Title: Darke Blood
Author: Lee Hall
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 404
Rating: 3*/5
I was given a signed copy of this book for my birthday from a friend of mine - someone who comes to my monthly spoken word night. I wasn’t too sure what to expect from it, but I thought that I’d give it a go, and it kind of left me with mixed feelings.
The main problem that I had was the way that it switched perspectives. That threw me out of the story for a while, and I started to lose interest and to not take as much of it in. Because of that, it got more difficult to read towards the end when different elements of the story all came together - I couldn’t always understand what was happening, and I think I’d have to re-read it a couple of times to fully understand it all.
But despite that, the basic story line is pretty good, and the author has clearly put plenty of thought into how their fictional world works. If anything, that’s the problem - it’s so thoroughly planned that I found it hard to keep each of the different pieces together in my head as a reader. Luckily, the bits that I did get absorbed into were pretty good, and the writing style was just right for the type of book that this is.
When I take a look at indie novels, I always find myself judging them based upon the quality of their editing. Too many of them go without editing completely, and that makes a huge difference when it comes to the quality of the finished product. In this case, the book has been edited pretty well, but there are a few mistakes here and there. Enough for me to notice, but not enough for it to hamper my enjoyment of the book.
Overall, as much as I’d like to say that I loved this because it was a gift, I mostly just thought it was okay. It does show promise, though, and so I’ll be curious to see how Hall’s career progresses. It’s strange though, because I thought it started out strong and then started to fizzle out, which was something of a disappointment. It could have been snappier, but I also gather that it was originally meant to be a standalone before becoming the first book in a trilogy.
Click here to buy Darke Blood.
