Jennifer KnightRezensionen

Can feel the Twilight-ness seeping through from the beginning, and yet, I still wanted to read! Not my favorite book by far, but not my least favorite book by far either. Enjoyed it, but it's nothing groundbreaking, or something you haven't seen before. Going to be getting the sequel whenever that comes out =] (It's wierd to want a sequel before the book comes out, isn't it?)

I heard about this book from teenreads.com as they were allowing you to read the ebook free off their website until the 1st of August. I had never heard of this novel nor did I have any idea what it was about but I thought I would give it a go anyway. I finished this novel in 2 days as it wasn't very difficult to read.

The plot basically revolves around a girl called Faith who has just started her first year at college. She only really has one friend, her best friend for basically her whole life, Derek. Things get complicated for Faith when Derek wants to be more than friends and things in Faith's past start to affect her again. Also a mysterious classmate is stirring up emotions in Faith she has tried to smother.

The plot had one major problem and that was that it was an almost carbon copy of the plot to Twilight. To me it felt as if the author just thought that by changing the main focus from vampires to werewolves, we would all look past the major similarities in the novels. Frankly this really annoyed me as I want to read a new novel, not a copy of another one. Some of the similarities were; the mysterious dark love interest Lucas was so similar to Edward, he looked at Faith as if he hated her, he never talked to her, wouldn't even look at her, a vampire sworn enemy sets his eye on Faith to spite Lucas just like James does with Bella, a large chunk of the novel is taken up by Lucas taking Faith to meet his (not really) family and how she is worried about what they will think, Derek is a friend that creates a love triangle (Jacob). Of course there were some differences, the novel is set in college instead of school, the main love interest is a werewolf and the enemy are vampires.

In terms of speed it was quite a fast paced novel, that did an alright job of keeping me interested and the ending was something I wasn't expecting, which is great.

I had mixed feelings about the main character Faith, in some ways I liked her, she could stand her ground, and stand up to people, and she had an interesting back story. She also had a weird thing that she got an electric shock from touching things. I really liked this twist and I was disappointed that this wasn't really focussed on and didn't get explained at all. Faith also seemed a bit naive and this was annoying as I had figured things out miles before her and this frustrated me.

Her best friend Derek annoyed me too as he didn't seem to understand what no meant. He seemed childish and didn't seem to have any character traits that made him seem like a person you would like to be friends with.

The other main male character is Lucas, who is Faith's main love interest. He was annoyingly similar to Edward in Twilight, which was annoying and just seemed like a waste.

Overall I gave this novel 2/5 stars and this was mainly because of its similarity to Twilight and the fact that I didn't really connect with the characters so it didn't rate very highly.

Lucas, Faith’s werewolf boyfriend, believes there is a vampire uprising and is trying to prove it even though the pack leader refuses to believe him. Then Derek, Faith’s ex that was turned in revenge, wakes up. The first hybrid vampire/werewolf, no one knows what his abilities are or even if he is going to be sane in the end. Faith is torn in two. She wants to be with Lucas, help explore her abilities and how they interact with Lucas. But she is also pulled to Derek, it is her fault that he is a hybrid and she is trying to do everything possible to help him adjust and to keep Lucas from killing him.

Then the murders start happening again. Something is in the works with the vampires, the question is what. It looks like they are trying to get Derek to go to their side because of how powerful he is. Faith is also trying to go back to her old life, but she is having trouble trying to connect to her old friend, Heather, that has turned to drugs after her breakup with Peter. Faith has got to get her life in order before she ends up on the wrong side of the vampires.

So I have a confession, I have both books in the Blood Moon series but I grabbed the wrong one to read first. I don’t have the back story to go off of, but that didn’t matter. This Blood Crave was written so well that I didn’t have to read the other first, it was easy to figure out what was going on.

I understand Faith’s love for Lucas and the dilemma of wanting to be turned or not so she can be with him forever and the whole controlling his triggers. I was a bit miffed at her constantly running to Derek and keeping Lucas from killing him. I understand how she is guilty about his being turned. But really, she is ruining her life over someone that cheated on her and is constantly trying to get between her and her current boyfriend.

I was also irritated about how she keeps thinking that she can just join Lucas or Derek and fight the vampires herself. Did she not remember anything about her fight in the last book? Does she not see what these creatures are capable of? I admit that I was about ready to slap her upside her head with her stupidity. Argh!

Ok, deep breath. Over all, this is a good story. I like the concept and loved the surprise ending. Even though I read them in the wrong order, I really want to see what happened to start Faith’s story.

This is one book that I will recommend with the warning to not expect a lot of brain power from Faith.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Note: There are major spoilers for the first book in this series, Blood on the Moon, but no spoilers for this book, which is Book Two.

Before reading Blood Crave, I re-read Blood on the Moon, because it ended in a cliffhanger, and with those sorts of books, I like to get into the momentum before continuing on with the story.

Blood Crave continues the story of Faith Reynolds, who, like many young pretty girls in books these days, finds her life taken over by interactions with werewolves and vampires.

At first, Faith had a relatively normal life with nothing more to deal with than her best friend Derek, who came with her to attend Colorado State University. Suddenly Derek was trying (again) to turn their friendship into something more. Faith just didn’t think she could love Derek in that way.

Moreover, as classes started, she felt an undeniable attraction to Lucas, a very hot and mysterious guy who shared some of her classes. Eventually she discovered Lucas was a werewolf, but she learned that, far from being a monster, he was a protector. She trusts him with her life. …And well she should, because he keeps having to save it! No, not from jealous Derek, but from vampires, and especially one particular vampire, Vincent Stone. Vincent has a 300-year-old feud going on with Lucas, and he figures out that he can get to Lucas by killing Faith (or turning her into a vampire). Lucas is unwilling to let Vincent do either, and he finally manages to get rid of Vincent once and for all - but not before Vincent bites Derek.

At the end of Book One, Faith - desperate to save Derek’s life, asks Lucas to bite him too, in the hope that the werewolf bite will cancel out the vampire bite. Will it? Proceed to Book Two!

Blood Crave picks up three weeks after Blood on the Moon left off. Derek is still around, but in a very different form. Faith is torn between loyalty to Derek and love for Lucas. She sometimes longs for her old normal life, but can’t imagine a life without Derek or Lucas. Unfortunately, she is painfully aware that she is bound to lose them both eventually, since she has only a human life span, something she thinks about a lot. In any event, there are bigger problems to consider: the vampires are tired of living [sic] in the shadows, and are ready for a showdown with werewolves and humans.

Discussion: Like so many books involving vampires, this story quickly devolves into a morass of vampire politics. Why do so many authors who create blood-sucking, rapacious, greedy characters think of politicians? I can’t imagine. At any rate, it’s just as distasteful to me and as tedious as American politics are lately. Okay, maybe a little less so….

Fortunately, the author doesn’t linger as long on vampire power struggles as much as some other purveyors of the paranormal, and focuses more on the dangerous and exciting aspects of romance between species.

As for the main character, Faith can be annoying: she is impulsive, foolhardy, and not always optimally mature. Ultimately, however, one has to like her: she is loyal, spunky, has a lot of compassion, and great taste in boyfriends.

The author has a very nice sense of humor that acts to surround the paranormal elements with a warm, fuzzy, teenaged vibe. For example, I appreciated how she tackled this plot point in Book One, when Faith asks Lucas why vampires can't come into someone's house unless they are invited: "I don't know why - it's an undead thing. Whatever."

Faith's summing up, in Book Two, of her own situation is quite funny, and nicely accomplishes a recap of what happened in Book One. And all the doggy jokes (that come from characters trying to make deprecatory remarks about werewolves) had me laughing - I love the way one of the characters refers to Lucas as "Scooby," inter alia.

Evaluation: This is a fun series: light, romantic, even sexy. The second book, like the first, ends in a big cliffhanger, one that makes me eager for the third volume.

