Amber: The Grue, Part One

by Stormy Summers

Amber is a normal eighteen year old girl, looking forward to life and her first day on the morning shift at the cafe where she works, until a fateful meeting with a quintet of hungry vampires sets her down a dark and dangerous path. Near death, she accepts when one of the vampires offers a way for her to survive, but something goes wrong. Instead of going back to her old life, Amber becomes something even vampires fear, and must now feed on living human flesh in order to survive. Will she be able to cope with being a monster?

216 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 22, 2018

About the author

I'm a country girl who was raised in Florida and now living in South Carolina! I'm all about family, with five kids (or six, if you count my husband), and soon to be ten grandkids!
I have always loved magic and romance, and so that's often what I write about.. My characters tend to be like my children, and I can't wait to see what kind of mischief and adventures they're going to get into! Sometimes, I'm as surprised by what happens in my books as my readers are, and that just makes what I do all that much more enjoyable.

Reviews

[Abby Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

concept is good

The story concept is good. I love a dark vampire tale.

But the writing was okay. Not bad, but not the greatest either.

The discovery of “vampires” from the cops in the start felt a little forced.

The the story was also a bit choppy as we jumped from character to character. (And choppy because it seemed to pull out of the scenes, rather than move the scenes forward.)

Also, I can never seem to LOVE a book that goes from a 3rd person to 1st person. … I just find that to be a writing style VERY hard to get right… and by get right, I mean to not jar me out of the reading experience.

[Siobhan Leahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.

This book reads like the first of a longer series, the setting up of the characters, the world building, and the in-depth creature description all points in this direction.
Just as it was getting going the story ends😥.

There is some repetitive information, and the vimpires are not 'the big scary bad' I want but they do have the potential to be so.

Yes I'll be carrying on with this series currently I believe there is only one more unfortunately. (hint, please write more)

[Todd Roseweir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm always a fan of books covering supernatural "monsters", and I was introduced to this one when I received an ARC from Voracious Readers Only for an honest review. I found it to be a great read, and the concept of a grue to be a nice twist. I also like it when stories focus on the challenges of the characters adapting to life, especially when they wish to remain essentially "good" despite their affliction. There was a good amount of background provided, which helps with the follow-on to this story, as well as the later Curse of the Grue series, which I fully intend to read.

[Neapolitan670 📚🖤 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent Part one of this story by the author from Voracious Readers Only. This review is based on my own personal opinions after finishing the book.

The premise of the story is promising the more you read, there was a lot of unneeded repetition throughout that could have been left out. Chapters do jump a lot from one character to another hence the repetition and in my opinion given how short some of said chapters were it wasn’t necessary at that stage.

I didn’t gel with some of the main characters, I mean ppl who read vampire stories tend to know some info, such as there are always ones who are very, very, very, shall I go on…old, but I would have thought they would move with the times, learn and keep up to date with modern living. Maybe, just maybe update their speech to fit in with the time period they are portrayed in books, I did get fed up of reading ‘luv’ constantly, it seems a lot of authors use this word to identify an old English Londoner, “cor blimey mate, let’s have a cup of tea” 🤣🤣

I liked the FMC she was young, sweet, naive, girl from next door until she wasn’t 😈 I could have just skipped bits to read her chapters, gotta love a bit of gore or is that grue!

Overall I did like the storyline and will read Part Two cos I’m just nosey like that, seriously I really want to read how the story unfolds.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in return for an honest review. I found this book really interesting and quite enjoyable to read. The start of the book was a little slow and I didn’t bond with all the vampire characters. However, once they moved into the house and got to know Nathan and his family, I really started to enjoy it, the only downside is we don’t find out in this book, whether Nathan does go to the police or whether he does help Amber I presume that continues in the next novel in the series. thank you.

[Tina Fritchley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free from Voracious Readers Only

I wasn't really sure what I'd think about this book before I started reading it. I was kind of expecting another teen vampire romance type of thing - but this is certainly not that. Amber isn't a vampire - she's a Grue - and she can't survive without eating the living flesh of humans.

I ended up liking this book a lot more than I expected, and will definitely be looking out for more in the series.

[Pamela McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not usually a book I would read, but I really enjoyed it. The author made the character really likeable even though she was a monster. I like the idea that she is a monster but with a conscience and is willing to get the bad guys.
I found I had trouble putting the book down as was disappointed when I finished it, I immediately was looking for the next book, which sadly I can't find. I await with bated breath.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was WILD! I wasn’t expecting to get so invested in the characters and the world of the book. Noting that I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.

Like other reviews say, it is very gory. I love dark humor and off the walls stories, and I haven’t ever read anything quite like it. If you like nontraditional macabre tales then you will love this book! I’m ordering the sequel and hoping it will continue to delight.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expected this to be just another typical vampire novel, not a bad thing though since i love vampire novels. This book is the next level! Starts of at a nice pace, background story, where it all began then BOOM fast paced, action packed with the struggles emotinally and mentally of adapting to a new life and what it entails. Definitely read more!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

as soon as I started the book I was intrigued. I caught me by the first page. Even though the subject matter is grim and in some parts gory it is a very light and fun story to read. I love Horese the English vampire and how he takes Anber under his wing. Didnt take me long to read at all now downloading the second one. Well worth the read

[Amanda Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very reminiscent of Anne Rice, but with a modern twist. Like Twilight, the vampires and other undead in this book behave more like humans than the monsters made popular by other writers. This book was a page turner. I couldn’t wait to delve deeper into Amber’s story each time I picked it up. I can’t wait to read the next installment in this series.

[Destiny Bridwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I normally love a good romance novel. This was a good concept or plot, but I just did not get invested in the story or the characters. That is not something that happens to me very often. It has been awhile since I thought about stop reading a book and not finishing it. I did continue one, but it was not a book for me.

[Anne Dwyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An 18 year old, innocent Amber - turned into a monster because she was in the wrong place at thr wrong time. Would she be able to reconcile what she must now do to survive? Gruesome read - but a great story line, with awesome characters

[Lisa Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not much for writing reviews save this. I liked it im a big fan of paranormal and it always makes my day

[Aleese Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has Potential

The concept and story is solid overall, but the writing could be better. I think some tightening and even some more in-depth scenes would go a long way for this book.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, interesting concept and different supernatural creature which I liked. Very gory in some parts.

[Owen Howden · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most enjoyable reads. All the characters are well thought out including the Grue! I enjoyed the back story that helped fill in the background on the majority of the characters and how it all flowed. I would enjoy reading anything that carried on from this book as you feel a certain feeling for Amber and her situation, I look forward to her further adventures!