Blood Prophecy ~ Alyxandra Harvey (earc) review

Blood Prophecy (Drake Chronicles #6)
Walker Children's
December 24, 2012 (ebooks)/January 8, 2013 (print)
496 pages
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Solange Drake has been crowned queen and the ancient prophecy foretelling that a daughter born tot he Drake family - known for only bearing sons - will rule, has been fulfilled. Only, it's not exactly Solange that has come to power. For some time now the young vampire's thoughts and feelings have not been entirely her own, influenced (from inside her own head) by Viola.

The change has been happening to Solange since the change that everyone was aware of, her bloodchange, on her sixteenth birthday. As Viola works to gain full control of Solange and enact her revenge, to split the vampires apart, rather than unit them as Solange wants, will anyone notice it's not really her?

With everyone gathered together for the Blood Moon, things were already testy, but with Solange (or Viola) working to tear them apart, no one is safe. Perhaps, not even Solange.


Blood Prophecy is the conclusion (at least the foll length novel-wise conclusion) to the Drake Chronicles series that started with Hearts at Stake/My Love Lies Bleeding. I was incredibly sad to see this series come to a close as I've loved it from the first book, right on through all of the others (e-novellas included). But I really can't think of a better way for it to have ended.

This last book in the series takes things back full circle with most of the story being form Lucy, Solange's perspectives just as Hearts at Stake was. It's great to see so much of their friendship come out and to see how they've dealt with everything that's been thrown at them (especially in this book and the previous one) and to have it be in the first person.

There are also chapters from, I believe, everyone who has been a narrator/central character in any of the other novels: Nicholas, Kieran, Hunter, etc.  As this book is focused more on a big picture and on ending the series, not as much a single romantic relationship the way previous books were, we get much more from all of the characters. The major relationships are already established, we know who the key characters are (and who makes them - and readers - swoony and who they're likely to punch in the nose).

In this book, we get to see both how those relationships are now and also how everyone works together against a larger foe. Yes, brilliant romances with the pretty Drake boys do make this series effortlessly fun to read, but it's the friendships, the snark, the teamwork that's always there as well that make it perfect.

Pretty boys aren't enough if you don't have a best friend (and excessive amounts of chocolate) to crush on them with and that's why I adore this series. Nicholas and Quinn and Logan are kind of fantastic, but it's Lucy's relationship, the friendship they've had since they were little girls that's withstood the fact that Solange is a vampire and now has Lucy still backing Solange even if she might be looking like she's gone evil-crazy!pants, that brings me into full in love land.

So, thank you Alyxandra Harvey for writing a series that has boys that has boys we can all have crushes on, has some violence when it's necessary (your vampires don't sparkle and I heart that), but also has strong female relationships that don't go wonky when boys are added to the mix.

And yes, my review did diverge a little bit but really, you shouldn't be reading this book yet if you haven't read the previous ones because it's a perfect conclusion. Little things mentioned in the series that could have just been, well, little things mentioned are brought back in this book and you see that they're actually relevant and part of the story. Love when that happens.

I'm sad to see this series go, but not at all sad with how it went.


Rating: 10/10




thank you to NetGalley & Bloomsbury for my digital galley

Bleeding Hearts ~ Alyxandra Harvey (eARC) review

Bleeding Hearts (Drake Chronicles #4)
Walker Children's
December 20, 2011
304 pages
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Vampires from all over are descending on the Drakes because of the Blood Moon approaching, for the first time eve Lucy has been banned from the Drake household - for her own safety as Solange gets used to er new . . . existence, and Lucy's cousin Christabel is living with her

Things are definitely different around Violet Hill.

One thing hasn't changed, though. The Drakes still have their enemies.

Enemies who have realized just how much Lucy means to the family. When they attempt to kidnap Lucy and get Christabel by mistake, the entire Drake family is in pursuit . . but Connor especially.

Christabel who doesn't know about vampires and doesn't understand why  she has to stay inside after dark has found her attention to the 'nice' Drake boy. The one who offers to fix her computer.

When she's threatened by Hel-Bar, will he be quick enough to save her?


Arghh! Okay, now that I'm done screaming about the ending of Bleeding Hearts, let's get to how amazingly awesomely fantastic it was. I absolutely love the Drake Chronicles series and Bleeding Hearts just might be my favorite of all of them.

