Marked By Books: Dominion Book Tour: Review & GIVEAWAYS

Welcome to our stop of Melody Manful's Dominion, hosted by ABG Reads Book Tours! I'm really, really, REALLY excited about this book. I absolutely jumped at the chance to read it because it sounded so good. And it was! But more on that later....

Okay, now usually, I save the book trailer for the end (I'm not really sure why, maybe it's more dramatic...?), but that's not going to happen this time. Want to know why? Listen.

Did you hear that? Please tell me you heard that. That piece of perfection, my friends, is called "Lux Aeterna," composed by Clint Mansell, and it is one of my favorite songs ever! And I really mean it when I say ever. Little known fact about me, not only am I obsessed with books, I'm also a complete music nut. And violins are my babies. I can't actually play (I know, I'm pathetic), but they are without a doubt my favorite instrument. Just ask Gabby.

But now back to Dominion because although the trailer is AWESOME, the book is even better. Trust me.

I Dare You.
Look Over Your Shoulders.
Do You See Them?
They are behind you...
They are always behind you.

Abigail Cells had a nightmare the day before she met Gideon, the new guy in school who has every girl drooling just to be near him. In her nightmare, she was murdered by a magical creature. As she gets to know Gideon, she begins to remember pieces of her nightmare, and was shocked when Gideon turned out to be the creature from her nightmare. Who is Gideon really? Should Abby allow herself to fall completely for him, or is he the next disaster waiting to happen?

Dominion releases February 16th!

My Review

At first look for this book you're probably thinking something along the lines of "great, another damsel in distress." I can see where you'd get that. She is, after all, wearing a pink dress on the cover while being flanked by two guys with wings floating nonchalantly in the middle of a burning city. And the blurb might just sound like another stupid girl falling for some stupid guy just because he's stupidly hot when he actually just wants to kill her. Stupid, right? Yeah, no.

You see the thing with these "damsels" is that they usually don't run around with a bow strapped to their back and something that looks like the handle of a gun peeking out behind it. And they certainly don't knock the "drool-worthy" guy back up against a wall and put him in a choke hold in the middle of an empty classroom. Because Abby did that. And it was fabulous.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Unlike the more weak female protagonists, Abigail actually has a spine and, heaven forbid, a brain, and she's not afraid to use either of them. She is one mean, sharpshooting, ice cream loving, fire extinguisher wielding machine. That sentence will make more sense once you read the book. And you should, because it's good!

Abby doesn't just fall in love with Gideon from the moment she sees him, and he definitely doesn't just pledge himself to her either. There is actually a believable progression here, which is really nice to see. There are some very sweet moments, but you have to believe me when I say that this isn't just a romance novel. It's so much more.

The Cells family has a pretty big secret hidden behind their seemingly perfect life, and Abigail has been training for years to make sure that it doesn't become the death of them. But wait, that's not all! You think life threatening human issues are bad enough? Oh no, it gets much worse. Because what does Abby say when she's thrust into the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell? "Honey, hold my earrings. I'm going in."

Rating: 5 stars

My favorite quote: "Great! Now I'm becoming one of those guys with hearts and flowers and... feelings."

While the ending did make me a little mad (curse you, cliffhangers!), I'm really excited to read the next book, which I hope I'll have the opportunity to review as well whenever it comes out. Hint, hint....

Melody Manful was born on June 8, 1994, in a town in Ghana called Tema. She started writing at a very early age and has been doing it ever since. Melody has two siblings and lives in Denmark with her family. She loves music, reading, and writing, and she puts a great deal into making her friends happy.

Website Twitter Facebook Goodreads Blog Youtube

The Giveaways

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And just because I was snooping around on Melody's website, found this, and thought they were beautiful, here are a few original songs for the book. The second one is my favorite. Great job, Melody, these are amazing!