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A review by amberdlewis
Bleeding Mars by Asher J. Quazar
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I'm honestly a bit conflicted on how to rate this book.
On one hand: gay vampires in space. I'm a sucker (pun intended, I suppose) for vampires and when you add in some food LGBTQIA+ rep, I'm even more on board. I really liked the scientific and practical explanation of how vampirism worked against this dystopian backdrop. I think the desperation to get and sell blood worked very well and set the story up nicely. In fact, the world building overall was pretty well done.
I also liked the fact that none of the characters were perfect. They all had flaws and issues. I appreciated that.
However, the actual storytelling fell short for me. This book started slow. Other than giving a little background, the first couple chapters didn't seem to have much purpose. It took way too long for the story promised on the blurb to start, and honestly, I almost gave up reading multiple times. When the story did finally get rolling, I kept waiting for the vampire love interest to show up, but they don't have a proper conversation until almost halfway through the book.
I also didn't care for Vesta's POV. She didn't seem to add that much to the story and I often had to fight skimming her sections. I didn't really like her all that much and I wasn't invested in her storyline at all.
Now, once Umbra and Dezi meet and begin their arrangement, I was hooked for a bit. The story really picked up and I didn't want to put the book down for several chapters. (Other than Vesta's bits, admittedly.) I really liked their dynamic and I was invested in finding out the mystery behind Umbra. I liked the moments they had together and I was enjoying watching their relationship change and grow. I liked Umbra's protectiveness.
And then it crumbled.
First, I was taken a bit back by the very violent, so what graphic, and quite unexpected animal death. When I'm dealing with vampires, I fully expect them to feed from humans and I even expect some morally gray behavior towards humans. A warning of violence towards humans also isn't unexpected. What I do not typically expect isa jaguar being mauled and its spine crushed after it had basically been declared and treated as a pet up until that point. I actually read that part twice to make sure I actually read what I had because I couldn't believe we went from such an intimate and promising moment to big cat murder.
I also wasn't a fan of the on again, off again that kept happening between Umbra and Dezi. Once, sure. I kind of expect that, but it was like whiplash watching their relationship. It felt a little over the top at times and got a little repetitive. Everything about their relationship was so hot and cold it was hard to stay invested.
The ending was disappointing, but I'm hopeful that it's setting up for a second book to pick up where this one left off. This book honestly has so much untapped potential and I'm interested to see how the story can continue unfolding. Now that some of the bigger issues have been resolved, things can come to a more satisfactory conclusion.
So overall, I really liked parts of this book and would be willing to continue the series, but there were some things that simply didn't land for me.
On one hand: gay vampires in space. I'm a sucker (pun intended, I suppose) for vampires and when you add in some food LGBTQIA+ rep, I'm even more on board. I really liked the scientific and practical explanation of how vampirism worked against this dystopian backdrop. I think the desperation to get and sell blood worked very well and set the story up nicely. In fact, the world building overall was pretty well done.
I also liked the fact that none of the characters were perfect. They all had flaws and issues. I appreciated that.
However, the actual storytelling fell short for me. This book started slow. Other than giving a little background, the first couple chapters didn't seem to have much purpose. It took way too long for the story promised on the blurb to start, and honestly, I almost gave up reading multiple times. When the story did finally get rolling, I kept waiting for the vampire love interest to show up, but they don't have a proper conversation until almost halfway through the book.
I also didn't care for Vesta's POV. She didn't seem to add that much to the story and I often had to fight skimming her sections. I didn't really like her all that much and I wasn't invested in her storyline at all.
Now, once Umbra and Dezi meet and begin their arrangement, I was hooked for a bit. The story really picked up and I didn't want to put the book down for several chapters. (Other than Vesta's bits, admittedly.) I really liked their dynamic and I was invested in finding out the mystery behind Umbra. I liked the moments they had together and I was enjoying watching their relationship change and grow. I liked Umbra's protectiveness.
And then it crumbled.
First, I was taken a bit back by the very violent, so what graphic, and quite unexpected animal death. When I'm dealing with vampires, I fully expect them to feed from humans and I even expect some morally gray behavior towards humans. A warning of violence towards humans also isn't unexpected. What I do not typically expect is
I also wasn't a fan of the on again, off again that kept happening between Umbra and Dezi. Once, sure. I kind of expect that, but it was like whiplash watching their relationship. It felt a little over the top at times and got a little repetitive. Everything about their relationship was so hot and cold it was hard to stay invested.
The ending was disappointing, but I'm hopeful that it's setting up for a second book to pick up where this one left off. This book honestly has so much untapped potential and I'm interested to see how the story can continue unfolding. Now that some of the bigger issues have been resolved, things can come to a more satisfactory conclusion.
So overall, I really liked parts of this book and would be willing to continue the series, but there were some things that simply didn't land for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment