This book was a fast and easy read about a subject that’s very topical in the issues that are going on in the world right now. The main character, Larna, is a high school girl who has problems. She’s overweight, she’s got a missing father, she’s got bullies, and she has boy issues. But how she handles these problems makes the book for me. I was hooked from the beginning and, without spoiling the book, the plot twist is brilliant! It takes the normal every-day-teenager and thrusts them in a world of the Supernatural. You can’t help but put yourself in Larna’s shoes which makes this a must read. Would recommend in a heart beat. Five Stars!!!
This was my third read. Thoroughly enjoyed it as much as I did the first read through! Highly recommend for readers who enjoy the paranormal/vampire genre!
Larna's father abandoned her and her mother when she was 12 years old. She never knew why, but she started to turn to food even more for comfort. Now she is in her senior year of high school, and her only friends are Corinth and Amber. Everyone else in her school makes fun of her for being overweight, and she can't wait until she can graduate and leave.
While her home is being renovated, she finds her father's journal. The last thing her father spoke about in the journal was visiting a small village in England. She decides that for a senior trip, she is going to leave her town right after graduation and visit that village. Hopefully, she will receive some closure on why her father left, and maybe she will even discover his whereabouts. More importantly, she will have time away from the bad memories of her hometown. When she arrives in the village, she thinks that everything is going to go smoothly. That is until she starts to encounter the strange villagers. Soon, Larna is swept up into a world of blood-suckers and mystery, as she starts to piece together the clues to her father.
It took me 2 days to get 50 pages into this book because I was so busy, but then I sped through the other 300 in less than one. This book was finally the YA fantasy novel that I had been craving!
Even though Larna was teased and bullied, she stood strong. She kept her strong friend group and made it through the rest of high school. This was an important part of the novel for me because it is where I see a lot of YA novels get stuck. High school does not last forever, and so no matter how bad it is, the characters will eventually escape. Larna struggled to get through, but once she was finished, she was able to go on her own adventures in a completely different country.
This also fueled the conversation of body-positivity. Larna was bullied, and she couldn't do anything about that. However, rather than just sticking around after high school, she motivated herself to do something independently and removed herself from the situation. She didn't start to hate herself and want to just disappear, even though she may have occasionally felt that way. Instead, she stood her ground, toughed it out, and then moved on with her life to better things. This should be a message in far more books than just a few, but I rarely see it.
And finally, the main storyline. I have to say that the YA-fantasy portion was just as good as everything else. The pacing was excellent and I felt as if I couldn't put the book down! Larna travels throughout England to different sites in the novel, which definitely helped with the worldbuilding. However, there were no lengthy descriptions of places that would simply bore a reader to death. Everything was in perfect proportions. The action scenes in this novel will keep you on the edge of your seat!
Also, the romance. What's a YA novel without romance? I won't spoil anything, but I do have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with this outcome. I hope that the next book stays on this path, because I really like the current character set up.
I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a fresh YA fantasy with a strong and body-positive main character and an addictive storyline.
I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Larna Collins is an 18 year old American girl who struggles with being overweight and bullied. Six years before our story begins, Larna's father leaves home in the middle of the night never to be heard from again. He was a photographer for the rich & famous and often had to travel with some of his clients. Larna assumes her father had an affair during one of his business trips and left her and her mother for the other woman.
The truth is a whole lot stranger.
One day, Larna finds her father's journal and reads it. His last entry mentions a man named Gabriel Stanton who insisted that Larna's dad move to the UK and work for him permanently. The journal entry makes it sound like this guy wouldn't take no for an answer.
Suspecting foul play, Larna decides to save up her money and go to England to find her father, using clues he lift in his journal.
She travels to her father's last known location, a small town just outside of London. But what she finds is a town torn apart by a vampire war and her family is right smack in the middle of it.
Why her family? What has become of her father? And can she ever go back?
The truth is so much more than Larna could ever image.
I liked this book alright. It's different from most YA/NA vampire books. Even though there was a slight love triangle between Larna's best friend Cornith and a vampire who works for Lorna's dad, Alistair, the story is mainly focused on Larna and her family instead of the romance.
