My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey (review copy) -Also known as Hearts at Stake in the US - The Drake's are rather different to your usual neighbours. They are vampires and some of the members of the family date back to the twelfth century. One of the children, Solange, is the only born female vampire known and, as such, she poses a direct threat to the vampire queen. Her best friend Lucy is human, and when Solange is kidnapped Lucy and Solange's brother, Nicholas, set out to save her. Lucy soon discovers that she would like to be more than just friends with Nicholas. But how does one go about dating a vampire? Meanwhile, Solange finds an unlikely ally in Kieran, a vampire slayer on the hunt for his father's killer. From Amazon UKI’m quite a big fan of vampire fiction, adult or YA, but for some reason, there was something about My Love Lies Bleeding that I didn’t like the sound of. Love during such drama just seemed a little off – even if I’ve read it a thousand times. I guess just the way it was described didn’t appeal to me completely, but still, it’s vampires, so I thought I would give it a go. And I loved it!
Lately, as I have a fair number of books to read, I’ve been thinking I should pick the shorter ones, so I get more read, but then I read them, and they finish, and I’m left wishing they had been longer, and itching for the next one! My Love Lies Bleeding is no exception! This book was just fantastic, and I really didn’t want it to end! It had everything; romance, action, danger, and brilliant mythology!
I loved the vampires in this book; the idea of being born into vampirism and the bloodchange – the transformation at 16 from being human to being a vampire – is just awesome. I also loved that there were different types of vampire, the normal vampires we’re more familiar with, the Host and the Cwn Mamau – vampires with a double set of fangs, the former loyal, the latter against their maker, and the Hel-Blar, blue skinned vamps with teeth that are all fangs, which are crazed with blood lust. The different types of vampire all have their place and reason, and it was great finding out about them. I also loved the political structure for vampires, it’s just brilliant! I loved it! The only thing I didn’t like was that a fair amount of the mythology was explained towards the beginning in the middle of a conversation. It stops abruptly, and then is carried on after the reader knows most of what there is to know. I’m not too keen on world building given to us like this, but I can forgive it for the rest of the book.
The characters were great! Solange and Lucy were just awesome, especially Lucy; she was gutsy and just so funny! They reminded me ever so slightly, personality wise, of Lissa and Rose from the Vampire Academy series, but only a little bit, and the stories are completely different. Solange’s older brother are great, and Nicholas is real sexy. Kieran is pretty cool, but I would have liked to know him a bit better as a person, rather than just what he does.
The romance was good, but I would have liked there to have been more build up between Nicholas and Lucy; with the plot, I can see why there wasn’t, but if the book was longer, I’m pretty sure it could have been worked in. It had so much potential for the whole anticipatory “will they, won’t they?”, it just lacked a bit for me. Kieran and Solange, on the other hand, was done really well in my opinion!
I’m all for action and danger, and “ohmigod whatsgunnahappen?!” and there is plenty of it in My Love Lies Bleeding! It’s pretty much like it all the way through, and once the fighting it starts, the heart gets a-pumping, the adrenalin is going full whack, and forget sitting on the edge of your chair, you’re leaning against it! It’s just fantastic! I loved it! But again, if the book was longer, there would have been more room for talking and finding out more about people, and letting relationships, romantic and otherwise, it would have been easier to know the characters a little more. It’s not a huge deal, but it would have been the icing on the cake.
Everyone has to read this! I can’t recommend it enough, I loved it! I so can’t wait for the sequel, Blood Feud, to be released in the UK on 5th July 2010. It’s going to be amazing! Go read this book now!
Thanks to Bloomsbury Children's Books for sending me a review copy.
Published: 4th January 2010 in the UK, 22nd December 2009 in the US
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Buy on Amazon UK
Buy on Amazon US
Alyxandra Harvey’s Website
Other reviews:
I Want to Read That
So Many Books, So Little Time
Wondrous Reads
The Crooked Shelf
The Book Bug
I Was a Teenage Book Geek
Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect Facebook friends. It’s little wonder, since she’s had a fairly rough life. Her father left when she was a baby, her stepfather just died and her mother’s almost given up – in fact, she’s sent her to live with her grandmother in cold and sleepy Maine to ‘keep Zara safe’. Zara doesn’t think she’s in danger; she thinks her mother just can’t cope.
