Review: Flesh and Blood by Kristen Painter

Sep 202012

Flesh and Blood by Kristen Painter
Book borrowed from library

Synopsis from Goodreads: With the Ring of Sorrows still missing, and the covenant between othernaturals and mortals broken, Chrysabelle’s life outside the realm of vampire nobility is about to take another downhill slide. She’s vowed to help the outcast Malkolm find a way to lift his curse, but that means returning to the home city of the vampire who’s trying to kill her. The breaking of the covenant has also activated an ancient organization designed to protect mankind — the Kubai Mata.

And when Kubai Mata Thomas Creek comes to Paradise City, Chrysabelle finds herself torn between the need to save Malkolm and the desire to stay on the path of light. Finally fulfilling her vow to Malkolm proves devastating for Chrysabelle. If she survives, what’s left of her life will never be the same.

Christal’s Review – 3.5 Skulls – B-

Flesh and Blood is the second in the House of Comarré series. It picks up about two weeks after the events of Blood Rights. I didn’t find this book to be quite as strong as the first, but I still really enjoyed it.

The main reason this book didn’t work as well for me was the amount of POV changes. There seemed to be twice as many narrators in this book and the POV switches always occurred right when something big was about to go down. It pulled me out of the story and made the different plots feel jarring instead of neatly weaving within one another. That said, I still loved the characters and overall feel of Ms. Painter’s world. Not to mention, this series has some of the most gorgeous cover art.

“What would the public do when Halloween had come and gone but the monsters still remained?”

The covenant between our world and the vampires has been broken. Malkolm and Chrysabelle haven’t spoken in weeks. Chrysabelle is still grieving the loss of her mother, while Malkolm is trying to put his life back together after learning Tatianna is really his wife. Chrysabelle made a promise to Mal, to help him find the cure for his curse, and she intends to pay up. While reading her late mother’s journals, she stumbles across a note mentioning a brother. Desperate to find out if he still lives, she begins researching a risky ceremony to contact The Aurelian. If successful, she could find out the answers to both her and Mal’s questions. If she fails, it could cost her life. All the while, Tatianna is lurking on the background with a plan to kidnap Chrysabelle and get the Ring of Sorrow back for herself.

I adore the characters of Chrysabelle and Malkolm. They are both damaged and tortured, but know they have to buck up and get stuff done. Chrysabelle has a sweetness and strength that can’t be shaken. Mal has to constantly fight his cursed side, but deep down is a loving and caring character. They have a great dynamic together and I enjoy the slow build of their relationship. The person that I didn’t care for much this time around was a new character, Creek. I didn’t find him that integral to the story and really disliked the love-three-way that seems to be happening. I found his order, the Kubai Mata, interesting but he didn’t seem to offer much to the plot as a single character.

“Pain always seemed to make her more beautiful.”

I absolutely loved Doc in this book and sympathized with his plight to save Fiona. The lengths that he went to were pretty heart-wrenching, and I’m still not sure if they will get their HEA or not. They are terrific together though; their love for one another shines through in each scene.

Tatianna is a bit of an enigma. She’s this vampire badass, who cons other vamps easily, but she is constantly foiled by Chrysabelle. In the scenes were she is scheming alone, she seems so devious and… just evil. When it comes down to show time though, it seems like she has always missed some small thing or finds herself depending on the wrong person and her plans fail.

“She’d come to believe that the only real crime was getting caught.”

Chrysabelle’s search for answers was really intriguing and I hope we learn more about her family in the next books. The new conflict with the witches seems like it will be another layer added onto the broken covenant. Will Aliza and Evie become new power players? They certainly seem to be up to no good and now they have vampire blood to fuel their spells. Chrysabelle’s condition and Malkolm’s actions at the end of the book are sure to have repercussions in Bad Blood and I am interested to see how they change both characters.

Rating: ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠ ☠

Series Reading Order:
0.5. Forbidden Blood (e-novella)
1. Blood Rights
2. Flesh and Blood
3. Bad Blood
4. Out for Blood (Expected publication: October 30th 2012)
5. Last Blood (Expected publication: 2013)

Share and Enjoy

Christal

Hi everyone, I’m Christal. I am married to a wonderful guy and work in the education field. Reading is my preferred hobby and I never leave home without a book or my e-reader. I will read any book that catches my eye, but my favorite genres are urban fantasy, paranormal romance, fantasy, steam punk, historical fiction, and dystopian/post apocalyptic.

2 Responses to “Review: Flesh and Blood by Kristen Painter”

Comments (1) Pingbacks (1)

Regina says:

September 24, 2012 at 10:33 am

POV changes seem to make a book or break a book. Great review!

Reply