However, I gave it 3 stars because I felt the writing style could have been better. Some of the details felt a bit unnecessary, scenes were rushed, and the over-all style was a bit immature for my tastes. It's not bad, just not my cup of tea.
I do think anyone who likes Twilight will enjoy this book. I liked that the vampires were front and center in this story and the author used them in a unique and fun way while still being true to the creatures of traditional mythology. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick YA read.
************* Reviewed on behalf of ILOVEVAMPIRENOVELS.COM Video review coming soon.
Oh how fast this went from a 4-star book to a 1-star. This is a story of a teenage girl going to England to find her father that disappears 6 years ago. She arrives to find a town full of vampires who are after some magic dagger that he father supposedly has. The first half of the book is pretty typical YA. If not fantastic, at least cute. The pacing is uneven and the writing is full of cliches, but the main character is likeable enough and the story is engaging. It all goes sideways half-way through. The tension and the mystery are pretty much resolved, and it’s all so so predictable. The story of the dagger is absolutely incoherent and it’s unclear why the bad guy actually wants it. From then on, my interest tanked. I never thought I’d say this, but read Twilight instead.
Love the storyline, love the characters and just can hardly wait until December to get the next installment :) Misty takes us into the world of vampires with her own twists on the mythos. I just finished volume one and my heart is aching. Everyone is completely relatable, even the vamps. I was so happy that there was just enough romance not to make sick, lol. I don’t do teenage angst, but even I have some after vol. 1, lol! Love it!
I devoured this book as if it contained the iron rich diet so many of its characters find appetizing! From start to finish I was drawn into the protagonist's story and the real feeling of attachment that comes from a realistic and down to earth first person storytelling. Already grabbed book two and have a feeling I'm going to be very anxiously waiting for book three very shortly.
We are proud to announce that THE OUTCASTS- The Blood Dagger by Misty Hayes is a B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree. This tells readers that this book is well worth their time and money!
The Outcasts by Misty Hayes is the first book in the Blood Dagger Series and Holy Hell… I’m addicted. The story includes all elements, that to me make a book incredible. A fantasy/supernatural theme, badass fighting scenes, awesome characters, romance, a mystery to solve and tons of secrets. All of this left my poor heart somersaulting through every chapter. SO WORTH IT!!
I’m going to start out with what I found truly amazing which was the individuality of the characters and how unique, subtle, and well-built they were. All had different personalities that grabbed my attention from the very start. Especially the bad guys!!
Gabriel (The main bad guy) was amazingly evil. I still found myself falling for his snake-like charms in a heartbeat. He’s so smooth, yet so mean. Vinson (my favorite) was a semi-good guy but so mysterious and although he didn’t say more than 10 words in the whole book, he grabbed my heart the second I saw him. Alastair (A love interest) was mysterious, sweet, and mean in a subtler way. At first, you couldn’t tell if he was a good guy or bad making him really interesting!
“Nice shot by the way. You got Gabriel right in the neck.” He grunted again. This one I interpreted as, ‘But not good enough.’ I felt like I was getting fluent in speaking Vinson.
I loved the main female character – Larna. She slowly goes from being an insecure girl to a badass vampire killing machine that doesn’t let anyone stand in her way! She’s awesome and she’s not portrayed as the flawless main character that we often have seen, which I loved! She has flaws and eventually, she’ll learn to see past them. Larna is super relatable and so badass. Her love interests – Alastair and Corinth – didn’t dwell too much on the whole romance element, which I appreciated, otherwise the book would be too mushy. But hopefully, the next book will bring us more of this girl and her relationship with these two.
The book is action packed to the brim leaving you on edge the whole time. It’s one of those books that you can never get bored of because there’s always something happening that’s relevant to the story, and with all the secrets you’ll find throughout the chapters it keeps you hooked until the very last one.
The Paranormal element works so well. We get to know how vampires are created, how they work with the normal world, their weaknesses, strengths and all the quirks that come with being one. They also brought dangerous and darker elements to the book that made it even better.
This was my first book by this author and I can’t wait for more. It’s super-fast-paced, filled with action and amazing characters. If you love any of those things, this book will rock your world.
