Bloodless (Henri Dunn #2)
by Tori Centanni
Rating: 3 stars
Blurb:
Henri Dunn would love to avoid vampire bullshit for the foreseeable future, but the universe has other plans. When an exsanguinated corpse is left in the dumpster behind her workplace, Henri knows it’s a some kind of twisted message meant for her. It’s just not one she can decipher.In addition to that terrifying puzzle, Henri’s new ex-vampire roommate is not adapting well to human life and a Cure-obsessed vampire is stalking her. And of course, her enigmatic vampire sire, Sean, is being his usual elusive and infuriating self.
When another exsanguinated body is left in front of Henri’s apartment building, it becomes clear that a vicious serial killer is fixated on her. Using her ability to read memories in blood, Henri must figure out who’s behind these terrible murders and stop them before she becomes the next victim.
Bloodless is Book 2 of The Henri Dunn Urban Fantasy Series.
My Review:
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily reviewed it
The premise of this series is really original. Henri used to be a vampire until she got cured of her vampirism, since then she has been trying to become a vampire again. In this book Henri has another problem to deal with in the form of a new roommate and someone is leaving dead bodies in her path, she knows it’s a message, but what? Overall this was an enjoyable book, but it just felt like something was missing to really suck me into the story and enjoy it. And I am not even sure what. Everything was enjoyable enough and I did read this one pretty quickly, but I don’t know it just missed the mark a bit for me.
There is a bit of mystery, vampires and humans in this book. The plot line with the dead bodies mystery seemed interesting at first, but as the story progressed it started to feel more and more like a repeated pattern and there were no additional clues or hints or anything. Yes someone was leaving these bodies for her, but why? And when we find out why and I don’t know it was just a bit anti-climactic. And while I was surprised at who was behind it, it wasn’t quite a surprise for the right reason. Can’t say more because that would be a spoiler. It just seemed a bit to straightforward and I wanted a bit more mystery and intrigue?
Henri is a nice enough main character, the type who isn’t afraid to say what she thinks and sometimes acts before she thinks. She gets herself into trouble sometimes, but also isn’t afraid to do something when she feels that would help. And at the same time it felt like a lot of what she did in this book was waiting for the next shoe to drop, or body to drop in this case. Or run off to the vampires and the factory. And I just didn’t really care about any of the characters. I would’ve liked to get to know Henri a bit better, have a bit more depth to her personality as I think that would make me care about her a bit more. She wants her vampirism back and she doesn’t like the dead bodies, but at times that seems the only thing about her that we see. We do get some tidbits of information about her here and there, I just wanted more I guess. There were a few small things she did that I didn’t fully understand her reasoning behind. And she has this power which is very interesting and in my opinion we don’t see nearly enough of it.
I did like how we get to see another glimpse and side of some characters, even Henri. We get to meet some new characters and see a few old ones again. There are some character changes and developments which were interesting. And some events at the end that happened which do make me curious to see how this will develop in later books. There are some developments among the vampires who live at the factory as a result of things that happened at the end of book 1. Also because of what happened to Henri vampires she meets react to her in a certain way, some being afraid, others thinking she is a blood traitor and even others wanting the cure. I thought it was interesting to see those different reactions as they all felt realistic.
To summarize: this was a fun read and I read through it quite quickly, but something seemed missing to make me fully enjoy it. The premise for this series is pretty original and I like seeing how the author handles the topic of a cure for vampires. The mystery fell a bit flat and got a bit repetitive over time and the reveal about who was behind it was surprising, but not for a good reason. Henri is a nice enough character to read about and I enjoyed following her adventures, but I would’ve liked to see a bit more depth to her personality behind her wanting to become a vampire again. There are some interesting developments in this book and I am curious to see how these things will play out in the next book. I would recommend this series to people looking for an urban fantasy series with vampires and an original premise.
Links:
– Goodreads
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo
You can also find my review of Bloodless on Goodreads and Amazon
I think it has to be The Passage, which is a sci fi spin on the whole vampire riff which takes it to apocalyptic, end-of-the world places…
sjhigbee recently posted…While the Morning Stars Sing
That definitely does sound original!
Hmmm, so the mystery wasn’t that mysterious and things didn’t progress far with the main character’s development. Neat that you got to meet new characters and that it had some curious plot developments to keep you interested in the series.
Now, granted, I’ve not read everything out there so maybe these aren’t as original as I thought, but I found Of Scions and Men by Courtney Sloan, Winged Victory and Winged Darkness by LF Hampton, and Gail Koger’s Coletti Warlords series quite original. The first one is a post-apocaplyptic setting with an interesting vampire-human society. The second two are alien vampires. 😉
Sophia Rose recently posted…Road to Peace by Piper Davenport
It kept me interested, just a few things that lacked a bit. I had hoped for a bit more form the mystery and character development.
Those series all sound pretty original. I haven’t read about alien vampires yet.
This seems like an interesting read!! I think the most original vampire themed book was the Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands. She puts a scientific twist to it instead of the whole “evil and lost soul” theme most authors use. And the humor is great too. I do like those quick reads.
loverofromance recently posted…Book Review-All Chained Up by Sophie Jordan
I think I read the first book in that series! I thought the scientific explanation was a bit weird, but definitely interesting and original to explain it that way compared to how it’s normally handled.
Hmm, it’s tough when a book misses the mark for you but you can’t quite figure out why. Though it does sound like not connecting to the characters was probably the main issue? I know that it’s hard for me to really get into a book if I just don’t connect with the characters or if they don’t at least seem developed enough to make me feel invested. I do like urban fantasy, but to be honest I’ve always felt like, from the blurbs and now from you review, that this wouldn’t be quite for me.
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Book Review: Darkchylde: The Ariel Chylde Saga by R. Queen
Yes I do think that is the main issue. I did like the characters, but just never fully was invested in them. I agree I don’t think this one would be quite for you.
Frustrating when it has a lot of potential and just isn’t quite there. I do love the set up of her being cured and wanting to vampire self back. That’s different!
anna @ herding cats & burning soup recently posted…Crafting with Kitties– Christmas Ornament Wreath
Yes the set-up is so original and fun to read about, it has so much potential, but just doesn’t fully live up to it.
I can’t read fantasy at the moment. HUGE reading slump. But I did review a couple of Tori’s ARCs and liked them so I’ll add this to my TBR for when I can read fanatsy again. Thanks for the review Lola
Dragonfly recently posted…Book Review: Big Little Lies