Alyxandra Harvey – Out for Blood: Review and Giveaway
157. Out for Blood by Alyxandra Harvey (2010)
The Drake Chronicles, Book 3
Read my review of book:
1. Hearts at Stake
2. Blood Feud
Length: 298 pages
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Started: 17 December 2010
Finished: 19 December 2010
Where did it come from? From the publishers for review.
Why do I have it? I really enjoyed the previous two books.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 29 November 2010.
Vampire hunters
are getting sick, and only
one teen vamp can help.
I’m giving away a copy of this book to one lucky reader; see the bottom of the post for details!
Summary: Hunter Wild is the latest generation in a long line of vampire hunters. She’s going to be a senior at the Helios-Ra academy of hunters, but before school even starts, things start getting weird. She’s in trouble with the teachers, she’s fighting with roommate and former best friend, and all over the school, students are falling ill to some mysterious flu. Hunter knows it’s up to her in order to set things back to rights, but in order to figure it out, she’s going to have to rely on Quinn Drake, who is a vampire princeling and an inveterate flirt. Her Grandfather would have a coronary if he knew she had the hots for a vampire, but if they don’t work together, both humans and vampires could wind up in much bigger trouble than they already are.
Review: The Drake Chronicles books have everything you could want in a guilty-pleasure escapist read. All three of them thus far have been incredibly fun, fast-reading, full of action and snappy dialogue, with plenty of steamy romance and a hefty helping of crush-worthy leading men. Are they Serious works of Literature? Heck no. Are they a thoroughly awesome way to spend an afternoon? You’d better believe it.
Each of the Drake Chronicles books focuses on one of the Drake siblings – who turn into vampires on their 16th birthdays, and are members of an ancient and powerful vampire family. Out For Blood was my favorite installment so far, despite Quinn not being my favorite Drake brother (smirky, cocksure guys who know how hot they are have never really been my cup of tea). Hunter made a great protagonist, a nice blend of being tough and smart and capable while still being a little girly at times. And although Harvey’s shown in the past that she can write about vampire politics and clans and allegiances and still hold my interest, I really liked that the plot focused primarily on the mystery at the school. (Hooray, boarding school stories!) Not only did it make this book relatively independent of the rest of the series, it also neatly avoided that whole “girl loses herself into the dark world of her paranormal boyfriend” trope that can get a little tedious.
Was there anything I didn’t like? These books are predictable as all get-out, although personally, that’s part of their appeal as literary brain candy. In this case, though, not only the romance but also the solution to the mystery was pretty obvious. However, although I’d figured out what was going on relatively early, it never really annoyed me that the characters were slow to catch up; I was having too much fun in the meantime. Otherwise, this book is a perfect diversion for a lazy Sunday afternoon, a likely candidate to hold the attention of someone in a reading rut, and an all-around kick-ass good time. 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Although this is technically the third book in the series, its story is independent enough (and Harvey summarizes the relevant background information well enough) that it could easily be read on its own. Highly recommended for anyone looking for an entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously, fans of YA paranormal romance, and those who would be fans of YA paranormal romance if all the girls weren’t such spineless wimps.
This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon
Links:
– The Drake Chronicles on Facebook
– Alyxandra Harvey on Facebook
– Chapter 1 of Haunting Violet, Alyxandra Harvey’s new book, a Victorian ghost story. It looks pretty awesome, and I’m excited to read the whole thing, except… I want more Drake Chronicles, too! :)
Other Reviews: Books by Their Cover, Galleysmith, My Friend Amy, My Overstuffed Bookshelf, Scribbles
Have you reviewed this book? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.
First Line: Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name?”
Giveaway Info: Bloomsbury is awesomely letting me give away a copy of Out for Blood! To enter, you need two things: 1) a US street address (sorry, international folks, that’s a publisher’s restriction), and 2) a functional e-mail address (The winner will be notified by e-mail; if I don’t hear back within 72 hours, I’m picking a new winner.) If you have both of those things, click on over to the giveaway form and enter to win! Contest open until 05 January 2011.
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Sounds like a good read to me. I’ll look out for this and the rest of the series.
My latest post is about a free urban fantasty ebook, if you’re interested! :)
Nikki-ann – The second book kind of needs the first in order to understand all of the vampire politics, but this one is more independent. I hope you can get a copy of them!
And thanks for the tip – I always love free ebooks!
Ah. I love guilty-pleasure YA. I’m a little worn out on the paranormal stuff, though. I”ll have to keep this one in mind next time I’m in the mood for such a thing.
Jessica – There’s so much paranormal YA out there that it’s easy to get burnt out, I think. But this one doesn’t take itself nearly as seriously as a lot of the others do, so it’s good brain-candy fun.