My Blood Approves (My Blood Approves, #1) by Amanda Hocking
Website: http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/
Paperback, 261 pages (I read the Kindle Edition)
Published March 17, 2010 by Lulu
ISBN: 9780557364633
Summary:
Teenager Alice Bonham’s life feels crazy after she meets Jack. With his fondness for pink Chuck Taylors and New Wave, he’s unlike anyone she knows. Then she meets his brother, Peter. Even though he can’t stand the sight of her, she’s drawn to him. Falling for two guys isn’t even the worst of her problems. Jack and Peter are vampires, and Alice finds herself caught between love and her own blood.
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Review:
First, I’m just going to warn everyone that my thoughts are everywhere in this review. Like I’ve said before in my reviews: I’m an author, not a reviewer, though I try! Now . . . on to the review!
This book is about vampires. No, no. Not the sparkling kind. And no, not the vicious kind. It’s yet another different, yet fascinating spin on them, though. This I can promise. The rest . . . I have so many feelings about this book. It’s hard for me to put into words exactly how I feel, actually. I loved it. I was annoyed. I hated it. I loved it . . . You see what I mean? The thing is, I would hate to sit here and literally list all the things I didn’t like about it and all the things I did. That isn’t much of a review, so I’m going to try to get through this without.
(Random note before I continue. After I read the book, I read some four-five star reviews of this book and some not so flattering reviews. I almost thought about lowering my rating after reading some of the nasty things people wrote, thinking I must be dim-witted and slow or something because I actually liked this book and didn’t laugh when things were cliche. But you know what? I decided not to because I did enjoy this book and no one can take that away. Not even a review. Now I’m not so sure I can truly trust all reviewers when they write such unsavory words in their reviews because it’s obviously more opinion than on the facts of story and writing.)
Hocking is a very talented storyteller and had my attention the whole book. As a matter of fact, I didn’t put it down once I had the chance to sit down and read it. And that, for how crazy my life is, equals a massive amount of talent (and possibly an award). There were definitely some huge grammatical (though mostly punctuation) errors, and a few missing words here or there, but that is something I see in any published novel, no matter the publisher. Regardless, it is actually the errors that made me rate this story a 3.5, though I put it as 4 stars on goodreads because I enjoyed the actual story so much and that counts for more than something as petty and silly as punctuation.
Alice (the main character) is one of those characters that loves passionately and fully. It’s one thing she just doesn’t half-ass; it’s something that I admire in people in real life and in novels. And as do people in real life, she also annoyed me sometimes and became endearing other times. Jack, the other main character, was absolutely delightful. He’s one of those people you just want to be around because they are happy all the time. Instead of people all “I’m so sorry you’re in a bad mood” and then pats your head, he’s the type of person who pulls you from your bad mood and brings a grin to your face. There isn’t anything more lovable than that! All the other characters are also wonderful (except Peter and Jane, which I’ll just not talk about so you can read it and find out yourself why).
I’m not one to talk much about the happenings in a book because I want readers to experience it themselves, I just like to talk about how fantastic (or not) said book is. The most unique thing about this story? The love triangle is played sooo differently–I absolutely loved how it was written. Downside? I hated where it ended. It was abrupt. Luckily, I’ve already purchased every single one of her novels from Amazon. I think supporting indie authors is important, so I didn’t even wait to read the first one before I did it. 
Honestly, I’m glad I did because I know I’ll be reading them all.
Now, the biggest question: would I recommend this book to my fantasy-loving friends? Absolutely. I think they’ll all love it, as long as they bypass the punctuation. (Sorry Amanda . . .) Now go to Amazon right now and purchase her novels. They’re cheap, so you won’t be breaking your bank to do it.
Wow, was that long-winded or what?
