Blood Moon [Paperback]

This is the fifth book in the extremely popular Drake Chronicles series by Alyxandra Harvey. The story picks up after the events of 'Bleeding Hearts' with Solange struggling to battle her own vampire nature. At the same time, the Blood Moon ceremonies are taking place and vampire tribes have convened from all over the world to take part which means several new faces.

The focus of the story shifts between Solange, Nicholas and Lucy. Solange has never been one of my favourite characters but she undergoes quite a change in this book. There are reasons for her strange and unpredictable behaviour and they are pretty shocking! It will be interesting to see these explored further in the next book.

I loved the fact that much of the plot resolves around Lucy and Nicholas who are adorable together. They featured prominently in the first book of the series so it was nice to hear from them again and see events unfolding from their perspective. Lucy is trying to fit in as a new student at the Helios-Ra school and is also coping with her best friend not speaking to her. Although Solange has treated her quite badly, Lucy still wants to try and put things right and isn't willing to give up on her. Nicholas has his own problems too and faces a choice between his girlfriend and his sister. However, when they are with each other all these things seem to just fade into the background. There's one particularly romantic scene between them which left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside!

The rest of the Drake family also feature too, as well as Hunter and Isabeau who it was good to see again along with their respective other halves.

The ending of 'Blood Moon' nearly killed me because it leaves you on such a big cliffhanger. Please tell me that I don't have too long to wait until the next book in the series because I don't think I'd be able to stand it otherwise. I love the way that Alyxandra Harvey always throws something new and unexpected into the plot and continually surprises me with the directions that some of the characters take.

This edition also features an exclusive bonus story about Liam and Helena Drake which was a nice added extra.

Blood Moon starts right after the end of bleeding hearts, where Solange has been drinking from humans, the blood moon is starting and huntsmen have arrived in Violet Hill.

Blood Moon is the darkest of the Drake chronicles and, while I did miss the humour and wanted more of the romance, this one kept you on the edge of the seat throughout the book and you could not predict what was going to happen next.

I did not like Solange in this book as I just wanted to slap her throughout it and even though we have some answers at the end of the book about why she is acting this way, we do not understand everything leaving us in suspense for the final book. I really did not like Constantine, a character we briefly met in the last book, and even though he seems to want to protect her, I think he is behind everything in this book although I might be wrong.

I really felt sorry for Lucy, Nicholas, Kieran and all the Drakes in this book as everything changes for the worst and I am not sure the Drakes and extended family will ever be the same again. I really liked hearing Nicholas's POV in this book as it shows us how he really feels about everything (unlike the others in which we had to guess) and how he is torn between protecting Solange and his love for Lucy. However I did miss the romance between Nicholas and Lucy as, even though Blood Moon was mostly told by them, they did not seem to spend much time together and when they did they were in danger.

Blood Moon ends on another cliff-hanger which is torturous as we have to wait so long for the last book. I would recommend this book to all who like Harvey's Drake Chronicles.

This is the 5th book in the Drake Chronicles so please be aware that this review will contain spoilers for previous books. Blood Moon is another fab instalment to a series I love though so if you haven't started it yet grab a copy of My Love Lies Bleeding (called Hearts at Stake in the US) now. If you're not up to date with the series then you should stop reading this review now so you don't pick up spoilers.

Anyone who read Bleeding Hearts was probably as shocked by Solange's behaviour as I was, she was acting very out of character and the ending left me really concerned about her. In Blood Moon she continues to do the unexpected and there were actually times where I found myself not liking the new Solange at all. I'm glad to say that there are reasons for what is happening though, I'm not going to say what or why but by the time you reach the end of the book you'll have a lot of answers. You'll also be left with questions though and this cliffhanger ending was just as bad as the last one! It really is going to be a long wait until the next book.

One of my favourite couples in this series has always been Lucy and Nicholas so it was great that they get to play such a big part of this book. The story is narrated by them as well as Solange but it was by far their parts that I enjoyed the most. Lucy never fails to make me laugh out loud and I just love any scene that contains both her and Nicholas in it. Watching Lucy try to adjust to life at the Helios-Ra school is quite amusing, she has never been one to do what she is told so she finds the strict rules hard to stick to. After the way Solange treated her in the last book I wouldn't have blamed Lucy if she had given up on her friend but Lucy proves her loyalty again and again in this book. She is incredibly worried about Solange and she cares a lot about all of the Drakes so she is determined to get to the bottom of what is going on.

Nicholas finds himself in an incredible difficult situation as he has to make choices between his baby sister and his girlfriend. Loyalty is tested all around and things will never be quite the same amongst the Drake family after the latest events. I really have no idea how Alyxandra Harvey will resolve things in the next book but I can't wait to find out! Fans of the series will love Blood Moon, it has everything you'd expect from these books - humour, action, romance, family bonds and loyalty.

As an extra bonus the UK paperback includes the Lost Girls novella which tells the story of how Liam and Helena first met. I don't want to say much about the story because it would be too easy to give spoilers but I really enjoyed getting to see them both before they married and had the children. It's easy to see them just as parents in the rest of the series and not think about the lives they had before they met so I liked this extra side to them. It was also great to get a better idea of how and why Helena became the kick ass mum that she is now.