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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
3.5 stars.
I discovered Jordan Castillo Price's work by picking up "Meatworks" a few years ago, then her Vamp romance "Channeling Morpheus for Scary Mary", "The Starving Years", and the "PsyCop" series. I have also read lots of her "Petit Morts" short stories. I do enjoy Jordan’s unique slant on the world of the paranormal. Her work is at once familiar and quirky and gritty and so I always look forward to each new release.
"Hemovore" is a re-release of a book that was originally published in 2009 and was one I had not yet read. I enjoy Jordan’s alternative perspectives on the whole Vampire trope and know that whenever I pick up one of her books I will not get a "done a million times" Hollywood Vampire book.
We are in Mark’s head for this story and he is big on internal monologues about his daily routine. This introduction to him and the way it continued for the first couple of chapters didn't enamor me to him as I found him dry and repetitive. It took me a good three chapters to get into the story, and sadly I never really connected with Mark or his vamp painter employer Jonathan.
As per usual the writing was good. The faltering relationship between Mark and Jonathan felt more like a vehicle to explore the vamp blood disease idea and the world building of a USA where vamps are part of society but still not 100% accepted, than a heart clutching romance/mystery. There was companionship and trust between Mark and Jonathan but I didn’t feel the love.
I could see sparks of what would eventually become JCP’s future brilliance with her Vamp Romance “Channeling Morpheus for Scary Mary” and maybe because I loved that series so much, this story seems a little bland and lacking. You can’t win ‘em all, and while this was an engaging read it didn’t set my heart a flutter like her more recent books have.
There was an extra short story tagged on to the end of this new edition, and I'm yet to read it.
I discovered Jordan Castillo Price's work by picking up "Meatworks" a few years ago, then her Vamp romance "Channeling Morpheus for Scary Mary", "The Starving Years", and the "PsyCop" series. I have also read lots of her "Petit Morts" short stories. I do enjoy Jordan’s unique slant on the world of the paranormal. Her work is at once familiar and quirky and gritty and so I always look forward to each new release.
"Hemovore" is a re-release of a book that was originally published in 2009 and was one I had not yet read. I enjoy Jordan’s alternative perspectives on the whole Vampire trope and know that whenever I pick up one of her books I will not get a "done a million times" Hollywood Vampire book.
We are in Mark’s head for this story and he is big on internal monologues about his daily routine. This introduction to him and the way it continued for the first couple of chapters didn't enamor me to him as I found him dry and repetitive. It took me a good three chapters to get into the story, and sadly I never really connected with Mark or his vamp painter employer Jonathan.
As per usual the writing was good. The faltering relationship between Mark and Jonathan felt more like a vehicle to explore the vamp blood disease idea and the world building of a USA where vamps are part of society but still not 100% accepted, than a heart clutching romance/mystery. There was companionship and trust between Mark and Jonathan but I didn’t feel the love.
I could see sparks of what would eventually become JCP’s future brilliance with her Vamp Romance “Channeling Morpheus for Scary Mary” and maybe because I loved that series so much, this story seems a little bland and lacking. You can’t win ‘em all, and while this was an engaging read it didn’t set my heart a flutter like her more recent books have.
There was an extra short story tagged on to the end of this new edition, and I'm yet to read it.
This is an excellent new (or at least different) take on the vampire story. There is just so much to appreciate in this novel. It's fast paced, though more so in the last half than the first and there is a little bit of a lull toward the middle. It's tightly plotted with an interesting shift in emphasis between the beginning and the end.
The characters are engaging, though I never quite felt I knew Jonathan as well as Mark, the primary POV. Plus, Jonathan seemed to have a little character drift between him in the beginning and him at the end. But I very much liked them both. I also very much appreciated the sexual tension, but the fact that there is very little actual sex.
The idea of vampirism as a disease isn't a new one, but I don't know that I've ever read a book in which it is so clinically addressed. I liked it. However, for a disease with an 85% mortality rate it seemed an odd forgone conclusion that the character in question would survive. I felt very little angst around this.
All in all, I really quite enjoyed this. But I've yet to read a JCP that I didn't, so no big surprise there.
The characters are engaging, though I never quite felt I knew Jonathan as well as Mark, the primary POV. Plus, Jonathan seemed to have a little character drift between him in the beginning and him at the end. But I very much liked them both. I also very much appreciated the sexual tension, but the fact that there is very little actual sex.
The idea of vampirism as a disease isn't a new one, but I don't know that I've ever read a book in which it is so clinically addressed. I liked it. However, for a disease with an 85% mortality rate it seemed an odd forgone conclusion that the character in question would survive. I felt very little angst around this.
All in all, I really quite enjoyed this. But I've yet to read a JCP that I didn't, so no big surprise there.
