Blood by K.J Wignall

Blood

K.J. Wignall

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Release Date: September 27, 2011

Series or Standalone:  Mercian Trilogy #1

ISBN: 9781606842201

Format: eGalley

Pages: 336

Source: NetGalley

Websites:

K.J Wignall – Author Site

Blood – Goodreads Page

Rating: 4.5 Stars

This book surprised me. From the title, cover and summary I thought I was in store for just another vampire book, but I was wrong. This book was not what I was expecting and I mean that in the best way possible.

I really loved the characters in Blood. This book was very character driven and the two main characters were really authentic, even if one of them is a vampire. Will is the last Earl of Mercia, even though he died way back in the 13^th century. He is a vampire, but has no clue how he became how he is. He is all alone, up until now in the 21^st century. I really sympathized with will because he has no one. He is lonely until he meets Eloise. Will is also a genuinely nice guy who was made into one of the “undead” as he likes to call himself. And then there is Eloise, a girl who seems to be part of Will’s destiny. I loved that Eloise was not some weak, defenseless female character. Instead, she takes everything in stride and offers Will friendship, something he hasn’t had in years. While Eloise seems to be tied up in Will’s destiny, the relationship between them does not feel forced. Even though Will and Eloise haven’t known each other for a long time, their relationship just works, it clicks. Eloise understands Will and his loneliness and will stick by him even if it buts her life in danger. They just work together.

Blood’s story literally blew me away. I’m not really sure what I was expecting from this book, probably some typical cheesy vampire story, but that was not what Blood was about. I loved that Will being a vampire or “undead” was not the true center point of the story. At times I even forget he was a vampire. The plot unraveled at a perfect pace and all the pieces of the mystery of who Will really is and why he is the way he is slowly clicked into place perfectly. As the first book in a trilogy, Blood set up the story perfectly. It wrapped up certain questions but left others unanswered and established a larger story arc for the series.

The writing in this book fit the story extremely well. I really liked that the writing made it very easy to visualize everything that was going on. For me, this book read like a movie in my head. It kept me engaged with the story. The writing definitely was more sophisticated then I was expecting.

I’m really glad I just randomly picked up Blood because it blew me away. This was a great first book in a series and now I really want to find out what happens next with Will. Enough questions were answered to leave me satisfied but some still have not been answered and I cannot wait to find out the answer. I am greatly looking forward to next two books in this trilogy!