Reviewed by Elise Abram
Blood To Blood: Book one in the Angelica Brown series (Angel Brown) (Volume 1)
by Ife Oshun
Papa Grace
Paperback: 250 pages, ISBN-13: 978-0985923532, March 2014
In Blood to Blood by Ife Oshun, Angelica Angel Brown knows she is destined to one day become Shimshana, a blood drinking immortal, but for now, all she wants is to be a music sensation. And she’s close. Her all-girl group, Kat Trio is about to record their first demo and is the opening act for a huge concert. She’s also on the precipice of romantically connecting with her record producer. It’s inconvenient for the blood lust to manifest at this moment in her life, but Angel has no choice but to deal with it, manage her meddling family, and get the song recorded, trying not to kill anyone in the process.
Blood to Blood is a different take on the vampire and paranormal media craze. Though vampires, witches and werewolves exist in Oshun’s world, a Shimshana is something different, which breathes a degree of freshness into the story. And while paranormal tropes are prominent in the novel–such as a love triangle and the co-existence of vampires, witches and werewolves–the story and characters do not suffer, thanks to Oshun’s expert storytelling ability. The one thing I liked is that the characters remain real throughout, they are not caricatures and they are not cliche, which helps endear Angel, her friends in Kat Trio, her suitors and her family to the reader.
Ife Oshun’s work is polished. Her story is interesting. Her narrative voice is endearing. Her characters are believable. Blood to Blood is the first book in a series, so at times, there is a lot of backstory into the rules of Shimshana life and the powers that govern it, but this does not detract from the story. Oshun releases necessary information in bursts at just the right time. The next time I am looking for a fun paranormal romp, I’m going to grab a copy of the next book in Oshun’s series.
Note: I was gifted an eCopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
| About the reviewer: Elise Abram is a high school teacher of English and Computer Studies, former archaeologist, avid reader of literary and science fiction, and student of the human condition. Her first three novels were self-published (PHASE SHIFT, THE MUMMY WORE COMBAT BOOTS and THROWAWAY CHILD). Her fourth novel, THE REVENANT, was published July 2014 by Black Rose Writing. She is a freelance writer for WritersDomain and has had a number of articles published on the Cultured Vultures, Indie Book Week, Write to Done, and The Write Practice websites. Visit her on http://www.eliseabram.com |