Review: My Blood Approves by Amanda Hocking

Amanda Hocking has become an Indie Princess in the publishing world. However, it took me a little while to finally get to my first Hocking book. I enjoy supernatural fantasy novels, but after a heavy dose of Twilight from several years ago, Karen Marie Moning's books, a bunch of Keri Arthur and Lara Adrian, I needed a break from that world while I found characters who were busy running from bad guys who didn't want to bite them in some way.

My Blood Approves was the book I chose from Hocking. It's the start of a series that finds a Minnesota teenager Alice unsure of her future, and especially her present. But she meets Jack on a fateful night and her life is never the same.

Hocking holds off on telling the reader exactly what makes Jack different. He's looked at differently by most people, he moves especially quickly and his skin is strange to the touch. However, that's nothing compared to what happens when Alice meets his family. With them, she feels drawn and connected to the point where something unnatural is at work.

While the big reveal doesn't come until midway through the book, most readers will probably have figured out what is going on by then. But Hocking's writing style compels readers to keep going if only to see how Alice is going to handle the situation she is thrown into.

I finished this book more than 24 hours ago and I'm still thinking about the choices Alice made and wondered what she is going to do. To me, that's the sign of a good story.

It was a little slow at times simply because Alice doesn't seem to process things as quickly as you would hope. The main character also suffers from some type of depression or loneliness, not always feeling like she's important. Her best friend gets the guys and the attention, her younger brother acts older and more like a parent while her father is non-existent and mother works all the time.

Alice made many self-destructive decisions throughout the book. She finally seemed to take a stand for herself near the end, and I only hope that translates into the rest of the series.

The book was mostly well-written with a few spots where grammar and wording could have been better. A better edited story with some tweaks probably could have made for a better read. But, I expect this not to be a problem with Hocking's future titles since she's under a big-time publishing house now.

She's a talented writer and as she continues to write and get direction, her work is only going to get better.

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Rating: 3.5

I enjoyed the story and feel compelled to read the next installment of the series. There are still come questions that need to be answered. I would have given the book a higher rating if it has been written slightly better. For some people this may not be an issue, but when I read books grammar, pacing and construction all play a role in my enjoyment.