Review: Dark, Raw, Intense!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 16, 2013
Move over and make room for one more vampire series! Yes, we NEED this one! Yes, this one IS different! I just finished Blood Gift by Amy Lee Burgess and, in a word…WHOA! Dark, painful, emotionally chaotic and completely magnetic, Blood Gift had me from page one, totally. Claire was an abused child, lonely, constantly reminded of how she ruined her alcoholic mother’s life. That cycle of abuse was repeated with her addict boyfriend, until one day, she had had enough. Would becoming a vampire change her life? Make her special? Raise her self-esteem? Wasn’t the life of a vampire one of power and glamor? What Claire finds is that vampires are as flawed as the rest of us, and her need for acceptance brings her as much pain as pleasure in this dark world filled with over the top blood, lust and desire. Will she ever be able to trust anyone? Is there anyone who can give her love without strings attached? Anyone she can trust, believe in, rely on, but if someone offered all that she craves, is she capable of recognizing it and holding on tight?Amy Lee Burgess has crossed some genre boundaries with this one! This is definitely a dark paranormal read, but there is the romance element, the need for learning to trust, overcoming the past and healing, all very romantic. The dialogue shared between characters feels real, often raw and emotionally charged, but never forced! As the foundation for a new series, with a diverse cast of characters, each uniquely damaged in their own way, these vamps are very HUMAN, very believable. The brutality displayed is painful to watch, but necessary to know these characters and understand their lives, immortal or not. How often can you read a paranormal tale and really “feel” for the characters as people? Ms. Burgess made me feel and want to understand what made each character tick, then she filled in all of the blanks, with dark, bold strokes and a writing style that flows throughout.Like I said, move over and make room for another vampire series! I received a review copy as part of THE CIRCLE: BLOOD GIFT BOOKSHELF TOUR & GIVEAWAY stopping at Tome Tender December 20th. I am so glad a review copy was offered!