Blood Rights [Mass Market Paperback]

BLOOD RIGHTS (House of Comarre #1) by Kristin Painter

BLOOD RIGHTS is the first novel in Kristin Painter’s House of Comarre Urban Fantasy series. Set in the year 2067, the first novel in the series introduces the reader to a wide variety of supernatural beings, terminology and a vampire premise that follows a different path than many vampire storylines. But a little background information is required to follow the premise.

Our heroine is Chrysabelle, one of the strongest and fiercest Comarre. The Comarre are a hybrid race of humans, specially trained in the warrior arts and in service to the vampire nobility. But the method of service is necessary for both parties-as the source of pure blood, the Comarre provide strength and nourishment to the vampires and in return, the vampire is able to drain the toxic effects of the pureblood buildup in the Comarre. It is both an honor and a duty to owe patronage and ‘blood rights’ to the vampire nobility, but Chrysabelle’s patron has been found murdered and the Ring of Sorrows is missing, and all suspicions turn to the woman who has sworn allegiance to the vampire for over a hundred years.

Chrysabelle must seek refuge and solace with her Aunt Maris. But time is running out. Hoping to discover the truth to Algernon’s murder, Chysabelle is sent forth looking for the one man Maris has told her to find, but Jonas is no where to be found. When Chrysabelle crosses paths with the fallen vampire Malkolm, her adventure into the underworld of demons, shapeshifters and fae, becomes a little more complicated when her true identity as a Comarre beckons the inner beast hidden beneath the façade of the recluse vampire.

Malkolm is a fallen vampire –cursed with the many deaths he has hastened at the hands of his beast. But the voices in his head continually urge the vampire towards another kill, and this time, their target is a beautiful Comarre, tattooed with the golden fretwork of the most powerful and pure. Although unwilling to admit she is in trouble, Crysabelle needs Malkolm’s help, but it is the call of her blood, that excites the beast hidden within. But fate has brought these two lonely beings together, and it will be blood that will bring them closer –still.

Tatiana is a powerful vampire with a motive of pure menace and vengeance. Hoping to secure the position of Dominus in one of the most powerful vampire Houses, Tatiana requires the Ring of Sorrows, and Algernon was the last known vampire to be in possession of the powerful jewel and now his Comarre is missing and presumed guilty of both murder and theft of the ring. The true nature of the ring has yet to be revealed, but Tatiana’s endeavor to discover its’ power will unleash an evil thought only to exist in mythology and lore. And the hunt for Tatiana will push Malkolm and Chrysabelle spiraling the depths of hidden passages, only to discover there are more secrets locked behind the façade of an aging Comarre and a vindictive vampire hoping to avenge the death of a child.

We are introduced to Malkolm’s constant companions-Fi, a ghost from his past that haunts his present, and Doc, the shapeshifting feline who has been cursed to the life of a house pet: Marissa as Chrysabelle’s aunt who has a few secrets of her own: and Dominic, a powerful vampire with connections to both Chrysabelle and her aunt.

Kristin Painter labels herself as a gothic urban fantasy writer. The genre is usually a dark look into the future world heading for destruction at the hands of the supernatural. Although there is little in the way of ‘urban fantasy’, the gothic tag is quite dark and evil. There is no sex, no foul language but the violence is bloody and sharp. The relationship between Chrysabelle and Malkolm is slow to build and even slower is their realization of the inevitable. I am not sure whether this series is YA. I cannot find any reference to the age discipline that the author has intended-with the lack of many of the ‘staples’ of an adult storyline, this novel could read as YA, except the characters are definitely NOT teens. Blood Rights has an interesting premise that offers a different twist to the vampire myth and legend. I am looking forward to the next storyline-Flesh and Blood

see all of my reviews at : thereadingcafe.com

I have been waiting quite some time to find a "good" vampire story again, and Kristen Painter finally wrote that story for me. I wish I had of taken better notes during the reading process, but I honestly went in with lowered expectations due to the amount of unlikeable vampire writing on the market currently (It's almost as bad as the angel writing!), and by the time I realized how amazing this book was, I was too busy devouring it to write any notes down...

I think one of the main reasons I really enjoyed this book was because it reminded me quite a bit of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series (Which I also absolutely adore!). We have the politics, intrigue, magic, a group of humans that are sold to the highest bidder and marked with a type of tattoo. It's fabulous!

The characters are fantastic and have minds and voices of their own. Chrysabelle, a special breed of human bred specifically to feed the vampire nobility, Malkolm the outcast vampire noble who has been cursed and is therefore trapped within his own misery, as well as the "aunt" who was able to escape the comarré life (at a very hefty cost), the ever-haunting ghost, and the cursed were-kitty. These intriguing characters make up a very intriguing cast that is likely to entertain even the most snobbish vampire reader.

I also have to give kudos to Kristen Painter's world building. It is strong, and vivid, beautiful and disturbing, and so realistic it's hard to imagine it's not real.

I recommend everyone give this book a read, even if you feel like you might be burnt out on vampire novels. I don't think you'll ever regret it!

Now on to book two, Flesh and Blood.

I haven't been much of a fan of vampire books until recently. I've never even read Twilight. But Blood Rights totally drew me in with its eye-catching and stunning cover (I can't wait for all of these books to be released, so I can have physical copies of them all sitting prettily on my shelf!), and that intriguing description. And I am so glad that I picked this one up!

Reasons to Read:

1.Incredibly rich mythology:
Kristen Painter takes something popular (vampires) and then injects it with her own creativity. Blood Rights is just BURSTING with symobolism and legends and a very unique spin.
2.Careful writing:
Something I really enjoyed about this book was Kristen's writing; it's excellent and obvious that she was very careful about writing in such a way that the words properly evoke the ambience of the story itself.
3.Paced development:
Both the story and the characters take time to grow on each other, and even to grow on the reader. And there's a definite line drawn between physical attraction and emotional intimacy.
Okay, so I didn't know that it was possible to make drinking blood sound so good, but Kristen is (somehow) able to do this and it is HOT. It might be a result of the relationship between comarré and vampires, but there is something deeply sensual about a patron feeding off of its comar. I thought I'd be grossed out (and I was at times, since Kristen does not shy away from descriptions or gore) but I was surprised by how much the writing affected me as it did Chrysabelle.

And can I just say how much I liked Chrysabelle and Mal? I loved reading about them! Neither was who I was expecting them to be at first, and they pleasantly surprised me by the amount of depth and complexity found in them. I just found their relationship utterly fascinating, from their initial attraction to each other (which makes perfect sense given the circumstances), but it isn't instant either.

There's a glossary of terms at the back of this book, which I unfortunatley didn't discover until I had already finished as I was reading the e-book. It would have been helpful at the beginning, because while I loved all of the mythology woven in the story, at times it was just plain confusing. If you aren't into details or elaborate worlds, then it could easily feel overwhelming as a reader.

I also just want to point out that I'm not sure if this is supposed to be classified as YA, and I'm not sure I'd quite consider it to be a teen novel. There isn't anything so wildly inappropriate in it (that isn't already found in other YA novels), but it definitely gave me a bit of an older audience vibe. I enjoyed that though, but I can definitely see this appealing to slightly older audiences particularly when the characters were (sort of) in their 20s.

Oh, and one of the best parts about this book? The sequels are set to be released in early November and early December 2011 which is SOON. I really hate waiting for sequels, and these are two books which will be making it to the top of my TBR pile VERY soon- I literally cannot wait to see where this story goes!

e-galley received from publisher via netGalley in exchange for my honest review; no other compensation was received.