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A review by princessrobotiv
Blood Mercy by Vela Roth
4.0
Blood Mercy wasn't perfect, but I really liked it, so much so that I want to dive headfirst into the next installment in the series.
Roth did a good job reimagining vampirism, and I give her big props for the liberties she took with the Hesperines and their society. It's refreshing to see a story coming at vampires in this way, where they're uniquely nonviolent people attuned to the lifeforce of all creatures rather than hungering monsters delighting in death. Importantly, the sexual appeal of vampirism--the implied or overt hedonism--isn't sacrificed to make them peaceful. Hesperines are both peaceful AND engage in bloody sexual unions, which proved a fascinating balance.
Overall, my issue with this is that the Hesperines are framed as being TOO good. I would have liked to see more variation in their purpose or examples of where their people proved to not be representative of the whole of their society.
It took some time to orient myself in the world, but once I caught on, the lore wasn't overly cumbersome. I would have liked more Summit scenes to understand the free lords and their conflicts, but largely, I caught on quick and had a good time. The final conflict resolved a bit too neatly, too, but I can easily forgive it given the quality of the book as a whole.
Now....as for Roth's choice to give made-up fantasy names to sex organs...not a huge fan of that. Just as I would prefer if authors use "fuck" instead of making up a stand-in, I think there's honestly no reason to replace the classics, and it had the additional consequence of those scenes being slightly less impactful. They were still really good, but crass words have visceral impact specific to the language of the reader that was sacrificed here for a reason I don't really understand.
I loved Lio and Cassia as characters and that their journeys separated them at the end of the book.
Excited for the next one!
Roth did a good job reimagining vampirism, and I give her big props for the liberties she took with the Hesperines and their society. It's refreshing to see a story coming at vampires in this way, where they're uniquely nonviolent people attuned to the lifeforce of all creatures rather than hungering monsters delighting in death. Importantly, the sexual appeal of vampirism--the implied or overt hedonism--isn't sacrificed to make them peaceful. Hesperines are both peaceful AND engage in bloody sexual unions, which proved a fascinating balance.
Overall, my issue with this is that the Hesperines are framed as being TOO good. I would have liked to see more variation in their purpose or examples of where their people proved to not be representative of the whole of their society.
It took some time to orient myself in the world, but once I caught on, the lore wasn't overly cumbersome. I would have liked more Summit scenes to understand the free lords and their conflicts, but largely, I caught on quick and had a good time. The final conflict resolved a bit too neatly, too, but I can easily forgive it given the quality of the book as a whole.
Now....as for Roth's choice to give made-up fantasy names to sex organs...not a huge fan of that. Just as I would prefer if authors use "fuck" instead of making up a stand-in, I think there's honestly no reason to replace the classics, and it had the additional consequence of those scenes being slightly less impactful. They were still really good, but crass words have visceral impact specific to the language of the reader that was sacrificed here for a reason I don't really understand.
I loved Lio and Cassia as characters and that their journeys separated them at the end of the book.
Excited for the next one!