Revolution of Love

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

What We’re Reading Wednesday – Vol 3

I’m linking up with Jessica over at Housewifespice.com for What We’re Reading Wednesday.

Before I read the featured book of this post, I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments). I was intrigued with the idea of supernatural demon hunters and a seemingly ordinary girl who could see the invisible hunters and the demonic activity that other normal humans could not. I decided to read the book and see if it was any good.

I will admit that I enjoyed the adventure and suspense of hunting down demons but there were too many negative points to make it worth it. I debated between giving it one or two stars on GoodReads because there were moments I was swiping the screen in a hurry to see what would happen next and other times I was rolling my eyes at the writing.

From a Catholic point of view, there were definite problems, most notably, that the characters are fighting a war of good vs evil with demons, yet God is viewed as non-existent at worst or disinterested at best. I also hated the plot twist at the end, so all in all, it was a let down.

 

The following week I read a positive review from The Curt Jester/Jeff Miller about Mysterious Albion (Vatican Vampire Hunters) (Volume 1) by Paul Leone. Vatican Vampire Hunters?? Wow, sign me up! (To read, not to hunt.)

Here is the Amazon description:

Lucy Manning just wanted an ordinary life. But surviving a vicious vampire attack has put the young American in the middle of a holy war between a secret society of vampire hunters loyal to the Catholic Church–and an ancient and powerful vampire queen who has awakened from a long slumber with dreams of blood and conquest in her demonic mind.

Lucy may not want to do battle with a ruthless, eternal evil, but evil has other ideas….

 

While other vampire books may make vampires seem attractive, there is no mistake that in this book vampires are evil and closer to being demonic. Lucy’s world is turned upside down when her friend is attacked by a vampire and Lucy barely escapes. Lucy is eventually recruited into a secret society of vampire hunters operating unofficially for the Catholic Church. She goes from an inexperienced  novice to a skillful hunter fighting a devastating war.

I enjoyed the description of British locations and culture and I loved the suspense and the battle scenes and the integration of the Catholic faith. However, it was not the slightest bit “preachy.” On the contrary, it seems completely natural, even for non-religious people, that when you are dealing with evil/demonic creatures, the Catholic Church provides the big guns.

The only negatives were a few plot aspects that seemed confusing  (ie. Why was a vampire killed with holy water at the beginning of the story but holy water wasn’t used on any of  the others?) and there is a bit of language. Lucy can be praying to God in one scene and then dropping some f-bombs in a battle scene. So be forewarned if you’re sensitive to that.

I still gave the book 5 stars because I couldn’t put it down while I was reading it and now that I’m done I can’t wait for book 2. 😉

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6 Comments

  • LeighAnna says:

    Hi! Found your blog through the linkup. 🙂

    “Mysterious Albion” sounds like one vampire book I would actually read! Definitely better than all this “paranormal romance.” Thanks for the great review!

  • Jessica @ housewifespice says:

    I was wondering about City of Bones. I would totally have passed up Mysterious Albion because of the cover art, but your review has swayed my judgment.

    • bobbi says:

      LOL! Jessica, I had to laugh at the cover comment because when I saw it my first thought was “pms or migraine ad.” But don’t let the cover stop you; inside is good stuff. 🙂

  • Rebekah Es says:

    You are awesome as always, Bobbi. This sounds really interesting, too. I loved Dracula and Frankenstein, but a lot of supernatural fiction really gets me scared (I am very easily creeped out and have no desire to be.) How do you think this rates in terms of being “scary for wooses?”

  • bobbi says:

    Rebekah, well, if you are prone to getting scared it may be a little unnerving. One night I was reading it before bed and although I was not scared the imagery was so vivid in my head that I literally could not fall asleep. So read it in the day when you need to get your blood pumping. LOL.

    Seriously, I think the difference is that no matter how “scary” it may seem, in the end you know that good will triumph, even though it is at a cost. To be honest with you, the book has gotten me to think more about spiritual warfare in general. I have been saying the Prayer to St. Michael more and that is definitely a good thing. We may not be hunting vampires but we definitely are fighting a war. So give the book a try. And if you get too freaked out I owe you a bottle of wine to calm your nerves. 😉

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