Shades of Blood by Samantha Young

Title: Shades of Blood
Series: Warriors of Ankh
Author: Samantha Young
Previous Books in Series: Blood Will Tell, Blood Past
Rating: 5 stars
Length: 5543 Kindle units

Refresher: Eden has been transformed from a soul eater (om nom nom) into an immortal Ankh warrior who kills soul eaters. But she still really wants revenge on the warrior who killed her brother…

So I’m feeling a little ridiculous reviewing Samantha Young’s novels at this point. It’s a little like reviewing Amanda Hocking. Sure, her books are awesome, but if everyone already knows that, is there really much point in putting yet another review out there to say so? But then I thought about it and decided that even if I were J.K. Rowling, I would still want people to tell me if they thought my books were awesome. So I’m reviewing the last Warriors of Ankh book, and I may or may not review more Samantha Young in the future.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I’m going to tell you everything I didn’t like about Shades of Blood.

“But, Elizabeth,” you say, “you have given it five stars. Why would you do that if you did not like it?” And I would have to say two things. 1. I don’t like changing the star rating I give to books in the same series unless there is a major change in quality. 2. The book wasn’t really bad in terms of form or style or grammar or any things I usually judge about book. I just didn’t like anything that happened in it.

For one thing, I think it’s horribly unfair that the Ankh are still testing Eden to see whether she’s worthy of living or not. I thought it was bad in the first book when she was planning, however unwillingly, to eat someone’s soul. Now she just wants vengeance against the person who killed her brother Stellan, the only person who ever loved her. Sure, we’re all rooting for her to choose the moral high ground, but I think a ten year cooling off period would have been reasonable to wait before holding it over her head as a condition of continuing to breathe.

Now, of course, there are other people than Stellan who love Eden, but I realized as I read Shades of Blood that I don’t really like Noah. He’s been a bit of a man-whore for decades, but now he’s totally in love with Eden. I guess this is believable enough, but I really feel like she can do better. I mean, Noah is the only guy she’s ever really known. We see her converse with another boy named Jack in this book, and it makes me realize how little she and Noah communicate. They keep saying they love each other, but I’m really not feeling a deep connection. So I choose to believe that in a few years she’s going to ditch him and find someone better.

And, finally, I dislike the way the characters make morally poor decisions in the name of the greater good. I’m sorry, but framing someone for a crime they did not commit in order to prevent a potentially larger crime is not a good plan. It is a morally bankrupt plan. And I prefer my moral bank accounts to be solvent.

So, anyway, if you’ve read the first two go on and read this one too, because we all like a happy ever after ending. Just be aware that sometimes happy ever after can feel a little bit grimy.

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