Sara’s Review of Dirty Blood by Heather Hildenbrand

Rating: 

Publisher: Accendo Press

Date Published: April 28th 2011

Series: Dirty Blood

Goodreads Description:

I killed a girl last night. I did it with my bare hands and an old piece of pipe I found lying next to the dumpster. But that’s not the part that got me. The part that scared me, the part I can’t seem to wrap my head around and still has me reeling, was that when she charged me, her body shifted – and then she was a wolf. All snapping teeth and extended claws. But by the time I stood over her lifeless body, she was a girl again. That’s about the time I went into shock… And that was the moment he showed up.

Now, all I can do is accept the truths that are staring me in the face. One, Werewolves do exist. And Two, I was born to kill them.

Review:

I really liked this book, but there were a few things that caused my fur to spike with annoyance at times. Overall though, this is a wonderful start to what promises to be a fun series!

I love Tara. She’s strong, determined, and not one who runs from a fight. True, this last bit is probably because of who she is, but I do love a kick-ass lead, and Tara promises to be a great one, murr! I also enjoyed Hildenbrand’s take on Hunters and Werewolves. It allowed for a fun read and I enjoyed the suspense and mystery the story offered. The book itself is a fast paced and easy to get caught up in. Once I started, I found it hard to put the book down. That realization, that I don’t want to stop reading, is always my first indication that the book is going to be good, and I was pleased that this one didn’t disappoint. It even had a few comedic moments that left me smirking afterwards. Two of these moments involved Tara and her class rival, Cindy. Curious to know what these scenes are? Get a copy of the book and find out for yourself, murr!

So you are probably wondering why, if I enjoyed the book so much, I found myself annoyed at times?

Well, the first big reason was because I didn’t like the leading male character. Sorry folks, but I’m definitely not Team Wes. He seriously rubbed my fur wrong with his continual omission of important facts to Tara and his over protectiveness.  Yes, I get that he was acting under orders at times, and that he wanted to keep her safe, but like Tara, I found it all to be a bit too much. I honestly cannot see the draw, and I tried. Really, I tried.

And this leads into the second thing that annoyed me, namely how various characters seemed to go out of their way to keep Tara from having a say in what should happen in her life. This is a big pet peeve of mine and I’m always surprised when a book triggers it because a lot of the time I can readily ignore it. But sadly, I found my fur bristling periodically with this one. True, Tara is still a young adult and is still in school, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s old enough to be able to make some of her own decisions, especially those that concern her own safety…she just needs the people around her to actually give her enough information so that she can make an informed one. Instead, they either try to take away her choice, tell her only half of what she needs to know, or straight up lie to her. That’s inexcusable as far as I’m concerned. And while I understand that it makes for great conflict, I find it majorly annoying. The one great thing that came from this problem was it really drew me closer to Tara and increased my sympathy for her. And I will admit, if I had been in her shoes, I’d have more than likely reacted the same way most of the time. But that’s just me, and your mileage might very well vary.

Regardless, I still enjoyed this book. As I said above, the suspense and mystery pulled me in and made it hard for me to put the book down. I’m anxious to get my paws on the second book on the series in order to find out what happens next to Tara. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that I will enjoy it just as much as I did this one. =^.^=