Scan barcode
kathydavie's review against another edition
3.0
First in the House of Comarré urban fantasy series set between two vampire factions in an alternate Earth.
My Take
The primary purpose of Blood Rights is to establish the world in which Chrysabelle lives and introduce the primary characters and their motivations. It's violent and tense with a tentative romance and sadness with the typical plot line of the antagonistic girl and boy who discover each other's good qualities and fall in love.
I still haven't a clue as to what Chrysabelle was hoping to achieve in New Florida or why she sought out Mal's services when she didn't want them.
For the most part, while I enjoyed the different take Painter has on the vampire world, I felt more like I was reading a D movie at the end. I can't believe their tiny group composed mostly of battle-skilled supernaturals could have been so stupid about their invasion of Tatiana's castle; the whole Fi capture was just too lame. I felt as though Painter was more interested in hurrying up and establishing her cast of characters with their primary conflict as quickly as possible. A poor ending to a good start.
The Story
On the run, Chrysabelle flees to New Florida after finding her Patron, Algernon, in the hall of his manse, his head removed. An impossibility as any vampire who is killed would normally be reduced to dust. Tatiana, one of the vampire nobles within the House of Tepes, wants her blood, literally, in revenge for Algernon's murder but more importantly, she wants the ring she believes that Chrysabelle took with her. That ring is an important part of Tatiana's plans to gain power.
New Florida should be safe. It's far enough away from Corvinestri in Romania and her aunt is here in New Florida. Aunt Maris will know how she should proceed. Until Aunt Maris is no longer there. Kidnapped. Taken by enemies.
The Characters
Chrysabelle is a comarré, a human bred for her blood, sold to the highest bidder amongst the vampire nobles. She is a status symbol any vampire is proud to flaunt. Chrysabelle herself was sold at the highest amount ever paid for a comarré. Her Aunt Marissa is a comarré who got away. Rennata is the head of the comarré house in Romania, the Primoris Domus.
There are three classes of vampires: noble, fringe, and anathema. Noble vampires were created by the Castus Sanguis, "the ancient ones who'd fallen from heaven". They also created the varcolai (shapeshifters) and the fae. The fringe are descended from Judas Iscariot; they are lesser in class but greater in number than the noble due to the chaos of the End War. Anathema are vampires who have been exiled for crimes against the vampires.
Malkolm Bourreau is anathema. He committed the greatest crime any vampire can when he drank to death the vampire who sired him. He had good reason for his young daughter and wife, Shaya, were drained when he was Turned. He currently lives aboard a freighter in New Florida. Doc is a cursed varcolai no longer able to fully shift except into housecat form. Saved by Mal, he feels a responsibility to stay with him. Fiona is a ghost killed by Mal, his curse dooming her to remain within his presence. Hey, it's not so bad. She and Doc are in love.
Another anathema, Dominic Scarnato is a blackmarket dealer in drugs primarily in Paradise City, New Florida. He is also Maris' sometime lover; the man for whom she fought the libertas. Mortalis works for Dominic and is a shadeux fae while Solomon is a cypher fae.
Preacher is fringe. Turned by himself on a battlefield during the End War; he is not affected by religious symbols or holy ground and he is able to daywalk. He hates Mal.
Algernon was the owner of Chrysabelle's blood rights. An Elder in the House of Tepes. Lord Ivan is the Dominus or king of the Tepes with Tatiana at his side. Mikkel is a noble vampire of the House of Bathory; their skill is in black magic. All are vampires of whom to be extremely wary.
The Cover and Title
The cover certainly seems accurate wit the back view of Chrysabelle with her golden tattoos, white dress, and filigree-clasped white hair. Oh man, that dress. It's absolutely gorgeous with all the Venise-point lace, the gloved-effect of the sleeves, the silver filigree encircling her waist, and the red ribbon flirting in the breeze from the low point of its cutaway back. Chrysabelle herself is encased by a black filigreed frame with little red skulls in the corners. Victorian frills run amuck!
The title is accurate as well as it relates directly to the ownership of Chrysabelle's Blood Rights.
