Review - The Rest Falls Away

Title: The Rest Falls Away
Author: Colleen Gleason
Publishing Date: 2007
Genre: Paranormal (Historical)
Rating: B-
Sensuality: Warm

Victoria Gardella’s family has a unique legacy. Her family has been fighting vampires for centuries. Recently she has been having strange dreams. These dreams are a trigger for Victoria’s heritage. She seeks out her Aunt for answers. She finds that she has been chosen and such begins her training as a vampire slayer.

There are two men Victoria is drawn to; Phillip of Rockley, a Marquess whom she met when she was just a young girl and Sebastian Vioget who remains a mystery but stirs unfamiliar feelings within her. Three, if you count Maximilian Pesaro, master vampire executioner. Victoria accepts her calling as a vampire slayer, but seeks a balance of normalcy in her life. She is willing to go out patrolling for vampires at night, but she also wants to attend balls and be a part of normal society. This is one of the main conflicts driving Victoria in this book.

The world building and vampire mythology was very well developed. The vampire lore involved religion in a believable way, adding a unique twist to vampires. I like Victoria, from what I know of her so far. She is a practical girl and yet she is also hopeful. I feel like we have just scratched the surface of her personality.

The pacing of the book seemed unbalanced to me. At certain times, especially in the beginning, it took a while to for the story to grab a hold of my interest. Scenes with Victoria’s mother and her friends were especially annoying. Yet there were certain passages that I seemed to speed through. These were the passages with Victoria and Phillip and the climatic ending.

Another thing that bothered me was the abrupt changes between passages. One scene would end and then the next would start up days or weeks later. Lots of time would pass between scenes. It seemed to me the author was only highlighting those scenes she thought were most important.

I think this series shows a lot of promise and I am intrigued to see where the author is headed with the next book.



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