This was good, and put some shape to the ever-mysterious Midnight. I really enjoyed the conclusion that the story took, which was the best possible as related to her theme of freedom versus captivity. Some pieces of the conclusion and things related to the Shantel guard. It took me a while to comprehend what had happened, but I enjoyed the book overall, and look forward to reading the next in the trilogy.p.s. WHAT ON EARTH!?!?!? ALASDAIR IS A SLAVE IN MIDNIGHT?????????? The book started out strong but weakened a bit in the middle and part of it is there isn’t much of a plot. It’s mostly just Vance trying to find out his place in the world and stuff happens around that. I thought there were some logic gaps in the world building but then came to Goodreads and learned that even though it’s not marked anywhere on the dust jacket, this ties into another series by the same author. That annoyed me and would have been good to know. This might not have been the book I chose to start with because maybe the author is assuming we already know a lot of this. That would explain the lax world building. I have to confess I’ve been curious about this author but waited to read her. I remember a time where they wouldn’t even consider publishing an author as young as she was when she first published and a lot of people were wondering was she basically a gimmick to lure in young readers. Now, with as many books as she has behind her, I thought okay there has to be more than gimmick her.And this wasn’t a bad book. I more or less enjoyed it but I did want more out of it. The point of view character is Vance Echecatl, a fourteen year old quetzal, one of the holy birds of the Aztec (the Azteca in this alternative Earth). The dust cover assures us that this form of shapeshifter will commit suicide if kept in a cage but as we go on, we learn that this is what Vance is, only he’s not really aware of it. He lives in Lady Brina’s greenhouse and the hardest thing he has to do is keep it clean for the vampire and pose for her art. He’s kept in complete luxury and has done since Mistress Jeshicka (how much do I hate this spelling? Plenty) gave him to Brina after his family abandoned him. He lives in the greenhouse with Calysta, a serpent shifter. Jeshicka is the ruler of Midnight and she and Brina are vampires (and this is where reading the other books might have helped. I couldn’t entirely figure out Midnight because it felt like pieces were missing. Vampires rule everyone. Everyone hates vampires. Shape shifters are freeborn but can be vampire slaves but are deemed traitors even if it’s not their fault and humans are…I have no idea mostly slaves I think).After the visit of the merchant Malachi Obsidian (an outlaw group as it turns out), Vance’s world is never the same. Calysta does something drastic but it’s Vance who is beaten first by Brina and then another vampire lord for literally no reason. He’s severely injured (shifters heal fast) and takes off into the woods and would have frozen if not for Malachi. Malachi seems to exist merely to sow the seeds of doubt in Vance’s mind. He tells him how cruel the world is outside of Midnight but also that Vance is in a cage and he wants to save him.Instead Vance returns to his abusers and is taken by his trainer, Taro to Jeshicka’s estate to work with another vampire, Jaguar. Jaguar’s purpose is to awaken Vance’s bloodwitch magic and I would be lying if I said I knew what that was. It remains poorly explained. Malachi keeps popping in and out and things just keep getting worse to the point Vance defending the vampires makes him seem almost too stupid to live. I had to keep reminding myself that he’s only a young boy of fourteen and not really TSTL. He’s being asked to turn against the only life he’s ever known and the only family for very little gain.Overall, it’s not a bad story and might have been a better one if I had known to read the other books first. GR says this is the first in a trilogy but I’m not sure I’ve been moved to get book two. Still, I do think this young author (who’s probably mid-twenties by now) does have talent. Vance can be a likeable character. There just needed to be less reliance on the other books for the world building (or at least a clear indication this in an established universe. I couldn’t even tell where Midnight was supposed to be) and maybe a tad less simplistic plot. I really did like the first third of the book when I was getting to know Vance.
Do You like book Bloodwitch (2014)?
It is slow read at first but gets better cant wait for the next one.
—mitch
Midnight...? Hmm...Jeshickah? OMG OMG OMG!!JAGUAR?? COUNT ME IN!
—George
