Review: Blood is the new Black

Why did I pick it up?

I'm a sucker for anything vampire related. Pun totally intended.

Review for Blood is the New Black by Valerie Stivers:

So this book was vampires meets high fashion. The vampires were bonafide bloodsuckers who happened to run a high fashion magazine called Tasty. The dialogue was witty and there was enough explanation of the fashion world so I didn't feel like a total idiot reading it.

The nibble of romance (harhar) was expected and some of the plot points could be seen without having to think too hard. I did like how it opened with a scene from near the end of the book without revealing too much. It was enough to get me interested and the dialogue and minor mystery throughout the novel kept me going.

The ending was lackluster. There was too much untied once the story was over and the estranged mom comes to save the day was expected. When someone puts that much emphasis on a character who disappeared before the book then you know they're going to come back in a big way. It was a matter of when.

The vampires themselves had a nice twist to them. They could hover, turn into bats, drank blood, disliked garlic and crosses. But they could go out into the sun and drink other things besides blood. They were hugely business oriented and only one was dark and brooding.

The fun thing was that humans were born with a specific gene that made them more susceptible of being 'tasty' and becoming a vampire. I know it's probably logically impossible to have such a gene but it was a cool twist of sorts.

It wasn't a serious novel nor was it meant to be terrifying or blood thirsty. To be honest, I think it was a bit satirical in the way it portrayed both vampires and the fashion industry. The relationships between characters was interesting and the whole situation with the dog Marc Jacobs was freaking hilarious.

Would I read it again?

If I wanted to read a light vampire novel, sure. It's not Vampire Chronicles but it hasn't completely re-invented the vampire which is great. Would it appease those exceptionally dark minded folk? Probably not.

The Negatives:

Kate, the main character had studied to be an EMT and would be going to med school but took the job at Tasty magazine because of her aunt. That's fine, no really, it's even believable. What's not believable is how dense Kate is. She doesn't even notice the drinks she has to hand out to all the important people at Tasty are actually blood slurries even though she's supposed to be an EMT/doctor in training.

The other thing that irks me about Kate is despite the whole situation with her mother walking off, she never tried to find out why. Even when people mention her mother (fashion designer which is why Kate didn't want the job at Tasty to begin with), Kate never tries to look her up. Kate does have some of her mothers original designs and instead of seeing if they're worth anything on the market, she just randomly cuts them up and customizes them much to the horror of her associates.

Maybe Kate lacks common sense but is really logical? I don't know but it seems a bit odd someone who's supposed to be going to med school didn't do a bit of research on her mother and couldn't smell the scent of blood right under her nose. Literally.

Final review: 3/5 for it's predictability and Kate being a bit slow with the entire plot. It's still an entertaining read despite the lightness of the plot.

Until next time: comments, questions, rage and rants can be directed to the comments.