Blood of Gold by B. V. Larson

Series: Seeker Series, Book One

Publisher: Unknown

Format: eBook

Published: June 2010

Book: Bought

Number of Pages: 380

Genre: Dark Romance, Fantasty, YA

Her young man stepped out of nowhere onto a mountaintop...
Her high school counselor came from Hell. Literally...
Haley learns she has a unique gift. She normally lives her life escaping notice, but now two gorgeous strangers are interested in her. Very interested. Seth is the best-looking young man she (or anyone else) has ever met. Every girl in school is after him and the competition turns strangely vicious. She soon realizes that he is not fully bound to this world. Although they both feel the mutual attraction, there’s something holding him back... The second stranger is equally attractive, but more frightening. When she is with him, she somehow loses her self-control. To say more would give away too much, but Las Vegas will never be the same...

Review:

Until Seth walks into her art class, Haley is a perfectly normal teenage girl.  Suddenly, with the gorgeous new boy who she feels strangely drawn to, everything goes upside down.  Friends become enemies, trustworthy adults turn evil and on top of it all, she knows Seth is more than human.  And all of this happens in the space of a week!

I have to admit: I was kind of split down the middle as I began to read this book: there were good parts and there were bad parts.  The bad parts were mainly just clichés: Haley’s complete obsession with the gorgeous new boy Seth, and the way she did the craziest things when it came to him after only knowing him for like a week.  Also, there was the way she called her father “Daddy” more often than she called him “Dad” – don’t ask why that bothered me so much, for some reason it just did – and there were next to no contractions in the book, which kind of broke the narrative up.

On the other hand, though, I really liked the plot and I just had to finish the book and know what happened.  The storyline drew me in, keeping me completely addicted despite all the contradictory things Haley did and said.  Slowly you find out more about the characters, and I must admit, I found myself completely absorbed and wanting to know more about all of them.  Larson managed to get the pace right while sliding in enough clues to keep the reader going, but not to give everything away too soon.

I liked Haley: she’s smart, shy, worries a fair amount, and short (something she talks about a little too much), with low self-esteem, possibly due to the mysterious death of her mother.  As more of the story unfolds, you learn more about Haley and her past, including things that were guessable to things that completely surprised me.  I really loved the way Haley described her first day back at high school after the summer holidays: B. V. Larson completely got the way teenagers size one another up right.  Larson kind of emphasized some things, though, and that’s where a few of the clichés kicked in.  But, overall, Haley was likeable and very real, if a little insane at times, and kind of too obsessed with Seth.  But who doesn’t like a bit of crazy?

As for Seth, it was pretty obvious to me from the very beginning that he was different: and I mean in more ways than the way he spoke and his good looks.  He’s mysterious, secretive, and very old-fashioned, almost chivalrous, but loveable at the same time.  I found the relationship between him and Haley sweet and genuine, too.  I made a few guesses about what he was, and got it in the end, although I was wrong to begin with. 

Overall: quite an addictive book that I honestly couldn’t put down, in spite of the niggling annoyances.  All the little things just weren’t enough to make me move onto another book: I really wanted to know what happened.  I loved the plot, the ending surprised me and it was a quick, easy, fun read.  I recommend it, and I think I may have to buy the next one just to see what happens.

Star Rating:
3¾ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

The Darkest Powers - The Summoning, The Awakening, The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

Drake Chronicles - My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey


Challenges It's Taking Part In:
1oo Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)
Horror and Urban Fantasty (Hosted by Book Chick City)
2011 E-Book Challenge (Hosted by The Ladybug Reads)