ARC Review: Blood of The Lotus

 

About Blood of the Lotus

Trained to kill demons, she never thought she’d join their side.

Seventeen-year-old Nova Fandera has always known her duty to bring honor to her family by becoming an Undivided—a demon hunter bonded to and given strength by an angel—but as desperate as she is to prove herself, she is kept trapped within the confines of her father’s estate with no explanation as to why. When she hears of the coming blood moon—a rare night when demons feed off the moon’s essence and become stronger—Nova recklessly escapes, determined to bring the head of a powerful demon to her father’s doorstep. What she doesn’t expect, however, is the aid of her enemy and a deal offered: answers to the questions her father won’t even acknowledge in return for training six young half demons. But hunters don’t make deals with devils. That is, unless they’re left with no other choice.

Nova soon discovers that the answers to her questions about her identity and family history are more than she bargained for. A unique and powerful artifact that heeds her call, a mystical lotus tattoo, memories of other lives, and lost love… The mysteries keep piling up with no end in sight.

When a faceless Darkness threatens her from chasing after these answers, Nova risks everything she’s ever known and teams up with the very beings she was raised to hate.

Yet the journey is only just the beginning. A lifetime of lies and betrayals is unraveling with the red string of fate, leading Nova to a truth no one is prepared for. One that screams for retribution and cries for the lost. But Darkness will do anything to stop her—even if it means destroying the world.

                         

My Short Review:

I'd like to start by thanking the author for providing an ARC in exchange for my candid review. 

You might want to give this book a look if you're looking for an action-packed fantasy with a strong female lead, a simple and easy read, and that raises a lot of interesting questions. Some of the characters are given only a few brief opportunities to shine, but the glimpses we do get are sufficient (but I’m going to wait and see where this goes in book two). The book is told from a variety of points of view. It was a little overwhelming at first, but after a few chapters I started to appreciate the knowledge and details we learned about other characters and the lore of the view of the world from that of our heroine. Also, (for those how are eager) there is a love interest, indeed. I'm eager to find out what happens next in their story.

A More Indepth Review:

You might want to give this book a look if you're looking for an action-packed fantasy with a strong female lead who is simple to read and raises a lot of interesting questions.

Our story starts off with our heroine Nova, determined to prove to her father that she's good enough to be an Undivided (a demon hunter bonded to and given strength by an angel). The problem? He keeps her locked on their estate and won't answer any of her questions. So, like any other fantasy main character, she runs away to get these answers from…...very unlikely places.

This story starts off slow and unravels very well in my opinion, the writing is easy to read and the story line, despite how many questions are thrown in and unanswered, is quite easy to follow. I enjoyed not only the world building but Nova’s character building as well. We don’t get to see more than just the surface with some of the characters, but the small moments they’re given are enough (so far, I'm giving this the benefit of the doubt by telling myself we’ll get more of them in book two.) This book does an incredibly respectable job of telling the story in a way that will not only frustrate the reader, but the main characters as well, which I personally loved. I enjoyed that it bothered the characters and upset me in equal measure. 

The novel is written from several points of view. It was a little overwhelming at first, but after a while I started to appreciate the knowledge, we gained about other people and the lore of the realm from perspectives other than our heroine's. 

Ahead, gorgeous Nova. I frequently thought that she made some decisions that were a little bit naive, and the more I believed this, the more I came to support her. From a character that has never been allowed to make their own decisions, I fully anticipated nothing less. Additionally, it heightens the "drama," which is always a positive in my book.

Yes, there's a love interest too. The quiet, warm, Luka, while there's little romance there's plenty of chemistry! I can't wait to see how their story progresses. 

With all this being said, I'm very excited to see how this book does when its released, I’m excited to see where the story goes from here and how our lovely Nova will do with the weight of the world on her shoulders.