My Take
The primary purpose of Blood Rights is to establish the world in which Chrysabelle lives and introduce the primary characters and their motivations. It's violent and tense with a tentative romance and sadness with the typical plot line of the antagonistic girl and boy who discover each other's good qualities and fall in love.
I still haven't a clue as to what Chrysabelle was hoping to achieve in New Florida or why she sought out Mal's services when she didn't want them.
For the most part, while I enjoyed the different take Painter has on the vampire world, I felt more like I was reading a D movie at the end. I can't believe their tiny group composed mostly of battle-skilled supernaturals could have been so stupid about their invasion of Tatiana's castle; the whole Fi capture was just too lame. I felt as though Painter was more interested in hurrying up and establishing her cast of characters with their primary conflict as quickly as possible. A poor ending to a good start.
The Story
On the run, Chrysabelle flees to New Florida after finding her Patron, Algernon, in the hall of his manse, his head removed. An impossibility as any vampire who is killed would normally be reduced to dust. Tatiana, one of the vampire nobles within the House of Tepes, wants her blood, literally, in revenge for Algernon's murder but more importantly, she wants the ring she believes that Chrysabelle took with her. That ring is an important part of Tatiana's plans to gain power.
New Florida should be safe. It's far enough away from Corvinestri in Romania and her aunt is here in New Florida. Aunt Maris will know how she should proceed. Until Aunt Maris is no longer there. Kidnapped. Taken by enemies.
The Characters
Chrysabelle is a comarré, a human bred for her blood, sold to the highest bidder amongst the vampire nobles. She is a status symbol any vampire is proud to flaunt. Chrysabelle herself was sold at the highest amount ever paid for a comarré. Her Aunt Marissa is a comarré who got away. Rennata is the head of the comarré house in Romania, the Primoris Domus.
There are three classes of vampires: noble, fringe, and anathema. Noble vampires were created by the Castus Sanguis, "the ancient ones who'd fallen from heaven". They also created the varcolai (shapeshifters) and the fae. The fringe are descended from Judas Iscariot; they are lesser in class but greater in number than the noble due to the chaos of the End War. Anathema are vampires who have been exiled for crimes against the vampires.
Malkolm Bourreau is anathema. He committed the greatest crime any vampire can when he drank to death the vampire who sired him. He had good reason for his young daughter and wife, Shaya, were drained when he was Turned. He currently lives aboard a freighter in New Florida. Doc is a cursed varcolai no longer able to fully shift except into housecat form. Saved by Mal, he feels a responsibility to stay with him. Fiona is a ghost killed by Mal, his curse dooming her to remain within his presence. Hey, it's not so bad. She and Doc are in love.
Another anathema, Dominic Scarnato is a blackmarket dealer in drugs primarily in Paradise City, New Florida. He is also Maris' sometime lover; the man for whom she fought the libertas. Mortalis works for Dominic and is a shadeux fae while Solomon is a cypher fae.
Preacher is fringe. Turned by himself on a battlefield during the End War; he is not affected by religious symbols or holy ground and he is able to daywalk. He hates Mal.
Algernon was the owner of Chrysabelle's blood rights. An Elder in the House of Tepes. Lord Ivan is the Dominus or king of the Tepes with Tatiana at his side. Mikkel is a noble vampire of the House of Bathory; their skill is in black magic. All are vampires of whom to be extremely wary.
The Cover and Title
The cover certainly seems accurate wit the back view of Chrysabelle with her golden tattoos, white dress, and filigree-clasped white hair. Oh man, that dress. It's absolutely gorgeous with all the Venise-point lace, the gloved-effect of the sleeves, the silver filigree encircling her waist, and the red ribbon flirting in the breeze from the low point of its cutaway back. Chrysabelle herself is encased by a black filigreed frame with little red skulls in the corners. Victorian frills run amuck!