Larna is a lonely teen, overweight since turning to food for comfort when her father left when she was twelve and never returned. High school is hell, with her name being twisted into ‘Lardo’. She has one female friend and a boy she has known her whole life, family friends and has quite a crush on, Corinth. When their house was being renovated, she found her father’s journal recording some of his last travels. His last entry showed him in a place called Barnham, in England, whereas they live in Texas, USA.
With high school finished, she decides to go to England to try and find her father, but without letting her mother know that that is the reason she is going. When she reaches the small village, she recognizes the local church from a photograph she found in her father’s journal. The inhabitants of said village are not quite what she came to expect. There are some very blood thirsty inhabitants about, that are taking an interest in Larna and her father. It seems others are also looking for him.
We get to learn these people are vampires, somewhat different to most of the tales you may already know. Some are allies, but there are a lot of enemies after an ancient relic that her father took from one of the vampire leaders. This may explain her father’s disappearance. Whether this will bring about the result Larna wants or expects, is yet to be seen. She isn’t the only person, by far, that is hunting for her father.
An interesting take on the vampire genre and the importance of allies and friends to life and survival. The manner in which power can affect people differently, but most often, in a negative way. A coming of age for Larna and Corinth, with events happening that will change their lives forever. Loved the characters of Alastair and Vinson, both unexpected types and not what you may expect at all. I will look out for what the author comes up with next, hopefully a follow on to this book! I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Larna is hurt when her father doesn't return home because the assumption is he's abandoned them or worse. It's so out of the ordinary considering his loving and kind nature that Larna can't help but feel there's more to his absence. When she discovers her fathers journal, his words inspire Larna to travel to London to search for him.
The journal initially leads her to Gabriel, a sinister man that is more than just a man. It isn't long before Larna discovers the secrets hiding in London's corners: vampires. Gabriel takes Larna to his home and wants to use her to barter for his dagger that Larna's dad stole. Here, she meets Alistair who is kind compared to the other vampires that surround her. As hard as it is to trust a vampire, Alistair might be Larna's only hope at escaping Gabriel's clutches alive.
THE OUTCASTS holds a huge twist that I don't want to spoil, but it's full of secrets, betrayal, action, and love. I really like Larna's character and feel terrible for the bullying she's suffered from. Alistair had to be my favorite though. He's laid-back and unlike how I would expect a vampire to be, but it's a good thing. Paul was very entertaining as well and I liked that he played a big part.
Final Verdict: The twists and turns of this story keep will you reading all night long. I would recommend this to fans of vampires, secrets, and mysteries.
Larna Collins is living a teenage nightmare. Feeling like an outcast in her school and the butt of far too many jokes, all she wants to do is stay under the radar and make it through to graduation.
Her life changes when she finds her missing father's journal and she travels to London to search for him. What she finds there, she never could have imagined. The quaint village where her father was last seen is not all it appears to be, and Larna soon finds herself caught up in a paranormal vampire war.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the adventure and intrigue. You never knew what was going to happen next and Mysti Hayes kept me interested until the end. It was a very imaginative plot with well fleshed-out characters. Larna is very relatable and you couldn't help but root for her to come into her own. It was great watching her character grow from an insecure teen to a confident young woman.
The only thing that kept me from giving this 5 stars was Larna's easy acceptance of this whole new vampire world. I found it far too convenient and easy. I felt she should have been far more freaked out to know vampires exist. Not a big issue for me and it definitely didn't stop me from enjoying the book.
All in all I found this to be a strong start to a new series and I look forward to reading more.
Great Powers Come With Great Responsibility I recently had the pleasure of reading The Outcasts: The Blood Dagger: Volume 1 by Misty Hayes. I was surprised with the talent of this writer and was left with a positive impression. This fun and scary book was engaging with its challenging storyline of vampires and the age-old bullied underdog subject. Both of which are well-worn paths for writers. However, this author managed to create a refreshing new twist which captivated my attention throughout the whole story. I really liked how the author cleverly shifts gears from pulse-pounding drama to hilarious humor. The lead character, Larna, an overweight bullied underdog was a well scripted, believable cast member that I think everyone can understand and relate to. Showing depth and complexity in their individual personalities, I found that all the cast members brought genuine authenticity to the story. I would like to mention the attention to detail in proof and editing of this story is excellent. The excellent cover art created a spooky and somewhat scary attraction for me. In my opinion, you can judge this book by its cover. I am looking forward to the ingredients of Volume number two.
