Dark Diary

By: P. Anastasia

Narrated by: P. Anastasia

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Worlds collide when a 17th-century vampire meets a modern tattoo artist tormented by visions of her untimely death. Guilt stricken by the passing of a friend and lover, he entertains her offer of friendship.

Far from an average vampire tale, Dark Diary is a poignant allegory for life, where fears and regrets endanger one's desire for love and acceptance. It is a delicate reflection on art, romance, and the burden of mental illness.

Forbidden romance in the vein of classics like Wuthering Heights, frosted with the seductive allure of immortality, this story documents a pair torn apart by time.

A quaint, genre-crossing love story with a flourish of historical romance, it will capture your heart and never let go.

Savor this enchanting audio experience, brought to life and performed by the author, also a professional voice actress.

©2016 P. Anastasia (P)2016 P. Anastasia

Love and romance

This book was interesting and a great read. I am excited to read more from this author.

Life, Death, and Beyond.

The author of the Fluorescence Series once again pulls double duty, writing and performing this tale with both style and passion. Interesting characters are brought to life with eloquent writing and a delivery much better than I would have expected from an author reading her own story.
She takes the vampire story and makes it her own by introducing her own lore, an interesting well thought out take on vampire physiology, and the reasons for their actions.
This is a modern tale, but with a good dose of history thrown in to illuminate the backstory of the main characters.
This is a listen well worth your time.

Vampire romance like no other!

Short version: Awesome narration and a very compeling new take on the vampire love story.

Seriously, I listened to the Audiobook and have to give mad props to the author for her narration. The accents were-- in my opinion-- rather well done. And not just the accents, either. The different characters each had solid voices that came out in the way she narrated. It was very easy to listen to because it was just so well read.

As for the story itself, I was rather drawn in. It approached the idea of vampires, as well as what romance would be like for them, in a very unique way. I don't want to say too much and spoil anything, of course. I just really enjoyed the way the author describes the details of everything from the transformation from human into "other" to the heightened senses to the way that their emotions work. Though really, that descriptive ability is present in the author's writing as a whole and was an enjoyable part of the story.

At the risk of sounding weird... May I also just say that I appreciate the way the author handled the "intimate" moments? I sometimes get uncomfortable if I'm reading or listening to something and anything sexual happens (it's a preference thing, don't judge). But for one thing there aren't too many scenes like that in this book even though it's a love story. And the moments the characters do have together are written in a way that is very loving and, in one way or another, sweet. Was there lust? Yes. But that wasn't the only or even main driving force between them. I really appreciated this focus on the feelings/emotions of the characters over pure physical desire.

There is so much else I could say about the book, but really you will just need to read (or listen to) it for yourself. And I highly recommend that you do so.

She reads her own work as though a performance!

Philomena Anastasia writes with an intelligent, knowing passion. She has something to say. And something to feel in saying it. This is a remarkably diverse, yet completely satisfying, work. You can best catch it in the audiobook format, for this author is a multifaceted talent. She reads her own work as though a performance, perhaps replaying something from her own life's balance.
The depth of her characters is real, and you hear of the real struggle of each. Struggles such as you would feel in yourself. Brilliant, really, to see such complexity, feel such compassion, deal in such irony, and collapse into such humility.
Her writing sails above the story, and as all good writing does, tells the struggles of being human in a land filled with others.
This is the second great novel of her's that I've read. I recommend it regardless of what's next to your bed.
But remember, as she often does, that in life's roller coaster, there are no lap bars. Be patient and step into the car!

Great in audio!

Awesome narration! So much fun to listen to and the voices with different accents help draw you into another world. In this other world, vampires are real and definitely not the friendly, sparkly type. Plenty of love and romance to balance out the action and suspense. Must read for fans of the supernatural genre!

Great Book!!

Any additional comments?

I loved how the development of the characters in the book happen. I would also like to see more of their lives as they learn more about each other in future books. This book was well read by the author using voices that you could tell when they spoke which character was which! I would definitely suggest this book to others!!

Not much plot and unlikable characters

Series Info: Stand Alone, borrowed from Audible Escapes

Audiobook Quality (3/5): The author narrates this audiobook herself. She did a great job with the female voices but the voice of Matthaya in particular was very robotic and stiff sounding. It made his parts of the story awkward to listen to.

Characters (2/5): I didn’t really like either of the characters. They both come across as strangely needy and whiny at points. I also felt like they were all pretty selfish. I didn’t really understand how the Kathera’s mother being really bitchy played into the story and struggled with the heroine’s reasons for continuing to live with her step mom. The relationship between Matthaya and Kathera had a very creepy vibe to it as well. You never really get to know Matthaya all that well (aside from his passionate young love for his first lover Katherine). Both Kathera and Matthaya are very one dimensional. Kathera is driven by the need to escape her stepmom’s hate and Matthaya is driven by his unrequited passion for his dead lover.

Story (2/5): The story was pretty predictable and kind of boring. I did enjoy the twist of Kathera being the reincarnation of Matthaya’s long ago lover Katherine (this is pretty apparent early on in the story so I don’t feel like I am spoiling anything). I think the best part of the story was when we went back into the past to learn about Matthaya and Katherine. Aside from the part where we went back in time, I didn’t enjoy this much at all. I just didn’t understand the point of it, I guess it was for both characters to find some happiness? There really isn’t much of a plot here.

Setting (3/5): The setting was fairly blase’. The dark corners of a typical city. Again, you do get to journey into the past for part of the book which was interesting.

Writing Style (2/5): I didn’t enjoy the writing style here. There was just too much jumping around which was confusing. Additionally, the whole thing just felt kind of lethargic to me. I almost stopped listening to this audiobook a number of times because I just did not enjoy either the writing style or the story.

Summary (2/5): Overall there really wasn’t anything here that I really liked. The reincarnation concept was kind of interesting but has been done many times before. The journey into the past was better than the rest of the story. I didn’t like the characters and didn’t really think there was much plot here at all. I won’t be reading any more books by this author.