Bel Reviews: Rhiannon Hart - Blood Song

Walking through the book section at your local store there are so many covers that are eye catching and intriguing, it’s difficult to pick a stand out easily. Blood Song is slightly different with splashes of gold and rich scarlet to make you take that second glance.

At the moment, you can safely take the risk of judging YA books by their covers; and trust me, if you bothered to take that second glance at Rhiannon Hart’s debut novel and picked it up, you will now be nodding along with me when I say, aren’t you glad you bought it?

Zeraphina has a craving for blood, and travelling North. When her sister, Lilith, loses her betrothed and is asked to consider visiting a prince from the northern city of Xallentaria (who may take her hand in marriage and her mind off her deceased love), she leaps at the opportunity to go. Upon arrival to the city, Zeraphina meets Rodden, and her entire perspective on life is irretrievably altered.

She hears voices, and knows that Rodden is keeping secrets from her. There is more to the North than just an innate sense of wanderlust. Nobody will tell her why it is so wrong to want to know more about Lharmell. But what really is the big deal?

I found this this book to have quite a few unexpected twists and turns, but not enough to give you whiplash. There isn’t too much foretelling and some of the surprises are certainly brow lifters. I loved the connection Zeraphina had with her animal companions; Griffin, an eagle, and Leap, a Verapinian drain-cat (page 64 had me giggling).

Lilith and her mother Renata are not ashamed to be social climbers, but when you take into account their own homeland is suffering from unknown forces, the gold digging attitude is a little more palatable.

About the only elephant in the room I objected to even slightly here is the fact that there are so many Vampiric markers and telltale signs, and yet the word Vampire is never uttered.  Perhaps with the Vampire fad hitting saturation point at least six months ago, this may not be a bad thing for everyone.

If you are looking for a book to take you away from it all, look no further than Blood Song. Definitely a must read for the school holidays.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsbYhfu–m0

http://rhiannon-hart.blogspot.com/

ISBN: 9781742750965

Format: Paperback

Imprint: Random House Australia

Published: 01/09/11