Title: Blood Born
Series: The Immortals
Author: Shelley Wilson
Publisher: BHC Press
Release Date: 23rd May 2023
BLURB from Goodreads
Floating. Falling. Dying.
Emma's brutal death at the hands of a vampire should have been the end, but a mysterious stranger steps in and changes her path forever.
As seventeen-year-old Emma struggles with her cravings, temper, and a kidnapped grandmother, she is thrust into a war between Immortal vampires and the half-blood rogues.
Her simple life begins to unravel as blood and secrets entwine to uncover a dark history and an even darker destiny.
Will Emma choose the right side, or will she bring an end to everyone she knows?
REVIEW
The cover has an older “grown up” vibe, quite minimalist yet still striking and the byline of “Death was only the beginning” certainly piqued my interest. Also having read another book by this author I decided to take a closer look and then reading the blurb for the book I decided it was firmly on my “had to read” list! I wasn’t disappointed!
Emma didn’t have the best start in life, her mother died in childbirth and she has been brought up by a rather cold and distant grandmother Flora. Or that’s who she presumes Flora is. Emma has always been a loner, preferring to be alone with her thoughts. Things become rapidly worse and more dangerous for Emma when totally out of the blue she is attacked and killed by a vampire! However, that just the very beginning as a hooded stranger swoops in and “saves” Emma. It turns out this stranger has changed life as she knew it for Emma forever. This mystery stranger has awakened something that had been lying dormant within Emma since the day she was born. Now Emma has to come to terms with being a vampire and the fact that entails acquiring and drinking blood on a regular basis to keep control of her new even darker side and survive. When it turns out Flora had prior knowledge to the dark vampire side that was dormant within Emma, naturally Emma has an endless amount of questions. Flora brings Emma some blood bags enough to keep her safe and fed until she returns from an acquaintance that may have more of the answers that Emma seeks. Unfortunately, Flora does not return, she has been taken by someone who wishes to lure out Emma for a darker purpose. In the mean time representatives from the group Haven seek out and befriend Emma, taking her into their “safe place.”
It turns out Emma is “special” in fact she is a Blood Born vampire, her surname Hartfield means she is a descendent of one of the strongest and original families, more or less “vampire royalty”. Though Emma is befriended by those in Haven she is still an outcast, a blood born vampire amongst half blood vampires.
Theres lots of swing and twists and turns within the book, with Emma initially being accepted at Haven, then when her true Hartfield identity is revealed she is ostracised and has to slowly gain the trust of the friends she made whilst fighting an unknown who seems to want anyone she cares about dead to hurt her. Emma also trusts an older vampire so much so she begins to fall for him, only to learn something he was hiding that makes her feel totally betrayed by him.
The writing/style of the book reminded me a little of Dakota Cassidy, and Michele Bardsley but Blood Born is for a Teen/YA audience. There’s plenty of action, mystery and suspense but there is also love, romance, and humour too. I really enjoyed reading Blood Born and it did leave me wanting to know/read more. I have really only scratched the surface n my description of the book as I do not want to spoil the “surprises & twists” as and when they are revealed you read the book for yourselves
My immediate thoughts when I finished reading Blood Born were that I definitely wanted to read more. Blood Born ends with loose ends and potential for lots more to happen. The fight definitely doesn’t seem to be over yet!
Summing up, Blood Born is a really good start to a potentially brilliant series. Twins, Good vs Evil, a love interest that we aren’t sure of which side he is truly 100% on. Blood Born had great characters, the good guys, the bad guys, and the guys playing both sides! The backstory was slowly revealed, though I feel there’s more to come, the tension was building. . . .and then there’s the whole question of who/what will triumph.
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