The title is accurate as well as it relates directly to the ownership of Chrysabelle's Blood Rights.
eryal's review
4.0
An interesting book, it falls into a fairly cookie cutter mold of 'girl meets boy, girl hates boy, girl starts falling in love with irritating bad boy' That all being said I found it a easy (if a little mind numbing) read
roglows's review against another edition
5.0
this was excellent.
great action sequences, original world building, and a unique cast of characters. every character mattered,and every scene propelled the plot. and some of the twists at the end? totally surprised me! like, my jaw literally dropped.
the chemistry and tension between chrysabelle and mal was delicious. i cannot WAIT for the next in this series...
great action sequences, original world building, and a unique cast of characters. every character mattered,and every scene propelled the plot. and some of the twists at the end? totally surprised me! like, my jaw literally dropped.
the chemistry and tension between chrysabelle and mal was delicious. i cannot WAIT for the next in this series...
eszyinspired's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
thebookhaze's review against another edition
2.0
I read up to 70% of it but I struggled to keep interested at parts. I finally decided not to finish it.
jadeeby's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published at my blog Chasing Empty Pavements
First things first...are you looking at how gorgeous that cover is? O M G. I love it. I'm transfixed by it. It's why I requested it from Netgalley. The best thing about it though? The inside blew me away just as much as the outside did! Kristen Painter has now won a spot on my "to be watched" author list.
The Good: Again, I have to point out how much I love the cover, especially AFTER reading the novel, I can totally see Chrysabelle in this picture. It's been awhile since I've read about vampires...I've tried to avoid them since the whole Twilight thing exploded but I was very pleasantly surprised with the vampires in this novel as well as the world building. Good lord, the world building is amazing in this novel! There are not just vampires but all sorts of other supernatural creatures but they all seem to fit together perfectly. I love that Chrysabelle is sort of a pure but rogue creature. She still respects her upbringing but she has just enough rebellion to question and challenge those around her. Plus she is totally kick ass! I love the secondary characters! Mal, Doc, Fi and even Dominic has a special place in my heart. I loved the interaction between the characters and the plot was really well done. I applaud Painter on creating this whole different world yet using themes that are age-old. Not only are the characters written extremely well, but the plot, pacing and setting were very well done. I really liked that Painter put a glossary at the end of the novel. I was able to pretty much figure out all the creatures and vamps but it was nice to have that index to back up my suspicions. I enjoyed this novel so much, I'm SO happy two more are already out so I can go read them!
The Bad: Really the only thing that bothered me was the ending. I thought it could have been more climatic, as we wait the entire novel for the important-ness of the end and then it just sort of falls short of expectations.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one! Vampire fans, supernatural fans, romance or paranormals fans will enjoy this novel. I give it an A!
**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
First things first...are you looking at how gorgeous that cover is? O M G. I love it. I'm transfixed by it. It's why I requested it from Netgalley. The best thing about it though? The inside blew me away just as much as the outside did! Kristen Painter has now won a spot on my "to be watched" author list.
The Good: Again, I have to point out how much I love the cover, especially AFTER reading the novel, I can totally see Chrysabelle in this picture. It's been awhile since I've read about vampires...I've tried to avoid them since the whole Twilight thing exploded but I was very pleasantly surprised with the vampires in this novel as well as the world building. Good lord, the world building is amazing in this novel! There are not just vampires but all sorts of other supernatural creatures but they all seem to fit together perfectly. I love that Chrysabelle is sort of a pure but rogue creature. She still respects her upbringing but she has just enough rebellion to question and challenge those around her. Plus she is totally kick ass! I love the secondary characters! Mal, Doc, Fi and even Dominic has a special place in my heart. I loved the interaction between the characters and the plot was really well done. I applaud Painter on creating this whole different world yet using themes that are age-old. Not only are the characters written extremely well, but the plot, pacing and setting were very well done. I really liked that Painter put a glossary at the end of the novel. I was able to pretty much figure out all the creatures and vamps but it was nice to have that index to back up my suspicions. I enjoyed this novel so much, I'm SO happy two more are already out so I can go read them!
The Bad: Really the only thing that bothered me was the ending. I thought it could have been more climatic, as we wait the entire novel for the important-ness of the end and then it just sort of falls short of expectations.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one! Vampire fans, supernatural fans, romance or paranormals fans will enjoy this novel. I give it an A!
