Blood Fever (The Watchers #3)

This series keeps getting better and better! I enjoyed the first two books in the series but to me, they simply felt like an introduction to heroine Drew’s vampire world. And that’s to be expected, right? Everything is new and needs to be explained. However, in BLOOD FEVER, the third of the series, the story line really starts to warm up as the characters face battle after battle.

For all the young characters, school will never be the same. The fact that they’re attending a special vampire school isn’t necessarily an original concept in the young adult literary world but what goes on outside of class will have you biting your nails throughout the book. On an island in the North Sea, this vampire school is training young women into soldiers and young men into vampires and I’m sure physical education is unlike anything they ever expected. Most vampire myths are laid to rest as we learn more an more about these vampires, especially the fact that only boys can become vampires. Instead, girls are trained to fight and become warriors and spies for the vampires. Although, it’s still not all that clear why these girls are absolutely necessary and I’m sure Veronica Wolff is keeping a few secret things to herself, for now.

In BLOOD FEVER, one thing that stands out from the other two books, is the romance. Even though Drew always had a few guys interested in her, it’s only in this newer book that things get hot. Drew’s many different guys includes vampire Alcántara, vampire Carden, Tracer Ronan and vampire trainee Josh. So romantic and feudal tensions are definitively not missing in this story. As Drew grows closer and closer to one of her admirers, jealousy and maybe disinterest becomes evident among the others.

Of course, romance isn’t the only thing that gets hot. More action, more fights and more deaths follows Drew and her schoolmates. Like in the other books, Drew is still threatened by older bullies and Draugs (a sub-race of rabid vampires). You can’t help rooting for Drew in all her battles especially since she’s gone through so much as a child and as a student. On top of everything, she finds it’s her duty to determine who is responsible for the death of so many girls on the island. And I guarantee you, one of the deaths will catch you by surprise.

In my opinion, there’s only one thing that could have been better which is the passing of time in the narration. At times, it was difficult to follow the story since time passed very quickly between some scenes while some other scenes lasted quite a bit of time. Other than that, I have nothing to critique about Veronica Wolff vampire series. Drew is such a mentally strong character, despite her small stature and her quick snarky responses are amusing and entertaining. Everything began in ISLE OF NIGHT but so much has happened since our introduction to Drew. If you’re a fan of young adult vampires books and strong female characters, and you haven’t read this series, this might be the right match for you!

The publisher provided me with a e-ARC of Blood Fever. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.