[Review] A Shade of Blood by Bella Forrest

A Shade of Blood
by Bella Forrest
A Shade of Vampire #2
Published April 8th, 2013

Premise

Having been delighted by the Christmas bestselling debut, A Shade Of Vampire, readers are begging for more. In A Shade Of Blood, Bella Forrest transports you deeper into a unique, enthralling and beautifully sensitive story. Prepare to be lost in its pages...

When Sofia Claremont was kidnapped to a sunless island, uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet, she believed she'd forever be a captive of its dark ruler, Derek Novak.

Now, after months of surviving an endless night, the morning sun may soon rise again for Sofia. Something has possessed Derek's heart and he offers her a gift no human slave has ever been given in the history of his cursed island: escape.

High school, prom and a chance to move on with her life now await her.

But will she be able to forget the horrors that steal her sleep away at night? ... or the feelings that haunt her for that tormented prince of darkness?

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I recieved a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review

My thoughts

A Shade of Blood is the second book in the A Shade of Vampire series. It's as captivating as the first book, only a little more, because now you have grown to care about the characters and everything that happens to them feels like it has happened to a dear friend of yours. You regret their bad choices along with them and mostly you want them to end up happy.

The story starts right where the first book left off, with Sofia having to make a decision between staying at The Shade with Derek or going back to her home with her best friend, Ben. She decides to go home, breaking Derek's heart and without realizing it, breaking her own too. 

Since the couple parts ways, everything starts spiriling down, right into chaos. The first half of the book revolves around the three main characters (Sophia, Derek and Ben) trying to go back to normal and Lucas running away from Derek.

This time we get to know the story not only from Sofia's and Derek's points of view, but from Ben's and Lucas too. This new insight, especially to Ben's mind, could have made me understand better this character and learn to love him too. But, somehow, it just made me dislike him even more, because now that I know his motives and how he has seen Sofia all along, I just can't agree with him. He has made so many mistakes like playing the "cool-card" around Sofia, dating all those girls just for "practice" until he feels ready to start a relationship with her, and meanwhile, having her waiting around for him, assuming he's so irresistible that she won't ever lay her eyes in someone else. I just hated that. He's so egotistic and selfish that I feel like he deserves to lose her to Derek, who was able to appreciate her from the first moment.

With Lucas, well, I think this point of view was designed to make us hate even more this character as the antagonist to our star-couple. Because he's truly pure evil, he's selfish and he's willing to say whatever he needs to in order to save himself, even if that means betraying his own family.

 With Sofia gone, Derek's life is once again full of guilt, pain and darkness and he's becoming the monster everyone but Sofia thinks he is. He starts to rebuild the Shade into what it was when he went to sleep; a community of vampire warriors. But the Elite has grown lazy and too comfortable in the island and they just want to be left alone with their slaves. So Derek has to tough it up and scare them into making his will. To make an example, he orders to capture his own brother, Lucas, because he defied him and must pay for his offense.

Meanwhile, Sofia and Ben are trying to move on and left behind what they had to endure at the Shade. But it's clear that the experience they had, affected them in different ways. Ben was abused over and over again by Claudia -his vampire captor- and that broke him inside and out in a way that could never be repaired. Sofia had some awfull experiences too, with Lucas trying to claim her as his and torturing her both pshycologically and physically. But, for her, not everything at the Shade was bad. Derek always treated her right and she made friends that had to left behind. So, where Lucas couldn't be happier to escape the island, Sofia has people to miss back there.
 

The relationship between Sofia and Ben is somewhat strained, because they can't fully understand what happened to each other back there, but they still find comfort while being together and their relationship starts to change and they start dating. The problem is that Sofia can't stop thinking about Derek and she soon will realize that even if she loves Ben, she's no longer in love with him.

The second half of the book, it's a madness of suspensfull events and revelations that would let you open-mouthed because you didn't see those turns coming. I liked it a lot better than the first half, because it was so action-packed that you spend the entire time on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what's gonna happen next.

I don't know if this time I was more picky or if this book truly had more grammar mistakes and plot holes that the first one. I am no expert in grammar since English is not my first language, but I know enough to notice some mistakes. Being able to detect writting issues I didn't see on the first book bugged me a little, because I thought really high of the writting in A Shade of Vampire, but the plot definitely makes up for any mistake.