The Drake Chronicles is a fantastic series; it's one of the very few that easily brings your right back into the story and the characters' lives. With so many series, by the time a successive book is released it's near impossible to remember what's happening with the plot and/or the characters, not so with The Drake Chronicles.With this series - and this book in particular - a few well places sentences throughout the beginning bring the reader up to speed and they remember what's happening. It's great.

All the best snark, humor and romance of the earlier three books are present in this book - in spades. Not to mention it's probably the plottiest (not a word, I know, but still very fitting) of all the books in the series. Plot points from all the previous books come to a head in this the fourth book, yet it's not too heavy, either.

Christabel and Connor are near perfect as the romantic leads. Chritabel has her book geekiness and her has his Star Wars, computer, etc geekiness - they're so lovable and fit together so perfectly. It's also great that their traits aren't used as ways to single them out (in a bad way) or exclude them from everyone else. They are different from, say, Lucy or Nicholas or Solange but in Bleeding Hearts it makes them great.

New characters are introduced to this series with each new novel and I love that they're each given their own story line and background, one that expands on the central story of the series. None of the characters seem to pop up out of nowhere or distract from what'a been happening in the series thus far. Kudos to Alyxandra Harvey for continually expanding the Drake's world so well.

The ending did make me want to scream - that or have Blood Moon (the next book in the series) in my hands ready to read - but only in the best way possible.


After the ending of Bleeding Hearts there is a short story (about 50 pages), "Lost Girls," about some of the adult Drake Chronicles characters as teens. It's a glimpse into the characters and how things all started. And will likely leave you wanting a book about some of them at some point, too! (I think "Lost Girls" is in print versions only.)


If you're not reading this series yet, I can't recommend highly enough that you start - like right now and get this book on the 20th!!

Rating: 10+/10


Read thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Bloomsbury - ginormous thank you!!

Blood Moon ~ Alyxandra Harvey review

In honor of yesterday being Canada Day, who deserves some celebration? Justin Bieber? No. Ryan Gosling? Nope, not even him (well not here).  Joshua Jackson? Nope, not even as much as this past week makes me want to watch Dawson's Creek.

Who does then? Alyxandra Harvey, of course, author of The Drake Chronicles - the latest installment of which Blood Moon came out in June!

[ If for some kooky reason you haven't read the other Drake Chronicles book yet, don't start with Blood Moon -not because it lacks brilliance, but because they're all brilliant and don't work as stand-alone books! My reviews of #1: Hearts at Stake, #2: Blood Feud, #3: Out for Blood, #4: Bleeding Hearts ]

Blood Moon (Drake Chronicles #5)
Walker & Company
June 19, 2012
320 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from TBD/or Amazon

With the blood moon only days way and the vampire clans already converging on Drake land, Blood Moon, shows us what Bleeding Hearts only started to: with Solange fighting a war within herself, the greatest danger the Drakes face might not be from visiting vampires.


Seriously? Seriously? You're doing this to me again Alyxandra Harvey? After the ending of Bleeding Hearts, I was dying and now you're ending Blood Moon like this? Admittedly it might not be as bad . . . then again when you pair the two of them together (or all of the books/the story as a whole), it might be worse. Worse, as in really better, or Do-I-really-Have-to-Wait-for-the-Next-Book-to-Come-Out-because-You're-Killing-Me-With-These-Endings worse.

While I have loved seeing more of the different brothers in each book, it was nice to have this one brought back a bit. Blood Moon is told from Lucy, Nicholas and Solange's perspectives. Not only was it necessary for the plot (especially considering the ending of the previous book) but it was also nice to 'hear' from them again.

Lucy will always be one of my favorite characters - this series or any other - and it's great when she's balanced out with Nicholas. As the book involves Solange warring with herself, Lucy needed to be one of the narrators, not having her perspective, insight on all of it would have made the story feel less than whole.

One thing that can't go unnoticed with Blood Moon or any other Alyxandra Harvey book, is her writing. Her love of poetry comes through in not only her characters quoting it, but also her own writing. It's not flower-y and a lot of descriptions come from character observations (as opposed to author statements) but the analogies and similes, brilliant and/or quirky phrases and descriptions she does use catch me nearly every time.

They're phrases you might expect to see kept for the end of a paragraph or until a break in the text but in Blood Moon they're just part of the text. It really makes the book that much better.

A lot of series can't make it to five books while still holding - if not exceeding - the quality present in the first book. The Drake Chronicles has proven able to do that with Blood Moon. The characters are still as enjoyable, the plot is developing and thickening, the new characters that are being added add things.



