Book Review: K. J. Wignall's "Blood"

For a book called "Blood" I have to say, the contents aren't so bloody...

I was given this book by my sister a couple of weeks ago and didn't expect much. Sure the cover looked interesting, but Vampire fiction is so common these days I didn't even bat an eye. This is another quick read which I managed to finish in less than a day. Once I'd finished it, I felt conflicted. At some points Wignall's writing was like a breath of fresh air, at others I was asking myself why I was still reading.

I liked..

The fact that the main character is written well. The smaller extracts written from Will's perspective are probably my favourite parts of the whole book. I felt like I could understand him and relate to him a lot easier because of them. :) There were a few times when I forgot that he was living in the body of a sixteen year old and had to remind myself. But I don't mind: I  like that Will doesn't try to act like a regular teenager.

Another thing I liked about the book was the fact that not everyone can be made into a Vampire. I'm so sick of reading books where the male Vampire is fighting his girlfriend to make sure she stays human when she really wants to be a Vampire like him. Although the book does use this idea as a plot point, to my delight it doesn't last for long! :)

Superficial point but the cover is awesome. Especially when you're taking a picture of it with flash! ^^

Look at how much the title stands out. It looks friggin' awesome.

Okay so I used a cool camera app, but even with a regular camera + flash the title stood out the most.

I didn't like so much:

The fact that the story line reminded me a lot of Prophecy: Child of Light. It's familiar - at the end of the day both books hold common ground: Vampires - but familiarity was not what I wanted. But I guess that's what happens when a mass of authors write about the same thing - ideas get recycled. On the other hand, if you've read and like either of these books, you'll most definitely like the other one. :)

Another point to note, is that nothing really happens. 288 pages and I'd say 150 of those pages contained anything significant. On the other hand, the book is easy to read so it's easy to read it all fairly quickly. The fact that nothing happens means the book is easy to forget. I'm straining to remember what happened in the book even now and I read it a week ago.

I also feel like the romance between Will and Eloise is a bit forced. It isn't written as naturally as it could have been.


[SPOILER ALERT] Especially their first kiss.. seriously, what was that? From what I can see Wignall is aiming for a fate/meant to be love story but their relationship comes across more like teenage lust for the majority of the book. Even when Will holds her hand and describes their relationship as fate, I felt like the whole scene was really artificial. [END SPOILER]

Lastly, I really really really wish the book had been written completely from Will's perspective. The small extracts written in first person are so much better than the mass of it written in third person. I honestly believe it had all been written from Will's perspective I would have enjoyed reading it a lot more.

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To conclude, I am very conflicted. I liked reading the book but I'm glad I didn't pay for it myself. Yet, I probably will buy the rest of the series to see what happens because I've already read the first book. It's expensive at RRP £6.99 (definitely not worth that much!) so I'll be buying the next book(s) from Amazon which has it for almost half the price!