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Anya Millar had no memory of her life or an instruction manual on how to navigate the insane world of humans, biting, and reality. Instead, Anya has had to learn to navigate the world of love, life, and sanity while avoiding those that would see her dead or enslaved.
bonnie_lamer_blogspot_com
Posted November 20, 2011
Anya Millar knows she¿s not a normal vampire. She loves humans too much to be a predator. What she doesn¿t know is why she can¿t remember a thing before waking up in the house of an immortal who has taken her in and cared for her. As Anya begins to piece together the past, with the help of others claiming to be old friends, she finds that some things are better left forgotten.
In an effort to move forward with her life and live in harmony with humans, Anya decides high school would be the best place to start. She hopes to learn to move effortlessly among them, keeping her vampire traits from being too noticeable. But, she ends up introducing a whole new set of problems into her life. She didn¿t plan for the mysterious pull one particular human educed from the very first day. Being near him creates a longing so great, it scares her. Her attraction for him continues to grow, which, unfortunately, complicates the new friendships she has formed with his sister and girlfriend. It also complicates her relationship with a particular vampire whom she had once cared for deeply and is also drawn to irresistibly. Balancing her love life is even tougher when other vampires from her past come looking for her ¿ and they don¿t care about who they hurt to get to her. Can she protect all those in her unusual circle of friends and family?
Blood¿s Voice by Aine Massie is a fresh take on vampires seen through the eyes of a powerful vampire. Having a natural aversion to harming humans doesn¿t make the character Anya unique. Neither does her physical strength, or her fear of accidently hurting humans. It¿s her unique gift that makes her special; her voice that can control, and be used as a lethal weapon, against her own kind.
Though I enjoyed reading this novel, there were a few things that kept me from giving the book a solid four stars. Declan¿s character, the human part of the love triangle that includes Anya and the vampire Nicholas, could have been developed more quickly. He is slow to become a strong figure who can hold his own in a vampire world, as his character is somewhat two dimensional in the beginning. It was difficult through a good portion of the book to really feel his attraction and desire to be with Anya at any cost. He often seemed more like he was caught in a spell, or a vampire weaved web of compulsion, rather than having the feelings come from his heart. Eventually, though, the reader can feel his love and desire for her.
Declan¿s draw to Anya, and his blanket accepting of other vampires, is also troublesome because he is supposed to be a Guardian. Someone born to see vampires as evil creatures that need to be hunted down and killed. This character trait is missing completely in Declan, making his Guardian status hard to accept. He readily accepts the vampire world and embraces a developing love of their race when he should have had at least some aversion to being near them.
A good deal of Blood¿s Voice is the internal musing of Anya as her memory comes back in pieces. Sometimes she is strong willed and independent, and other times she has childlike insecurities with no control over her emotions. This is definitely reasonable for a person experiencing amnesia. But, the end result for me, was that she seemed unlikely to be a leader among her kind. As this series moves forward, she will probably head more and more in that direction as her insecurities lessen.
Something I truly enjoyed in this novel was t
First of all, I had a little trouble getting into the book as some of the writing felt very formal. Once I got used to the writing style, it kept my attention and a beautiful tale of romance and redemption unfolded. Anya is a vampire who has special abilities that set her apart from the average vampire. An insatiable desire to protect humans emerges through the entire book as well as her blooming romance with Declan, her human love, and Nicholas her vampire love.
Some of the story is hard to follow and I feel some more back story of Anya is needed and hopefully will show up in the future books. One question is why she is so drawn to Declan. Is it love at first sight or something more? You never really find out in the book. But other than that, the romance building up between the two is extraordinary.
I like the issues of LGBT that are brought up in the story and felt they were just enough of a sample of that lifestyle to not offend close minded individuals. It was very realistic and I enjoyed reading more about it. There is a ménage de trois alluded to in the book so some people may be a bit uncomfortable with that part of the story. From my point of view, it was very well written and only enhanced the book.
I give this a 4 star review as it was a very romantic story with paranormal elements that drew you in with the intricate plot.
