Review: Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace

Book: Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace
Series:  Vampire Born #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Young Adult
Buy A Copy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble
Available Formats: Ebook / Paperback
Publication Date: August 26th, 2011
Publisher: Accendo Press
How Did I Get This Book: From Author, For Review.
Description: Brooke Keller is a high school junior who has never spent much time living in one place. She is finally in a town long enough to almost snag the boy of her dreams, until her life is threatened after killing a fanged man in his attempt to kidnap her. Brooke begins a dangerous journey in an effort to find out who is after her and how to stop them. In a world with powerful and prejudiced vampires, Brooke must tap into the side of her that she never knew existed at the risk of losing her life in order to save it.

Descended By Blood by Angeline Kace is a solid debut. While I did have some issues with the storyline, the excitement of the plot kept me happily reading. 

First of all, my main compliant lies with the main character, Brooke. Let’s just say that she is incredibly melodramatic. I felt like she was crying every two seconds. She was definitely an emotional character. This was only worsened by the fact that Brooke’s relationships formed at a breakneck speed. Brooke falls in love with two separate boys in an incredibly short span. First she dates Jaren for a few days then has a massive breakdown when she finds out that he may reconnect with his ex. Then, skip ahead a few weeks and they are head over heels in love. Then, Mirko is introduced, things get rocky with Jaren and suddenly she loves them both. I understand that it is possible to have feelings for more than one person at a time and I can even buy into the fact that “love” is easy to come by as a teenager. But I just cannot get behind the fact that Brooke falls for two guys so quickly and so completely. She doesn’t really know either one, never mind the fact that she is constantly fighting for survival. Does she really have time to be worrying about her love life?

That being sad, I still do like Brooke and Mirko together.  As a reader, I can go for the good boy or the bad boy. It really just depends on the specific relationship between the characters. And I really did not like the relationship between Brooke and Jaren. I did not really feel their chemistry and to be honest, he just really annoyed me. Jaren is the first to be introduced and as I read, I found myself waiting to see what was behind door number two. I knew there was a love triangle in the book and I could not wait to meet Mirko. While I said before, I feel the relationship between him and Brooke moved too quickly, I still feel they would be good together. Hopefully in the next book we will see more of the little things between them; see them slowly learn each other.

The story itself was fast-paced and full of excitement. Even though I did not exactly love Brooke, I still found the storyline intriguing. Kace introduces a complex vampire world that is incredibly fun to piece together and work out. I hope she expands on all the vampire politics in the upcoming sequel, because I found them utterly fascinating.

All things considered, I enjoyed Descended By Blood.  While I found flaws with the story and characters, I still found it be entertaining. And when it comes down to it, isn’t that what we want as readers? Sometimes your brain needs a vacation and you just want to escape into an excitement, thrilling world.

Favorite Quotes:

Big cities try to produce their own stars with skyscrapers and street lamps, but it doesn’t create the same splendor.

I threw the door shut behind me in case anyone had any doubt of what kind of mood I was in.

Just make sure that whatever you decide, it’s what all of you wants, not just the torn part of you that speaks louder.

What about if we both took her on? At the same time. I come in with my invisible stuff and grab her, while you come in with your cracked-out Bruce Lee?