Photo credits: Sabine Löwer
Edited by Vaishali
Title: ‘Blood Magic'
Author: Jennifer Lyon Series: (Wing Slayer Hunters #1) Genre/Themes: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal Romance, magic, witches Publisher: Jennifer Lyon Books Year of Publication: 2009 Version: e-book kindle app ISBN-10: 0988792362 ISBN-13: 978-0988792364 Review
Firstly I would like to say that turning down an unfamiliar path, this was a different reading practise for me seeing as it was my first kindle book using kindle app! I don’t think anything can beat the physicality of holding a book and feeling its substantial weight, making the read along with the characters feel far more palpable and accessible. I did miss that element a lot because reading off of a screen tends to reduce my indulgence, making me feel detached and reaching for pages that aren’t there. I will continue to try kindle books as they are more accessible, but I will always prefer paperbacks :)
…On to the review!
“Do you know why they ran away scared?”
Her stomach clenched. “Because they sensed the witch in me.” “They sensed you power. They know at some instinctive level that you are more powerful than them. Women like you, witches, have always scared mortal men.” He had her attention. “But not you?” “I’m not scared of you. I’m afraid of losing control of the curse in me, but I am not afraid of you…”
‘Blood Magic’ by Jennifer Lyon (the first in a fantasy romance series) is set in the modern-day world with elements of the paranormal, entwined with mystery and the fiery heat of romance. Darcy McAlister is a seemingly normal young woman who has just lost her adoptive mother from a long-term illness. If anyone knows loneliness its Darcy, always on the receiving end of rejection and denial she only wants acceptance, and wonders of the mother who left her – a large tapestry is all she has of her biological mother who she knows nothing about. From the voices in her head, to the peculiarity she oozes, Darcy relies on no one but her protective cousin Joe, her best friend Carla, and the presence of a hawk always there to console her.
‘She’d spent her life on the outside of every circle. This wasn’t any different.’
‘Her sense of déjà vu and fatalism shattered, as if her destiny had shifted.’
Axel Foley – *ahem* apologies – Axel Locke is a Wing Slayer Hunter. Most of his kind have fallen prey to a decades-old curse and Axel – alongside his men - are fighting against it to keep their souls intact. 30 years ago the Hunters were cursed by a demon witch who cast a spell on their kind, and now the Hunters lust for the intoxicating power of witch blood, curbing their blood-fever with sex. Hunters became weaker after the curse, now plagued and wrenched with a needfor blood, most have already given into it, becoming ‘Soulless’, hunting earth witches to feed their vicious appetites, hoping that by killing all witches they can gain back their lost immortality.
‘The divide between witches and hunters was deep and steeped in suspicion.’
Axel and his men are non-hunters, sworn to each other by a pledge to never go ‘rogue’, and to never kill a witch lest they forfeit their promised souls, but witch blood is too strong a temptation even for Axel’s strong will…with only sex offering a reprieve from their compulsions. Hounded by his lowlife father to turn rogue since he was fourteen, Axel is mortified at the idea of losing control to the receptiveness of the curse. He is viewed as a threat by his contemporaries, trying to turn him or trying to kill him they all fear him, if not for his deadly stubbornness, then for the hawk tattoo on his back, marker of their lost leader…only Axel doesn’t know how it got there…
“I’ve fought this curse since I was fourteen. Self-control is what I live by every day.”
One night Axel’s mom appears with his little sister Hannah, who now has the cursed death mark on her forehead. Now that Hannah is destined for death, Axel has only two weeks until the full moon to either find an earth witch to heal his sister’s declining health, or kill the demon witch who initially cast the spell – but killing any witch would place Axel’s soul in danger of perversion. Any cost is worth paying for the sister who means the world to him, irrespective of the sacrifices to himself
… even offering himself to the disparaging curse waiting to claim his kind …even if that means capturing an earth witch to help him lift Hannah’s curse, a witch that’s doesn’t even know she is a witch….Enter Darcy.
‘Danger and magic danced in the air between them.’
“Arrogant hunter.” “Prickly witch.”
The next night Darcy is attacked by two rogue hunters, saved by Axel only to be taken by him instead. Now residing at Axel’s remote cliffside property Darcy is more confused than she has ever been because apparently she is a witch, she can heal, and is now a prisoner to a dominant man who won’t let her go until she cures his sister. Lost in this mess of learning, crafting and accessing her witchcraft, Darcy is made to confront what she fears, because she has always known how different she is. Darcy is a mix of vulnerably determined and eagerly focussed, the kind of protagonist that holds fear, terrified of what she has been thrown into, but goes with the flow, and listens to her instincts in this messy situation.
“You look like hell. Black eye, split lip and too little sleep.”
“Thanks. I’m trying a new look called Kidnapped and Pissed.”
With a witch now living under his roof, Axel’s imperious compulsions draw him to Darcy’s blood and even closer to becoming like the cold-blooded Hunters he has fought against. But he wants her body too. After tasting her blood, Axel and Darcy are locked in a battle of want, need and danger, drawn to each other by magic, impulse and desire. His bloodlust for Darcy wars with his need for her, causing lines to blur and priorities to change.
