Blood Moon (Drake Chronicles #5)

Told from Lucy’s, Solange’s and even Nicholas’ point of view, Blood Moon was another exciting Drake Chronicles novel. With things getting more thrilling and the stakes are definitely getting higher, I can’t wait to see how it all concludes in the last novel!

~Lucy, Nick, how I adore you~

Lucy Hamilton is seriously one of the BEST heroines ever. That’s a pretty big decree, I know, but it’s the truth. This girl OOZES superior snark and bad-assery. She isn’t one to beat around the bush, to meekly stand by while her vampire friends hunt up the baddies and dangerous folk. No, Lucy wants a piece of that action, opting for a STAKE rather than a hidden corner somewhere. As she herself says in Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey, if one tries to bite her she’ll bite back, HARDER. She does what has to be done to be taken seriously. She’s straightforward and hilarious without really trying to be. It’s that punchiness, that attitude and sarcasm that makes her such a FUN character to read through. Harvey has a sense of humor that pops up in her writing, but with Lucy, it’s there that that humor really shines. Lucy induces NOSE-GUSHING-SODA laughter, even when she kicks butt.

And Nick is the perfect boy to balance out her impulsive, head-on attitude. The Liam Drake (Nick’s dad) to Lucy’s Helena Drake. The calm before the storm, but the storm can rage violently. He thinks thoroughly and pretty logically, unless we’re talking about Lucy. Should any POTENTIAL harm come to her, out goes serious Nicholas Drake in comes his feral wild-eyed counterpart. The change is delicious, especially because of the WHY. He’s honorable and noble and is FIERCELY protective of those he loves.

Combine the two in one novel? YUMMY. Their sweet heated scenes light the heart on fire until it melts, let me tell you. They’re so loving they’re huggable, and I adore them both. SO MUCH.

~Solange, how I DO NOT~

My distaste for Solange’s POV began back in Hearts at Stake, the first book. There’s just something about Solange that is just so… IRRITATING. I couldn’t QUITE put my finger on it before, but that stops now after reading Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey. Now, I know I should be sympathetic toward the poor girl for the constant overprotection and limitations put on her angsty teen self. She’s never let out of sight and nearly every move she makes has to be cleared by somebody. It can be frustrating, and drive a girl to insanity, I’m sure. BUT, there were just times when my sympathy wells went dry and crusty. She gets to be so assertive and so annoyingly TEENLY that I just couldn’t get a grip on myself. Most of the time, I just wanted to headdesk my way to the end of her chapters.

Obviously, this made things considerably hard to enjoy. Solange makes such frustrating, selfish decisions in Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey I stopped sympathizing altogether. I didn’t like Solange in Hearts at Stake and she didn’t grow on me between then and now. Who has grown on me? Her older bros and the parentals, and I hate that her choices make their burdens weightier. It’s like seeing your bff get insulted or shoved—you want to shove right back. So if I’m constantly suppressing the urge to shove, I’m also suppressing a lot of anger which is burning out all the pleasant feelings I was starting to amass when I started Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey.

~Yet MORE problems, barely there favorites, and all the brutal TENSION~

If Alyxandra Harvey were a baker and her plots a pastry, they would always be moist and tasty. I love that Harvey never runs out of things to make them wonderful no matter how different they taste each time. The variety is what keeps each one a relative surprise. It feels as if everything is starting to come full circle—Solange’s strange behavior and growth oddities, new vampire races and their feuds, etc. The flow of things doesn’t stop and is constantly rushing everyone where they’re most vulnerable. She perpetually pushes her characters into tight spots, but in Blood Moon, there is no thumbs-up, it’s a-ok resolution.

I AM SO TORMENTED BY THAT.

The intensity of the tension drove me bananas, and I received no reprieve. It’s like eating a stream of atomic fireballs and then losing your water bottle down a mountain.

And one of the reasons I loved Bleeding Hearts by Alyxandra Harvey so much is the cameos of each of the main characters from the previous books. I OUTRIGHT ADORED every scene in which the couples of all the past books gather together to solve a problem, their witty, sexy, flirty banter not excluded. In Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey there is so much less of that quality, and since the focus is so much on Solange, I blame her for getting less of all my favorite characters in this series. Which doesn’t do anything for her case.

~My heart hurts~

After that numbing and quite shocking conclusion, my heart is in pain. There’s so much uncertainty, to say nothing of SO MANY QUESTIONS. This not knowing is stabs me every time I even glance at Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey. WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN NOW? How is everyone, all my fave peeps, going to FIX THIS? It seems like a solution is going to be painful for all involved, and that makes me hurt even MORE.

No matter how charismatic and quietly poetic and amusing Harvey’s writing, how sexy the romance scenes, how funny the dialogue, I CAN’T GET OVER WHAT JUST HAPPENED. It’s nothing TOO scary, but it’s frightening enough. Will book six end it all? Or will it stoke the fires?

