Review: Dirty Blood

Dirty Blood by Heather Hildenbrand

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Please Note: I read and reviewed this book in December 2011 from an E-book copy I won in a giveaway.

My Synopsis: Tara Godfrey is just a normal girl, living in Frederick Falls, VA on the night her life changed completely. After breaking up with her boyfriend at the pool hall and sending him home, she is unsuccessful in finding a ride home, so sets out to walk to the bus stop. While going through an alley, she comes across a girl who seems to be in some distress – however, before she can try to help the girl, the girl … changes into a wolf, and attacks Tara. Tara, to her surprise, manages to not only survive, but to actually kill the werewolf. With the help of her new friend Wes she discovers that everything she thought she knew about herself was a lie – she is a Hunter, and it is her destiny to fight werewolves. How is it she never knew about this? And what are the “sides” that Wes alludes to? Will Tara decide to embrace her destiny, or will she decide to go about her life as it was?

My Thoughts: While I don’t dislike werewolves, I’m more of a vampire person, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I was a bit astonished – no, taken aback is more like it – when I learned that the favored weapon of the Hunters against werewolves was … a wooden stake. Seriously? Why not a knife? Well, that is actually explained a bit later, but it still seems a bit strange – I hope it is further explained in later books. The characters are well developed and the plot is smooth and quick-paced. Overall the editing and writing style are well-done – at least in the first third of the book or so. After that, there are more editing errors, but still not too bad. This is classified as young adult, since the main character is a 17-year-old girl, and overall it’s a book I would feel comfortable letting younger readers have – there is some violence, but it’s not bad, and while there are some romantic scenes, there is no sex. I was also happy that the romance between the characters seemed more or less realistic. Overall, a great book, one I’d definitely recommend for fans of werewolves and paranormal/urban fantasy.




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