Helpful Score: 1
This book had a really interesting world - and I liked how vampires are treated like celebrities and tourists flock to look at them and have them drink their blood. It was interesting to have them use PR and advertising to project a certain image, while still being dangerous. I was a bit sceptical about how harmless they pretended to be while glorying in bloodplay, fear, rape and whatever else though, the difference seemed so extreme. A nit, I know. The other issue I had was how complicated this book started to feel - It started off really well. Chapter one in the cafe, was a great introduction into the world, but then later the information was doled out in crumbs, especially regarding Genny's past which get vaguely alluded to in either a small flashback or in a sentence or two in the middle of the investigation and in her strange actions.
Overall: Recommended for urban fantasy fans. It does remind me of Kim Harrison's work, which is a good thing, and Genny is interesting - I want to learn more about her and to find out what happens next, but I wish that the plot flowed better. I say less surprise kinks and characters into the plot, more focus on building existing characters and the world, and I'd be happy. This is a debut author, so for a first book, it gets high points and is a promising series. There is a dark bent to this story so it is urban fantasy, and I'm not sure how many books there will be. The second book The Cold Kiss of Death comes out July 2009.
Overall: Recommended for urban fantasy fans. It does remind me of Kim Harrison's work, which is a good thing, and Genny is interesting - I want to learn more about her and to find out what happens next, but I wish that the plot flowed better. I say less surprise kinks and characters into the plot, more focus on building existing characters and the world, and I'd be happy. This is a debut author, so for a first book, it gets high points and is a promising series. There is a dark bent to this story so it is urban fantasy, and I'm not sure how many books there will be. The second book The Cold Kiss of Death comes out July 2009.
Megan M. (MeggieMoe) reviewed The Sweet Scent of Blood (Spellcrackers, Bk 1) on + 76 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The idea and context of this book was good. Those who like urban fantasy will like this book. I did find that the flashbacks to her past were awkward and just a sentence here and there was hard to follow at first. It felt as if I was in the middle of the series instead of the first book. There were quite a few characters that need fleshed out more but, overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next. The author is new but holds a lot of promise.