Note: There is sex in this book, but it’s not at all explicit, and at any rate Faith is a college freshman and Lucas is over 300 years old…..½

Once I started this book I couldn’t put it down. I found it refreshing the characters are college age and the setting is a college town. Even though I wanted to slap Faith for being ‘that girl’ that stumbles into trouble, I did enjoy her secret paranormal gift that begins to develop. Lucas, well, all I can say is I’d give my heart to him too. My question though is why would a 300 year old man be so interested in an 18 year old girl? I’m never able to wrap my mind around that in any book, but it’s fiction. The story was great so I just went with it. Lots of action, a bit of suspense, and my favorite – relationship angst – round out this book. There is a sequel in the making.

This book for young adults is yet another entry into the paranormal/hot werewolves-versus-vampires-all-after-the-same-extra-ordinary-girl/trilogy fray. I found this one entertaining though, and I guess I will have to read the sequel when it finally comes out since it ends in A TOTAL CLIFFHANGER – GAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Faith Reynolds and her best friend Derek, both from San Diego, are freshmen at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Derek, a hot football player, has been close to Faith forever, and they even dated in high school, until Derek actually KISSED a cheerleader once, thereby cheating on Faith. She has never gotten over this betrayal of trust, but still loves Derek as a friend. Derek has never forgiven himself for this lapse, because he still loves Faith as more than a friend.

On to CSU, where Faith meets some magnetic even hotter guys, one of whom, Lucas, is a werewolf, and one of whom, Vincent, is a vampire. Both go ape (so to speak) over Faith, and there is a final shoot-out of sorts when Lucas, Vincent, and Derek all go claw to fang to gun over Faith. AND YET, THE AUTHOR HAD TOO LITTLE FAITH in us to tell us what the heck happened, so that we have to come back for book two, whenever it gets written!

Discussion: There are some interesting aspects of this story that don’t exactly make it different from all the rest, but that keep it engaging.

One is the source of Faith’s appeal. She is probably cute (we only know that the guys are all hot, but don’t learn much about what Faith looks like), but more importantly, she has a vibe of some sort that connects her with the paranormals. We don’t yet know what it is. (Here’s hoping it is different from Sookie Stackhouse’s vibe, which comes from Fairy blood….)

Secondly, the author makes no bones about the source of appeal for the paranormal hot guys. As Faith explains:

"Lucas was the night, dark and dangerous, flirting with my sense and making me feel things I shouldn’t be feeling but secretly wanted.”

Yay, it’s the Moody, Sexy, Bad Boy Trope! What would Charlotte Brontë think of her Mr. Rochester living on as a paranormal werewolf or vampire? (Actually, I suspect she’d find it a perfectly rational adaptation.)

And then there’s the whole college freshman angst thing, which is always kind of diverting, especially if those years are far behind you.

Finally, there’s that inspiring moment in the dénouement when everybody confronts everyone else, all over Faith (obvious metaphors, anyone?) and it’s outside of a BARN – can’t you just picture it? Deep in the corner, there’s a spider named Charlotte, busy weaving a web that says SOME GIRL….

Evaluation: Fun way to spend a few hours, but personally, I would advise waiting for the ending sequel to come out!

Note to Moms: In spite of the college setting, there’s not a lot going on in this book besides kissing, and one episode of drinking that everybody regrets the next day.…½

In Blood on the Moon by Jennifer Knight we are introduced to college freshman Faith Reynolds. She and her long time best friend Derek have decided to go to school in Colorado. Their friendship has become rocky lately because Derek has decided he doesn't want to be just friends anymore. In one of her classes Faith meets a boy named Lucas who seems cranky all the time and seemingly can't stand to be around her, but there is undeniably something going on between them. Add into that a serial killer on the loose and an old rival who is out for revenge things are bound to get interesting. When two worlds collide Faith's life and those of the people closest to her will never be the same.
I am a supernatural romance buff and I loved this book. Esprecially because there doesn't seem to be too many YA books out there focusing on those of "college age". Take Twilight and combine it with Underworld and you get the awesome book that is Blood on the Moon. I recommend it to any supernatural romance lover.½

Reviewed at Never Too Fond of Books: http://www.mandikayereads.com/archives/20