Jemiah Jefferson

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I think Ariane was never happy with anything she found in life. I hope she finds a way to ground herself without relying upon man after man to full fill herself. She doesn't care for or kills anyone woman around her. It would have been nice for there to be more women vampires around.

The blood, disgusting way vampires are made is amazing. The description is something I wouldn't want to see but couldn't look away from if it was right there.

This is a book that presented the brutality of vampires like velvet over steel. I'm not sure if I would want to be a vampire in this universe but they were fun to read about.

I could not stand Daniel at first but he grew on me. By the end I was back to intense dislike but I suppose that's what she was shooting for. Daniel is not someone could can be indifferent about.

Orfeo was so morose but his long life made him interesting. I wonder if he got some thrill about being right in the end.… (mehr)

The back of the book lists a review snippet. For the sake of my review, I'd like to quote it here:

Comparisons to Anne Rice are inevitable, but Jefferson's writing is simultaneously tougher and more elegant. - Willamette Week

Well, folks, that about sums it up a lot of right there. Jefferson creates a world that's all too familiar. Finding similarities with Rice work? You aren't kidding! Even the writing style is a bit reminiscent of Lestat Land; everything from the birth of a vampire, to the angst of one, to the streets of Paris and changes of modern age.

However, I don't dismiss a book simply because its been done before. After all, sometimes when its done again by someone else, its done better! Is that the case here? Not even touching that one. Haven't read enough of Rice to compare, and wouldn't be fair to. Lets just say that if you enjoy those types of vampires, you probably wouldn't be disappointed looking here.

Like many life stories, this one goes through the motions of telling a back life. Some of it is interesting and some of it had me wanting to speed through it. That's one of the risks of these types. As a result of this tale the pace lagged a bit at times, making up for it at other moments. I enjoyed some of the moments but not much action took place. Here and there something occurred but nothing HUGE. For future reference, I like, want, love HUGE action somewhere in there. A big surprise maybe?? Perhaps a gigantic tragedy? The nearest this came was the death of a main character it was strongly dramatic more of that would have earned this book a higher rating, I think.

The characters were interesting and not poorly written, but some lacked substance. I'm used to more conscientious, morally righteous characters than Orfeo. Strangely enough, one minute he preached on treating others well and not killing, while on the other hand he didn't blink an eye to doing the deed, hearing of someone else doing it (or planning to), or react to tragedy. It seems like the act of killing someone who loved and trusted him was dismissed in his mind because he was doing it to gain someone he wanted? Odd logic there.

How the character of Daniel would turn out was predictable. Frankly his character was downright nasty and not enjoyable I would have enjoyed seeing him get the wrong end of the stick. I certainly couldn't see the main characters attraction to him, that's for sure. And of course there was also the strange subplot with his sister at the beginning?

This isn't the case with all the characters, thankfully. I actually loved Gabriel and Chicot. If they had been around more and stayed, this book may have left me in more pleasant spirits. But even with them there are flaws to be found. Their personalities clicked with me, but they were oh-so-familiar! As a clear summary, the beginning started off a little slow with a strange tutor relationship, the middle picked up and kept me more enthused, the ending was starting to irritate me with one of the characters, and the very last pages were too abrupt. Why the sudden change? Seemed like there should have been more of a lead up there. As a final slap in the face, the last paragraph left me a bit confused on who the author was referring to.

A saving grace is Jefferson's writing style. Her words flow beautifully across the pages; she has the knack of the written word and picks the right ones to express the right emotions. When things are supposed to be delightful, they are. Dark? They are. Gross? They are. Depressing? They are. The atmosphere in one scene with Maria being at her most depressed stages was haunting and carried forth through the rest of the story.

Overall, this book is readable. I didn't want to set it down once I got into it, but it took me a few tries to stay tuned. The writing style is complimentary to this type of tale, but this stories already been told before. The ending held a minor let down, let justice hadn't been done, but there were some saving scenes that held the books head above water. Its filled with sex but many of the scenes could have been made more erotic.

My advice? Read it if you're in the mood for some new vampire blood, but don't put too much stake in it capturing your heart.… (mehr)

The plot of this one may seem like an everyday vampire novel from first glance but thankfully it's a lot different once you bite in. Ariane, a grad student with a promising future and a semi-messy relationship with her fiancé, meets a vampire by fate. From then on she's caught in the uproar of being mesmerized by the forbidden, and spends the novel searching for a way to get into this "exciting" world. But as life usually goes, she learns all that glitters is not gold, and that she may have gotten in too far over her head.

There is one thing about this book that is slightly out of the norm: it definitely focuses on the sexual side of both humanity and vampires. While this isn't really different from any other vampire tale, what makes it stand out is that it's loaded with it. There are explicit details, naughty dialogue, and a high number of sexual encounters, from the first chapter to basically the last one. Not to mention not all of the sex is even straight; I wouldn't call this one PG-13. But it is erotic.

Don't go into this one expecting a peaceful, happily after ending. I was a little surprised when my eyes devoured the last sentence - from the way this novel had been going I was excepting a little bit of a different turnaround. But hey, surprises keep the blood flowing don't they? The atmosphere is mainly light with some dry humor and sarcasm, but also with cruel characters. Sex plays a large amount in the atmosphere.

Ariane is one of those characters it's hard not to emphasize with. She's realistic, but also cute without trying to be. Her intelligence is definitely higher (she's a scientist), and she has this internal sense of humor that kept me chuckling throughout. Seeing things in first person through the eyes of a character like this always make a story flow smoother; from page one we're smacked right in the middle of the action. With this novel, I feel like I'm reading about a creature with dimension, with substance, not just a cardboard monster.

Thankfully Jefferson's vampires were anything but typical; new vampire rules are invented here, no day-old formula was followed. One is a saddened, disheartened creature who is always down, similar to Louis in Interview with the Vampire. The other is well, not like Lestat but very interesting and unpredictable.

I won't give away too much on the other characters involved, for to do so would be giving away a lot of the spoiler. Basically the major characters are vampires, and they all work together to unravel the present Jemiah Jefferson made up for us.

The author also did an admirable job having us feel confused WITH Ariane. When things were dreamy for her, my mind got a little foggy. When she didn't know what was going on, I definitely didn't have a clue. It's hard for auth! ors to get that type of feeling across sheets of paper, but this one does.

The pace is fast. You definitely didn't have to wait long from opening the book to get right to the point. Your brain is sucked in and it stays there. There was a point in the middle where I started getting slightly bored being in the same situation and became a little impatient for things to get rolling again. But when all was said it done I could easily overlook that small fault and be content.

The style of the writing was fast-paced and to the point. The transition between chapters was done well, and the overlying mood was dark but also fun and light. It's no easy feat to blend all those in one novel, but Jefferson manages to make it his craft.

Overall a satisfying and somewhat surprising novel, Voice of the blood reads very quickly, has enough varying emotions to keep you interested.
… (mehr)

I really liked this book. I have no idea how to categorize it though. Weirdly I quite like reading about characters that descend into psychosis as i find its very different to read which if done well, although in some cases it makes no sense what so ever, its completely gripping. This book was done well. Its really just a story of friendship, growing up, ever increasing paranoia, tons of weed and lots of The Bunnymen but i literally couldnt put it down. I read it in three days and my need for a bazaar character was definitely satisfied afterwards.… (mehr)