Author: Aurora Whittet
Series: Bloodmark Saga #1
Publisher: Wise Ink
Publication date: November 1st 2013
Book Length: 333 pages
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Sixteen-year-old werewolf princess Ashling Boru is different from other wolves—she was able to shift to wolf form at birth. Rather than bringing pride to her family, it brings fear, and as a result, she is forced to live in seclusion in Ireland’s countryside. Ashling’s reputation is further blackened when she refuses her betrothed and defies the ancient laws. When her pack’s oldest rivals begin hunting her, she finds herself in the small town of York Harbor, Maine—far from everything she’s ever known.
In Maine, she crosses paths with the dark and rebellious Grey Donavan, and something ignites within her soul. There’s just one problem: Grey is human. Their instant connection turns into a passionate romance, and Ashling begins to believe she can create her own life outside of wolf laws. When she begins to uncover long-buried pack secrets—secrets that threaten to destroy all she holds dear—Ashling’s courage and tenacity are tested. Will she choose her deep and enduring love for Grey, or will she follow Old Mother’s path to her destiny?
Review
I’ll make this quick and get to the point.
Bloodmark could have been a great book. Ashling Boru is a werewolf princess who
has been sent to live away from her family, she's both feared and adored for her
ability to shift in wolf form from birth, for other wolves it usually happens
during puberty. So whilst running away from those who would seek to harm or claim
her for themselves, she discovers shocking secrets about her heritage and how
she might be the key to uniting all wolves.
This
was extremely intriguing, for one I love werewolf stories, this coupled with
royalty, tricky politics and according to the synopsis ‘a passionate romance’,
I thought this was going to be a win, win, win read.
I give you two little words as to why this was anything but:
Insta love.
Now sometimes I don’t mind insta-love,
sometimes it’s obvious as to which characters are going to be together,
sometimes the subtle looks and gestures of a character are not so subtle and it’s
clear what going to happen. These are the types that I can sort of get over, as
in if the plots good it overrules my issues with the romance. But then
you come to Bloodmark and it was such an in your face insta-love that I didn’t
even know what was happening within the book outside of the characters.
Let me put it to
you this way, Ashling and Grey exchanged I Love You’s before they had even
kissed and it was basically after a few encounters with another…. I was only
25% done. This wasn’t even the icing on the cake, even after the somewhat
premature confession’s of the heart, the story just revolved around how each other
was completely, utterly obsessed with the other, you get where I'm going with
this?
It saddens me to give this book a low star
rating because it showed great promise but the romance overshadowed the entire
book and unfortunately the romance wasn’t for me.
How disappointing! The summary sounds amazing. I can't do that hard core insta love though.
ReplyDeleteMe neither, it's just a little too much to handle!
DeleteDang, I hate when that happens! As Angel states above, the summary does sound really good. I actually have this book on my Netgalley shelf. I'm usually not too picky about instalove but this sounds a bit much. Thanks for the review! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm the same as you, I can handle some insta-love but this one was just too in your face. You'll have to let me know what you think when you get around to reading it :)
DeleteHmm, I'm not the biggest fan of instalove these days, especially if it's done poorly or unrealistically. The premise sounded good, but I'll have to pass on this book!
ReplyDeleteExactly Erika, there are definitely limits to what you tolerate, sadly this one was waaayy past it!
DeleteThe summary kinda made me think of Ruby from Once Upon a Time, and got me really interested! But yeah, insta-love is a huge dealbreaker :/ nice review :)
ReplyDeleteOhhh nice observation Geraldine, come to think of it she really is similar (ps, LOVE OUAT). Thank you :)
DeleteFrom the title, I thought this would be a good book, but from your review, I guess I was wrong. Insta-love without chemistry? That's disappointing. Thanks for the warning! :)
ReplyDeleteI know, it could have been something more, such a great synopsis, title and cover! You're welcome, thank you for visiting! x
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