Overall, I think this was a great sequel, which is always hard to accomplish when the first book was so good and everyone has high expectations about the second one. 

A Shade of Vampire is a series I would happily recommend to anyone who loves the Paranormal genre. The plot is really captivating and the characters are relatable. Even if there are a few issues and themes that may seem a little strong for YA readers, they are treated in a way that isn't too descriptive or explicit, so it can be read by anyone over 13-years-old. I would definitely be picking up book 3!

Rating

About the author

Bella Forrest has been telling stories pretty much since she could talk. Instead of having her parents read her bed-time stories, she would prefer to share with them her own made up tales.

As she grew older, she developed a passion for the fantasy genre. She's an incurable Potterhead.

Her debut novel, A Shade of Vampire, was released on December 14, 2012.

The book became a Number 1 Christmas Bestseller in Vampire Romance, Paranormal and Fantasy on Amazon.

If you sign up for personal email updates from her here: http://www.forrestbooks.com ,

you'll be the first to hear about her new releases.

And here are a few places you can hang out with her!: 

Facebook | Twitter | Website

[Review] A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

Title: A Shade of Vampire

Author: Bella Forrest

Published: December 14th, 2012

Source: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review

Blurb from Goodreads: On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.

A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood. 

She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.

An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains. 

Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince. 

Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

Add this book to you Goodreads shelf!

Buy this book from Amazon

USA: Paperback ; eBook

UK: Paperback ; eBook

A Shade of Vampire: #1 Christmas Bestseller in Vampire Romance, Paranormal & Fantasy

Excerpt from A Shade of Vampire

by Bella Forrest

I’d been meandering along the shore for about an hour when I suddenly sensed that I wasn’t alone. Someone was approaching me from behind. My heart leapt. I was so sure it was Ben, that when a stranger showed up beside me, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

He must have noticed, because a smirk formed on his lips. “Were you expecting someone else, love?”

I eyed him suspiciously, remembering how many times my father had told me not to talk to strangers. I looked him over, taking in his appearance. My eyes widened. I couldn’t find words to describe how fine a man he was. He was almost beautiful. The first thing I took notice of was how his blue eyes were about three shades brighter than any I’d ever seen before. It was such a stark contrast to his pale – almost white – skin and dark hair. Standing beside me, he was easily more than half a foot taller. His height, broad shoulders and lean build reminded me of Ben, but he had a presence that was far more imposing than my best friend’s.

My gaze settled on his face.

I realized that he was inspecting me just as closely as I was him. His eyes on me suddenly made me feel uncomfortably vulnerable. I gave my father’s advice a second thought, but quickly canceled out all notions of heeding to his counsel when I reminded myself that he stopped caring a long time ago.

I straightened to my full height and mustered all the courage I had to keep myself from running away from this stranger.

Big mistake.

The confident smirk didn’t leave his face for even a moment.

“Like what you see?”

“A bit full of yourself, aren’t you?” I scoffed, annoyed by his audacity.

He stepped forward, closer to me, and leaned his head toward mine.

“Don’t I have the right to be?”

He knew he looked good and wasn’t about to act like he didn’t.

“Whatever,” was my oh-so-brilliant comeback.

My shoulders sagged with defeat as I took a step back, unsettled by how close he was now. I rolled my eyes and did a one-eighty, not quite in the mood to play whatever game this stranger was proposing.

I would soon realize that I was about to play his game whether I liked it or not.

He grabbed my arm and turned my body to face him. This motion alone made every single internal alarm I had within me go off in a frenzy.

This man was danger and I knew it. I tried to wriggle away from his touch, but I was no match for his strength.

“Tell me your name,” he commanded.

I was about to refuse, but was horrified to find myself blurting out my name in response.

“Sofia Claremont.”

As soon as I revealed my name, his eyes lit up with a kind of sinister approval. Then he reached for my face and traced his thumb over my jaw line.

“Hello, Sofia Claremont. You’re one stupid girl for taking a walk alone at this time of night. You never know what kind of evil a pretty little thing like you could happen to come by.”

I found myself wondering exactly what kind of evil he was. But I was suddenly overcome by the sensations that were surrounding me. My senses took in everything at once. I heard the waves, felt the sand, smelled the ocean salt, tasted the flavor of cherry and saw the stranger’s manic appearance as he stuck a needle to my neck. The effect was instant. I was barely able to gasp, much less scream. I went from sensing everything to sensing absolutely nothing.