“When I catch your smell, the scent of your power, it makes me burn for your blood. Then I touch you and it’s something else together…”
A sense of belonging has always been missing from Darcy’s life, and she puts any ideas of a normal life to rest. Darcy is now the target of the rogues, who seem to be relentlessly pursuing her, not to mention a demon witch on her back, and a captor she has a patent connection with. Separated not merely by the curse, but Darcy’s history and Axel’s mistrust, these two are stuck in a conflict amongst themselves.They don’t trust each other but their bodies do. While she is similarly bemused by her situation, Darcy feels compassion for her kidnapper and their strong reactions to each other spice up the story, making the tension constant.
‘Something fleeting travelled through his guts, but he focused on her face, on her excitement. Her joy in learning what she could do. Her success. Her vibrant beauty that he wanted to taste. It was so opposite of what he was, what he had the potential to become, that he longed to have more of it, more of Darcy.’
Compounding my thoughts after reading 'Blood Magic' took some time because I wasn’t sure how to determine a rating or elucidate my feelings when they were largely varied and mixed. After reading the synopsis, I thought that perhaps this would be an interchangeable read-alike of‘Dark Lover’ by J R. Ward (which is a favourite of mine) and so I set my sights on it, hoping it would be similar. We have an alpha male, fiery romance, and a durable female lead , but there were various idiosyncrasies in the plot that stalled my reading experience because of the inconsistent flow of the story coupled with the rate and ways in which we were receiving information. The premise was interesting indeed, but at times character choices and actions weren’t realistic, resulting in poor choices and the paths they led to.
“You believed in me when you had no reason to. I want you to know I’m never cruel without a reason.”
The writing held a place of ambivalence for me, some parts were easy to read and easy to follow, other parts did not make sense, leaving me to wonder if I just read something incorrectly, therefore the writing and some of the scenes felt loosely structured, and roughly formulated. The flow of 'Blood Magic' felt coarsely directed and the events felt scattered. The writing tried too hard to force an understanding of the world’s components on the reader, which only confused myunderstanding. The building of the world is loosely and laxly tackled, with too much emphasis on repetitive lengthy dialogue – which can obfuscate the reader - and not much on character depth and the actual receiving of relevant information and the things we want to know.
‘His emotional weight was heavy, heavier than her own.’
The rising points of action and surprises were what made the story for me, but the momentum would soon dissipate, fracturing my interest, making me wish that the story had given me more. Character reactions felt glossed over at times, leading to a sense that what happened wasn’t entirely realistic. The story wasn’t told in the most lucrative way, thwarting my enjoyment and stirring a sense of fluctuating restlessness and detached affection for the characters I wanted to feel more for. I love Darcy, and Axel, Joe and especiallyvibrant little Hannah, but there wasn’t enough depth of character for me to say they were absolutely amazing. They had the budding appeal to be much more colourful and to contribute more to the story than they did.
“Darcy.” Ram opened his eyes and looked up at her. “What are you doing here?”
She smiled down at him. “Pissing off Axel.” “Thank you. For healing me and pissing off Axel.”
Though I found difficulty trying to follow the plot and fusing the disorderly pieces together, through the confusion I did find many moments of anticipation and enthusiasm, and the plot twists did stop me in my dubious tracks to startle me. I liked the romance, I liked how the sex scenes weren’t overly done, but rather founded on the magic that brought both Axel and Darcy together, initiated on a magically bound and magically kindled platform rather than pure hardcore sex for the sake of eroticism, which made the approach to the sex scenes work.
‘Her power, her sexuality, her very center, called to him and demanded that he answer.’
I'm the kind of reader that doesn't mind cliché, that doesn't mind tropes so long as they are done well and I enjoy the story being told, and if done in an inventive way even better! I do give this book points for inventiveness and a new take on witches/ witch hunters.
“There is no evil in you, love. You’re a witch, embrace it.”
'Blood Magic' is told in a countdown fashion, counting down the days until the death mark will kill Hannah, unfolding in a chase against time, with Axel and Darcy limited in choice while both are surrounded by uncertainty. I like what the characters brought to the table, I like what the author was trying to do, and I like that when I was done with the book, I felt that Darcy and Axel’s story wasn’t yet done. This was an easy, fast and slow paced light paranormal read with mystery and danger, tension and a heady romance. What starts out as a need to outwit death and save his sister, turns into a relationship of promises and affection of ‘kidnapper’ and ‘captive’ – accumulating a sense of trust when their kinds have been severed apart for so long.
“Axel…you’re in my head.”
“And you’re in mine.” “You’re brave, compassionate and too damned beautiful.” I gave this book 2.7 stars -
Warning: Mentions of torture and abuse. Bloody fighting. Many sex scenes, and a lot of swearing.
My Rating System:
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★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read
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