The Book of Blood and Roses by Annie Summerlee is a seductive supernatural romance set in a gothic university brimming with brooding love interests and ancient secrets. It’s a whimsical and campy romp through the spooky highlands of Scotland.
If you’re looking for a fun vampiric fantasy, look no further than this amusing adventure into the heart of paranormal academia.
The first book in The Callisto Chronicles follows Rebecca Charity, a hunter consumed by revenge after losing her family to vampires. When Rebecca’s secret hunter organization assigns her to go undercover at a vampire-invested university, she faces the reality of her vendetta. Enter Aliz Astra, a student who comes from ancient vampire royalty and is Rebecca’s new roommate. Despite their disdain for each other, the hunter and vampire soon find it impossible to stay apart as they search for the Book of Blood and Roses.
A sapphic love story propelled forward by tumultuous vampire/human politics and fussy magic, The Book of Blood and Roses taps into a nostalgic tone that calls upon our love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Vampire Academy series. It is that familiarity and nostalgia that allow the reader to overlook the pitfalls of this first installment. After all, there’s an amusing and alluring juxtaposition that justifies the limited world-building while progressing the unstable romance between Rebecca and Aliz.
“This madness can’t be mine alone.”
― Annie Summerlee, The Book of Blood and Roses
Indeed, the book begins on uneven footing as it makes all the trademark mistakes of an underdeveloped, juvenile romance. The plot moves at lightning speed as it introduces Rebecca’s generic backstory and a vampire-hunting organization that is equally frustrating in its vagueness. There’s no individuality as the story blasts through developments in a sentence or less. It’s surface-level and uninspiring, as so many of these vampire novels can be.
However, once Rebecca arrives at the university, the book settles into an expansive academic world of personalities and winding tunnels. The haunting gothic facade and the looming threat of danger from secret societies slowly transform this generic tale into something far more captivating.
In earnest, you will begin The Book of Blood and Roses with the desire to abandon it. However, the tides will quickly turn, and you won’t be able to put the book down.
The intensity of Rebecca’s hatred for Aliz — the attractive, suit-wearing vampire she shares a bedroom with — drives the plot. The dueling dorm room acts as a tantalizing warzone, with one side dressed with a large curtain, coffin, and cluster of old books. In contrast, the other side presents as a normal human bedroom fitted with secret hunter compartments. As the two unlikely allies break down the barriers between them, the dorm room becomes a vibrant setting for their relationship to flourish and expand.
As the walls begin to break down between Rebecca and Aliz, the book introduces a plot twist into their relationship that beautifully escalates the tensions between the couple and those around them. For all the untapped world-building and silly mustache-twirling antagonists that threaten to cheapen their experience, the romance between this vampire and hunter keeps the frights fun and the interactions fulfilling.
A towering gothic setting of damp cobblestone tunnels and predatory classroom settings accentuates their whirlwind, hands-on affair. This whimsical fantasy world is such a tease, too. The settings of the university and the outer Scottish villages beg to be expanded on in additional books, as do the support system of allies at Rebecca’s disposal.
The Book of Blood and Roses’ forbidden romance will leave you begging for more.
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