Originally posted at Paranormal Indulgence, 6/12/12

~Lucy, Nick, how I adore you~

Lucy Hamilton is seriously one of the BEST heroines ever. That’s a pretty big decree, I know, but it’s the truth. This girl OOZES superior snark and bad-assery. She isn’t one to beat around the bush, to meekly stand by while her vampire friends hunt up the baddies and dangerous folk. No, Lucy wants a piece of that action, opting for a STAKE rather than a hidden corner somewhere. As she herself says in Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey, if one tries to bite her she’ll bite back, HARDER. She does what has to be done to be taken seriously. She’s straightforward and hilarious without really trying to be. It’s that punchiness, that attitude and sarcasm that makes her such a FUN character to read through. Harvey has a sense of humor that pops up in her writing, but with Lucy, it’s there that that humor really shines. Lucy induces NOSE-GUSHING-SODA laughter, even when she kicks butt.

And Nick is the perfect boy to balance out her impulsive, head-on attitude. The Liam Drake (Nick’s dad) to Lucy’s Helena Drake. The calm before the storm, but the storm can rage violently. He thinks thoroughly and pretty logically, unless we’re talking about Lucy. Should any POTENTIAL harm come to her, out goes serious Nicholas Drake in comes his feral wild-eyed counterpart. The change is delicious, especially because of the WHY. He’s honorable and noble and is FIERCELY protective of those he loves.

Combine the two in one novel? YUMMY. Their sweet heated scenes light the heart on fire until it melts, let me tell you. They’re so loving they’re huggable, and I adore them both. SO MUCH.

~Solange, how I DO NOT~

My distaste for Solange’s POV began back in Hearts at Stake, the first book. There’s just something about Solange that is just so… IRRITATING. I couldn’t QUITE put my finger on it before, but that stops now after reading Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey. Now, I know I should be sympathetic toward the poor girl for the constant overprotection and limitations put on her angsty teen self. She’s never let out of sight and nearly every move she makes has to be cleared by somebody. It can be frustrating, and drive a girl to insanity, I’m sure. BUT, there were just times when my sympathy wells went dry and crusty. She gets to be so assertive and so annoyingly TEENLY that I just couldn’t get a grip on myself. Most of the time, I just wanted to headdesk my way to the end of her chapters.

Obviously, this made things considerably hard to enjoy. Solange makes such frustrating, selfish decisions in Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey I stopped sympathizing altogether. I didn’t like Solange in Hearts at Stake and she didn’t grow on me between then and now. Who has grown on me? Her older bros and the parentals, and I hate that her choices make their burdens weightier. It’s like seeing your bff get insulted or shoved—you want to shove right back. So if I’m constantly suppressing the urge to shove, I’m also suppressing a lot of anger which is burning out all the pleasant feelings I was starting to amass when I started Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey.

~Yet MORE problems, barely there favorites, and all the brutal TENSION~

If Alyxandra Harvey were a baker and her plots a pastry, they would always be moist and tasty. I love that Harvey never runs out of things to make them wonderful no matter how different they taste each time. The variety is what keeps each one a relative surprise. It feels as if everything is starting to come full circle—Solange’s strange behavior and growth oddities, new vampire races and their feuds, etc. The flow of things doesn’t stop and is constantly rushing everyone where they’re most vulnerable. She perpetually pushes her characters into tight spots, but in Blood Moon, there is no thumbs-up, it’s a-ok resolution.

I AM SO TORMENTED BY THAT.

The intensity of the tension drove me bananas, and I received no reprieve. It’s like eating a stream of atomic fireballs and then losing your water bottle down a mountain.

And one of the reasons I loved Bleeding Hearts by Alyxandra Harvey so much is the cameos of each of the main characters from the previous books. I OUTRIGHT ADORED every scene in which the couples of all the past books gather together to solve a problem, their witty, sexy, flirty banter not excluded. In Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey there is so much less of that quality, and since the focus is so much on Solange, I blame her for getting less of all my favorite characters in this series. Which doesn’t do anything for her case.

~My heart hurts~

After that numbing and quite shocking conclusion, my heart is in pain. There’s so much uncertainty, to say nothing of SO MANY QUESTIONS. This not knowing is stabs me every time I even glance at Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey. WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN NOW? How is everyone, all my fave peeps, going to FIX THIS? It seems like a solution is going to be painful for all involved, and that makes me hurt even MORE.

No matter how charismatic and quietly poetic and amusing Harvey’s writing, how sexy the romance scenes, how funny the dialogue, I CAN’T GET OVER WHAT JUST HAPPENED. It’s nothing TOO scary, but it’s frightening enough. Will book six end it all? Or will it stoke the fires?

Originally posted at Paranormal Indulgence, 6/12/12