“Hallowmere #2; By Venom's Sweet Sting”

Author:

Tiffany Trent

First Thoughts:

The first book, “In The Serpents Coils”, left a big impression on me. I just HAD to keep going with the series. However, my library doesn’t posses any of the Hallowmere books. So, I invested in buying the entire collection for myself, at least I thought it was the entire collection. Turns out after reading the 2^nd of 6 books, I discovered there were supposed to be 10. The author never finished the last 4 books, because the publisher who owns the story discontinued the series. Fans, of course, are disappointed since the author needs the copyright before she can legally finish this amazing series. Still, despite this disappointing news, the book, “By Venoms Sweet sting”, did not disappoint me. Just as in the first book, “In The Serpents Coils”, I loved all the interesting and mysterious elements of the Fey World integrated within our own world.

Synopsis:

After losing their Falston Boarding School to the flames of battle, Corrine finds herself fleeing with the Council of Elaphe, and the rest of the Falston girls, to Scotland. Father Joe and Miss Brown think it safer to be on their own terms with the ever-growing strength of the Fey. However, Corrine’s Uncle William isn’t too thrilled, and advises against it. Despite the odds, their journey begins on the luxurious ship named the “Great Eastern”. As they travel across the sea they encounter some rather harsh complications. Struggling to come up with a battle plan against the Fey, conflicts arise for the Council members and time is running out. Cloaking disguises, magic lessons, portals between worlds, nightmarish daydreams, and falling in love… this is only the beginning. Corrine is thrown for a loop when the Fey continue to her entice her into their world. Who is the real enemy? As dark histories and true faces are uncovered, circumstances become even more treacherous. With all these horrid mysteries surrounding her, Corrine is on the edge of maybe even discovering the truth about herself.

In Closing:

I won’t deny that it did have its moments where it dragged its feet… Or pages, as it were. However, I still greatly enjoyed most of the characters. Sometimes though, I wanted to slap the characters for repeating conversations, or “hinting” towards things that I, as a reader, had already figured out. I hate it when characters start to act dumb just for the sake of drawing the story out longer. I’d say a good 30 pages or so could’ve been ripped out in order to save time and energy on non-sense. Despite that however, the plot is filled with a rich history that I’ve yet to touch the surface of. With every chapter, there’s always just one more intrigue to keep me wanting to know more. The Fey are a delicate, yet powerful species, and to intertwine their story within the 1800’s of our world, is quite unique in my opinion. I must also give the author credit for creating such a beautiful sense of morbid beauty within the main characters visions of the Un-Hallowed. It’s hard to fear something of such great evil, if it can disguise itself as the most gorgeous thing on earth.

With all that said, it’s to my greatest of disappointments, that after finishing the 2^nd book, I’ve decided to discontinue reading this series… at least for now. Since, I know the series isn’t complete, I’m really frustrated with the whole deal. So, instead, I’m going to focus on some other trilogies and series that I’ve had on my waiting list for a while. For more on the Hallowmere books, or the author, you can check this website, and see what’s brewing over there: http://tiffanytrent.com/hallowmere/ 

I know I’ll keep checking back just in case a miracle allows Hollowmere to be completed.