Crystal Carroll

After reading this book, I had a hard time thinking about what to write in the review.

For me "Blood Maiden" was an up and down going book, starting off very good, then losing me for some time just to grab me again close to the ending, which made me hope for an amazing finish, just to let me be disappointed again.

The story is about Blood Maiden, a girl who is a death goddess in training. She deals with the same problems all teenagers her age have, trouble with parents, first love, show more disappointment,..... She is wondering if he path her parents want her to go is really the right one for her.

As stated before, the story starts of nicely, introducing Blood Maiden, her life, surroundings and friends. We see her struggle to find her place in a world that wants her to be something she doesn't want to be.
But then comes the part that totally lost me, cause for me it doesn't make sense. Suddenly three of the girls end up pregnant (one of them being the main character). While at least one of these pregnancies has some kind of meaning, the others seem to be totally meaningless to me. There are also some other events that just feel as if they are crammed without any purpose.
When Blood Maiden finally starts living the life she wants to live, acting against her parents will, the book takes a sudden turn to the better. That leads to another gripping part, which kind of reconciled me with the book. Unfortunately, the ending frustrated me again, cause there seems to be no real solution for some problems and no real reason for some things that happened before.

If you don't care that much about reasoning in a book and just want to enjoy some kind of gripping adventure about teenage girls, "Blood Maiden" will be the right choice for you.
But if you like your books be based on events that make sense, then maybe better stay away from this. As much as I loved some of the characters and things happening in this book, this book still left me more disappointed than I thought. show less

Take high school and add in gods and goddess from a variety of mythologies. Worry about teen pregnancies? Worry more about accidentally swallowing a pine needle and laying an egg!

Melding together a variety of pantheons and characters readers follow Blood Maiden as she tries to survive high school, cleaning up after the jaguars, wondering about where her friend Isis is, and just how things work in this mysterious place known as The City.

The story moves with a type of lyrical intensity going show more between one pantheon and the next in a rather bewildering array. I enjoyed the story but I have always enjoyed mythology and wondering about how the pantheons might collide. The mixing of these elements is a fun read but Author Carroll assumes a great deal of background knowledge from readers as characters are generally not introduced in an in-depth way. show less

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this as a Member Giveaway. No compensation was received other than a coupon code so I could read this work at no cost. (Est. value: 99 cents)

Some readers may remember the fairy tale of the soldier who discovered the secret of the dancing princesses and where they went night after night.

This work covers what usually isn't told, which is what comes after what is supposed to be happily ever after.

The story draws from several sources for inspiration, and is an show more interesting take on what happened to the princesses once their dancing secret is revealed.

Recommended for readers that prefer the original versions of fairy tales (not the cleaned-up Disney retellings), and those who like a more macabre feel to their legends and tales. show less

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher/author through the LibraryThing.com Members Giveaway program. I was asked to post an honest review (though not necessarily a favourable one). The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Being a mythology junkie, I could not let this pass me by. it didn't disappoint. The pace is good and the characters are funny and deep where they need to be.
With a full complement of sumerian zombies, assassin fogs, monsters, gods and teenage show more insecurities and problems and a captivating five (plus one) girl band, it definitely captures the attention and amuses, while dealing with the issues of growing up, finding one's place and teenage pregnancies (a lot).

The only defects I could find in this were a certain sketchiness in places and that some plot points were not exploited to the bitter end as they deserved.

A certain knowledge of various mythologies is recommended if you want to get the most from this book, but the ride is fun even if you don't know Osiris from Odin. show less