Title: Blood Torn
Series: The Immortals
Author: Shelley Wilson
Publisher: BHC Press
Genre: Horror, Teens & YA
Release Date: 21st May 2024
BLURB
Dying opened up a whole new world for Emma. A world of vampire gifts, cravings, and betrayal. Now a vital member of the team, Emma and her friends are hunting down the vampire responsible for the downfall of the Haven: her sister.
Emma knew it wouldn’t be easy, but the challenges soon become too much. Determined to destroy her sister and end the war between the Immortals and the half-blood rogues, Emma seeks out the imposing Astley brothers, Henry and Charles, hoping to form an alliance with the Immortal family.
As Emma is drawn deeper into the dark world of the Astley’s estate, she begins to question if the brothers are truly her allies or if they have a secret agenda—one that will put everything she loves at risk.
REVIEW
I really like the covers of this book series, the first one, Blood Born is all dark with a light rose, and this one, Blood Torn is the opposite and is light with a dark rose. I love that it fits the book so well, in that Amelia and Emma are opposites.
Blood Torn picks up more or less a year later than where Blood Born left us, New Haven is now inhabited by half bloods with Cara at the helm and Pierce her second and Dustin, literally the only human in the group the keeper and updater of the codex. Emma is still coming to terms with the death of her father Thomas at the hands of her sister Amelia along with the betrayal of James whom she had fallen head over heels in love with. Emma is spending a lot of time in the woods surrounding Hartfield Manor away from her friends. Its whilst she is in the woods that James appears and warns her to be careful who she trusts and hints he may be having second thoughts about Amelia and her cause. Emma discovers she has both light & dark within her and she has to both accept this and quickly learn to use both to overcome the increasing obstacles in her way.
Murders are taking place and though its highly likely that it is Amelia, the evidence is leaving a trail pointing to Astley Manor, so the decision is made for Emma to go meet with the Immortal family. Emma meets head of the Astley family Charles Astley and his younger brother Henry in the hope of forming an alliance to take down Amelia and end the war between the Immortals and half-bloods. Amelia is also attacking New Haven half-bloods at every opportunity, openly taunting Emma when she takes two of Emma’s closest friend’s hostage. Amelia then cryptically demands that Emma choose which one lives and which one dies. There are sad losses in the book making the battles even more realistic and hard hitting. Amelia already knows how to push Emma’s buttons and doesn’t care who dies in the process. Emma has to come to terms with losing a battle or two in order to win the war.
Emma is really up against it in this book. When she separates herself from her friends at New Haven and goes off on a lone mission she is captured and at first thinks she has been totally betrayed but it soon becomes apparent Emma has more allies than she thought. Sadly, Amelia has not finished taking people that Emma holds dear away and once again kills to weaken Emma. Emma has to toughen up and quick if she wants to save her friends old and new. Can she tap into her darkness enough to convince her captor that she has switched sides and is fully on board with his crazy plans for the future. Emma has to be patient, and observant to discover Amelia’s weaknesses or rather her own particular areas of strength that she can use against both her captor and her sister Amelia. Emma has some difficult decisions to make and whilst she wants to keep her friends out of harm’s way, she will need them for the final confrontation and battle. Emma has to face and carry out some nasty tasks, doing things she vowed she never would, but when it comes down to it, she has to look to the greater good and hope she can put things right when the battle is over, presuming she is still alive to do so.
Characters I loved were of course Emma, Kai and Dustin. I enjoyed the “first love” between Emma and James. Then the friendship, turned budding romance between Emma and Kai which even though initially Emma stubbornly resists, Kai continues to be a supportive friend and is patient with her despite feeling hurt. I adored the quick friendship, almost kinship between Emma and Ruby. I really liked the new addition of Marcus to the group and his role he slips into within the New Haven group. I also adored the idea of Henry having a secret true love. Though there is plenty of destruction in this book there is also hope and hints at a future in it too. I guess the way it ends there could be more book set a little further in the future. There is potential with another Immortal family member still out there with a possible mistaken grudge against Emma. I would read them if there were more books, though the way the book finished it could just end there.
My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were that Blood Torn had great characters old & new, and a plot full of suspense with plenty of clues to follow to work out who is on which side and that’s packed with action too!
Summing up, really loved reading this series! I will definitely be looking for more books by Shelley Wilson.
Thank you so much for this fabulous review!! I'm over the moon that you enjoyed Blood Torn as much as book one! Yay! You've certainly given me a few ideas for spin off stories, haha.
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