The New Badlands—a desolate area in the West forged by the terrible events that altered the entire country, where a few frightened citizens retreated underground to shelter from the brutal weather... and from a society gone deadly dangerous.
Then the vampire arrived—and they started calling it the Bloodlands.
Not because Gabriel, the so-called monster running from his true self, was searching for his lover’s murderer. Nor because Mariah, the woman who reluctantly took him in, was willing to do anything to survive in the changed world.
No, the Badlands officially became the Bloodlands the moment a gun-for-hire who’d decided to slay every monster left in the country came after Gabriel...
Christine Cody's Bloodlands, kicks off a new series set in a desolate landscape that used to be the United States. Now things are different, and not necessarily for the better, far from it actually. This is definitely a dystopian novel and it wasn't all that bad given how I don't read too many.
It definitely has a unique style to it as well. The chapters are sporadically divided between Mariah and Gabriel, with a chapter here or there from a bad guy's p.o.v., while only Mariah's p.o.v. is in first person, everyone else is in third. A little disorienting maybe, but the only times I got thrown off really was when we were in the mind of a bad guy, for the chapters are labeled Mariah or Gabriel, while the other limited chapters have no identifier. So hence the disorientation.
What was also a little off was that some of the bad guys spoke the language Text, which is exactly what you think it is. The "texting" language. Although I was warned of this ahead of time, and my worries weren't really necessary. There are only a small few amount of times the bad guys spoke this language and it wasn't at all hard. Nothing made up like that one commercial from a few years back with the kids and grandma saying stuff like "TGHM" The girl hates me, or whatever. That really annoyed me! No the text here is pretty simple and easy to follow since I am one of the people that practically texts in the English language with only a few abbreviations.
The story itself was pretty interesting as well. I won't lie, a few times my mind did wander because I wasn't sure where it was going. Gabriel is obviously looking for the woman he loves who disappeared on him some time back, while Mariah and her group of people hiding out are doing just that, hiding out from the bad guys.
Since this is a dystopian novel, there is a whole new world to grow accustomed to and new terms and events to learn as well. It wasn't too hard to follow along, but describing it in detail would take too long. But basically it comes down to survival. The bad guys are after Mariah and her friends because they have something precious that they want, a valuable resource.
It was definitely an interesting read, there's a bit of a spark between Mariah and Gabriel that was nice. It wasn't super intense and lustful, but still they seemed to connect on a deeper level. But Mariah is harboring more than one secret from him. And both could threaten the fragile relationship budding between them.
The ending led to several shocking surprises that definitely changed my opinion of the book overall. I will definitely be needing to get the next book, Blood Rules, this coming week.
Overall rating 3.5/5 stars
I'm so glad someone reliable finally reviewed this, because I've had my eye on it for awhile. It sounds interesting, though perhaps not a must read. Great review!
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