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juiceb 's review for:
Blood Orange
by Karina Halle
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a dreadful experience that could only be described as if the worst of Twilight and Wattpad. The only enjoyable about it was the fact that it ended. The characters of Dahlia and Valtu felt so uninteresting and actively obnoxious at worse. Dahlia's motivation for being a "vampire slayer" (though, she seems incredibly shitty at that job) is her parents' death which gets a rushed and unimaginative conclusion at the very end. She was told by her witchy coven - or whatever it's called, the author clearly doesn't care so why should I? - that vampires killed her parents. Guess what? That was a lie! How creative, how original.
The escalation of Dahlia and Valtu's relationship is so absurd. She is his student. This plays no significant part in their dynamic. It's brought up... for what? Her method of assassinating him is to... seduce him? Ok, so it's every trope we can think of... right. Speaking of which, the reincarnation aspect of this is so played out and ridiculous it's not even funny. We are meant to believe that Mina, Lucy, Dahlia AND, Rose are the same person reincarnated???? They aren't similar and for the majority of this novel, Dahlia only has a vague feeling she has somehow known Valtu for so much longer. The way the reincarnation is done is so played out. It's a cheap and lazy way to force chemistry where there is none between two cardboard cutout main characters.
The worst part is that this entire novel was a waste of time because Dahlia DIES! In the stupidest way possible, mind you. Valtu kills her because of a miscommunication that could've so easily been resolved.
This novel was largely unsatisfying. It tries to have expansive worldbuilding and it fails, it tries to have complex and interesting characters and it fails, it tries to create an intriguing and spicy romance and fails.
The escalation of Dahlia and Valtu's relationship is so absurd. She is his student. This plays no significant part in their dynamic. It's brought up... for what? Her method of assassinating him is to... seduce him? Ok, so it's every trope we can think of... right. Speaking of which, the reincarnation aspect of this is so played out and ridiculous it's not even funny. We are meant to believe that Mina, Lucy, Dahlia AND, Rose are the same person reincarnated???? They aren't similar and for the majority of this novel, Dahlia only has a vague feeling she has somehow known Valtu for so much longer. The way the reincarnation is done is so played out. It's a cheap and lazy way to force chemistry where there is none between two cardboard cutout main characters.
The worst part is that this entire novel was a waste of time because Dahlia DIES! In the stupidest way possible, mind you. Valtu kills her because of a miscommunication that could've so easily been resolved.
This novel was largely unsatisfying. It tries to have expansive worldbuilding and it fails, it tries to have complex and interesting characters and it fails, it tries to create an intriguing and spicy romance and fails.