Thursday 11 October 2012

Book Review - Poison Blood Series (Book 1-2)

The following book reviews were posted on Smashwords


Book: Poison Blood, Book 1: Revelation
Author: Neha Yazmin
Reviewer: Smashwords Customer
Rating: 5 stars
Download for Free: Apple iBookstore US and UK, B&N Nook Store, Sony Reader Store, Kobo, Diesel and Smashwords


"I don't know what blood tastes like to a human.  I'd never even licked a tiny drop of it from a pricked finger, let alone suck on a bleeding cut.  The shedding of blood, my own, or anyone else's, always made me scream or panic in fear and revulsion.  Now it's my only food source." 

Elisia Dalton, more commonly known as Ellie, is not a typical teenaged vampire.  She still has her humanity and conscience.  Her human memories and growing pains.  And the same distaste for blood.

Still reeling from the secrets she uncovered before she was turned into a vampire by the mysterious immortal Christian, Ellie is also finding it hard to come to terms with what she has become.  And the revelations keep coming.

Book one of the Poison Blood series reveals why Ellie is not like others of her kind.



I've now read Poison Blood 1 and 2 – both of which I loved and read each in less than 24 hours.  I was gripped and Neha had me turning the e-pages!  I am definitely hooked on the Poison Blood Series and now eagerly awaiting Book 3!

So let's start with Poison Blood 1 – I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I had read Neha's first novel Chasing Pavements which I loved so I thought I'd give Poison Blood a try even though part of me was unsure whether yet another vampire story was worth telling...  It definitely was!

Yes like another reviewer has mentioned, Neha takes some inspiration from the Twilight saga in terms of vampire mythology – Neha unashamedly embraces this and I knew what to expect as I has read it in her Author Q&A – yet that's really where the similarity ends.

Let’s be clear: this is not fan fiction.  There is so much more to the vampire world that she creates, and she really does create a 'world' – with its own rules and justice system.  Obviously this is a world that (unknowingly to most humans) co-exists with our world – that becomes important later on, and I'm sure it will further develop in the Poison Blood Series, as the two worlds, human and vampire, inevitably collide – but really this is a character driven story.  In fact this is where the similarity to Chasing Pavements arises – of course the story is entirely different – but Neha's characters’ depths are what drive her stories, each with their hidden secrets of course.

This is the story of Ellie, a seemingly ordinary teenage girl – who fights with her parents and hangs out with her friends – until one day she is created as a vampire. Ellie is not a typical vampire – she hates the taste of blood and abhors the thought of harming human life.  There is more to Ellie than even she knows…

Book 1 of the Poison Blood Series really is about the ‘Revelation’ (it’s good!).



~~~

Book: Poison Blood, Book 2: Absolution
Author: Neha Yazmin
Reviewer: Smashwords Customer
Rating: 5 stars
Download for Free: Apple iBookstore US and UK, B&N Nook Store, Diesel, Sony Reader Store, Kobo and  Smashwords  


“I don’t know what being in love is like for humans. It never happened to me, not really. I only thought it did. Thought it for a long time. Almost half a century. But it feels as though I’ve known for longer that I’d been wrong." 

Being a senior official at The System, the vampire world’s governing body, Christian routinely assigns secret missions to his agents. As The System’s most powerful immortal, he also takes responsibility for some of the trickier tasks himself.

When he stumbles upon a project that was kept secret from him, Christian decides to investigate. Why was he not told about this vampire that his employer wants to recruit? Why can’t he get anywhere near this elusive immortal?

Soon, he discovers that this is no ordinary vampire that he is hunting. And when he is suddenly overwhelmed by a rush of strange emotions, Christian is left even more perplexed. Is any of this related to Ellie?

Book two of the Poison Blood series answers some of the questions raised in book one while asking many more.



I’ve been waiting for PB2 and it did not disappoint!  This time the narrative is from the point of view of Christian.  He is the vampire that created Ellie, but there isn’t much more to him… or is there?

I was surprised to find how much I liked reading things from Christian’s point of view.  It suddenly brings a whole new perspective to the events of PB1 and you get to learn a lot more about the way the vampire world works.  There were times when I hated him.  He enjoys the blood-lust of his kind and has no remorse for killing his victims.  But there were also times when I found myself empathising with him.  It appears that Ellie had affected him in a big way, long before he drank her blood.  Possibly he has been changed forever.  There is big problem now though – Christian’s way of ‘helping’ Ellie is likely to do more harm than good...

I’m eagerly awaiting PB3 to find out what will happen next!  I’m really hoping Christian does not get his way – but then I don’t want Ellie to get her way either!  Oh the dilemma!  Cannot wait for PB3!!!