Flesh And Blood by Kristen Painter

Flesh And Blood (House of Comarré, #2)

by Kristen Painter

With the Ring of Sorrows still missing, and the covenant between othernaturals and mortals broken, Chrysabelle's life outside the realm of vampire nobility is about to take another downhill slide. She's vowed to help the outcast Malkolm find a way to lift his curse, but that means returning to the home city of the vampire who's trying to kill her. The breaking of the covenant has also activated an ancient organisation designed to protect mankind - the Kubai Mata.

And when Kubai Mata Thomas Creek comes to Paradise City, Chrysabelle finds herself torn between the need to save Malkolm and the desire to stay on the path of light. Finally fulfilling her vow to Malkolm proves devastating for Chrysabelle. If she survives, what's left of her life will never be the same.

Reviewed by Amanda on

4 of 5 stars

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Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2012/02/22/review-flesh-and-blood-by-kristen-painter/

Flesh and Blood picks up where Blood Rights left off, without bogging us down with repetitive information, but still giving us a brief reminder of what happened in Blood Rights (which I admit that I needed). The world in this series is so complex and multi-layered that the second book actually makes for a better story than the first, as it was much easier this time around to understand how the world operates. It was also important seeing as there were new elements being added as well.

At its heart, the House of Comarré series is an urban fantasy, which is at times frustrating for the part of me that wants a lot of romance and more than a few kisses between the characters. I could have also done without the love triangle, but everyone who knows me would know this. Once I moved beyond all that, it became easier to appreciate Flesh and Blood — and the previous book — for the excellent and well-crafted story that it is.

The multiple perspectives provides the story an added depth. While shifting POVs can often lead to boredom (read: the Lesser portions in the BDB books), here it is fascinating. After Blood Rights, it was easy to become attached to the side characters, so that this is more than a story about just Chrysabelle and Malkolm. Even the glimpses into Tatiana’s twistedness and cruelty are interesting in their own right; she is the type of character you love to hate, yet feel the need to observe. The depth of her madness seemingly knows few bounds.

While Flesh and Blood gets Chrysabelle and Malkolm deeper into trouble, it is obvious that the overall story arc is far FAR from being over. In fact, there are a few secrets revealed and a few questions answered from Blood Rights that actually deepen and expand the story. There was less time spent on the two than in Blood Rights, but both of their worlds are altering and changing in drastic ways. Perhaps Chrysabelle’s more than Mal’s in this story, but I am sure we can expect more changes for both of them, especially given that there are three more books in the series.

Overall, this is a fantastic second installment — I rated it higher than the first — and I can only hope that the series continues to get better.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 4 February, 2012: Finished reading
  • 4 February, 2012: Reviewed