Blood-Kissed Sky by J.A. London

Reading Level: Ages 14 and up

Paperback: 368 Pages

Release Date: December 26, 2012

Publisher: Harperteen

Narration: First Person: Dawn

Genre: Paranormal/Vampire

 

Darkness Before Dawn Series

Book One: Darkness Before Dawn

Book Two: Blood-Kissed Sky

Book Three: After Daybreak (6/25/13)

 

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Author's

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Goodreads Synopsis:

 

I thought vampires were our enemies - they controlled our lives, isolated our cities, and demanded our blood - until I met Victor. With Victor taking over as the new Lord Valentine, things were supposed to get better. Instead, they're worse than ever.

Day Walkers, a new breed of vampires who can walk in the sun, are terrorizing the city. Blood supplies are low, and if Victor's vampires don't get enough, they will become infected with the Thirst - a disease that will turn them into mindless killers.

To stop it, I must journey across the desolate wasteland to the very place where the sickness began. I can only hope that the answers that await me are enough to save us all... before it's too late.

 

My Review:

Is it just me, or does it seem like Blood-Kissed Sky

has the same cover model as Lauren Kate's Fallen series?





 

Seriously, these covers are almost exact replicas of each other! Especially the Fallen In Love one, because she's in the same pose, dress, everything! The only difference is that in this cover she's facing forward while in Blood-Kissed Sky the camera's shooting from a different angle. Don't get me wrong, I think that these covers are pretty gorgeous and their dark, gothic vibes only add to their appeal. But the one area where there sorely lacking is in the uniqueness department. I wouldn't jump at the chance to read these books, because their covers are nothing I haven't seen before. Meh.

 

I absolutely loved the protagonist, Dawn, in the first installment. She was strong, quick witted, and compassionate towards others, even if they happened to be blood sucking vampires. In Blood-Kissed Sky, I had some mixed feelings about her. For the most part, I enjoyed how she grew in character and the actions that she took in order to ensure her friends' safety. Dawn grew into an independent woman who didn't expect others to save her when she was in trouble, like one of those annoying damsel in distresses. She wasn't afraid to stand up for herself, nor was she afraid to fight back with teeth and nails if necessary.

However, there were also a couple of times when I found myself becoming annoyed with her thought process and how long it took her to come to a obvious conclusion. At certain points in the novel, Dawn thought that Victor was becoming like the tyrant his father was and even accused him of it in front of his face. She never took the time to look at things from his perspective and therefore didn't see that he in fact was not trying to be cruel, but instead was working his hardest to gain the respect of his kind while retaining his morals at the same time.

 

I didn't get to see as much of Victor as I hoped to in this novel, which is understandable due to the fact that it's imperative for these two to keep their relationship under wraps for as long as possible. Victor was as gorgeous as ever, and I really enjoyed reading about him. There were some points during the novel that I was a little skeptical and wary about the decisions he made, but in the end, I finally concluded that he was just a young guy, barely out of his teens really, trying his best to balance two worlds without destroying one in the process.

 

I never got bored with this book, that's for sure! Every single time that I started to lose interest with what was happening, something amazing and awesome arrived just in the knick of time to capture my full attention again. A few of the "twists and turns" were predictable, but the majority of them were shocking and kept me on my toes. Luckily, I started reading this during the weekend, so I was able to finish it in one sitting without worrying about feeling like crap the next day. xD

 

I wasn't all too crazy about the writing style. Out of what I saw, the grammer and the spelling were perfect, of course that's coming from someone who's grammatically inept, so I'm not sure if my word means much. xD However, the sentence structure and length could use some work. Sometimes the sentences flowed nicely and evenly, but other times they sounded choppy and abrupt. I'm guessing that London was attempting to make her novel sound more epic and suspenseful this way, but it didn't really work out.
 

Overall, I would recommend Blood-Kissed Sky to anyone who enjoys a good, thrilling paranormal novel. It was fast paced, included a good amount of twists and turns, and featured a strong heroine who wasn't afraid to kick ass when needed. I will definitely be looking forward to the last installment of this series!

 

Note: This review was entered for the 2013 January Paranormal Reading Challenge. 

 

Heroine- 4.5/5

Romance- 4/5

Action- 4.5/5
Writing- 3/5

Overall- 4/5