BLOOD TYPEby K.A. LINDE
For Reyna Carpenter, giving up her body isn’t a choice. It’s survival.
In a civilization laid waste by poverty and desperation, Reyna accepts a high-paying position with the wealthy and hungry vampire elite. Her new job is as the live-in blood escort for the intimidating, demanding, and devilishly handsome Beckham Anderson. He’s everything she expected from a vampire, except for one thing—he won’t feed off her.
Reyna soon discovers that behind Beckham’s brooding, wicked façade lies a unique and complex man. And that, in a dark and divided world, she is more valuable than she ever would have believed.
For with each passing night, Reyna can’t shake the sensation that it’s Beckham who’s afraid of her.
REVIEW: Still deciding.....
"Every journey begins with one step."
I am aware it is rather odd of me to withhold a star rating until I have fully completed a series, but there is a reason with this one. Bear with me as I try to maneuver my way through my first Vampire PNR and how I felt about the story and the writing as a whole. And yes, you are reading that correctly: I, The Book Bee, read a PNR book with a vampire in it AND. I. LIKED. IT. Weirdly enough...I liked it a lot. I was completely drawn in to the story development and the different nuances this one had. However, as much as I liked it, I also had some issues with it. Not enough to push me away from reading more of the story; just enough that I felt I needed to mention them.
I am not a huge fan of third person; a lot of the time it's because it's just not written well. It doesn't flow well for me, and sometimes it keeps you on the outside of the story, looking in - not really feeling a part of it. Sometimes my ability to connect with the characters is even inhibited. Unfortunately, such was the case with this book. In general, it felt very scripted for a good amount of the book before it started to flow. Maybe it was me needing to warm up to KA's style of writing, or maybe it was the POV. I'm not sure, but being in that POV, it separated me from the actual emotions of the book and being in Reyna's shoes. It did, however, allow me to watch everything happen from afar. Which, if I think about it, is probably what I needed since I have never read a book in this genre and I needed to experience this one a little differently.
Also, if I'm going to be nitpicky here, Reyna was obnoxiously irritating. Why? I am not entirely sure why she was, but she most definitely was. Her job, her desire for this change, and her reasonings behind it all made sense, but her actions disputed that sense. Some attitude was justified, but many of her childish rants and tantrums were just that: childish. She didn't come off as strong and independent. She came off as bratty and immature. For someone who had nothing, she sure was ungrateful. I'm not bemoaning the fact that she had an attitude and rightfully so. Not at all. I just didn't care for her character as a whole. She could almost be described as wishy washy. I wrote in my notes that she was "stubbornly wretched". Her anger and rudeness were contradictory to some of her statements/actions, so I had a very hard time warming up to her. But again, she was going through something I can only imagine, so I had to dismiss her insufferable antics to get through some of the scenes. I realize she was in a situation she didn't want to be in and I can totally recognize that. Even though I felt she was completely out of line in some aspects, if I had to put myself in her shoes, I would probably be a bitch too. {{just saying}}
"Beckham was an enigma wrapped in a mystery."
That quote couldn't be any more true. Was Beckham perfect? No. He was was so closed off and too controlled to allow himself to feel anything. But there was something about him that I needed to discover through this story. His reasoning....his why. I wanted to know what was going on with him and I loved seeing his control break and him losing himself with Reyna, no matter how brief it was. That 'break' is what I looked forward to. I didn't necessarily feel their blooming love immediately though - it felt like it came out of left field. In the beginning, their relationship felt very clipped, almost forced. I was 'told' about this love long before I ever felt it, but I did eventually warm up to it and them and the book went a little more smoothly for me.
Having said all that, I know it sounds like I didn't like this book, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Even though I had some issues, I did actually really enjoy the storyline. Having never read a Vampire PNR, it definitely made me want to read more in this genre, but I felt like I was overly picky because I was paying attention to every little detail. I liked the way this one was different than anything I've ever seen before (I can only compare to movies/tv series that I've seen - lame, I know), but I liked the vision K.A. Linde was affording me through her tale. Overall, this fantasy world had me turning the pages, because as irritated as I may have been, I was really curious as to where the story was going - I was genuinely intrigued. I may have struggled, but I couldn't put it down and that is such an anomaly for me, but it also says something. I warred with myself between the writing and the storyline, but I have to say the storyline won out. I normally would have put the book down and walked away without looking back, but there was just something about it that really sucked me in. {{NO pun intended}} I'm very interested in seeing the outcome for Reyna and Beckham play out. I actually can't wait to read more of this series, as well as some other Vampire/PNR books. I'm looking forward to BLOOD MATCH and BLOOD CURE.
~BEE
P.S. to my review: The writing in this book was quite literally jarring. We get a sentence. Then a period. We get a reaction. Then a period. We get an action. Then a period. It was very awkward to read. Where are the conjunctions? Where are the commas and the embellishments? Lengthen those sentences. Make the words talk! Make them pop!! Don't make them sit on a page, stagnant and not moving. The structure was almost elementary in form and it was quite distracting. I was told this was not indicative of her normal writing style; that this may be a publisher editing/indie writing difference. I can only hope.
PURCHASE LINKS
TRILOGY TO BE GIFTED AFTER A FULL SERIES REVIEW
PREORDER
~MEET K.A. LINDE~
K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of more than fifteen novels including the Avoiding series and the Record series. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, geeking out over Star Wars, binge-watching Supernatural, and dancing in her spare time.
She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super adorable puppies.
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