Books to Bury Yourself In

Blood Will Tell

(Warriors of Ankh, Book #1)

by Samantha Young

Genre: Young Adult | Dark Fantasy

Eden is a Soul Eater. While that hasn’t meant much to her in the past, she’s pretty sure any minute now she’s going to go all "Carrie" on her eleventh grade class.

Noah is an Ankh. As an immortal Warrior, his purpose in life is to hunt down and kill Soul Eaters.

Eden is Noah’s next assignment. Problem is… this is an assignment with a difference. Eden’s not your average, run of the mill, Soul Eater. Noah’s job? To test Eden for possible redemption.

It’s a risky business.

Especially if Noah awakens Eden’s inner monster.

It would be kind of hard for Eden to listen to the angel on her shoulder when the devil on the other is telling her, her new best friend is a lying, scheming, immortal enemy...

....betrayal is such a bitch.

So is Eden when you get on her bad side.

 

Eden is expected by her family to have an Awakening Ceremony soon to fully embrace her inner Soul Eater. As much as she cringes over her families cold-blooded/sadistic dark side, Eden is equally tempted to finally let her intense desires/cravings take over.  Yet, when ancient secrets become known and the only two people in her chaotic lifestyle with whom she depends on, her brother Stellan and her best-friend Noah, are tragically torn away ... Eden agonizes over her monster tendencies and just where her controversial  future will lead.

This story felt like a short read, but I am guessing it came off that way because the beginning of the tale really focused on Eden's uncomfortable home-life and her relationship with Noah and Stellan while the latter part of the story drew attention to Eden's tragic past and evolving future lifestyle -- thus creating almost two separate stories combined into one.  From the beginning, both men (Noah and Stellan), in Eden's life, brought out the best in her in contrasting ways and thus she almost desperately clung to them for stability and comfort.  While dealing with the normal teen angst of high school, Eden also had to combat with her families perversely hidden tactics and anguish over their all-consuming pressure for her to follow suit.  Thus, Eden contains a lot of pent up anger and severe emotions that it is quite easy for the reader to understand her disgruntled behavior throughout must of the book. 

Noah, on the other side, has a hidden side of himself that he conveniently keeps from Eden and when that fact is revealed ... Eden becomes even darker/distraught, acting out in some shockingly disturbing ways against herself and others. Thus, the story begins in a very arcanely gruesome way and really develops into a deeper unbalanced/troubling tale -- definitely geared toward the ADULT side of the "Young-Adult" genre.  Yet, the book does end with a sense of hope on the horizon, really building up to Book #2 - Blood Past and that at least, somewhat, balances out the heavily bitter story of Eden's life.

Likes: Noah and Eden's subtle awareness of each other was charming and makes me excited to watch their progress throughout the series in regards to their relationship.

Dislikes: *** SPOILER *** I was a little sadden by the brothers murder due to the fact that it would have been interesting to see what his future would have been like after the attack and Eden's adjustment into a new way of life. Would he coup well & turn good in the long run? Would he convert fully to his dark side and rebel against Eden? So many possibilities I guess we will never learn about ...

Review: Goodreads |  Barnes & Noble | Shelfari | Library Thing | Amazon

Rating: