Saturday, March 17, 2012

Blood Born by Jamie Manning


Genre:  YA Paranormal Romance
Blood Prophecy Series, Book 1
Expected publication date:  April 24, 2012

Description (taken from Jamie Manning's website):
Waking up in a coffin hungry for blood is only the beginning for sixteen-year-old Ava Blue. When Chance Caldon, the hottie who dug her up, tells her she's half vampire, Ava's world really turns upside down.

Half vamp? Ava can't believe it...she doesn't even know what that means! Not until Aldric, a thousand-year-old vampire, shows up and tells her it's true--and that he's the one who turned her. Then Ava truly begins to believe what she is. Now she has to deal with a sudden and powerful bloodlust, the desire to see Aldric dead, and her growing crush for Chance. Ava knows she's a monster now, she can feel it; and her life is over.

But redemption isn't lost. Aldric is giving her a chance to regain her humanity. The price? Kill 100 vampires, or remain a bloodsucker forever.

So Ava sets out to get her life back. But killing vampires begins a battle that could destroy everything she is working toward. In the end, Ava's decision will forever change her life and the lives of those she loves.

On the very first page, you see Ava's personality shine through.  Her snarky, almost cynical attitude definitely makes this book different.  And I loved how well her personality and inner thoughts weren't the typical lovey-dovey, unsure of myself type that I've seen a lot of lately.

There were a couple of things I didn't like about this book though.  One, half-vampire.  What does that even mean?  I mean the book helped me understand Ava's dilemma and how she's part human, part vampire.  But how does that even happen and what does that mean?  And there wasn't enough explanation about Aldric: who he is, what his motives are, is he a good vampire (inasmuch that a vampire can be good)?  And maybe the second book will get into more detail to these questions.

Did I enjoy this book?  Of course.  The attitude helped me relate a lot to Ava.  And  I enjoyed the mystery surrounding Ava's predicament and trying to figure out who Chance is.  But there were some moments where I felt like the unanswered questions kept hanging, kind of like two bantering children:
   Kid 1 - Tell me what's going on!
   Kid 2 - No.
   Kid 1 - Why not?
   Kid 2 - It's in your best interests to not know.
   Kid 1 - Pretty please...
   Kid 2 - No.
   Kid 1 - Fine.  I don't want to be your friend anymore even though I still am.
Problem is...  I want to know what's going on just as much as Ava wants to know.  And I guess I'll have to pick up the next book once it's out to see if more of the mystery is unraveled.


A special shout out goes to the DAC ARC Tours for letting me participate in this ARC tour.

Challenges:  Debut Author Challenge and Young Adult Reading Challenge

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