Reviews

Bloody Fool for Love by William Ritter

jayishino's review

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Angel has just left, abandoning Darla and Dru, and while Dru is suffering with this recent desertion, Spike couldn't care less. He does, however, care about Dru, so plans a heist that will take her mind off the vampire with a soul for good.

Spike is far an away one of my favorite characters in the Buffyverse, so imagine my utter excitement when I found a book all about him. Well, sort of. While this book was a Spike story, it had far too much Darla for my taste. And Darla happens to be one of my least favorite Buffy characters. More than Darla there being awful, Dru seemed to be a shell of the character we know from the show. While Ritter does a good job of getting Spike's voice down, there is something missing from his characterization. I don't know if he just fell victim to a YA book or if Ritter was trying to portray him this way, but it just didn't work for the pre-BTVS time period this is set in. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Christian Coulson was an okay narrator. He nailed Spike but everyone else just sounded a bit weird.

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 This book really captured Spike's voice, and they picked the perfect time in Spike's life to set it right in the middle of a lot of changes and turmoil. I may have read the whole book in the actor's voices!  It was light-hearted and fun. It also had good character development. I really hope there's a sequel!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Violence

Moderate: Blood and Gore

my_bookish_mind's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Bloody Fool for Love plays out like an episode of Buffy with an “Angelic” twist. The writing is episodic, but Spike’s devilish charm is toned down.

My favorite character in the Buffyverse is Spike. He’s a bloody evil vampire. I love him, I hate him, or I love to hate him. Spike doesn’t provoke warm and fuzzy feelings that would make him a loveable character. He’s sarcastic and full of one-liners. Most characters around him want him to take a short walk off a long pier and land on a stake.

Ritter stays true to the characters and really honors them. When I visualize the scenes and everything that occurs, I envision James Marsters reprising his renowned role of Spike.

I recommend this book for fans of the Buffyverse.

Thank you to Netgalley, Disney, and Rockstar Books Tours.

thereadingraccoon's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Book review: Bloody Fool For Love: A Spike Prequel by William Ritter

Bloody Fool For Love is a young adult paranormal fantasy based of the character of Spike from the Buffy the Vampire television series. It takes place in Edwardian London and has heist storyline. 

Bloody Fool For Love takes place almost a century prior to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer storyline. Spike has returned to London and is fresh off killing his first Slayer and living with his lady love (and sire) Drusilla and the vampire she calls “grandmother”, Darla. Drusilla’s mental health is very fragile and desperate to make her happy Spike decides to steal a religious relic that will amplify her visions. But a new demon has taken over London (Gunnar) and it is impossible to pull of a heist without him and his goons finding out. Together with another group of paranormals Spike and Drusilla devise a plan to go straight into the belly of the beast and steal the relic and rescue a hostage trapped inside. 

This has all the funny Spike quips and strange (but accurate) utterances by Drusilla that a Buffy fan would expect. I was sort of side eyeing the word choices and the overall language for London at the turn of the century when the author found a clever way to include his feelings about using lingo accurate to the era, touché. 

Overall, this was a fun addition to the Buffy the Vampire Universe and I enjoyed seeing these characters on the page again. It doesn’t have the most serious or memorable plot but for Buffy fans and readers looking for a paranormal vampire fantasy without a lot of scares, gore or heavy romantic content it will be a great fit. 

iamcaryn's review

3.0

This was a pretty fun read if you’re a Buffy fan. However, I’m not sure I could recommend it to anyone who isn’t a Buffy fan.

Ritter captured the characters we all know and love so well that all of their dialogue and actions became visual while reading. You could picture the way they move and their speech patterns perfectly.

If you’re longing to revisit the Buffyverse, this is a speedy read that will hit the spot.

bookcrushin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I don’t have complaints really but I wanted more…

princessrensa's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

If you like the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and in particular if you like Spike, this is a very fun read. William Ritter really nails the irreverent and dark tone of the show. I think this works really well as a prequel in that it has just enough references to the future events of the show that it's fun, but not SO much that it's overbearing (for example we get a very unexpected origin story for a character whose origin I'd never considered). The dialogue and overall vibe can feel pretty modern, but it also feels quite true to the show so I think the right priorities were in place. Actually, now that I think about it, this is even sort of referenced in the story, when a writer tells Spike she thinks making her characters feel like people is more important than flowery historical-sounding language.

This book follows Spike in 1901 London as he plans a heist to get a relic that he hopes will cheer up Drusilla. The actual heist-planning doesn't begin until Spike has tried and failed at a couple other ways of getting the relic, but it was still satisfyingly heisty for me. We also have a little B-plot of Darla trying to get her affairs in order before she leaves Spike and Dru to rejoin the Master. I really enjoyed the Spike and Darla interactions in this story. The show itself gives us pretty much no interaction between them so it was nice to see them ribbing each other with a mix of genuine irritation but also maybe just a little bit of warmth. 

I'm intrigued by what characters future Buffyverse prequels will explore. I'd love to see some stories about pre-Buffy slayers, just saying...