Blood Prophecy by Alyxandra Harvey

Series: Drake Chronicles (bk. 6)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Vampires, hunters, supernatural, royalty, princesses, Canada

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 440 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover and Paperback

List Price: $16.99/ PB: $9.99

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Summary/ product description: “In the thrilling conclusion of the Drake Chronicles, love and loyalties will be tested ... and proven once and for all.

Solange Drake has been officially crowned Queen of the Vampires, fulfilling the centuries old prophecy that foretold the rise to power of a daughter born to an ancient vampire line. Except Solange's thoughts and actions are no longer her own—she's been slowly being possessed by the spirit of Viola, the first daughter born into the Drake line, since her bloodchange. And instead of uniting the vampire tribes under the rule of an ancient daughter as the prophecy predicted, Viola would rather destroy them all and enslave humans in a personal vendetta for the devastation both wrought to her life centuries ago. Can Solange break her hold in time to save everyone she loves from a vampire civil war, hunter attack, and each other? Not everyone will survive the prophecy . . . perhaps not even her”

My Review: The 6^th and final book of the Drake Chronicles was also the longest book in the series. Blood Prophecy is a wonderful, well resolved wrap up to an exciting vampire series.

The plot was pretty interesting. In this book, Solange is possessed by Viola. Viola takes the crown and uses Solange’s pheromones to give orders that can’t be refused. She’s putting in place archaic traditions and just being plain evil in general. Poor Solange, trapped in her mind. Nobody realizes that Viola is inside Solange, so Solange must fight her way out.

Also, there are murders that Solange is being framed for. They’re calling it the Dracula Killer. It’s still Blood Moon, so the vampire tribes are gathered. It’s possible that the killer could be another vampire, or even a human. I kind of got the tribe mixed up, but it was pretty cool to see their differences. My only complaint was the beginning of this book was kind of slow. And I didn’t like the memory flash-backs.

The Drake Chronicles is very character driven. Each book is from 2 different character’s

perspectives, usually the ones who fall in love in that book, or just the main protagonists. In Hearts at Stake, it was best friends Lucy and Solange Drake. In Blood Feud it was Logan Drake and Isabeau. In Out for Blood is was Hunter and Quinn Drake. In Bleeding Hearts it was Christabel. You get the point.

I’m so happy that this book switches between Lucy and Solange’s perspectives like in the 1^st book. They’re such great protagonists! Solange POV is okay, but Lucy’s POV is where my favorite parts were. I know it’s stupid to say, but as a character, I love Lucy (aka Lucky). She is so funny and quirky. I bet she was also the funnest character to write. I’d want to be her friend, even if we’d get into trouble. In this book she’s still going to the Helios-Ra academy boarding school, and she get detention pretty often.

There were also one-chapter perspectives of Christabel, Isabeau, and Hunter. None from the Drake brothers, sadly, or even Kieran. But all the characters came together in this book. I still can’t decide which Drake brother is my favorite. Maybe Quinn, because his funny charming attitude. He reminds me of Damon from the Vampire Diaries.

This has been a very fun and lite vampire series. I’m sad to see if go be happy about how it ended. There’s a few novellas I can read still, so it’s not truly over yet.

Cover Art Review: Nice couple but kind of boring and generic. I like the vector design, but there’s not much else.

The Last Princess by Galaxy Craze

Publisher: Poppy (Hachette)

Series: The Last Princess (bk. 1)

Genera: Sci-Fi Dystopian

Subjects: post-apocalyptic, survival, disasters, princesses, royalty, England, London

Length: 295 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “Happily ever after is a thing of the past.
A series of natural disasters has decimated the earth. Cut off from the rest of the world, England is a dark place. The sun rarely shines, food is scarce, and groups of criminals roam the woods, searching for prey. The people are growing restless.
When a ruthless revolutionary sets out to overthrow the crown, he makes the royal family his first target. Blood is shed in Buckingham Palace, and only sixteen-year-old Princess Eliza manages to escape.
Determined to kill the man who destroyed her family, Eliza joins the enemy forces in disguise. She has nothing left to live for but revenge, until she meets someone who helps her remember how to hope—and to love—once more. Now she must risk everything to ensure that she not become... The Last Princess.”

My Rating: êêêê

My Review: This book was really good. It was pretty unique because it’s a dystopian story from the perspective of a girl who’s the princess of England. And it’s set in England. English royalty plus post-apocalyptic setting is a pretty awesome combo. Eliza’s a pretty strong character, and a really great narrator. The story isn’t boring at all. There’s even some romance in it, and betrayal. The plot of saving her siblings from execution, and making sure Hollister doesn’t become king, is also interesting. There’s a lot of description, and everything’s easy to picture in your head. The decimation by natural disasters may not be unique, but most of the story is. I recommend this book to people who like stories about royalty and dystopian/post-apocalyptic books.

Cover Art Review: I really love this cover. It’s so eye catching. Mostly because of the colors. And I love how they photo-shopped London into a post-apocalyptic version of itself.

~Haley G