Rating: 1.5
Description: When John Shaw is injured in World War I, he spends weeks in a hospital having hallucinations about what occurred on the front, most about the brutality of his commanding officer, Quincey Harker. But how much of what he dreams is fevered imagination, and how much is real? When nurse Mary Seward reads John's journal, she is horrified at the haunting images recorded there, and when Quincey Harker returns to stay at John's house with his sister, Lily, she is concerned for the girl's wellfare. Lily is charmed by the dashing captain, and before too long, she is in love with him. But what are Harker's true intentions? When Lily elopes with Quincey, John and Mary uncover information about a long-dead enemy of their parents, one whose bloodline continues in Quincey Harker. The knowledge leads them to an eerie castle in Transylvania, where an ancient evil reigns, and love may not be enough to save them all from a fate worse than death.
Review: I was interested to read a vampire story taking place in the past, but World War I was a very strange place to introduce the hero and villain, and I felt that neither the war element nor the vampire element were developed enough to make the whole first section of the book worthwhile. The second part of the book, which introduces Mary, was a bit more interesting. However, the relationships between both couples were forced and unrealistic, occurring within too short a span of time and entirely lacking any sort of romantic spark. The characters leave much to be desired. None of them, with the exception of Quincey Harker, have any real personality. Lily is a stupid chit and Mary has no distinguishing characteristics whatsoever. The first part of the book makes John out to be a sort of noble hero type, but in the end he crumbles under pressure so fast I almost threw down the book in disgust. The plot would've been decent if I cared about the characters, but none of them gave me anything to work with, and I was disgusted with them all by the end, except maybe Mary, who at least developed a bit of backbone. "Bloodline" is unquestionably the worst horror novel I have ever had the displeasure of reading. Read at your own risk.
aww, that's not very nice
:-P
Posted by: Rhiannon at March 16, 2005 03:46 PMI think I almost choked with laughter after reading this. I'd HATE to be that author. This is why I don't write -- to avoid bitter reviews....
This is a cool website thingy, by the way.
Posted by: Robert at March 16, 2005 04:41 PMI read this book and thought it was really excellent!!
Posted by: helena at April 19, 2005 09:17 AMHmm..I as well i think your being a little too harsh, i read it and i thought it was pretty decent, Or maybe it's just me? Either way unless a book really is horrible.. bitter reviews have always irritated me, just because you didn't like the book doesn't mean you have to be bitter about it. =)
Posted by: Sansha at June 22, 2005 12:52 AMI find it more important to be honest than to be nice. I wasn't trying to be mean (or bitter, whatever that means); I just didn't like the book, and said so.
Posted by: Elena at June 22, 2005 02:53 PMNyan, I read that book, and was enteranced at the discription at first... but I didn't like how it turned out to be... for John, and how later Harker was being.... to Lily and Mary.
Posted by: Sansy at December 13, 2005 05:46 PMI didn't like the book either...gosh, I dunno-I just really wanted some kind of definite ending and I feel like she left off on the ultimate cliffhanger...And John pissed me off. Ughh!
Posted by: Shan at January 11, 2006 02:56 PMI thought bloodline did a excellent job at keeping me hooked, and that surprise ending w/ John discouvering his past was cool. but the problem with it is that i thought the ending was horrible. he never really rescues his sister and defeat the vampires. I think it was the ending that disappointed me most
Posted by: XXX at January 19, 2006 08:35 PMBloodline, like the original Dracula, follows a format of a collection of journals,
diaries, and letters told from different characters’ point of view. The thing that really
made this book incredible is how the story unfolds. In the beginning we have really no
ideas of what Harker’s real motives are. Later in the story, everything is explain and put
together. Once John reaches the castle, many horrific truths are revealed that will astound
the reader. As the story progresses, romances between John and Mary occur. Bloodline is
a must-read for fans of horror and sci-fi. The plot develops with unexpected twists, and a
love story is intertwined with a much darker and horrific side of Bloodline. Bloodline is a
new generation of vampire stories and would appeal to middle-school student up to high
school, depending on maturity.
This book was sweet! I actually started listing actors that would be suitable for the roles of the people. I'm actually quite young. You wouldn't believe it, but I'm not even in Middle school. I'm in grade school. I'm in 6th grade and I've read this book. I have also read the Montmorency series made by Eleanor Updale. Those fascinate me as well. Its been great fun reading these books, but it sucks that I can't find out what her e-mail adress is because I would love to write her some mail. I have never read the real Dracula series, and would love it if one of you guys gave me an introduction or something. thankx
6th grader michelle
Posted by: Michelle at March 15, 2006 03:38 PMok, whoever that was trying to sell the stuff, get the heck out of here. i would use another word but that would seem "unipropriate" for my age. this site is made because people wanted to talk about books, not mortage loans or any other of that sh**. so go away. i'm very unhappy about this.:(
Posted by: Michelle at March 20, 2006 07:24 PM