2.3.2011 | Thursday

My Blood Approves

category: Book Reviews
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My Blood Approvestitle: My Blood Approves
author: Amanda Hocking
series: My Blood Approves #1
published: 17 March 2010
publisher: self-published
genre(s): fantasy, romance
pages: 332
source: bought
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | Goodreads

rating: four-stars | series rating: three-stars

the blurb

Teenager Alice Bonham's life feels crazy after she meets Jack. With his fondness for pink Chuck Taylors and New Wave, he's unlike anyone she knows. Then she meets his brother, Peter. Even though he can't stand the sight of her, she's drawn to him. Falling for two guys isn't even the worst of her problems. Jack and Peter are vampires, and Alice finds herself caught between love and her own blood


my review

Vampire fiction is such an enormously popular genre right now and it can be hard to find a story that truly grabs you in a fresh and unique way.  There were definately some plot points that echoed some of that popular fiction, but the story that they were woven into kept them from being too predictable.  The meat of most stories is the “big secret” around which everything in the story revolves.  Even though the “big secret” of the novel was easily guessed almost from the beginning, it didn’t take away from the story in any way.  Instead, what kept it fresh and engaging were the details that were revealed over the course of the story.  It was the stories of the individual characters that blended together with twists and turns that made the story so “grabbing”.

The chemistry between the characters absolutely made the book.  Whether a main character or a supporting one, they were all so well-developed that you felt as if you knew each of them as real people.  They were entirely believable, regardless of how the story made you feel about them.  They all had entirely different personalities and their own thoughts and issues.  They were not at all “cookie cutter” characters, which definately added to the interest of the story.  Alice was a typical teenager, a little self-absorbed and passive in her own life, but she clearly had a good heart and was very relatable as a person.  Milo, her younger brother, was definately the grounding force in her life and the sub-plot concerning his own struggles added an interesting twist to the plot.  Jack and Peter were such different people in the story, but they were both equally interesting as people.  I liked Hocking’s way with dialogue and humor, and her ability to bring the characters to life.  You can have the most well-developed characters in your head, but if the writing doesn’t support them, they fall flat.  There was nothing flat about this novel!  I felt for the characters, all of them, and that drew me in as much as anything else.  I definately had unanswered questions at the end, but I wasn’t left wanting.  It wasn’t at all abrupt, appropriate as a lead-in for the next in the series, which I can’t wait to start!

Just a note, the cover art is simply stunning.  I am a sucker for a great cover! Love the characters, love the story, a recommended read!

About Amanda Hocking

I live in Minnesota, and I write young adult paranormal romance and urban fantasy mostly. The My Blood Approves series is about vampires in Minneapolis, and its available now. I also wrote the Trylle Trilogy, which is a paranormal romance without vampires, shifters, mermaids, fae, angels, dragons, ghosts, or ninjas.

My latest book is Hollowland – a zombie urban fantasy set in the dystopian near future. It’s a bit more violent and gritter than my other books, but there is still romance. Mostly though, Remy kicks a lot of butt.

I also enjoy Red Bull, Jim Henson, Batman, Jane Austen, Star Wars legos, and I absolutely hate long walks on the beach out of my intense fear/hatred of wet sand

My favorite authors are Kurt Vonnegut, Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, Alan Moore, and J. D. Salinger, but I don’t write anything like them. I have an obsession with River Phoenix, and I’ve seen Silence of the Lambs more than any other movie, even The Dark Knight. If I were trapped on a deserted island, the one thing I’d take with me would be a boat capable for taking me home.

I’m also the guitarist in a band called the Fraggin Aardvarks, and even though its even twice as cool as it sounds, we haven’t had a practice in like two years, so I’m not sure that technically we are still a band. But we never broke up, and it’s an awesome thing to tell people, so I’m sticking with it. (We even had a synethesizer!)

::spread the love::

One response to “My Blood Approves

  1. Chelly

    I got this for free from B&N when I got my digi reader. I got half way threw it, but just lost interest. I might try it again, I need a good book to read, and I can’t find anything to curb my vamp thirst right now.

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