Hey, it’s Heather! I’m reviewing this horror novel today, please be aware that the book features a lot of violence so is definitely not suitable for under eighteens. Many thanks to the author for letting me read in in exchange for an honest review.
Information
Author: Nina Hobson
Published: June 2012
Publisher: Self-published
Length: 149 pages
Genre: Horror
Brief description (from Amazon)
“Have you seen anyone around?”
“That’s me,” stated Ron with no outward expression.
“What?” Jennifer’s sure she hadn’t heard him right.
“That’s me…ummm, he’s me. I can’t explain it Jennifer but ever since last night, I’ve felt funny, like something in me is missing. I think it’s…I’m following us.”
* * *
Ron Davis’s statement was enough to scare the crap out of Jennifer Holden, his best friend, because she’d been seeing things too -- especially in the back in the back room off the kitchen. The one her parents had forbidden Jennifer and her little brother to enter…which was okay by her since she’d no intention of stepping one foot in there.
That is until her terminally ill cousin takes up residence in it setting in motion a horrific turn of events; putting her and the entire town in mortal danger.
Tainted Blood: Face Your Demons is book one in a four book series of high school to adult, paranormal horror novellas. Action packed, suspenseful, thrilling yet sensitive, this first installment brings beings from two opposing dimensions together under one roof.
Imagine the specter from your worst nightmare adopting and trying to raise two sweet, young teens; trying to keep them safe while something dark and dangerous stalks and ravages the natives of Cleveland and you’ll have all you need to read this new urban horror classic.
Review
The plot was fast-paced and interesting throughout. The perspective changed a lot, but it was always clear which character the reader was following. The title itself also links into the story, which I thought was quite clever. There were some grammatical errors, like ‘to’ and ‘too’ being mixed up, and sometimes more commas being needed, but these were minor so didn’t really affect the read. The more violent scenes had the best description, making it chilling and disturbing, which is what you want to achieve for a horror book, though I did feel it was over the top quite a lot (I don’t read much horror, so was cringing even at the less gross bits to be fair). It might have been better to build up to the ‘worst’ deaths, instead of retaining the graphic and gory methods of slaughter through the entire novel. I was also astonished at the lack of attention from other people given to the killings. Had a young lad been beheaded near me, I’m pretty sure my family would have banished me from leaving the house unsupervised for at least a week (bearing in mind I’m an adult and these were twelve/thirteen year-olds), then again I guess their own house was hardly safer.
Whilst I do appreciate the author trying to include LGBT+ characters in their literature, I wasn’t a massive fan of Angie’s crush on Jennifer. Angie’s infatuation with her was definitely overly creepy and worthy of a restraining order; particularly when she brushes her hand near Jennifer’s private area on her thigh, which bordered on sexual harassment given all the signs Jennifer had given her to stop flirting. I’m unsure on whether it was written like this to appear somehow romantic or if it was meant to disturb the reader. I also was perplexed at the friendship between Jennifer and Ron. If any of my friends crushed a baby bird to death, regardless of the fact nature would probably kill it eventually, I would have had very stern words with them. Even Jennifer herself was a somewhat dislikeable character, from the first chapter she presented herself as arrogant, claiming to be too smart and good for Cleveland. These aren't critiques of the writer though - I disliked all the characters in Wuthering Heights but enjoyed the novel nonetheless, sometimes having very flawed characters can make the read more relatable. Though the descriptions of each character were definitely good in providing clear images for the reader. Also, Tom was absolutely adorable, the sweetest little brother ever, his bond with his sister was lovely.
As I said earlier, the change in perspective was interesting in seeing how the plot was developing for different characters, and it was clear whose perspective one was reading as well. Aside from Mr. Mitschell, I thought the writer could have changed the writing style itself more depending on the character; even if it was simply by adding longer and more eloquent words for the older characters. It was especially impressive that the evil demon things had a language though. I was a little bit confused to come across some scenes that were sexual, given that we had been told on our submission form not to expect this at all. Although, the sexual content is not too graphic and can be skimmed through quickly if anyone else out there feels uncomfortable reading this type of stuff, most of it is implicit. Emotionally, I still felt like there could have been further development. If someone close to a character dies, particularly in a torturous way, they are going to feel upset for a long time. Honestly, I’d have liked to have seen several pages (even a chapter or two) devoted to describing the utter misery the characters were in, the children especially would have been traumatised. Again, this is my personal opinion, many people prefer to have a snappy plot than to see the emotional side of characters.
Given the violent nature of this book, I’d have to advise it for over eighteens that don’t mind a lot of blood and painful ways to die. It’s a short novella – I finished it in one afternoon without any problems, and certainly is not dull, though was perhaps a little too gory for me!
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