Review : Blood Song by Rhiannon Hart
Blood Song by Rhiannon Hart
Pages : 290
Genre : Fantasy, YA
Series : Lharmell, book 1
My Rating : 4/5
What it’s about :
When her sister gets promised to a prince in the north, Zeraphina is first excited; she sees the trip there as an occasion to investigate the source of her difference. But things in the north are not always what they seem, and the prince’s advisor, Rodden, is shadowing her every step. Zeraphina only has a limited time to find out the truth without ruining her sister’s wedding, and she has no intention of letting the man get in her way.
My Thoughts :
It’s always both exciting and nerve-wrecking for me to read and review a book by someone I “know”, even if it’s only through blogging (which is probably why I needed a bit of time to write this review after reading the book!) So I was really happy to jump into Blood Song, even though I was a bit worried that I might not like it.
Luckily, Blood Song was a treat to read! Even though the book would be classified in the high fantasy genre, it wasn’t overburden with extremely detailed world-building and complex family trees. Don’t get me wrong, I love an intricate world-building, but I can also enjoy one like Lharmell, which is rich and well done without overtaking every aspect of the book. It was a bit dark in places yet magical, and the atmosphere reminded me of dangerous fairy tales.
I loved the characters, too. I enjoyed Zeraphina’s bonds with her mom and her sister. Considering the setting (arranged marriages and all that!), I felt she had much normal relationships with them, meaning it wasn’t complete love or hate. I loved that they weren’t portrayed as black or white characters , and neither was Zeraphina, whom I connected really quickly with. And certainly I must mention her non-human friends, right? Loved, loved, loved them!
Rodden was a great character too. I honestly wasn’t sure, for a huge part of the book, what was his role in the story. Was he a mysterious love interest? A villain who knows more than he should? A strategist who was trying to use Zeraphina and her family? But even though I wasn’t sure about him, his interactions with Zeraphina were some of the greatest moments in the book (the tournament! I loved the tournament!) They definitely had a spark, whether it was good or evil – and I’m not spoiling this for you!
I liked the plot, too, even though I found the secret source of Zeraphina’s blood thirst to be a bit predictable. This being said, Blood Song offered such an original take on the vampire trend that I could easily forgive its few flaws.
In the end, Blood Song was a more than pleasant reading experience! It was easy to slip into, imaginative, and seasoned with some humor and some scary moments. I adored it, and I can’t wait to get a chance to read the sequel!
Series reading order :
- Blood Song
- Blood Storm
- Blood Queen (coming in 2013)
About the author (from Goodreads) : Rhiannon Hart remembers writing before she could read, puzzling over the strange squiggles in Jeremiah and the Dark Woods by Janet and Alan Ahlberg and putting her own words in their places. Her first love was Jareth the Goblin King at the tender age of eight. She wrote fan fiction in high school but she’d never admit to it out loud, so don’t ask. When she’s not reading or writing she is belly dancing, chasing after other people’s cats, or putting the pedal to the floor at her sewing machine. She grew up in north-western Australia and currently resides in Melbourne, where she works in marketing. Rhiannon has been published in the Australian Book Review, Magpies and Viewpoint and blogs at http://rhiannon-hart.blogspot.com/.A digital copy of Blood Song has generously been provided for this review.
I do think this sounds captivating, and the fact that the characters motives aren’t immediately made clear really intrigues me and makes me want to find out more. This does indeed sound like an excellent story, and one that I would love to read. Thanks for the great review and for sharing your thoughts on it with us!