Tori's Review: Bloodlands by Christine Cody

Paperback: 336 pages
Price: $7.99
ISBN: 978-0441020621
Released: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Penguin 
Author's Website: Christine Cody 
Buy it: Amazon
Obtained: Publisher 
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Dystopian
Series: Bloodlands 
Book Order:
1. Bloodlands
2. Blood Rules
3. In Blood We Trust

The New Badlands—a desolate area in the West forged by the terrible events that altered the entire country, where a few frightened citizens retreated underground to shelter from the brutal weather... and from a society gone deadly dangerous.

Then the vampire arrived—and they started calling it the Bloodlands.

Not because Gabriel, the so-called monster running from his true self, was searching for his lover’s murderer. Nor because Mariah, the woman who reluctantly took him in, was willing to do anything to survive in the changed world.

No, the Badlands officially became the Bloodlands the moment a gun-for-hire who’d decided to slay every monster left in the country came after Gabriel...

My Rating:

My Opinion:
I was waffling between rating this book a 2.5 or a 3, primarily because I wasn't too thrilled about the treatment of one of the characters at the end of the book. Now, whether that treatment is deserved is for another discussion, which is why I bumped it up half a star.

BLOODLANDS has both its good and bad moments. The good, and what instantly drew me in, was the attraction between Gabriel and Mariah. Those two had some sizzling scenes early on--particularly the one where Mariah is administering some self loving--and the passion between them had me excited about this book. In that regard, this duo effortlessly outshines a lot of other hero/heroines. 

There was an interesting twist by the end that I only semi-suspected about halfway to 3/4ths of the way in. Reflecting on prior scenes, a lot more makes sense after this big reveal, and I give kudos to the author for keeping me in the dark for so long. It was exciting not knowing what would happen next, and for the mystery aspect alone, BLOODLANDS is definitely a refreshing read. No love triangles, and certainly no pnrs where it's love at first sight in this book, folks.

Alas, the not-so-good in this novel seemed to stick with me more than the good, and is what ultimately has made me wary of future books in this series (coupled with a few less-than-stellar reviews by bloggers I trust). Instead of being a novel where there is at least some movement, we are generally restricted to Mariah's quaint home. After a while, it does get wearisome realizing that almost every single scene occurs here, and I wished that we could have at least heard about some descriptions of the outside surroundings in more detail. This is such a unique world that I feel it's almost like a crime not to focus on the worldbuilding more.

Interesting secondary characters don't get much attention for a good chunk of the book. While this is unfortunate, it is also a blessing since my interest in Gabriel/Mariah began to lessen as the novel continued, so the secondary characters were like a saving grace that kept me reading.

Mariah is... well, I want to say that she's infuriating, because she is, but there's just something about her character that rubbed off on me the wrong way. She is easily forgettable, and I think her fears are what made me tired of her. While Gabriel was easier to relate with, Mariah was not because readers are essentially told what happened to her in the past, instead of being shown. That, in my eyes, is the biggest downfall of this book because, while her situation sucks, I couldn't really make myself care. Had the author shown us the events from Mariah's past, like we're shown with Gabriel's past, I think I would have felt for our heroine a lot more.

BLOODLANDS has both its strengths and weaknesses, so I really can't recommend whether to read or avoid this novel due to my ambivalence even a month after reading it. The premise is interesting, and I admit that I was excited to read this series prior to reading any reviews about it. If you tend to have similar tastes in books, then I think that this is one of those novels that you'll have to read without knowing much about it.