Niki's Review: The Unveiling by Zel Winter

The Unveiling is a YA Vampire romance and I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a time in my life where I would have found this and read it in one sitting. As someone who is a self-confessed beautiful cover lover, this one definitely checks that box. The blue misty silhouette is lovely. Just look at it.

Another fun thing I found before I even started reading was the map that was right at the beginning. Little details like this have always had a place in my heart.

It's written by Zel Winter. A Canadian YA author. Find her on Instagram @zelwinter.author or check out her website www.zelwinter.com

Another plus is the witty protagonist. Nina’s parents died when she was young and she went through a string of foster homes as a child. She doesn’t know much about her family except that she was a twin, though she doesn’t even know her sister’s name. Still, she’s a strong confidant college student looking to make something of herself. Some of her one-liners absolutely cracked me up, like this gem: “He was magnificent—and really dumb”.

As I pointed out with my Beautiful Creatures review, I'm struggling lately reading and enjoying YA romance in the way that I did once upon a time. There is no denying that I ate up YA Vampire romance for years though. The things that I liked about this YA over others I've read recently is pretty simple. Nina is a college student and isn't being forced to make a life-altering decision at 16. Though she is still being asked to make one as a teenager...still her decision won't go into effect until she's 21, so it doesn't feel as horrifying to me as choosing your destiny in high school. I know there was a point in my life not long ago where this book would have called to me and I’d have read it in pure bliss. As a hardened adult, it did take me a little longer but the fun writing chiseled away at my heart of ice.

If you’re looking for a quick read and enjoyed twilight but thought the love triangle was played out, vampires aren’t always beautiful, and the thing it was missing was dragons and fairies, this might be a book to look into. And, if you love it, this is the first in a series, and I know I love finding a new series and getting sucked (pun intended) into new worlds.

The descriptions are wonderful. We are immediately shown that the MC is strong and quirky at the same time. She wants to pay for her own food even though a guy sent it to her to grab her attention. She eats nachos and drinks orange juice at the same time. Nina drinks a lot of orange juice, in fact 😊

Nina’s parents died when she was young and she went through a string of foster homes as a child. She knows she's a twin, though she doesn’t even know her sister’s name. Still, she’s a strong confidant college student looking to make something of herself.

**Spoilers Below**

Dan and Nina meet in a bar while she’s looking for a job and she’s running late for an appointment to put a deposit down for her dorm room.

He shoehorns his way in, and though she is drawn to him, she shuts him down but eventually and lets him tag along. They spend the night together where they have sex, and he feeds on her blood. Not subtly. He drinks from her neck until she almost passes out. But it feels good so she’s into it.

The next morning he tries to compel her to forget everything and she slaps him and calls him a jerk. Good for her. He shows her he can compel people and she’s amazed by it…but never once asks about the retractable fangs or the bloodsucking. Which I would have pretty quickly, feels good or not.

Later she flashes back and remembers the night but not the blood-drinking.

She’s really into Dan but kinda bothered, rightfully so, by his weirdness and is ready to chalk the whole thing up to a fun night with a guy who turned into a tool. I find this whole part great. She's not upset about a possible one-night stand. There is no shaming involved from him or her or the narration. She is just a confident college student doing the best she can with the information she has. It felt very real.

The vamps are an interesting cross between old-school ugly vamps, Buffy vamps, and True Blood Vamps. They are ugly (old school) with claws and everything, but can change their appearance to look human (Buffy) and they have retractable fangs and healing saliva (True Blood). His fangs are super long though, at several points they reach his chin. He must have to drink carefully to not bite through people’s necks. He's very gentle with Nina, so it's not a problem. Just terrifying to picture.

After their night together, and once he's tried to compel her and fails, he realizes she is special. She's a Human Immortal. A creature of legend and the other immortals have been on the hunt for these special creatures for a long time.

While Dan the Vampire is an immortal, he's not a 'Nature's Immortal'. Vampires were created. Nature's Immortals are Dragons, Fae, and Weres. Being a Human Immortal means that someone in Nina's family tree was a Natural Immortal, but gave up her immortality to love a human. The gene is still carried down the line though and can show itself in the woman born from this human/immortal coupling.

This means that Nina will have to choose one of the lines and find a mate. Once she does, her immortality will be restored and she will be either a Were, Dragon, or Fae.

