BLOOD-KISSED SKY by J.A. London

Blood-Kissed Sky
J.A. London

Rating: A-
Synopsis:
There's nowhere left to hide. 

I thought vampires were our enemies - they controlled our lives, isolated our cities, and demanded our blood - until I met Victor. With Victor taking over as the new Lord Valentine, things were supposed to get better. Instead, they're worse than ever. 

Day Walkers, a new breed of vampires who can walk in the sun, are terrorizing the city. Blood supplies are low, and if Victor's vampires don't get enough, they will become infected with the Thirst - a disease that will turn them into mindless killers. 

To stop it, I must journey across the desolate wasteland to the very place where the sickness began. I can only hope that the answers that await me are enough to save us all . . . before it's too late.

My thoughts on the book:
Blood-Kissed Sky was a suspenseful follow-up to the amazing Darkness Before Dawn. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire novel, and London threw many surprises at me. Both Dawn and the secondary characters grew throughout the course of the story, and I got to learn a lot more about each of them. While some characters are more likable than others, they are all realistic and multi-faceted. The continued world-building was also fantastic. London did an amazing job furthering this intriguing story. 

In case you're wondering why this book got an A- instead of an A or A+, it's because the formatting is off. I bought one of the first copies at Barnes and Noble (they had them out a bit early here), and pages 186-220 were out of order. That made it extremely hard to read that part of the novel. If you want to buy a paperback copy of this work, I recommend checking to make sure those pages are in order before your purchase. I don't know how the Kindle and Nook editions are, but if anyone ends up ordering an e-book of this and wants to let me know, that'd be fantastic. The pages are numbered, at least, so I was able to piece it together, but it was inconvenient. 

Now onto the good stuff... Dawn grew a lot as a character in this installment. She's learning to stand on her own against anything the world (or the vampires) may throw at her. She really has become an extremely strong and admirable character. I enjoyed reading from her perspective, and I like the changes she's making. We learn a lot of interesting stuff about her in this book as well, and I can't wait to see what these how these ideas develop. Michael irritated me at the very beginning, but by the end, he grew on me. Teagan really got on my nerves, and I've decided I just really don't like her. There's always one, you know? She's it for this book. I liked getting to spend more time with Faith and Richard, and I enjoyed learning more about them. I would have liked more Victor, but the more I get to know about him, the more uncertain I become regarding whether he is, in fact, a good guy or a bad guy. 

The plot was intense and action-packed. Also, London kept me guessing the entire time. I figured a few things out right away, but not everything... just enough that I felt like I knew what was going on. Basically, I was lulled into a false sense of security and then London threw some shocking bit of info at me. This was one of those books that I couldn't put down, and I was up most of the night reading it. It was worth it, though. The ending was a cliffhanger, but at least we get to read the first chapter of the next installment at the end. That teaser made the cliffhanger a little easier to deal with. I can't wait for the third book in this series. 

Overall, I'd recommend this novel to anyone who loves dystopian and/or vampire novels. It's a bit dark and gritty, but the characters are tough and intriguing. The plot will keep you guessing, and the suspense will keep you hooked. If you haven't read this series yet, I highly recommend it. 

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