Rating: 10/10


giant thank you to Bridget at Bloomsbury for my copy to review!

Blood Feud ~ Alyxandra Harvey review

Blood Feud (Drake Chronicles #2)
Walker Books for Young Readers
June 22, 2010
272 pages
Buy/info at Amazon


*(Spoilers for Hearts at Stake (Drake Chronicles #1) be here)*


Solange Drake has gone through the change and is now a vampire. Despite what an ancient prophecy said, she is not Queen, however. Her mother is going to be the new Queen. While Solange couldn't be happier about not being queen--she never wanted it in the first place, she still has to deal with the Montmarte, her very unwanted suitor.

Packages continue to be left at her doorstep and she's still in danger from the overzealous (hopeful) paramours. Blood Feud isn't about (at least not solely) Solange, though. Her brother, Logan, is the main Drake in thus book.

As all of the different vampire clans come together for the new Queen's coronation, Isabeau St Croix is sent for the Hounds, a group of mystical vampires who raise dogs and live in caves.

With Montmarte still hoping to have the crown himself, Isabeau and Logan are soon working together to keep his family safe.

It's not long before both the trouble and their feelings deepen.


In the way that Hearts at Stake was about a bigger, action-y danger but also about some romance of its central characters, Blood Feud is about a threat to really all not-entirely-evil vampires, but also about Logan and Isabeau. Isabeau's life is told through some flashbacks to her life as a human (during--quite literally--the French Revolution) and now as a vampire.

Without giving too much of the story away, I wasn't sure that Isabeau's actions and her timeline quite matched up, however. Sometimes she seemed too well transitioned for how things were said to have happened. I did enjoy the looks back at her French life, however and the Hounds were a really interesting additon to the Drake Chronicles world.

I think I have crushes on all of the Drake brothers, so the fact that I kind of love Logan (not the most, but still quite a bit) shouldn't really come as a surpise.

While this wasn't my favorite of the series, I am glad I read it and it definitely includes crucial plot points that will be a part of/start out the third book.

7.5/10

(no, half numbers are not good--but I can't decide)

Hearts at Stake ~ Alyxandra Harvey review

Hearts at Stake
Walker Books for Young Readers
256 pages
December 22, 2009
Amazon info/buy page


Solange's life is miserable not only because she's the only girl in a family with seven overprotective brothers, but she's also the only girl (in nearly 800 years) in her family of vampires.

And her sixteenth birthday when she'll turn from a mortal to a vampire is coming up. Along with the stress she would otherwise feel with that transition coming up, there's a legend attached to Solange that she will be queen and pheromones she's emitting that are attracting ever male vampire anywhere to her.

The lovesick, often cheesy males are a problem, but the attention they're likely to attract from vampire hunters could be even more of a problem.

All of this is not to forget that the current queen hates Solange for the threat she presents--no matter Solange doesn't want to be queen at all.

Solange's brothers are being even more overprotective than usual, but at least Solange has her best friend Lucy to help keep her sane. Lucy and her family aren't vampires but they know about Solange's family and Lucy looks more like a vampire than Solange usually (with a her red velvet dresses, etc).

Soon, with Lucy staying at Solange's home while her parents are on a retreat danger threatens and it's up to the girls, the brothers and a few others to save Solange!


This was a massively enjoyable book and I am so, so glad it is a series. I loved that there girls in this book were strong characters and weren't easily pushed around. There were vampire hunters like in some other teen vampire books and the danger that comes with them but a lot of the story was focused on Solange and Lucy (and some boys for them!) and their friendship and relationships. The family relationships were strong, too and also an integral part of the story.

This was not simply a love story that focused only on two characters and the progression of their romantic relationship, but instead had romantic relationships woven into the plot. (There was a romantic relationship that I'm almost desperately hoping shows up in one of the later books in the series, too so I would say the method worked.)

The hierarchy of the vampire culture in The Drake Chronicles first book was set up very well and I'm really looking forward to seeing how new characters are pulled into this world (the second book of the series, at least, involves some different characters).

There was enough similarity in the vampire lore to make reading Hearts at Stake fun and enjoyable but enough that was unique to make it still very interesting and worthwhile.

I loved that so many characters were used in this book--but not in a superfluous way. They added to the story and were brought back later to be involved in some other way.

I'm really looking forward to reading the second book in this series (and the others as well.) This was a great change of pace from the other teen vampire books that are so focused on the romance between two characters, having both the familial relationship and the friendship between Lucy and Solange was great.

