Author: Samantha Young
Publish Date: July 1, 2011 - Self-published on Createspace, 273 pages
Get it here: Amazon
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads and I danced around this little gem for quite a while. A typical conversation would go something like this:
Goodreads: Hey, check out this book. It's pretty good. I even put it on your recommended books list about four time, just so you could find it.
Me: Thanks for the suggestion GR but not today, it just doesn't seem like my kind of book.
Goodreads: Are you sure? I think you should check again.
Me: Come on, just drop it. Give me something else to read.
Goodreads: Ok. At least until you're looking for other book. Then I'll probably bring it up again.
And so it went on like that with Goodreads sneaking it in on tons of lists I browsed through, in my recommended books tab and even on the similar books list that go along with previous books I had already read.
So I finally gave in one day. GR was like my nagging mother when she's trying to get me to do something and I figured I gotta pick my battles. And like my mother, GR was right...again.
So I finally gave in one day. GR was like my nagging mother when she's trying to get me to do something and I figured I gotta pick my battles. And like my mother, GR was right...again.
"Blood Will Tell" is the first in the Warriors of Ankh trilogy by Samantha Young. The premise of the story was very interesting for me. Eden is what they call a soul eater - a person who is cursed (or blessed, depending on which side you're on) to take souls in order to survive.
This book took me by surprise from the very beginning. The first scene is a memory of Eden from when she was about six years old as she witness the brutality her father and other soul eaters are capable of. Needless to say, her childhood wasn't all fairy tales and gum drops.
What I loved about "Blood Will Tell" is that it's on the darker side of the spectrum. As Eden gets closer to her awakening where she will take a soul for the first time she struggles with her cravings as they clash with her desire to never become a monster like her father.
Samantha Young did an excellent job of creating complex and interesting characters. There are no cookie-cutter characters here, thank the Lord. Each one, even the "heroes", struggle with their own personal demons. Eden struggles with loving her brother Stellan even though he does take souls and Stellan struggles with wanting to change for Eden but the only alternative to taking a soul is death. Then we have Noah, a Warrior of Ankh sent to keep tabs on Eden by befriending her which is something he has no desire to do.
It was a great read overall and after I read the sample of the book I bought the omnibus edition because it captured my attention that well. I knew I would be reading all three books in the end.
Not to mention, for a self-published book it was very well written, without many of those awful grammar mistakes that makes you stumble as you read.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention: That cover is totally kick-ass.