FuzzyCoffeeBooks
Posted September 20, 2011
What I liked: 1) There was definitely a unique writing style here. It's written from Anya's point of view, but we got her thoughts as well as her actions, every single one of them. Even those little impressions that she got of people while in general conversation. It was really interesting, and you were never left wondering what Anya was thinking. It was also very real, in that aspect. I know that my own thoughts are often jumbled, and jump around and take a while to sort out. This potentially could have made the flow of the book difficult to follow, but it actually made me enjoy it more. 2) The reveal. I thought that it was great how timely different pieces of the plot were revealed. Anya is suffering from memory loss, and as the reader, you are wondering who she is and why she's lost her memory and different pieces of that are revealed all throughout the book. It really helps to keep the reader interested. 3) The plot. It was clever and creative, and while it took a while to get there, it ended nicely and succinctly. 4) Anya. I liked Anya as a character, and enjoyed watching her figure out who she was, and really grow into herself.
What I didn't like: 1) The biggest issue I had with the book was that the writing seemed...anachronistic to the time period. The way that they all spoke was a little too...old-school for me to believe that it was modern day. Just as an example, there was a lack of contractions (don't, can't, haven't) that my brain just didn't comprehend at first. I would have accepted it if it was just the immortals, the vamps and the like that spoke that way, cause they are all old-school. But the human teens did too, and it messed with my mind! 2) I would have liked to get to know some of the other characters better. It was so focused on Anya, Declan and Nic that I didn't really understand the roles that some of the other characters were playing.
Overall thoughts: An interesting read with a really fun main character, twisty plot lines, and an intriguing mystery. I was thrown off a little by some of the speech patterns, but once you get into the story, it's easy to look past those and enjoy as the plot unfolds. Once you do, you'll get to enjoy a good story! Oh, and a romance that gets pretty steamy at times!
Anonymous
Posted August 15, 2011
I received my copy of "Blood's Voice" recently and immediately started working on reading it. I am not the fastest reader but I love to read. I was not sure what to expect when I began to read this book. The teen son of a friend suggested it to me claiming it was great. I like to read what my grandkids are reading so I know what kinds of things they are exposed to.
I have never read a vampire story before but was quickly drawn into this one. Anya has a strange set of problems and even stranger friends. The love stories intertwined in this book are sweet yet difficult. There is exposure to both immortal issues, like Anya being hunted, tortured, and lovers being attacked or killed. There are also issues of today, like defending and protecting the gay, lesbian, and bi- members of the House, both vampire and human.
I won't give too much away, I hope, but I just had to post a review and tell everyone that this is a great story with a few steamy love scenes. Though not your young kids book, high schoolers and up will love "Blood's Voice." I can't wait for the author to hurry up and finish the sequel.
Take a chance on a new author and enjoy!
Anonymous
Posted August 15, 2011
I received my copy of "Blood's Voice" recently and immediately started working on reading it. I am not the fastest reader but I love to read. I was not sure what to expect when I began to read this book. The teen son of a friend suggested it to me claiming it was great. I like to read what my grandkids are reading so I know what kinds of things they are exposed to. I have never read a vampire story before but was quickly drawn into this one. Anya has a strange set of problems and even stranger friends. The love stories intertwined in this book are sweet yet difficult. There is exposure to both immortal issues, like Anya being hunted, tortured, and lovers being attacked or killed. There are also issues of today, like defending and protecting the gay, lesbian, and bi- members of the House, both vampire and human. I won't give too much away, I hope, but I just had to post a review and tell everyone that this is a great story with a few steamy love scenes. Though not your young kids book, high schoolers and up will love "Blood's Voice." I can't wait for the author to hurry up and finish the sequel. Take a chance on a new author and enjoy!
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Overview
Anya Millar had no memory of her life or an instruction manual on how to navigate the insane world of humans, biting, and reality. Instead, Anya has had to learn to navigate the world of love, life, and sanity while avoiding those that would see her dead or enslaved.