Bad Blood (House of Comarre #3) – Leaves a bad taste in your mouth

Bad Blood Kristen Painter House of ComarreI’m getting a little worried that I’m falling out of love with this series. I think the first book was well crafted and intriguing. The second book lost a little steam for me because I did’t enjoy the introduction of a love triangle and there were too many characters to keep up with. It also had a cliffhanger which I normally hate, but I didn’t mind it because there was only a month long wait for the next book as opposed to 6 months to over a year like for other series. Well, this one has a cliffhanger too—it turns out the House of Comarre series is not a trilogy! I was slightly mislead due to the release schedule of the first three books, but I don’t fault the author. I just wasn’t paying close enough attention.

The murder rate has spiked in Paradise City as faux Comarre are turning up dead. The Kubai Mata are on top of it, trying to get these grizzly attacks under control. Crysabelle, still healing from her injuries in the prior novel, presses on with her mission and goal to locate long lost family. She goes to New Orleans with Mal to obtain the Ring of Sorrows which is the necessary leverage she will need. Of course, nothing is simple. There’s also the little issue of Samhain, where the mortal world will merge with other worlds filled with all kinds of demons and creepy crawlies. However will they get out of this one?

The third book has a good blend of action and plot, but there are even more characters added to the storyline. Most urban fantasy books don’t take this approach and while unique, I realize that I’m not a fan of multiple POVs and side stories. I feel like I’m reading a supernatural soap opera. I think one could argue that the cover should include more characters because Crysabelle doesn’t get most of the focus anymore. I would have preferred more Crys and Mal screen time and development. One positive is that the triangle is resolved, but I’m left wondering why it was introduced in the first place. To end so quickly means it was wasted page space where there could have been other developments.

If you’ve read the other two books then I do recommend you read this one so that you can see the story progress, but don’t expect much because individual plot lines are spread thin thanks to a 400 page limit for this borderline epic fantasy. Honestly, the book felt even shorter than that.  I really liked the potential of the first book, but the series isn’t really turning out how I’d hoped.  Unless I hear that it rebounds, I think I might pass on the 4th book.

This article has 4 Comments

  1. Yikes! Even MORE characters? *face palm* I think I would love this series so much more if it was told only from Crysabelle’s POV. Or at least from Chrys’ and Mal’s. I don’t need to be in the head of the bad guy to know he’s bad and twisted and I don’t need to be in the head of a secondary character to know he cares and that he’s important for the storyline. Thanks God the love triangle is somehow resolved! I didn’t understand why it was introduced in the first place either. 😐 Which sucks, because the other guy seemed really awesome.

    Anyway, I think I will read book #3 and #4 because I like the overall plot and the main characters and I’m still intrigued, but… Sadly they are not that high on my TBR list now. 😛

    Thanks for a great review!:D

    1. I agree. I guess we could only expect so much with the first three books coming out back to back like that. Creek is okay, but I hate his name. And then I will admit that I had a slight prejudice to him when I thought he was only introduced be be another rival for Mal.

      I will probably catch up to all of the major series eventually, so that may free up time to read book 4, but it’s definitely not a priority anymore. Who knows, when the next 3 books come out that may be enough to fill 1 book worth of Mal and Crys so that works out, lol.

  2. I agree, the series isn’t perfect & the attempted love triangle was a waste of time and page space. Also can’t argue that there are too many POV’s. Tatiana especially is tough to get through – I find myself skimming or outright skipping those scenes. And yes, there is sometimes a soap opera-ish feel. Still, I enjoy the series overall- it’s an interesting world & is different enough from some of the other drivel I’ve made the mistake of reading, that I’m willing to stick with it to the end. I’d really like to see Mal & Crys work it out!

    1. Tatiana is definitely super annoying and boring. I’m one of the ones that like villains too. I also hope Crys and Mal work it out, but I fear the author is going to drag out that plot point out too. It’s just that with my mile long to-read list (with some good ones slated), I was hoping this would be a trilogy so I could move along. The ongoing series list is racking up and I wasn’t expecting this to be one of them. I personally like it when series are already complete. That’s why I don’t plan to read the Sookie Stackhouse books until it’s done. I hear the author is going to end it at book 13, so that’s pretty soon.

      But yeah, please let me know if the 4th book is better. I’d be willing to pick it back up if there’s decent progress. Maybe I’ll start to miss it after a break since I read them all so close together.

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