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A review by sterling8
Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter
4.0
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Probably 3.5 stars, really. It looks like the author is looking for a different sort of protagonist from her Jane Yellowrock books, and she certainly succeeds with Nell Ingram. I didn't read the Yellowrock book in which Nell was introduced, but that was no problem. Nell was raised in a polygamous cult. She managed to marry a man who actually had some respect and care for her even though he was part of this cult, but since his death the cult wants her back entirely within the fold. Her land and home (inherited from her husband) are close enough that some of the male cultists can come over and harass her pretty much at will.
However, Nell has powers that they don't suspect. She has some sort of supernatural connection to her woods, and it turns out to life forces in general. It's funny to read her perspective after Jane has become used to dealing with vampires. Nell senses the death that vampires exude very strongly- so much so that she can scarcely stand to touch one, so I don't see her becoming very acclimated to them.
These books are urban fantasy with a bit of romance. The romance isn't the focus of the plot and is a slow burn, but Faith Hunter has done this before and you can see where things are going. I tend to like her books for that very reason- she has strong, interesting female characters who don't need to be all about a man, but they have eyes and desires.
The first part of the book is a bit of a slog. There's a very long opening scene in which you learn a bit about how Nell's house is off the grid, has "dampers" (I am way too urban to know what those are, but she messes with them a lot) and then get an intro to characters that you'll recognize from the Yellowrock series if you've read it. There's a long fight scene, too, in which we learn a bit about what Nell can do. I didn't feel very tense during any of this first part- tedious was more like it, and I skipped a bit to later in the book, where I became interested enough in what was going on to settle in again.
The author does hit the country girl thing a bit hard for my taste. Nell says "you'uns'" in what she calls "church speak", although I'm not sure that church speak is much different from dialect. The cultists were also hard for me to relate to, although they are not all painted as villains (just most of the men). At times Nell seems to have a lot of insight, but then she acts like she's never been to town before (maybe she hasn't?) and the characterization didn't feel quite consistent. Nell is young, and I suppose it might have been interesting to read about a widowed female character who is more than barely twenty, but that happens but rarely in this genre.
I am interested enough to read more and see what happens next.
Probably 3.5 stars, really. It looks like the author is looking for a different sort of protagonist from her Jane Yellowrock books, and she certainly succeeds with Nell Ingram. I didn't read the Yellowrock book in which Nell was introduced, but that was no problem. Nell was raised in a polygamous cult. She managed to marry a man who actually had some respect and care for her even though he was part of this cult, but since his death the cult wants her back entirely within the fold. Her land and home (inherited from her husband) are close enough that some of the male cultists can come over and harass her pretty much at will.
However, Nell has powers that they don't suspect. She has some sort of supernatural connection to her woods, and it turns out to life forces in general. It's funny to read her perspective after Jane has become used to dealing with vampires. Nell senses the death that vampires exude very strongly- so much so that she can scarcely stand to touch one, so I don't see her becoming very acclimated to them.
These books are urban fantasy with a bit of romance. The romance isn't the focus of the plot and is a slow burn, but Faith Hunter has done this before and you can see where things are going. I tend to like her books for that very reason- she has strong, interesting female characters who don't need to be all about a man, but they have eyes and desires.
The first part of the book is a bit of a slog. There's a very long opening scene in which you learn a bit about how Nell's house is off the grid, has "dampers" (I am way too urban to know what those are, but she messes with them a lot) and then get an intro to characters that you'll recognize from the Yellowrock series if you've read it. There's a long fight scene, too, in which we learn a bit about what Nell can do. I didn't feel very tense during any of this first part- tedious was more like it, and I skipped a bit to later in the book, where I became interested enough in what was going on to settle in again.
The author does hit the country girl thing a bit hard for my taste. Nell says "you'uns'" in what she calls "church speak", although I'm not sure that church speak is much different from dialect. The cultists were also hard for me to relate to, although they are not all painted as villains (just most of the men). At times Nell seems to have a lot of insight, but then she acts like she's never been to town before (maybe she hasn't?) and the characterization didn't feel quite consistent. Nell is young, and I suppose it might have been interesting to read about a widowed female character who is more than barely twenty, but that happens but rarely in this genre.
I am interested enough to read more and see what happens next.