Review: Blessed

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Publication Date: January 25th, 2011
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Copy provided by: Teen Book Scene
Summary (via Goodreads):

With a wink and a nod to Bram Stoker, New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith unites the casts of Tantalize and Eternal in a delicious dark fantasy her fans will devour.

Quincie P. Morris, teen restaurateuse and neophyte vampire, is in the fight of her life — or undeath. Even as she adjusts to her new appetites, she must clear her best friend and true love, the hybrid werewolf Kieren, of murder charges; thwart the apocalyptic ambitions of Bradley Sanguini, the seductive vampire-chef who "blessed" her; and keep her dead parents’ restaurant up and running. She hires a more homespun chef and adds the preternaturally beautiful Zachary to her wait staff. But with hundreds of new vampires on the rise and Bradley off assuming the powers of Dracula Prime, Zachary soon reveals his true nature — and a flaming sword — and they hit the road to staunch the bloodshed before it’s too late. Even if they save the world, will there be time left to salvage Quincie’s soul?

Why I read this: I really enjoyed reading Tantalize and Eternal and was excited to see that this continued from both of those novels.

Plot: This book pretty much leaves off right after Tantalize and Eternal end. If you remember Zachary from Eternal, he's suddenly with Quincie, the main character from Tantalize as she tries to figure out how to save a ton of people from becoming vampires. Her time is limited and she needs all the help she can get. Most of this book is really about Quincie dealing with being a vampire. She feels detached from her boyfriend's family and he's suddenly out of the picture. A bit of a workaholic, she throws herself into trying to reopen her family restaurant as soon as possible while trying to research how to stop anyone who sampled Bradley's blood from becoming a vampire.

Add in a legend vampire of old, angels, and shifters and there are some serious battles to be fought. For a book nearing 500 pages long, the story flew by fast, filled with action and emotional turmoil. I absolutely loved this book and hope there will be more.

Characters: I really love Quincie. How horrible that a foodie had to turn into a vampire? She struggles, but she's constant in her want to help others from becoming like her.

I can't help but feel sorry for Zachary in this book, who is just torn apart inside. You can tell throughout the book how distraught he is and I think that really captured his soul.

As for Bradley, he is a super creepy vampire and ugh, so evil and wanna-be sexy. I'm so glad that Quincie fights against him, even when he tries to make her do evil things.

Relatability: Fans of the two previous books will really eat this one up. Fans of paranormal YA that want something a little different will dig into this series as well.

Cover Commentary: Beautiful cover. Definitely will buying this.

Rating: 5/5 Roses

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