Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Strange Blood by Azalea Crowley

3 reviews

bimess_'s review

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emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Strange Blood is an amazing sequel to Odd Blood. I love this series so much that I don't want it to ever end. At least, not their world. 

Everything we experience within this book is crazy. For those that didn't feel the connection between the couple? You're definitely going to feel it in this one! Not only are they hilarious, they're sweet and it makes me wanna pair up with someone. 

Also buddy reading this book is so much fun. Because you can have a freak out whenever a chapter does something. Which was every chapter let's be real. 

I just love Josephine, the Rosalee Park vampires, Carlos, Michelle and Joanne 🤣

I can't wait for the third book coming this fall!!! Please give this series a chance. If you love cozy horror, beautiful himbos, female leads that are finding their strength and funny but equally messy roommates.

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bittersweetcritiques's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Even better than the first! 

Strange Blood felt faster paced, picking up right after the events of the last book, but was just as satisfying as Odd Blood and I am loving Josephine's character development.  

The tender moments with Eadwulf gave me butterflies while the paranormal occurrences turned me into a bundle of nerves. This cozy horror just hits right with its perfect balance of emotions. 

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jazzseeks's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

First things first of course I enjoyed the book! I will say it leaned more into horror this book than the first but definitely more deeper psychological horror than the general gore and monstrosity of Odd Blood. Norma as usual was a gem and I can never get enough of that silly woman. As usual we have a very interesting and frequently funny take on vampirism and the community around them. Comments on racism, capitalism, working retail, rent prices, and the complexities of family are all present and nailing it. Josephine, our main character, further explores what romance is and means to her specifically, and how does attraction even work (especially when your himbo boyfriend isn’t exactly alive)?! As usual, refreshing neurodivergent and asexual spectrum representation. Expect to watch romance bloom often very comically and with believable couple hiccups (and bees!). Expect spookiness, exes, sex jokes, family gatherings, and elections. Also please I beg you to read the trigger/content warnings, while this book does have cozy romance vibes the horror is not an afterthought in this series! Be kind to yourselves and respect your limits!


And Josephine….GO TO A DOCTOR!


Here is my list of Trigger and Content warnings with the authors as well. The biggest themes other than general vampire nonsense was about an ongoing medical neglect issue, especially for us living in a pandemic world (though the book is set pre-pandemic). I think this could be very sensitive for readers right now. 


Heavy: blood, blood loss, chronic/ongoing illness, death/murder, dementia, hauntings, injury/infection, medical emergency, medical neglect, neck wound, negative self talk, occult


Moderate: body horror, concealing (possibly) contagious illness, consent violations (nonsexual), depression, enthrallment/mind control, fever, food shaming, ghosts, gore, low self esteem/self-hatred, memory disorders, nightmares, panic attacks, possession, profanity, PTSD, roommate violence, sexism, sexual themes, traumatic shock, violence


Light: aging parent, amnesia/memory loss (brief), childhood trauma, dieting (mention), eating disorder, emesis (mention), financial trauma/insecurity, medical treatment, microaggressions (the humans), misogynistic language, religion, restraints (brief), seance, slut shaming, starvation, terminal illness (implied)



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