Reviews

Blood for Blood by Ben Wolf

rebelrider's review

4.0

Raven is a vampire, which, contrary to the popular belief of modern YA readers, is a bad thing. When he encounters a preacher, he finds hope. The blood of Christ may be able to restore his soul.

I'm the type of person who avoids books involving vampires. I'd recieved a free PDF version of this book, and I'd met the author at the FCWC, so I decided I'd give the book a try.

Note on ratings:

*           Horrible.
**         Below average
***       Average. Not good or bad.
****    Above average
***** Above and beyond

Content: *** (Content based off my personal level of squeamishness.)
Quite a bit of violence, not surprising considering it is a vampire story. People get their blood drained, staked, shot, and have bones broken in fights with vampires.

There's also an attempted rape. It is stopped by above-mentioned violence.

H--- may have been used as a swear word a few times.

Originality and world building: ****
The concept is very original. There aren't many Christian stories dealing with vampires, that's for sure. I did feel the worldbuilding was slightly confusing. From what I gathered, vampires sleep in the same place every day. They also need to consume a person every night. Granted, vampires can travel long distances, but can they really travel far enough in a night that no-one notices a person is vanishing every night? It wouldn't be that strange in a city like New York, but this story seemed to take place in a more rural area where hundreds of missing people in the same year would attract notice. (It was mentioned that some people weren't fully drained, but it didn't seem very clear to me.)

Characters and their Arcs: ****
It's easy to feel sorry for Raven and the other characters, at least the good ones, are likable, though the main female character did a few things I was quite annoyed with. (She's called out for them.) I do think the POV jumped around a bit more than I'd like, so it was sometimes hard to keep track of whose head I was in.

Writing style and Pacing: *****
The pacing is really good and drew me in. There was a spot near the middle where I wasn't sure what the conflict would be, but the conflict returned pretty quickly.

What I liked:
Even if I'm not into vampires, I enjoyed reading something that was unlike anything else I'd read. This book certainly stands out from the crowd.

What I didn’t like:
The romance was a bit annoying. I didn't really understand why anyone would want to marry Garret in the first place. Of course, I'm not a fan of romance to begin with.

Is it worth reading?
Yes, as long as you don't mind lots of blood. Of course, if you don't like blood, you probably wouldn't be picking up a book that used the word "blood" twice in the title.

maeclair's review

5.0

I was intrigued by the premise of this book¬—Raven, a vampire for over eighty years—stumbles upon an evangelical tent meeting one dark night and is compelled to answer an altar call. I wasn’t aware going in that the book is set in the 1800s but that made it even better. Through the course of the story, the reader is treated to Raven’s gradual conversion, his struggles with conscience, and the very real struggles of fitting into a regular world. Toss in a gang of bandits, Raven’s developing feelings for the daughter of the preacher who saved him, her jealous suitor, and becoming part of a family again, and this story is filled with both adventure and matters of the heart.

The Christian theme is light and there are some true surprises tacked onto the end. I really wasn’t sure how things would play out, but one of the plot threads took me completely by surprise. I also liked the look back at how Raven became a vampire, and what happened to him in the years immediately following his change. I picked this book up second-hand at a library sale, but am so glad I took a chance on it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, cover to cover!