My last conscious thought was that I may never see Ben again.

You can also get an exclusive FREE “sneak preview” of the first 6 chapters by clicking here!: http://forrestbooks.com/sneakpeek.html

(Make sure you check it out now because this preview will not be available for long).

Review

My thoughts: When the author asked me to do a review of this book, she sent me the first six chapter so I could have an idea about it, and I was instantly craving for more.
The story is narrated from two points of view: Derek's and Sofia's.
It is Sofia's seventeen birthday, and with his family out of the picture, the only one who could make her feel loved is her best friend, Ben. But, he forgot her birthday and she's so mad at him and his stupid new girlfriend that she decides to take a walk by the beach. A huge mistake. There she meets a stranger who turns out to be a vampire and as if the day  wasn't already turning out to be pretty bad, this man kidnaps her and take her to The Shade.  
The Shade is a sanctuary for vampires located in an island, where is always night and they are protected and served by humans slaves. 
Sofia goes from being the girl who nobody pays attention to at home, to be the one that everyone's trying to get a piece from -literally. That bothered me a bit, because it's a little stereotypical and I've read it a lot of times, but I understand it is necessary for the sake of the story.  
Well, Sofia is to be delivered as a slave to the prince of the shade, Derek. He's a powerful vampire who has been asleep for the last 400 years. At first I though Derek would be this mean, hateful vampire who takes advantage of his position and just thinks of human as food and nothing else. But I was quite surprised to find out he's anything but. He's aware he's a monster which ironically makes him less a monster than anyone of his kind. After all this vampire is the classic good guy, he shows interest in preserving humans lives but he's still a vampire and has to struggle with his need of blood, a conflict between what he wants and what he needs. Besides, he has origins quite interesting, bonus points for a point of view I've never read before. You'll have to read it to find out what I'm talking about. He's sweet and fair and oh God he's good looking. He doesn't treat Sofia as a slave and with time he learns to see her as an equal and that's what captivated her. He's not like the hideous jackass of his brother, Lucas, nor cold as ice like his sister Vivienne.
Sofia is a strong character, she learns to suck it up after she learns she won't be able to escape without getting killed in the process. 
The chemestry between the two of them is great from the beginning, they comfort each other without even knowing it. When they first met I though Sofia had lost her mind telling him "I know an excuse when I hear one. Don't you dare deceive yourself into believing that you're the victim, Derek Novak". I mean, good Lord! He could've killed her just for saying that. But since then, I started liking her a whole lot more, because she showed she's able to stand up for her life even when the chances are against her.
I love learning about The Shade from Derek's point of view it was great that he was just getting to know this new world too, because through his eyes we can learn how everything is like and I could picture all of it pretty easily.
Near the end, there were a few twists I sure as hell didn't see coming and that made this book so much better!
Overall I think this is a great book and I'm amazed at the length of it, because in so little amount of pages, the author was able to create a story, a world and characters well built and interesting. 

I would recommend it for: Fans of YA and Paranormal genre, fans of vampires and everyone who has a little time, because it's a short book and you can read it in less than a day.

Rating: 

Quotes:

Sofia: “I know an excuse when I hear one. Don't you dare deceive yourself into believing that you're the victim, Derek Novak.” 

Sofia: “Because I don’t believe that you are a slave to what you’ve become. I don’t believe that you simply can’t.” 

Derek: "But I was a coward. I dreaded to think of what would happen once I actually died. What happens to the living dead once they pass away? I shuddered every time I found myself thinking about it. 
It was perhaps quite a strange thing that the undead could be so afraid of death, and yet it was true. 
I was afraid to die, so I went to sleep instead."

About the author:


Bella Forrest has been telling stories pretty much since she could talk. Instead of having her parents read her bed-time stories, she would prefer to share with them her own made up tales.
As she grew older, she developed a passion for the fantasy genre. She's an incurable Potterhead.
Her debut novel, A Shade of Vampire, was released on December 14, 2012.
The book became a Number 1 Christmas Bestseller in Vampire Romance, Paranormal and Fantasy on Amazon.
If you sign up for personal email updates from her here: http://www.forrestbooks.com ,
you'll be the first to hear about her new releases.

And here are a few places you can hang out with her!: 

Facebook | Twitter | Website