Nightwalker & Dayhunter by Jocelynn Drake (End of Days book One & Two)

 

*Minor spoilers ahead for the first two books of the series*

Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake

For centuries Mira has been a nightwalker—an unstoppable enforcer for a mysterious organization that manipulates earth-shaking events from the darkest shadows. But elemental mastery over fire sets her apart from others of her night-prowling breed . . . and may be all that prevents her doom.The foe she now faces is human: the vampire hunter called Danaus, who has already destroyed so many undead. For Mira, the time has come to hunt . . . or be hunted.

I enjoyed this book well enough but it felt like an uphill slog to get through it! 

Mira, the protagonist, is a vampire with the ability to conjure fire which sets her apart from her brethren. She's strong but she's so unbelievably arrogant and obnoxious sometimes that it's pretty hard to like her and since the entire book is the Mira show, set to the dramatic drumbeat of a reemerging interspecies war, not liking her is a little bit of a problem... 

As a counterpoint to the oh so amazing and wonderful Mira, you have Danaus - a mysterious vampire hunter with powers and secrets of his own. I liked Danaus a lot more than Mira and there were points I didn't much care if he killed her but I must admit it would have been a shame for the dynamic between Mira and Danaus is what makes the book interesting and kept me turning the pages...

I don't really know where the story is going, I don't have much patience for the posturing and politics of the vampires and the writing got on my nerves, but there was enough here to make me want to pick up the next one in the series and see how things unfold. 

If you're new to UF, this is definitely not the place to start but if you're an UF fan looking for something a little bit heavier and darker then it's worth considering. 

Dayhunter by Jocelynn Drake

A new day dawns blood redA master of fire, Mira is the last hope for the world. For centuries she has secretly enforced the history-altering edicts of the Triad. Now she and her unlikely ally--the human vampire hunter, Danaus--have come to Venice, home of the nightwalker rulers. But there is no safety in the ancient city, for the threat of conflict is in the wind . . .

Dayhunter picks up pretty much immediately where Nightwalker left off and it sees Mira travelling into the heart of vampire territory with the vampire hunter Danaus by her side as one of her very few allies. Mira is as arrogant and annoying as she was in the first book but I actually liked her a little better in this one. I felt that I knew her a bit better with this book and her vulnerability shone through in many places humanising her. It was interesting to me that such a powerful character is reduced to nothing but a pawn by those even more powerful than she... And everyone wants a piece of Mira so I'm super curious as to what the deal with her actually is but, unfortunately, the author isn't in a hurry to actually divulge that.

 The relationship between Mira and Danaus deepens and the two actually seem to accept that they need each other if they're to stop the evil Naturi (think weird super powered not-fae fae-like creatures) from returning and destroying the world as we know it which is nice... I'm totally rooting for them to fall for each other but I'm doubtful of that with the way things are going but still, a gal can hope.

There are plots and schemes everywhere. Every time I thought I had a handle on what was going on in the story a curveball was thrown at me. One thing is for absolutely certain: I do not like the vampires. Honestly, they're all twisted and kinda evil and even though the Naturi are a bit despicable, I'm not entirely sure that the vampires deserve to "win" the upcoming war which is interesting considering the reader is supposed to be rooting for the vampires... Or maybe we're supposed to be rooting for Mira? I don't know... And I wish I didn't care but Daywalker drew me into the world a little bit deeper than Nightwalker and I need to see what happens next! 

So, I'll be reading the next one...As I said, this isn't a series for new UF readers - or even for those like me that love UF with romance! - but if you want gritter UF then this is a series to try!