I just thought I was done reading about vampires! Reading this book has changed my mind about being done with the dark world of vampires. When I first began reading the book I wasn’t really into the heroine because of her flaws, but as I continued to read, her flaws are what caused me to completely change my mind about her. There haven’t been very many fictional heroins that I’ve read about that I’ve been able to relate to and possibly envision myself in their place. But with Larna, I can. She is someone that overcame her own prejudices about herself and that’s a quality that we should all mimic. I am going to have a hard time being patient waiting to read more about this heroine. I can’t wait to see what Larna does next! Hurry up with the next book!!
I am a Stephen King fan 100%. I do not read much else. I am a slow reader so a book better really hold my attention for me to spend the time reading it. I need entertainment, consistency and well developed characters as well as the ability to visualize what I am ready with being over descriptive.
This book has it all! I am not a huge vampire book fan but this book was completely different. I love the twist on vampirism the author uses and the characters are well written. It has the perfect balance of characters, plot and descriptive writing as to not confuse me or bore me. This was a great read and I could not put it down. From what I’ve been told, the next two books are even than the first and I can’t wait to get started!
When I first saw the cover and read the blurb, I thought that it wouldn’t be 100% my thing. But then someone I know highly recommended it, and I just thought I’d give it a try. Fully expecting that I wouldn’t like it much.
And boy was I wrong: IT WAS AMAZING!
A well written book. A good pace. A good plot. Good worldbuilding. Very refreshing. I loved Larna. She’s different. I’m different too, so I bonded with her over that. For me, that’s very important. I want to FEEL the story and that is what happened here! There were some twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I will immediately start book 2 now. Can’t wait! Literally :)
The Outcasts is a fast-paced paranormal young adult novel that is intriguing and sure to capture your attention from the beginning. The characters are interesting and well developed with backstories that slow come to light and help tell the story. Hayes writes in such a creative and descriptive way that makes this a truly remarkable read. You will feel as if you are a part of the story and a world unlike any other. The character development makes it easy for you to relate to the characters as you see the insecurities and struggles they face. A story that will leave you wanting more!
I enjoy vampire stories. Whatever you think you know about vampires forget it. This is not your typical vampire tale. This book has plenty of twists.
Larna is the main character and of course she has low self esteem. Her father left years ago but she found a journal and decided to try to find him after she graduates.
This is a must read to get the differences in the vampire culture offered in this book. Also, there is a love interest or two. Honestly can't wait to read the next one in this series.
I received an Arc and the opinions and views are my own. This was a very dark book. One thing I liked about it was the heroine is not a buff, beautiful badass, she is a young lady who has self esteem problems and is over weight. Her dad disappeared when she was eight and the kids at school bully her. She has a good friend who wants to be her boyfriend. However things are not what they appear to be. There is more going on with a mystical dagger and vampires. A good read. Starting the next book in the series. Would recommend this book to all.
The Best Vampire Book Ever™ The Best Female Main Character in a Vampire Book Ever™
A vampire book with a bigger girl as a protagonist and is also seen as a desirable love interest? This is it. Right here.
I don’t have the right words to express how much I enjoyed The Outcasts. It was everything I’ve ever wanted to read for a long, long time. I loved the plot, the characters, and the villain (oh, yes, I love him ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)). I can’t wait to read volume two to see what happens next.
I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I was not sure what I was getting myself into when I was asked to read this book. I knew the basic blurb and that made me want to read it. I love vampire books and that was enough to sell me to read it. I did not think I would be going on another spooky and mysterious adventure. She finds a journal that her father kept before he ran off. She ends up going to a village and discovered something strange is going on. She is discovering all these new secrets. It is good first book in the trilogy.