Review: Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey

Title: Blood Feud

Author: Alyxandra Harvey

Series: The Drake Chronicles
Book #: 2

Pages: 258

Reading Level: YA

Published Date: June 22, 2010

Publisher: WalkerBFYR*

Book Rating: .5

Cover Rating: 

It's been centuries since Isabeau St. Croix barely survived the French Revolution. Now she's made her way back to the living and she must face the ultimate test by confronting the evil British lord who left her for dead the day she turned into a vampire. That's if she can control her affection for Logan Drake, a vampire whose bite is as sweet as the revenge she seeks.  

The clans are gathering for Helena's royal coronation as the next vampire queen, and new alliances are beginning to form now that the old rifts of Lady Natasha's reign have started to heal. But with a new common enemy, Leander Montmarte—a vicious leader who hopes to force Solange to marry him and usurp the power of the throne for himself—the clans must stand together to preserve the peace he threatens to destroy. 

This second adventure in the Drake Chronicles—told from both Logan's and Isabeau's perspectives—has all the same butt-kicking action, heart-pounding romances and snarky humor that readers loved in Hearts at Stake, as well as exciting new revelations about the vampire dynasties to keep readers coming back for more.

Taschima's POV:

If I was late with Last Sacrifice review imagine with this one. But better late than never right?

This series is about the Drake family. The Drakes are a family of outcast vampires. Why are they outcasts you ask? Well Queen Natasha didn't like them because of this prophecy with the family and one of their children, Solage, who was supposed to be the next queen. But, **Spoiler alert if you haven't read the first book in the series called Hearts at Stake** instead of Solage being the next vampire queen is the mother who at the end kills Queen Natasha and thus becomes queen herself. Crappy prophecy if you ask me, however do not loose sleep over this event because the truth is Natasha had it coming. And so we start this book which is set about a week after the first book. However this book deals with another member of the Drake family, Logan and his future companion, or so the bones tells us, Isabeau St. Crox. 

Now that I have you fully updated I can commence with my review on this piece of literature. Hearts at Stake had a certain charm and excitement. The story was new and fresh -though of the top of my head I can name one series that deals with the story of different brothers aka The Black Dagger Brotherhood- and it was very fast paced, not to mention the characters were a trip. Lucy especially, the only human girl who hangs out with the Drake vampires because her parents have no common sense or just don't know how to keep a leash on the girl, was the bomb. She was funny and brave. Solange on the other hand was more like a dream, delicate but wonderful and romantic. They balanced each other well and worked.

On Blood Feud I have to say I didn't see this balance between the characters. It was as if we only saw Isabeau's part of the story to the fullest detail and Logan's part was underdeveloped. The story was told from both their POV's. I loved Isabeau (though I keep confusing the a and u in her name as I type). She is strong, a survivor. She survived France's revolution!! She is h-a-r-d-c-o-r-e.  We see a lot about her past life, which makes sense since she was buried for 200 years and only recently dug out. To tell you the truth her past life is probably the best part of the book! It's very detailed and so interesting. Logan on the other hand, though a dreamy male lead, seemed strong certainly, but didn't shine as much as she did. He also seemed to fall in love to easily, and I have no idea where his sudden attachment to Isabeau came from, a crush? He only knew her for about 5 minutes and already he seemed attuned to her every mood and every like. This seems a little bit unrealistic. Sure he is a vampire, but he is not 200 years old, he is only 18 or 19 I believe.

Oh that's another thing. While I like how fast paced these novels seem to be, they don't cover more than a week (this novel covered a couple of days at most). I am sorry but it's a little hard to believe that they fell in love in mere hours. Call me a cynic if you must, but you need a little more time. Unless we are taking about "love at first sight" or something, which didn't seem to be the case with these characters. Apparently they were "meant for each other". I mean, the bones told us that, so we must listen to the bones!

By the bones bit what I mean is that in this novel we were introduce to magic! It was kind of neat, specially the Dream Walking part of it. So yeah, the bones told things about the future and stuff.

And even though I have problems with these things like time, Logan's character, and their "love", I still liked the novel! I'm telling you, its fast paced awesomeness. It was nice that I got to re visit some characters from the past and read them for more than a side line. And also the plot from the first book seemed pretty finished by the end of this one so I have no idea what Out for Blood might be about, which is kind of cool. I thought she was just going to drag out the plot line for the first book for about 3 more books or so. Keeping me on my toes Miss Harvey. I like that in an author.

And finally, I think I should stop here since I blabbered as much as I can blabber for the night. The novel was good, though irritating at some points. But worth the $10 dollars I paid for it. If only for Isabeau's character and her story (love her). And really, this is a series that you must give a try to. Read Hearts at Stake, give it a go. And then read this piece of work, and later on go Out for Blood.

Other Books in this Series:

Click for my review

PS; The cover... The guy is hot as hell, but the girl gives me the creeps. Not how I picture Isabeau at all!

*Walker Books for Young Readers