Take a photo of a barcode or cover
thehazeylibrary 's review for:
A Bargain So Bloody
by Vasilisa Drake
I went into this book not having read anything from Drake but after reading the description it seemed to be right up my alley. Individualized magic system, prison break, and a broody "he falls first" vampire?? Sign me up! The book certainly delivered on their enemies to lovers theme and despite it being such an intensely slow burn there were some big, big moments of delicious tension.
However, there were so many things I found just less than fun for me. Although it's not marked as such I almost want to say this book really leans very YA purely based on how the level of naivety our FMC Samara possesses remains sky high throughout most of the book. Yes, she went into a prison when she was 9 but making her not know about some even basic female anatomy made her seem like some sheltered porcelain doll and not the fiery passionate badass I'm hoping she turns out to be. Secondly, the fact that we still don't know what landed Samara in prison is just a huge frustration. Samara's inner monologue was a constant companion that I found myself looking to be cut shorter. Our MMC Raphael we saw not enough of. He seemed to just pop up when convenient just to provide our FMC with ore emotional confusion.
I think this book is a really great choice for readers who are looking for a more YA leaning slow burn vampire x human forced proximity vibe. The world building was vivid and easy to follow while the secondary characters also definitely added to some of the flourish in this book. Dark, broody, and morally great vampy MMC is a definite bonus. For me this is really a 3-3.5, but I can definitely see it being a new favorite for others so I'd still recommend it to most!
Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
However, there were so many things I found just less than fun for me. Although it's not marked as such I almost want to say this book really leans very YA purely based on how the level of naivety our FMC Samara possesses remains sky high throughout most of the book. Yes, she went into a prison when she was 9 but making her not know about some even basic female anatomy made her seem like some sheltered porcelain doll and not the fiery passionate badass I'm hoping she turns out to be. Secondly, the fact that we still don't know what landed Samara in prison is just a huge frustration. Samara's inner monologue was a constant companion that I found myself looking to be cut shorter. Our MMC Raphael we saw not enough of. He seemed to just pop up when convenient just to provide our FMC with ore emotional confusion.
I think this book is a really great choice for readers who are looking for a more YA leaning slow burn vampire x human forced proximity vibe. The world building was vivid and easy to follow while the secondary characters also definitely added to some of the flourish in this book. Dark, broody, and morally great vampy MMC is a definite bonus. For me this is really a 3-3.5, but I can definitely see it being a new favorite for others so I'd still recommend it to most!
Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.