10/10




Series:
Book 1: Hearts at Stake
Book 2: Blood Feud (out now-review soon I hope)
Book 3: Out for Blood (out December 21, 2010)

Top Ten Tuesday [Fave Heroines]

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Ten: Top Ten Favorite Heroines From Books

1. Detective D.D. Warren ~ from Lisa Gardner's D.D. Warren series My review of the latest book in the series, Crash & Burn.
   
2. Taylor Jackson ~ from J.T. Ellison's series. My reviews of Books 1-4, 5 and 6 and 7.
   
3. Kathryn Dance ~ from Jeffery Deaver's series. The Sleeping Doll review and Roadside Crosses review. I didn't review XO but I absolutely enjoyed and recommend it.
   
4. Lucy and Solange ~ from Alyxandra Harvey's Drake Chronicles series. My reviews of Book 1, 2, 3, 3.5, 4, 5, 6
   
5. Gretchen, Emma and Penelope ~  from Alyxandra Harvey's Lovegrove Legacy series. Review of A Breath of Frost and Whisper the Dead
   
6. Sophronia, Dimity and company ~ from Gail Carriger's Finishing School series. Reviews of Books 1, 2, and 3
   
7. Bryn ~ from Jennifer Lynn Barnes's Raised by Wolves series. Trial by Fire (#2) review and Taken by Storm (#3) review
   
8. June ~ from Marie Lu's Legend series. My reviews of Legend and Champion
   
9. Cora ~ from Frankie Brown's Until We End. My review
   
10. Lola ~ from Stephanie Perkins' Lola and the Boy Next Door. My review

This post would turn into something epically long (and take me forever) if I tried to say what it is I love about each of these characters, so I've linked to my reviews of the book(s) they're in.

I did kind of cheat on 4, 5, and 6 as I didn't pick just one character but I don't think I could single out just one of heroine from those series! It's also their relationships/friendships and their interactions with each other that are a large part of why I adore those series and the characters so much. (So singling out just one of the girls would seem unfair.)

So, those are my Top Ten(ish) Favorite Heroines - what are yours?  Let me know in the comments and/or link me to your own Top Ten Tuesday post!

A Breath of Frost ~ Alyxandra Harvey (earc) review [@AlyxandraH @BWKids]

A Breath of Frost (The Lovegrove Legacy #1)
Walker Children's
January 7, 2014
496 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon

In 1814, three cousins—Gretchen, Emma, and Penelope—discover their family lineage of witchcraft when a binding spell is broken, allowing their individual magical powers to manifest. Now, beyond the manicured gardens and ballrooms of Regency London, an alluring underworld available only to those with power is revealed to the cousins. By claiming their power, the three cousins have accidentally opened the gates to the underworld. [. . .]

By unknowingly unlocking their magical abilities, the girls have not only opened an entire, previously unknown, world, full of magic, spells and creatures, but put themselves in danger as well.

Now they have so much more to worry about than simply  navigating parties and society as debutantes. Hiding in the library (Gretchen), looking for the most suitable dance partner (Penelope) and staying out of sight (Emma) isn't going to be the easiest way to get by any more. Not with the bodies of dead girls appearing, ones that Emma keeps finding. And dangerous warlock sisters , thought to be gone, now back and wreaking havoc.

If they can keep themselves safe, if Emma can figure out the forever hot and cold actions of Cormac, then maybe they can figure out their new-found magic . . . and the murders.


The Drake Chronicles series, Stolen Away and Haunting Violet have made it pretty clear that I love Alyxandra Harvey's storytelling but A Breath of Frost was really something else. That same spark, humor and wit that I love from her characters was definitely present once again. While it was Regency London and the plot seemed to hold true (while involving witchcraft), the characters - the female characters, especially - had that little extra something separating them from the status quo.

The girls aren't so different that they seem modern day or out of place, but they also have a bit more audacity, maybe more mettle than one might expect. It makes them and the story superb.

Emma, Penelope and Gretchen are not Lucy and Solange from Harvey's Drake Chronicles series but that strong friendship, that almost sisterly bond that was done so well in that series is present with the cousins here. It's different as they are different characters in a different setting, situation but the love, the fierceness of their will to protect each other is there. It's a bond I hope to see grow over the series.

Much of the novel focuses on Emma and her story - with her mother, with Cormac and with her magic. We learn a lot about her in this first book, some things that are easier to see coming than others. It will definitely be interesting to see how each of the things that happened, that she uncovered affects her, the other characters and the story down the road.

