Rachel Rambles About Bloodspell

Bloodspell by Amalie Howard
From Goodreads:

The spell was simple...

Cruentus Protectum (Defend the Blood)

But what do you do if your blood is your enemy?

Victoria Warrick has always known she was different. An outcast at school, she is no stranger to adversity. But when she receives an old journal for her seventeenth birthday, nothing prepares her for the dark secrets it holds -- much less one that reveals she's a witch with unimaginable power.

What's more, when she meets the dazzling but enigmatic Christian Devereux, she has no idea how much her life is about to change. Enemies will hunt her. Friends will turn on her. The terrible curse that makes her blood run black will stop at nothing to control her. And Christian has a sinister secret of his own...

Without knowing whom to trust, can Victoria survive her blood's deadly desires? Or will she lose everything, including herself?

I discovered this book when I met Amalie Howard at Kristi Cook's launch party for Mirage the other day, and basically I was all "ooooooooh pretty cover! And it's about witches?? I'M IN."

The main character, Victoria, is pretty awesome. On her seventeenth birthday, she finds out that she's a witch. And well, her whole life just gets a little bit crazy. She has to learn to use these new powers and oh BONUS her blood is doing this really weird thing and she doesn't know how to control it. But through all of that, she remains really strong and badass.

And then there's this guy. His name is Christian. I think I'm in love with him. Christian and Victoria experience a lot of ups and downs in their relationship. They have a lot of issues because of all their FEEEEELINGS and whatnot. Also, you know, they're TECHNICALLY not allowed to even be together AND they might accidentally kill each other. Just normal teenage stuff! I think the relationship is realistic and believable, and it was done really well. ALSO MAYBE THERE WERE A LOT OF KISSING SCENES IDK IDK.

But wait, there's more! While this book had a really awesome romance going on, I was more interested in the WITCHES AND VAMPIRES thing. Yes. This book has both witches AND vampires. At first, I wasn't really sure how that was going to work out. I was all "Hmmm, witches and vampires? Both of them? REALLY? HOW'S THAT GOING TO WORK? *judge-y face*" But I needn't have worried because this book taught me a very valuable lesson. The lesson is that witches + vampires = PURE AWESOME. So yeah. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the two supernatural worlds blended together.

And let's just talk about Leto for a second. Because guys, Leto is a cat. A TALKING cat! He is definitely my favorite character. I have so much love for him.

There are a bunch of other really interesting characters, too. Some of them make me so nervous and I do not trust them at all, and then there are others that I can't help but love. Both the bad guys and the good guys are all fascinating to read about.

And finally, there is action. A lot of it. There's this amazingly epic fight scene that it so freaking INTENSE! Ahhhh! I want to talk about it, but it would be a major spoiler so I guess I'll just shut up now. But trust me, the scene is so completely awesome.

So, let's see. Witches, check. Vampires, check. Badass heroine, check. Hot guy, check. Talking cat, check. Epic fight scene, check. This book is awesome. You should read it.

-Rachel