Bloodspell (Bloodspell #1)
Bloodspell by Amalie Howard
The spell was simple...
Cruentus Protectum (Defend the Blood)
But what do you do if your blood is your enemy?
Victoria Warrick has always known she was different. An outcast at school, she is no stranger to adversity. But when she receives an old journal for her seventeenth birthday, nothing prepares her for the dark secrets it holds -- much less one that reveals she's a witch with unimaginable power.
What's more, when she meets the dazzling but enigmatic Christian Devereux, she has no idea how much her life is about to change. Enemies will hunt her. Friends will turn on her. The terrible curse that makes her blood run black will stop at nothing to control her. And Christian has a sinister secret of his own...
Without knowing whom to trust, can Victoria survive her blood's deadly desires? Or will she lose everything, including herself?
My review
I received this book as an ARC, and to be honest I wasn’t really expecting much after reading the synopsis. I figured it was going to be another run of the mill YA, vampire Twilight-esque knock off. Boy am I glad I was wrong! Bloodspell delivered the goods and then some!
Amalie Howard masterfully created a world and history in where Witches and Vampires are fierce enemies; a twist in mythology that I found utterly unique. Her perspective on these two popular archetypes isn’t your garden variety though. The vampires are not these fangy, bloodthirsty, but deep down they want to find love types, nor are the witches walking around with their magic wands doing good works when all the world thinks their up to no good, thus totally misunderstood. Oh contrarie, in Ms. Howard’s world we see that the two foes are equally matched in both skill and bloodthirstiness, some are good, some are bad and with other the lines are blurred.
The main protagonist Victoria (Tori) discovers on her 17th birthday, that not only is she a witch but she descends from a long line of witches- her ancestor being the most powerful witch ever. After a terrible incident, Tori wanting to get on with and live a normal life goes away to finish high school in a small, remote town in Maine. I liked Tori’s character a lot. She wasn’t whiny, nor was she this I don’t need a man to fight my battles alph-female. She was the perfect amalgamation of the two. She was strong but vulnerable; making her a very relatable character. The developing relationship between her and Christian was perfectly paced and it didn’t feel forced or rushed. I loved that the Author wasn’t afraid to let time laps between the pages. So often in the YA genre events seems to occur and unfold in the span of a week of two. Practically giving the characters little time to absorb and adapt to what happening making and thus the poor reader is left feeling like everything was just shoved in their face in a matter of pages. Again, this book doesn’t do that, the pacing was perfect.
Amalie Howard’s style of writing is eloquent and simply flows. Never, was it choppy or stilted, nor did is alter course and get off track. This book took my breath away and was a pleasure to read. It’s little gems like these that really make me happy to write a review.
If you’re a fan of YA and enjoy suspense with a sweet love story then please, please check out Bloodspell by Amalie Howard.
I am giving this book 5 stars!
The spell was simple...
Cruentus Protectum (Defend the Blood)
But what do you do if your blood is your enemy?
Victoria Warrick has always known she was different. An outcast at school, she is no stranger to adversity. But when she receives an old journal for her seventeenth birthday, nothing prepares her for the dark secrets it holds -- much less one that reveals she's a witch with unimaginable power.
What's more, when she meets the dazzling but enigmatic Christian Devereux, she has no idea how much her life is about to change. Enemies will hunt her. Friends will turn on her. The terrible curse that makes her blood run black will stop at nothing to control her. And Christian has a sinister secret of his own...
Without knowing whom to trust, can Victoria survive her blood's deadly desires? Or will she lose everything, including herself?
My review
I received this book as an ARC, and to be honest I wasn’t really expecting much after reading the synopsis. I figured it was going to be another run of the mill YA, vampire Twilight-esque knock off. Boy am I glad I was wrong! Bloodspell delivered the goods and then some!
Amalie Howard masterfully created a world and history in where Witches and Vampires are fierce enemies; a twist in mythology that I found utterly unique. Her perspective on these two popular archetypes isn’t your garden variety though. The vampires are not these fangy, bloodthirsty, but deep down they want to find love types, nor are the witches walking around with their magic wands doing good works when all the world thinks their up to no good, thus totally misunderstood. Oh contrarie, in Ms. Howard’s world we see that the two foes are equally matched in both skill and bloodthirstiness, some are good, some are bad and with other the lines are blurred.
The main protagonist Victoria (Tori) discovers on her 17th birthday, that not only is she a witch but she descends from a long line of witches- her ancestor being the most powerful witch ever. After a terrible incident, Tori wanting to get on with and live a normal life goes away to finish high school in a small, remote town in Maine. I liked Tori’s character a lot. She wasn’t whiny, nor was she this I don’t need a man to fight my battles alph-female. She was the perfect amalgamation of the two. She was strong but vulnerable; making her a very relatable character. The developing relationship between her and Christian was perfectly paced and it didn’t feel forced or rushed. I loved that the Author wasn’t afraid to let time laps between the pages. So often in the YA genre events seems to occur and unfold in the span of a week of two. Practically giving the characters little time to absorb and adapt to what happening making and thus the poor reader is left feeling like everything was just shoved in their face in a matter of pages. Again, this book doesn’t do that, the pacing was perfect.
Amalie Howard’s style of writing is eloquent and simply flows. Never, was it choppy or stilted, nor did is alter course and get off track. This book took my breath away and was a pleasure to read. It’s little gems like these that really make me happy to write a review.
If you’re a fan of YA and enjoy suspense with a sweet love story then please, please check out Bloodspell by Amalie Howard.
I am giving this book 5 stars!
