** spoiler alert ** 
 I had avoided this book for many, many years because I had been a little misinformed on what it was about. The way that I had originally understood it, I thought the book was going to be in the same vein as The Left Behind series and I didn't want to waste my time on another overly preachy series about God. The first book in the series seems to only touch upon religion and it doesn't feel like it belongs in the Christian Book category at all. I hope that the books continue to distinguish themselves from that genre. 
 After seeing previews and reading up on some of the excitement surrounding it's release, I really wanted to read this book before the movie opens up this August. All in all, it wasn't too bad. The story itself borrows heavily from Star Wars, in my opinion. (One time love interest is revealed to be the protagonist's brother. Both are the children of Valentine, the main antagonist. Luke as an Obi-wan like character who was the former friend of Valentine.) Several of the plot points are overly predictable and they just don't need to be. Calling a character Lucien in a world that includes vampires and werewolves is borderline cliche. It takes a lot of the mystery away that could have easily existed if the author had just chosen a different name. At least she didn't give Rafael a name like Vlad or Victor, I suppose. 
 The story itself is a pretty easy read and it has still managed to draw me in enough that I'd like to continue the journey in the world that she's created.