Reviewer: The Banned Bibliophile
Received: Author
Release Date: August 2018
Moons: 4.5/5
Goodreads Summary:
Bound by an ancient prophecy, freed by love.Mages have lived by a prophecy that states that once there are two mage houses left, one must kill the other to maintain a magical balance. But the prophecy is disrupted when a new mage is revealed and begins killing everyone in his path. Simon Moonspell and Tobias Bloodworth, the last two mages of the ancient houses, must put their animosity aside in order to stop this new mage and fulfill the prophecy. However, when their hatred slowly turns to love, can they remain impartial or will they be forced to battle to the death?
My Thoughts:
"...if he knew anything, it’s that peace was an illusion and happiness was a fleeting
bird you had to catch with your bare hands. It would cut and scratch and claw, not wanting to be captured, but well worth it when it had been grasped."
~Bloodspell
Honestly, this is one of our favorite novellas of all time. Seemingly without effort, Luchesi is able to allow readers to quickly fall in love with her characters despite the short amount of time she has, which is pretty rare for this format. (This frustrates B a lot.) Usually, more needs to be fleshed out to allow for further progression or an emotional connection to the story or characters. Otherwise, one can't feel like a satisfying reading experience was achieved. However, Bloodspell is able to offer everything we needed in less than 80 pages without making sacrifices that other short stories fall prey to. There was proper pacing, emotional depth, exciting action, and angst (our favorite!). Some people we know aren't big angst fans and would rather go without it. However, we thrive on it. (Is that bad?) The more the better we always say. There's something about feeling panicked for the characters and putting our hearts through the wringer that makes the story feel real. Plus, this book has some serious snark going on. There were brilliant comebacks, making the banter between Simon and Tobias hilarious and exciting to read. It was too good! (The exclamation marks are all warranted. This book is worthy!)
As slightly touched on above, a failure we sometimes find in novellas is that characters lack any sense of depth, coming off as plot points rather than main points of interest. However, the backstories Luchesi crafted allowed the characters to be more than mere slabs on the page but instead worthy facets whose stories needed to be told. The author mentions at the end of her book that Bloodspell was spontaneous rather than something she was planning on writing. This is rather shocking because Bloodspell is probably one of our top three favorites of hers now.
Concerning Simon and Tobias, these boys could set off a smoke detector. They're like fire and ice, complete opposites in personality, action, and even speech, but at the same time they're perfect for one another. (We adored how Tobias spoke and how Luchesi was able to set him apart from Simon in such a key way. Creating speech patterns for characters is definitely a strong suit of hers.) Plus, Tobias is extremely sexy. It could be the hair and his striking features, but his softer side that can come out around Simon definitely plays a part in his appeal. We don't want to spoil too much about these characters or what happens to or between them, but do know that there is BDSM involved in their relationship and lots of witty exchanges. So good!
In terms of the magical elements, there was an ancient prophecy and Soul Flames. Both were extremely well thought out and of interest to explore. There was also a magical showdown that was epic!
Thus, there is no other conclusion than that Bloodspell is yet another masterful piece from Luchesi that must be read.
(Now please excuse us while we drool over this stunning cover.)
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