3½ stars - All That Bleeds is about Alissa North a modern day muse who is descended from the ancient Greek muses (which means she, like the others, have a good bit of human in them, also). In the 1950s a breed of shape shifting vampires decimated the population until the muses inspired humanity to find a way to fight back and defeat them. All of the vampires were killed but their offspring, half-human, half-vampires called Ventala, were spared, but are still considered animals and aren't allowed near the muses, who live in the Etherlin, because their blood is even more tempting than run-of-the-mill human blood.
The muses have the ability to inspire greatness in people who are inclined to it and Alissa and the other muses are vying for the Wreath Muse, which affords the wearer added powers and the ability to see memories, as well. Alissa wants it because her father has been unstable since her mother, also a muse, killed herself years earlier, and she believes the Wreath will help her cure him. Muses aren't supposed to use their magic other than for helping aspirants, so that alone would get her into big trouble with the Etherlin Council, but she's also been secretly writing to Merrick, a Ventalan who saved her life years before. When Alissa is kidnapped, it's Merrick who saves her and stays with her to try and find out who's behind the kidnapping, believing it has to do with the Wreath Muse competition.
I liked this book, but not as much as I feel like I should have. The plot and writing are all good, as is the set up to Merrick and Alissa's relationship, but I never felt as invested in the characters as I think I should have been. I think part of it is that, despite their words and actions, for a good chunk of the book I felt that Merrick wanted Alissa because having her and her blood would be the ultimate get and Alissa wanted Merrick because he was the bad boy Ventala, I mean, it sounds like he wrote three lines max per letter and sent her gifts; that's not gonna make me fall in like, let alone love, with a guy. ****spoiler**** I also didn't like the way Alissa seemed so strong in a lot of instances, but allowed herself to be taken advantage of when she was younger and never did anything about it, even though she had to know the jerk would probably do it again.****end of spoiler**** Additionally, I thought that a good deal of the secondary characters, while they might be interesting (Lysander, for example), could have been a little more fleshed out and given more depth, though this may be coming in the second book. There was no major cliffhanger, though there are several things that need to be solved/addressed in upcoming books. Despite the flaws I felt this had, I'll likely check out the next book in the series.
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Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries
Cheryl
A little on the fence about this one.
Reviewed in the United States on 25 February 2012Verified Purchase
Douglas C. Meeks
Good mix of UF and PNR, 4+ Star
Reviewed in the United States on 21 July 2012Verified Purchase
Kelley
Glad I brought
Reviewed in the United States on 28 September 2019Verified Purchase
Beth Lombardo
The First of this Series and it is Awesome!!
Reviewed in the United States on 28 January 2013Verified Purchase
Amazon Customer
Intriguing romance with a supernatural twist
Reviewed in the United States on 16 February 2012Verified Purchase
