ARC Review: A Shade of Blood by Bella Forrest

A Shade of Blood by Bella Forrest

Steph’s Rating: 4 stars

Dani’s Rating: 3.5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.75 stars

Format: ARC (provided by author for review purposes)

Publisher: Kindle E-book (self-pub)

Publication Date: April 8th, 2013

Pages: 322 (ebook)

Goodreads Synopsis:

In A Shade Of Blood, Bella Forrest transports you deeper into a unique, enthralling and beautifully sensitive story.

Prepare to be lost in its pages…

When Sofia Claremont was kidnapped to a sunless island, uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet, she believed she’d forever be a captive of its dark ruler, Derek Novak.

Now, after months of surviving an endless night, the morning sun may soon rise again for Sofia. Something has possessed Derek’s heart and he offers her a gift no human slave has ever been given in the history of his cursed island: escape.

High school, prom and a chance to move on with her life now await her.

But will she be able to forget the horrors that steal her sleep away at night? … and the feelings that haunt her for that tormented prince of darkness?

Steph’s Review:

This was such an amazing sequel to Bella Forrest’s first book, A Shade of Vampire!!! In A Shade of Blood, we delve deeper into the world of vampires and hunters that were just barely introduced in the predecessor, where things are not exactly as they seem on the surface. Mysteries are unraveled, and prophecies are foretold. A Shade of Blood is definitely not a novel to miss!

After A Shade of Vampire, Sofia Claremont and her best friend Ben Hudson are sent back to the human world after a brief yet horrifying experience at The Shade, the sunless vampire haven. All they want is to get back into their former lives, something proving to be harder done than expected. Ben’s parents and the authorities, along with the whispers aren’t helping them any. Ben tells her to just forget everything, but it also doesn’t help that no matter what Sofia tries to do, her thoughts always trace back to a certain prince she left behind...

After a chilling surprise visit from Vivienne Novak, princess of The Shade and sister of Derek Novak, Sofia is left with a decision that will pull her in two. Dark things are brewing in The Shade, and even the collected princess thinks Sofia is the only one who can help at this stage of the game. Sofia can trust her heart and let it lead her to whom she thinks of most, but that will mean leaving behind her best friend and surrogate family behind--probably forever. It also means giving up her freedom by returning to The Shade as a human slave once more.

A Shade of Blood is really deep and dark compared to A Shade of Vampire. It was just absolutely compelling. In this installment, the insanity of vampires and their cruelty is revealed on a whole different level, and the amount of psychological stress and PTSD the characters have show true. Former enemies become new acquaintances, but some are just digging themselves into more and more evil. Bella shows us the history of The Shade, how it came to be and why. I really loved Derek in this book, because as the reader we now understand why he has such a self-depreciating personality. He is completely torn apart at the soul, and even as a vampire his conscience still stands. He blames himself too much and holds only past guilt. Sofia really opens up into a glorious character in this book, and I know that I will only continue to like her more from here on out.

Bella also reveals information on the Hunters association, and a shocking reveal on it’s members just totally blew me away. I actually thought the Hunters were pretty cool, they weren’t at all how I expected them to be! There were plenty of twists and turns in this, and I know that whatever happens in the next novel will be paramount to the entire world Bella created.

The only complaint I have is the lengthiness of this novel. It’s actually not many pages, but the first half was rather slow in my opinion, when Sofia and Ben are in the human world. I couldn’t find much exciting about that part, and it was mostly just a back-and-forth of unsure feelings. I’m betting other readers won’t feel that way because I am a super impatient reader and I adore action :), but that’s how it felt in my opinion. Any Shade of Vampire fan will be sure to love A Shade of Blood as well, and any vampire/paranormal book lover should pick up on this series as well! I am eager to see what Bella Forrest has next in store for us!