Review: Mysterious
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 22, 2013
I rarely ever review more than one novel at a time, but as these are the first two in a series, I decided to put them together. These are the first two novels in the Arcada series. Like most gay erotica horror, the stories feature vampires, werewolves, and other mysterious creatures grappling not only with their preternatural state, but also with their love lives as gay men.Blacque/ Bleu opens the series with a story about forbidden love between vampires and werewolves. McBride uses the werewolf to parallel the homophobia in society as gay werewolves are not tolerated. A torrid love affair turns into devotion and both creatures must fight their nature and the outside world. Silver/ Steel continues the werewolf motif only this time, we are introduced to a creature called a dream hunter. McBride provides continuity from the first novel through Travis. He's the younger brother of our werewolf from volume one.In a point by point comparison, Blacque/ Bleu is the superior novel. Here's my rundown:Volume one:-stands alone as a single novel (always a plus for non-serial readers)-narrative is well structured-characters well-developedVolume two:-confusing narrative (at times it seems to drift off track into too many details)-does not stand alone-the dream states can become a bit too surrealI'm intrigued by the idea that the town Arcada is somehow mysterious. It seems McBride might be working into creating a character in the town itself. Very interesting! She explores graphic sexuality without turning it gratuitous, a nice touch. I prefer the more down-to-earth creatures rather than the more mystical, fantasy style, but I'm curious to see where she's going. I'll stick around for more.Netgalley preview edition