Blooded by Amanda Carlson (Jessica McClain #.5)
April 11, 2012
Urban Fantasy
Novella
Reviewed by Mandi
Werewolves don’t have the DNA to create a female, so when the alpha, Callum McCain had twins, a boy Tyler (a werewolf) and a girl, Jessica (a human) the pack was stunned. Jessica’s dad has been alpha for 500 years and his word is law. Not allowing anyone to come near and harm his daughter, she has been relatively safe these past nineteen years. But things are escalating. The wolves are scared of Jessica, first for being female born to a werewolf but also because of the “Cain Myth,” a rumor that Jessica is the “Daughter of Evil” and her birth means the end to their race. Tempers flare, and Jessica can’t take the pressure anymore. While she has some skills fighting wolves, she knows the longer she stays on the compound, the more attacks will be made against her.
Her father is scared to let her leave, but Jessica and her best friend Nick have applied to a police academy about two hours away, and she thinks that might be her only chance to survive.
Blooded is a short novella (60 some pages I think) that introduces us to this world Jessica McClain lives in. With the full length book (and start of the series) out this fall, Blooded gives us a brief glimpse into this werewolf world. I like the set-up. Told in Jessica’s point of view, it looks like we are going to have a lot to discover in this world. Why is she the only female born to a wolf? What is up with the Cain Myth? How will she ever fit into this werewolf pack as a human? We meet her twin brother Tyler and her best friend Nick (a werefox adopted by the pack) and I’m intrigued to know more about them too.
So while we are introduced to this world, this novella really is just a set-up to the upcoming first book. Besides a few fight scenes, nothing else really happens. I’m sure the first book will rehash everything we learn here. It is an interesting world, but I wish we could have had a little meatier story in this novella. It ends abruptly. After reading the blurb for Full Blooded, book one – it looks like that starts about 7 years after this novella ends and something else big also happens to Jessica so I’m not sure if this novella is necessary. Definitely looking forward to Full Blooded though. I like the writing style in this one.
Rating: B-
Recent Reviews:
My Bookish Ways – 4/5
Book Lovers Inc – 3/5
Wicked Little Pixie – 5/5
Goodreads
Author’s Website l Series Listing
Might have to check out the full length book, but the novella sounds like it’d be okay to miss. Great review Mandi!
Def looking forward to full length
This was such a fun little teaser, can’t wait for Full Blooded!
Looks like a cool world :)
I really liked this novella. Action packed with just enough information to have me ready for her full length novel.
I wish there had been a little more meat in this one. But looking forward to full length.
Nice review, I would like to read this series.
I hope it’s a good one :)