Rating Overview
Writing: ★★★★ 1/2
Story: ★★★★ 1/2
Characters: ★★★★★
Cover: ★★★★ 1/2
Overall: ★★★★★ (4.625)
This book was given to me as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This third (final?) installment of the Blood Angel series is once again looking at the transformation of Alee (Aleerah), the only living dhampir. It continues after her transition back into high school, learning the ropes of a vampire, the nature of being a witch, the betrayal of the Underground and the love dichotomy she finds herself in.
The Critical Points:
Writing:
Nina’s writing has progressively improved throughout the series and by this point, she has started to master the craft. Weaving in the imagery and emotions of her characters. There were some misspellings here and there, giving the teeny ding on the writing alone.
Story:
This story starts off on the fast track and very rarely slows down. The build up over the series has led to this moment of turmoil, transformation and transcendence. Nina’s work on the first two novels set the stage for this wonderful and fast-paced supernatural showdown. There were a few parts in the end that threw me. *SPOILER* When the Founders battle started happening, I felt there was little build up to making them the antagonist, so it felt a tad closed off and ended abruptly. That took a bit of the story down, but in all, it was a wonderful ride seeing the characters grow aside the writer herself.
Characters:
Each character has grown into their element from the first novel to this last one. Alee has grown into the confident yet hesitant teen, pairing along with her new vampire feelings she tries to maintain. The affections of Jathan to Damian to Kyle keeps the temperature always on high.
Appearance:
I have loved Nina’s book covers on all her books. This last one just didn’t stay par with the others. It’s hard to match perfection three times in a row. I think if there was something more in the eyes portraying revenge as the title, I’d probably have given it a straight five.
Final Thoughts
Nina created a wonderful set of characters living in the town of Atlanta, MI. When I read her first story, I was a bit hesitant from the way it started, but midway through I could see the story developing faster and faster. Through Beginnings and into the fast-paced start of Revenge, you can see the progression of the Supernatural setting that was painted along the way. There were some brief flashes of time where I wish I could have taken a red pen to the plot to maybe guide it more towards the answer I was looking for. But, I’m a reader, not the writer. Nina did a great job and I had a blast getting to know more about her through her writing and some brief conversations we shared. I look forward to all her upcoming works and I hope to get an Interview out of her in the near future!
Links
Find Nina’s books through her links below and I’ll simply direct you to her WordPress site for now and she provides the rest.
BEGINNINGS: A BLOOD ANGEL NOVEL
Jonas Lee 