Title: Blood Bound
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace
Release date: January 30th 2007
Publisher: Ace
Release date: January 30th 2007
In this second book, we come back to our dear Mercy, who's world gets turned upside when a vampire possessed by a demon decides to go on a killing spree. Everything starts with a call from Stefan, who comes to collect the favor she owes him. He and Mercy go to meet the possessed vampire, whose name is Littleton, and they become witness to a horrible murder. It's all downhill from there and in the end, Mercy won't have a choice but to go against Littleton herself.
***
Blood Bound was a very entertaining book and was surprised me the most was the darkness of it, in a good way.
When I picked up the first Mercy Thompson's book, I thought it was going to be a good paranormal series with a love triangle that would keep me entertained, but I was surprised by the "detective" side of it all.
Mercy is far from being a detective herself, in fact, she's a mechanic, and a good one on top of that, who gives really good tip.
"Never trust a mechanic who drives new car. They're either charging too much money for their work, or they can't keep an old car running - maybe both."
But in every book, there's a problem to solve and it's really interesting to follow the characters as they try to get to the bottom of it. In the case of Blood Bound, the problem turns out to be an evil vampire who, to make everything even more shitty, is possessed by a demon.
This book was darker than the first one, but not too much. Many times, I found myself cringing a bit at some scenes and for that, I have to tilt my hat to Patricia. It's hard to fully convey emotions in a book and as someone who rarely cries or laugh out loud when reading, I enjoyed cringing while reading this book, as weird as that sound!
As for the characters, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of development. It's not that it wasn't there; simply not as much as I hoped.
I like Mercy as a character, but sometimes, she comes off as a twenty year old instead of a thirty year old. At thirty-something, Mercy has everything pretty much figured out: she owns a garage and has a great job, she's at peace with her body, she's smart and witty... But at times, especially when it involved Adam or Samuel, she came off as a lost teenage girl instead, which was a bit annoying at time.
This book was darker than the first one, but not too much. Many times, I found myself cringing a bit at some scenes and for that, I have to tilt my hat to Patricia. It's hard to fully convey emotions in a book and as someone who rarely cries or laugh out loud when reading, I enjoyed cringing while reading this book, as weird as that sound!
As for the characters, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of development. It's not that it wasn't there; simply not as much as I hoped.
I like Mercy as a character, but sometimes, she comes off as a twenty year old instead of a thirty year old. At thirty-something, Mercy has everything pretty much figured out: she owns a garage and has a great job, she's at peace with her body, she's smart and witty... But at times, especially when it involved Adam or Samuel, she came off as a lost teenage girl instead, which was a bit annoying at time.
Speaking of Samuel...
"A dominant wolf's desire to protect was a strong instinct - Samuel was very dominant. Give him an inch, and he'd take over the world - my life, if I let him."
I'm still not a big fan. He clearly still wants Mercy and he also clearly has the same mentality people had a hundred years ago, and by that I mean that women were not exactly equals to men.
Adam, I like a little bit more. It's hard to speak about him since he wasn't extremely present in this book, but when he was there, he was the same guy I enjoyed reading about in the first book.
Someone who was there and who was very present was Stefan. Ahh, Stefan... Such a sweet and funny man! Even though he probably is the oldest of them all, he treats Mercy with respect, as well as the werewolves who don't like vampires very much, and he makes me laugh! I sense that there might be a love rectangle forming here. I know what you're thinking, "eww! A love rectangle!" But to be honest, I'm actually really excited to see how everything turns out!
Finally, I have to talk about the writing style. I'm not one to particularly pay attention to the writing in a book, but something about the way Patricia writes irks me a little. I know I'm kind of contradicting myself after telling you guys how great she was at setting the mood for this book, but I often find myself a bit confused while reading, which is not particularly enjoyable. She's far from being a bad writer, but the explanations aren't always clear and not understanding what's happening does bother me when reading.
In the end, Blood Bound was still a very enjoyable book. I appreciated the atmosphere of the book and I loved every scene involving Stefan. Plus, I was reminded of something very important...
"Even after all this time, I keept forgetting that heroes can be found in ulikely places -- like mechanics who can turn into coyotes."
Have you read the Mercy Thompson series? What other paranormal series would you recommend?
Sophie
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| 4/5 stars |
