Published synopsis:
Anya Millar had no memory of her life or an instruction manual on how to navigate the insane world of humans, biting, and reality. Instead, Anya has had to learn to navigate the world of love, life, and sanity while avoiding those that would see her dead or enslaved.This is the ongoing journey of Anya and Nicholas, human loving vampires and the human they love, Declán. What makes it all more complicated is that they are abominations in their own world and Declán is a natural born vampire hunter called a Guardian.
Anya must come to terms with who she is and her missing past, Nicholas must win back the object of his eternal love while dealing with new cravings in his silent heart, and Declán must learn to destroy the very creatures that he has unequivocally given his heart and blood.
Review:
Anya Millar knows she’s not a normal vampire. She loves humans too much to be a predator. What she doesn’t know is why she can’t remember a thing before waking up in the house of an immortal who has taken her in and cared for her. As Anya begins to piece together the past, with the help of others claiming to be old friends, she finds that some things are better left forgotten.In an effort to move forward with her life and live in harmony with humans, Anya decides high school would be the best place to start. She hopes to learn to move effortlessly among them, keeping her vampire traits from being too noticeable. But, she ends up introducing a whole new set of problems into her life. She didn’t plan for the mysterious pull one particular human educed from the very first day. Being near him creates a longing so great, it scares her. Her attraction for him continues to grow, which, unfortunately, complicates the new friendships she has formed with his sister and girlfriend. It also complicates her relationship with a particular vampire whom she had once cared for deeply and is also drawn to irresistibly. Balancing her love life is even tougher when other vampires from her past come looking for her – and they don’t care about who they hurt to get to her. Can she protect all those in her unusual circle of friends and family?
Blood’s Voice by Aine Massie is a fresh take on vampires seen through the eyes of a powerful vampire. Having a natural aversion to harming humans doesn’t make the character Anya unique. Neither does her physical strength, or her fear of accidently hurting humans. It’s her unique gift that makes her special; her voice that can control, and be used as a lethal weapon, against her own kind.
Though I enjoyed reading this novel, there were a few things that kept me from giving the book a solid four stars. Declan’s character, the human part of the love triangle that includes Anya and the vampire Nicholas, could have been developed more quickly. He is slow to become a strong figure who can hold his own in a vampire world, as his character is somewhat two dimensional in the beginning. It was difficult through a good portion of the book to really feel his attraction and desire to be with Anya at any cost. He often seemed more like he was caught in a spell, or a vampire weaved web of compulsion, rather than having the feelings come from his heart. Eventually, though, the reader can feel his love and desire for her.
Declan’s draw to Anya, and his blanket accepting of other vampires, is also troublesome because he is supposed to be a Guardian. Someone born to see vampires as evil creatures that need to be hunted down and killed. This character trait is missing completely in Declan, making his Guardian status hard to accept. He readily accepts the vampire world and embraces a developing love of their race when he should have had at least some aversion to being near them.
A good deal of Blood’s Voice is the internal musing of Anya as her memory comes back in pieces. Sometimes she is strong willed and independent, and other times she has childlike insecurities with no control over her emotions. This is definitely reasonable for a person experiencing amnesia. But, the end result for me, was that she seemed unlikely to be a leader among her kind. As this series moves forward, she will probably head more and more in that direction as her insecurities lessen.
Something I truly enjoyed in this novel was the development of the secondary characters. They each had their own quirks and strengths; those meant to be liked are likeable and the ones meant to be disliked have the reader cheering for their demise. Their support and unique personalities mingle exceptionally well with the main characters, helping to make Blood’s Voice a novel that is definitely worth reading.
I thank the author for a review copy and I give the novel three and a half stars.
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