The glimpses we got into the other girls lives very much left me wanting to know more about them - and wondering if we'll find out even a third as many secrets as we did with Emma. (Penelope's character and what we saw with her has me especially intrigued.)

Cormac and his sisters are kind of a fantastic addition to the story. His sisters were not a big part of the story but I loved the little bits that they were in it and hope that was not all we will see of them.

As for the plot, it's kind of really great. With witches, warlocks, society, societies, madcaps, gargoyles, enchantments, and familiars all with family drama, school, possible mean girls and confusing boys, A Breath of Frost has it all. Alyxandra Harvey weaves a brilliant tale, told at a great pace that connects readers with all of the characters and the (slightly modified?) Regency London world they're living in.  You'll love not only where things end up but how it got there -- all while eagerly waiting to see where they things go next.

My review is really long already but it needs to end with this: Alyxandra Harvey's books? <3


Ratiing: 10/10


You may also enjoy: Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey and Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton


digital galley received for review, via NetGalley, thanks to publisher


I think my WOW post for this has it listed as Moonlight and Madness and/or Witching Season: Stormcaster so I'm listing those just for search purposes :)

Red ~ Alyxandra Harvey (earc) review [@AlyxandraH @EntangledTeen]

Red
Entangled Teen
March 10, 2015
ebook only
add to Goodreads/buy NOOK book/or Kindle

Bad girls burn hot…

Red is the color of Kia Alcott's hair.
It's her temper, which blazes hot and always gets Kia into way too much trouble.
And it's the color of fire. Fires that Kia can start…just by thinking about them.

When her latest “episode” gets her kicked out of school, Kia is shipped off to her grandmother, who works for the wealthy Blackwoods. It's an estate shrouded in secrets, surrounded by rules, and presided over by a family that is far from normal…including the gorgeous and insolent Ethan Blackwood.

Ethan knows far more about the dangers of the forest surrounding the estate than Kia can ever imagine. For this forest has teeth, and Ethan is charged with protecting the outside world from its vicious mysteries.

But inside, even the most vibrant shade of red doesn't stand a chance against the dark secrets of the Blackwood family…

Red is a creative and fun read. The tale begins as we're introduced to Kia who is being sent (by her father who lives in the city) to live with her grandmother (very much in the country). Kia can start fires with her mind and it was one of those fires that got her expelled from school and exiled to her grandmother's.

Abby, her grandmother, isn't what Kia thinks of as the typical grandmother (she's younger, for one) and where she lives is certainly not our typical anything. She works for the very wealthy Blackwoods and its in their home (or castle, really) that Kia will also be living.

The house is intimidating and Kia doesn't quite like being 'the help.' Especially when it comes to serving the teenaged Ethan Blackwood and his friends. But is Ethan, with his off putting attitude, really all Kia thinks?

There's clearly more Kia's new home than first meets the eye . . and maybe more to Ethan, as well.


I really loved the combination of Kia, this girl who can start fires with her mind, and Ethan the rich boy who seems to have his own secrets. It got even better once we (and Kia) being to discover some of those secrets.

We get sections from Ethan's point-of-view and ones from Kia's and it helps the story develop at a very nice pace. We see what Kia thinks of Ethan, him home, his friends and his family. We being to see what Ethan thinks of Kia, of Abby and of his home, family and friends.

The more the characters' secrets and pasts and how they could best interact - and even why they had such adversarial interactions - was revealed, the better and better the story became.

In the beginning, it didn't flow quite as well as I would have liked. It seemed there would be the hyped up lead up to some big event, only to have the next time we saw those characters be after whatever had happened, with no indication given of how or what had happened exactly.

With things more out in the open and the characters able to include each other on what was happening, on their lives and activities, it became a really fantastic story.

While it was a smaller part of Red, my favorite part of the novel was Kia's friendship with another character. Girls' friendships have been some of my favorite parts of the authors other novels (Lucy and Solange in Drake Chronicles and the cousins in Lovegrove Legacy). If my life ever becomes some multi-writer version of Ruby Sparks, Alyxandra Harvey is definitely, absolutely in charge of penning all of my friendships.

I don't know if Red is a standalone or if there will be any follow-up(s), but after the ending, knowing all of these characters and being introduced to their world, I sincerely (and fervently) hope there's more to come.





Check out the author's Red Pinterest board - I love this idea of Kia!








digital review copy received, via NetGalley, thanks to publisher