A Supernatural Rebellion Thriller! Survival is a deadly game that Mira refuses to lose.Mira, a proven warrior with a blade as sharp as her fangs, has spent the last thirty years in the arena, where life and death are determined by the stroke of a sword and the cheers of her fans. In the new world order, being supernatural is a crime. Vampires once thought to be mythical, have been discovered, … have been discovered, assimilated, and enslaved. Used for blood sport in the gladiatorial arena, their immortal lives are allowed to continue only for the entertainment of the human masses. The only way out of this never ending battle is in a body bag, and Mira’s not going out that way.
Always looking for an escape, Mira’s latest attempt leads her straight to Lucian Stavros, the city’s Regent, a human, and the man directly responsible for her people’s enslavement. With her life in the hands of the aloof and powerful Lucian, Mira must decide how far she is willing to go to survive. Making an ally of this powerful human might be the only chance she has left.
2015 RONE award Winner for best Paranormal
“Dissension weaves a spine-tingling tale about human savagery and the vampire race’s desperate struggle to survive.” ★★★★★ ~ InD’tale Magazine.
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Times are a bit on the darker side in this book, and an entire race is persecuted … so basically, it’s not even far-fetched (sadly).
This is another Salides read that quickly sucked me in, due to great world-building, relatable characters, an FMC I absolutely NEEDED to see excel, a corrupt government I loved to loathe, action, violence, drama … Seriously, so fun.
In fact, it was so fun, that I stayed up until 10 a.m. listening to it. I hope to read more in this world.
4 stars
Note:
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a great job. There were some pauses in between chapters, but they’re very short. Just noticeable, as this doesn’t occur in most books I’ve listened to. I would give this narrator a 5-star performance.
What an imagination K.A. Salinas has. I have been a vampire fanatic for over 35 years and have never listened to or read anything like this.
The world building & storyline are mind blowing. The characters are kick a$$ and very likeable. The narration is done very well.
I definitely recommend you buy now with one click! I know I’m grabbing the rest of the series in whatever format available.
Dissension by Katie Salidas is the first installment in the Chronicles of the Uprising series with an impressive and surprising storyline. Ms. Salidas did an excellent job of world-building,. The characters are well-defined and invoke strong emotions in the reader.
When Mother Nature rebelled and destroyed civilization she left humanity on the edge of extinction. There was no survival without help. Vampires came out of the darkness and offered mutual help to save their respective races.
Once humans were no longer dying, but actually flourishing, things quickly changed. Instead of being saviors, humans turned on the vampires, enslaving and forcing most of them to fight each other to death in the gladiator ring.
Mia has spent thirty years surviving in the gladiator ring. She’s tried to escape, always caught and tortured, but she hasn’t given up. She also has another desire besides escape, she the humans view if vampires, or die trying. But how can she or anyone do that?
The story was very different and very entertaining. I am not normally a fan of vampire stories but this one has a twist that drew me in. I was kept me on the edge of my seat from page one. The author has written a dark, and exciting story with a glimmer of light.
I look forward to reading more in this series in order to see how things evolve and I highly recommend it!
I did receive this book free and this is my honest review. As my first story by K.A. Salidas, I am truly impressed with the world she has created.
I received this book for free. I voluntarily posted this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.
This is the first book in the Chronicles of the Uprising series – it is not a standalone book and ends on a cliffhanger.
I was hooked on this book from the very beginning. It is a unique twist on vampire stories. In this world, the vampires no longer hunt and humans no longer fear them – it is the exact opposite. It reminded me of Roman times – with the Coliseum and gladiator fights in front of spectators with a thumbs up or down determining the fates of the fighters. This is a fast-paced, action-packed, well-written story that I listened to in one sitting.
Mira, the MC vampire, is a hoot. She is sarcastic, smart, and an incredible fighter. I loved how she handled her owner Olivia – which gave you all you needed to know about her personality. While Olivia is a bit of a cardboard character – full of vitriol and pure cruelty – Mira is a well-developed character who exudes empathy, even though she is a vampire and overall very likeable. She is the character you root for to get one over on the humans who are keeping her down. Then enter Lucian – he is still a question mark. By outward appearances, he should be in league with Olivia but by some of what he says and does, he is a kindler, gentler human who wants to help Mira. It will be interesting to see how Mira and Lucian’s relationship develops.
The narrator, Meghan Kelly, did a terrific job bringing this story to life with her narration.
I really enjoyed this author’s unique dystopian paranormal story. Vampires helped humans survive after an apocalyptic event devastated the earth, but centuries later humans turned on their helpers and enslaved them. This story is written from the POV of Mira, a female vampire that has spent 30 years enslaved, tortured and forced to fight her own kind to the death, just to entertain human masses. This is an exciting, fast paced story in which the humans are more monsters than the vampires. You easily become attached to Mira; her strength, perseverance, and sassy indomitable nature captures you from the start and you can’t help but root for her. I also loved Lucian’s calm, inquisitive mind and how he was willing to discover things for himself and not just follow blindly what he had been told is true. The narrator, Meghan Kelly, did a great job of bringing the characters to life and really made you visualize the brutality of Mira and the other vampires’ lives. This is a well written, exciting story that will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you dying for the next book in the series
Note: I received this (audio) book from StoryOrigin and I voluntarily give this review, it is my honest opinion.
Dissension is book one in the Chronicles of the Uprising by K.A. Salidas, the story follows Mira, a vampire warrior, who is tired of the way things have been and it desperate to escape the confines of her world. However the more she learns the more she realizes she can’t just save herself, she has to save the entire vampire race from the humans who mistreat and enslaved them.
The general idea of the story was a good one, unique, vampires are slaves and humans are the monsters that torture, starve and do who knows what else to them. This is a dystopian, the world ended and is rebuilt again so the human culture is a little different, this includes all-out battles in the arena for mass public entertainment. Humans have become bloodthirsty and very few are willing to see vampires even more humanely than their human counterparts. Usually, it’s the vampires reigning over humans and being monstrous so this storyline did grab my interest.
Salidas did a good job with the writing and the story was pretty quick, the audio was only a little over four hours long on regular speed, but I would have liked a little more world-building. She did an excellent job of representing the vampire’s life but I would have liked a little more contrast with more of the human way of life. As for the narrator, I had a couple of issues. The first is the accent she chose to represent Mira was a little off and I would have liked something different but what really got me is when Mira all of a sudden had an exaggeration of her normally accent which irritated me.
Overall I mostly enjoyed Dissension, however, I don’t plan on continuing the series. I don’t feel that connected to the story or characters so I am not particularly interested in what happens. Plus I have a huge pile of books that I need to read and I don’t feel like taking time away from them to finish this story. However I won’t count Salidas out, the story was interesting enough that I will check out her other work in the future.
**** SPOILER ALERT ****
In “Dissension” I found a book that I relished reading. It is the first work of Salidas that I’ve read. I’m hungry for more because the author back a lot of world building, character development and action in a, relatively, small package.
I also find it interesting that the vampires aren’t the “monsters” in this story.
I highly recommend this book.
In the interest of transparency: I received a free review copy of this book and I am voluntarily sharing this review. It is my own honest opinion.
Edge Of My Seat
I have to say I love the way Mira fights her way thru everything and never gives up. Never caring what anyone thinks of her. This book shows a very clear showing how the prejudices of others in society always seem to shape who we are and what we do. This book also shows us that the beliefs of society can be wrong and it’s up to us to change that and sometimes one person can make a world of difference and always believe in yourself and what YOU believe in. Excellent Job, can’t wait to read the rest.
Until Next Time……Tabi