Audio Review: I dont know how a I feel about this book. I have a huge love hate relationship with Joel Leslies voice most pf the time hate because he turns everything into a Shakespearean theatrical production and overly dramatic. So I didnt think I was going to make it through this but I didnt feel like hunting for another audio so I just kept going. The first 50% I was bored out of my gord and was not having a good time with the story or Joel's voice. And then around the part or Jonathan possibly being patient zero my interest increased. For the most part I enjoyed Mark and Jonathan and the world was interesting and Joels voice does fit no matter how much I hate it. I would be happy to see more of these two even if it isnt my favorite JCP
3.5 stars! More queer vampire romance, although this one's also somewhat of a thriller. Set in Chicago, too, which was a lovely surprise. Great world-building, decent character dynamics. Somewhat shaky plot progression, but the middle bits in which Mark and Jonathan were on the run were a lot of fun.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love all of JCP's books but this is one of my favorites. It's a realistic vampire novel with all the attached consequences that you don't usually see in vampire romance books today. Vampirism is viewed as a contagious disease and you see it painfully brought out in every aspect of the main characters' lives, although the struggle for the main characters to be together is sweet and heart-wrenching. Loved, loved, LOVED the writing, storyline, narrator's voice, and the subplots thrown in everywhere, especially the little details that made this feel like it was real. If you want an extended ending (let's say a short continuation of the story), go check it out on JCP's site.
Well, that was an incredibly enjoyable read! The characters were well fleshed out and immensely likable. The main protagonist's voice was very readable and wonderfully entertaining, the action was well crafted and the drama regarding the main antagonist satisfyingly creepy without being completely over the top.
It was a work of fiction, but the obvious parallels between the spread and impact of the Vampire virus in the book with the spread and impact of HIV in the real world gave the issues the heroes faced a certain poignancy I don't think would have been present if not for this backdrop. It was a really interesting premise which really highlighted - sometimes shockingly - what it must have been like for people in the gay community when AIDS was first discovered.
I liked this book a whole lot. My only complaints? One, that the heroes go from hot, desperate heavy petting in the
My other very minor issue was that I was a little disappointed my slightly dowdy but seriously awesome Mark needed to be transformed into stunning, sexy - not to mention fashion-model thin - vampiric perfection in order to get the guy and live happily ever after.I think I would have liked it better if the virus didn't automatically make everyone gorgeous, but then again I guess that's vampirism for you; it can't help but make things sexy, even that insipid actor Kristen whatshername.
It was a work of fiction, but the obvious parallels between the spread and impact of the Vampire virus in the book with the spread and impact of HIV in the real world gave the issues the heroes faced a certain poignancy I don't think would have been present if not for this backdrop. It was a really interesting premise which really highlighted - sometimes shockingly - what it must have been like for people in the gay community when AIDS was first discovered.
I liked this book a whole lot. My only complaints? One, that the heroes go from hot, desperate heavy petting in the
Spoiler
hospital after all the bad guys are dealt with to happy domesticity some time down the track via a quick time skip. After everything they went through (and I with them) I really wanted some seriously major sex! But ok, companionship and happiness is good too, and I can understand when a sex scene is just not going to fit into the story without forcing it. Fair enough.My other very minor issue was that I was a little disappointed my slightly dowdy but seriously awesome Mark needed to be transformed into stunning, sexy - not to mention fashion-model thin - vampiric perfection in order to get the guy and live happily ever after.
3.25 stars
Well, I don't even know what to say. The beginning was interesting but then all the action was meh, the twists were predictable, and I'm not vibing with this couple.
NOTE: Also, why is this virus so "similar" to Covid-19; using gloves, washing hands, it's highly contagious, etc...
Well, I don't even know what to say. The beginning was interesting but then all the action was meh, the twists were predictable, and I'm not vibing with this couple.
NOTE: Also, why is this virus so "similar" to Covid-19; using gloves, washing hands, it's highly contagious, etc...
Oh, I loved this book.
Jordan Castillo Price is one of those authors that makes me glad I bought an e-reader, because otherwise I doubt I would ever have read Hemovore or Among the Living, which I also enjoyed. At the same time, however, I found myself wishing that I had been reading Hemovore in paperback form rather than e-book form. There were several times I would have liked to have been able to flip back and forth between parts of the book in order to confirm certain world rules, and that would have been easier to do with a paperback.
I had a hard time figuring out, at first, whether Mark was just a paranoid germophobe, or whether all his precautions were justified. Even after it became clear that, yes, his precautions were justified, I still had trouble wrapping my brain around the way Hemovore's world worked. As contagious as the hemovore virus was (much more contagious than HIV), I wouldn't have been surprised at all if Mark managed to catch it from Jonathan while they were on the run. In fact, I couldn't really understand why the hemovore virus hadn't taken over the whole world already, since stage one was easy to mistake for normal illness and V-positives were already contagious at that point. In the U.S. at least, V-positives seemed to inspire both fear and fascination, and I couldn't quite get a picture in my head of how that would work.