**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
jqduskrose's review against another edition
4.0
if your looking for a rich action packed vampire book, that is not your typical vampire book, this is the one.
it's been so long since I read a good vampire book, then I found this and it swept me away....
it's been so long since I read a good vampire book, then I found this and it swept me away....
linwearcamenel's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
amym84's review against another edition
5.0
I had been hearing about this book for a couple of months now. Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse) recommended the series on her blog and she made it sound very interesting, and very interesting it turned out to be.
I really liked and appreciated the world that Kristen Painter has created. There are some new twists on the vampire legends that I find interesting. Like all the noble vampire families originate from someone notorious in history (ex. Dracula, Rasputin, etc.). There were times that I'll admit that I was a little lost by some of the new terminology presented, but Painter does include a glossary at the end of the book (at least in the Kindle version) that helped clear a few things up.
Chrysabell is a great female heroine. When I first read the synopsis for this book, I figured she would be the type who's gotten in over her head and how needs other people to help get her out. In a way she is in over her head and people are there to help her, but she is anything but defenseless. She can take care of herself more than anyone else in the story can and I really appreciate that. There's no dumbing down of her character for the sake of the damsel in distress.
I thought Mal was a pretty good hero. I'm interested to learn more about him in the next books. He's really been through a lot and it seems life keeps throwing more at him. I would like for him to get a reprieve at some point.
The story itself, I thought, was pretty fresh. I will admit there were times when partial information was given to us (through memories or dreams) and then cut off without the reader knowing the rest, and that got me a little confused, but rest assured all is revealed in the end. This book really sets up the world, characters, and and overarching conflict well so I hope the second book just kind of picks up where this one left off. There will be little exposition needed.
I really cared about the secondary characters as well. Usually it's the main characters that dominate for me and everything else is just filler, but I was interested in what happened to everyone in the story, and I look forward to where their stories pick up in book 2.
This book is told in third person POV but has multiple POVs. Paiter does a good job of sectioning off which character's mind we are in at which point so it keeps it from becoming too confusing or too much work to keep up with. I like that we get to know what different characters are feeling and thinking.
Kristen Painter is doing a very popular thing right now and that is releasing books of a series in succession of each other. In this case book 2 comes out around the beginning of November and Book 3 will be out around the beginning of December (I've recently discovered that Kindle releases the book a few days after the paperback release). It's nice because now we don't have to wait too long in anticipation of what's next for our characters. Until Then!
I really liked and appreciated the world that Kristen Painter has created. There are some new twists on the vampire legends that I find interesting. Like all the noble vampire families originate from someone notorious in history (ex. Dracula, Rasputin, etc.). There were times that I'll admit that I was a little lost by some of the new terminology presented, but Painter does include a glossary at the end of the book (at least in the Kindle version) that helped clear a few things up.
Chrysabell is a great female heroine. When I first read the synopsis for this book, I figured she would be the type who's gotten in over her head and how needs other people to help get her out. In a way she is in over her head and people are there to help her, but she is anything but defenseless. She can take care of herself more than anyone else in the story can and I really appreciate that. There's no dumbing down of her character for the sake of the damsel in distress.
I thought Mal was a pretty good hero. I'm interested to learn more about him in the next books. He's really been through a lot and it seems life keeps throwing more at him. I would like for him to get a reprieve at some point.
The story itself, I thought, was pretty fresh. I will admit there were times when partial information was given to us (through memories or dreams) and then cut off without the reader knowing the rest, and that got me a little confused, but rest assured all is revealed in the end. This book really sets up the world, characters, and and overarching conflict well so I hope the second book just kind of picks up where this one left off. There will be little exposition needed.
I really cared about the secondary characters as well. Usually it's the main characters that dominate for me and everything else is just filler, but I was interested in what happened to everyone in the story, and I look forward to where their stories pick up in book 2.
This book is told in third person POV but has multiple POVs. Paiter does a good job of sectioning off which character's mind we are in at which point so it keeps it from becoming too confusing or too much work to keep up with. I like that we get to know what different characters are feeling and thinking.
Kristen Painter is doing a very popular thing right now and that is releasing books of a series in succession of each other. In this case book 2 comes out around the beginning of November and Book 3 will be out around the beginning of December (I've recently discovered that Kindle releases the book a few days after the paperback release). It's nice because now we don't have to wait too long in anticipation of what's next for our characters. Until Then!