The dragons have a kinda human form with scales running down their body and it sounded really similar to how Dax looks on Star Trek, with the spots that run down her whole body. Dragons and Weres can also be identified in their human form because their eyes are either green or gold. I liked the idea.

Nina’s twin, Maya, was kidnapped by a gang of vampires and saved by Dan and a vampire named Lupus. When they rescue her, Nina and Maya meet for the first time. They immediately bond and find out what they have in common and they look so much alike they comment it’s almost like looking in a mirror. I wish the twin aspect would have been explored more. How interesting to have two of these super rare creatures that are biologically the same but raised very separately.

During the rescue, we learn that Vampires can change into dust ‘from dust to dust’ Dan says. During the fight, Dan is fighting with a bad vamp and they are shifting to and from dust and Dan scoops up some of Bad Vamp’s dust and closes it into a jar. When Bad Vamp changes back to human shape, he’s missing an arm and part of the torso. Very clever. Never seen anything like this before. I really enjoyed this turn on the lore.

During the rescue, Dan learns that the Vamps are also imprisoning a Dragon.

Anyway, initially Nina is super jealous because Maya thinks she and Dan have a connection and Nina is ready to let them live happily ever after and die a sad old spinster because Dan is the only thing she could ever love. She’s known him less than a week and insta-love has always been tough for me to swallow, but I do understand the jealousy aspect of crushing on the same guy so sure. And getting to meet your twin for the first time as a college student and trying to figure out how to have a relationship, you wouldn’t want to do something so foolish as to fight over a man. Especially Dan, who has specifically stated he will never touch Nina again because she’s a human immortal and vampires aren’t allowed to be with them. Maybe she is just too crushed to realize that means he can’t be with Maya either.

But it turns out not to matter because who Nina is actually in love with is the werewolf who rescued her. She didn’t even see his face or know his name but later when they go to Wereland, she feels his presence, sinks to her knees and starts crying until he finds her. They see each other and that’s it. She’s chosen him as a mate and they will be together forever. In a way, it reminded me of imprinting from Twilight, but it seems to happen to both parties which seems much better for both sides. And if we’re saying the magic is love, I guess love at first sight (or even before they see each other in this case) could make sense.

Nina has decided she won’t choose any of the immortals to be with. She’s hoping Dan will change his mind and love her back, but if not, she seems fully prepared to just be alone forever. Again, it sounds dramatic, but if you think of it with an imprinting lens, they have a much deeper connection than normal humans would after only having just met.

Nina makes the comment that she couldn’t be with these things that don’t look human (referring to Dragons, Were, and Fae). Dan as a vampire doesn’t always look human. He grows claws, gets taller, his face changes, and he grows fangs. It's a real testament to 'love is blind' and I'm willing to chalk that whole comment up to her just being a smitten kitten and being upset that he's rejected her.

As they meet with the Were’s, Dan gets super jealous when Nina talks to another man. He shifts into Vampire and his claws cut his hands so badly, he’s dripping blood from his fists and his fangs are down to his chin. When he notices everyone is watching, he slinks into the woods and one of Natures Immortals names Wise One follows him and explains that Nina and Dan are bound and she can no longer tap into her immortality with a Were or Dragon or Fae.

He confesses his love to Nina and they bond. No one is really sure what the bond will do since there hasn’t been one between a Human Immortal and a Vampire matched before. The first night together, Dan drinks her blood all night and Nina is able to replenish it by being tapped into both Dan and the Vampire within him. So I guess the perk is an unending blood supply and maybe she won’t have to become a Vampire. Which is an interesting twist. With the other Immortals, once the bond is made and sealed with mating, the Human Immortal will become what she’s bonded with. So Maya will become a Warewolf.

Dan tells Nina his history. Maya and Lupus get married and then at the ceremony, Dan and Nina also get married.

Dan and the Dragons have a meeting and confirm the news Dan told them about the captive Dragon is true. The Dragons declare war on Vampires, except Dan and he returns home to Nina where she has a nightmare about being executed by a dragon. She doesn't recognize the dragon, but Dan does.

Side note, the Fae just kind of mingle in the real world and Wereland and Dragon land, but Faeland is mentioned. We don’t see them as fairies and, though it’s not important, I’d have liked to see it.

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