None of my questions about the world were enough to get in the way of my enjoyment of this book, however. Mark's “voice” was appealing: snarky, quirky, and a little neurotic. If I hadn't long since abandoned marking favorite lines in my e-books (the controls on my e-reader are annoyingly clunky), I'd probably have marked up a good chunk of this book. An example of one of the lines I enjoyed so much: “Dear Lord. I'd become a celebrity in the goth-vampire freedom-fighter circuit.” (p. 98 on my Nook). I also loved the part where Jonathan forced himself to try one of the flavored oil shakes, for lack of any other food.
The only time I found myself wishing parts of the story had been told from Jonathan's perspective was after Jonathan finally revealed how he felt about Mark. It was such a bittersweet, heartbreaking moment, but I was still left feeling a little unsatisfied, wondering what it was about Mark that attracted Jonathan to him in the first place. Jonathan, as far as I can remember, never said. Still, I enjoyed how the setup, with Jonathan and Mark unable to touch each other with their bare skin, kept the sexual tension high and prevented sex scenes from taking over the book.
Although Jonathan and Mark spent a good chunk of the book running and hiding, it never felt monotonous. Things kept progressively getting worse for them. They had no blood and Jonathan was resistant to taking Mark's – in fact, he wasn't even sure he could keep Mark's blood down if he did drink it. They had cash, but not much. They needed antimicrobial gloves and gels in order to keep Mark from catching the virus from Jonathan, but all those things cost money. They needed to stay out of the sunlight, which limited their hiding and traveling options. The list of obstacles in their way went on and on, and I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how they would survive.
I'm still not sure whether I like the ending. I don't mind that it's happy, but I found it a little surreal that Mark went from being Jonathan's cat blood-procuring, painting-selling assistant to genius art critic. Even so, I loved the book as a whole, so much so that I'm considering getting a print copy in the event that my e-book file becomes unusable in the next few years. I tend to worry more about the longevity of my e-book collection than I do about my print collection, and this is one I don't think I'd want to lose.
(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Jordan Castillo Price is one of those authors that makes me glad I bought an e-reader, because otherwise I doubt I would ever have read Hemovore or Among the Living, which I also enjoyed. At the same time, however, I found myself wishing that I had been reading Hemovore in paperback form rather than e-book form. There were several times I would have liked to have been able to flip back and forth between parts of the book in order to confirm certain world rules, and that would have been easier to do with a paperback.
I had a hard time figuring out, at first, whether Mark was just a paranoid germophobe, or whether all his precautions were justified. Even after it became clear that, yes, his precautions were justified, I still had trouble wrapping my brain around the way Hemovore's world worked. As contagious as the hemovore virus was (much more contagious than HIV), I wouldn't have been surprised at all if Mark managed to catch it from Jonathan while they were on the run. In fact, I couldn't really understand why the hemovore virus hadn't taken over the whole world already, since stage one was easy to mistake for normal illness and V-positives were already contagious at that point. In the U.S. at least, V-positives seemed to inspire both fear and fascination, and I couldn't quite get a picture in my head of how that would work.
None of my questions about the world were enough to get in the way of my enjoyment of this book, however. Mark's “voice” was appealing: snarky, quirky, and a little neurotic. If I hadn't long since abandoned marking favorite lines in my e-books (the controls on my e-reader are annoyingly clunky), I'd probably have marked up a good chunk of this book. An example of one of the lines I enjoyed so much: “Dear Lord. I'd become a celebrity in the goth-vampire freedom-fighter circuit.” (p. 98 on my Nook). I also loved the part where Jonathan forced himself to try one of the flavored oil shakes, for lack of any other food.
The only time I found myself wishing parts of the story had been told from Jonathan's perspective was after Jonathan finally revealed how he felt about Mark. It was such a bittersweet, heartbreaking moment, but I was still left feeling a little unsatisfied, wondering what it was about Mark that attracted Jonathan to him in the first place. Jonathan, as far as I can remember, never said. Still, I enjoyed how the setup, with Jonathan and Mark unable to touch each other with their bare skin, kept the sexual tension high and prevented sex scenes from taking over the book.
Although Jonathan and Mark spent a good chunk of the book running and hiding, it never felt monotonous. Things kept progressively getting worse for them. They had no blood and Jonathan was resistant to taking Mark's – in fact, he wasn't even sure he could keep Mark's blood down if he did drink it. They had cash, but not much. They needed antimicrobial gloves and gels in order to keep Mark from catching the virus from Jonathan, but all those things cost money. They needed to stay out of the sunlight, which limited their hiding and traveling options. The list of obstacles in their way went on and on, and I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how they would survive.
I'm still not sure whether I like the ending. I don't mind that it's happy, but I found it a little surreal that Mark went from being Jonathan's cat blood-procuring, painting-selling assistant to genius art critic. Even so, I loved the book as a whole, so much so that I'm considering getting a print copy in the event that my e-book file becomes unusable in the next few years. I tend to worry more about the longevity of my e-book collection than I do about my print collection, and this is one I don't think I'd want to lose.
(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)