Calla is a simple girl who wants to celebrate her birthday peacefully with her best friend. She doesn't crave adventure or romance as others her age do. Instead, her heart wants to savor and enjoy life one day at a time. However, her birthday brings more than she ever expected in the form of a mesmerizing vision of a man named Trystan. He alights her senses and sets her Blood ablaze with fire and passion. Will she shrink from this unwanted invasion, or will she allow this reckless passion into her peaceful world just once?

I was left in awe of this incredible world and its delightful characters. The wicked twists and turns left me on pins and needles to see what would happen next. There was never a dull moment, and I devoured every beautiful word and each fantastic emotion. The precious terms set lovingly on these pages called to my heart and every part of my soul. I was lost to the spectacular wonder and the unquenchable fire that imprinted their secrets on my soul.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This was an interesting novel. It was very fast pace and definitely kept my interest. I think Calla is a bit confused on which boy she's interested in and she seems to be the one girl that every guy within 10 feet desperately wants, which is a little annoying.

I liked Trystan from the beginning even though his introduction to his world was a bit abrupt and he was being way too mysterious. He definitely needs to work on his communication skills.

I think everything is a little too convenient throughout this journey for Calla. She just happens to know or can find someone who knows all the answers. I'm not saying its been easy on her, but she's been able to get answers about her past pretty easily and quickly I feel like.

I'm definitely intrigued enough to dive into book 2 and see what else is going to happen to Calla on her journey for answers.

I got a free copy from Netgalley all opinions are my own.
This review contains spoilers.

2,5 stars.

If you know me, you know that I just can't resist a vampire book🤭
But sadly I was disappointed 💀

I'm really annoyed by Calla. Girl you know your life is in danger, but you're just an idiot that wants to be "free", and look what that got you.

I also don't really understand the magic system or the vampire lore.

It was kind of info dumpy at times. Especially when the princess told her whole backstory💀

And yeah I didn't really like Calla, she was so annoying, just a damsel in distress. And literally all the men in this book were handsome and wanted to bone her💀 The other characters where meh.
And they were all so stupid. I mean come on🤦🏻‍♀️
The characters wasted SO much time. It's as if they forgot that things were time sensitive🤦🏻‍♀️💀

I think the plot was good, but the execution was bad.
I probably wouldn't mind reading the sequel though.

The front page and the premise sounded so good... But honestly it was just meh...and boring. The characters were so and so, the main heroine was boring, damsel-in-distress and whiny. The hero was ...boring...

Mystery and romance intertwine so well in this story. It is lush and vivid with beautiful characters and descriptions of landscapes.

2.5★

I thought I'd love this book way more than I actually did. This story was a roller coaster. At first I was intrigued, then I kinda hated all the instalove and what was happening, then I suddenly loved the plot and then, after reading a 60% of the story, I was kind of done with it.

The way the characters acted was so unrealistic. Things resolved way too fast because the characters acted with no plan in mind. It was frustrating because I couldn't get hooked to a plot for too long before it was finished. Also, why do every man in this book want to f*ck the main character so bad and so openly and Calla is just like, fine with it?????

I think there was too much going on. If there were only a couple of well developed plots, I would have enjoyed it more. For example, the whole Tristan turning her plot was super interesting, finding out Calla's family tree was so cool and could have been a great plot twist. Her friendships were super cute!! But it was all shadowed by the frantic rhythm of the story and the amount of important plots.

As I said before though, I enjoyed part of it. I think the writing has potential, the structure was just kind of messy.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

The premise of this book was interesting and the dark fantasy marker really attracted me to this book. There was a bit of insta love that I was not a fan of, but otherwise, the world-building and the characters were good. I love books that have slightly darker premises/themes and dive into fantasy politics and this book did have both.

I feel quite conflicted about this book. I swung so many times between loving it then feeling my enjoyment noticeably lessen with parts of it. Firstly, I feel that Renae did such a good job weaving the fantasy and paranormal genres together. The world the story is built in is so unique and quite complex with its complicated, detailed history and various magical beings that exist. I particularly enjoyed the complexities added to the typical vampirism with the way some are able to possess magic or manipulate the elements. I also enjoyed the many places we got to travel within its pages, from the main character's homeland to her journey through a dangerous forest to a rival vampire's castle to a pirate ship--there's truly so many interesting places. And I also really like the overall premise of the story with a vampire biting a human in order to save her from other vampires. I'm still curious if Trystan's motives were as pure as they appeared at surface value or if there is something more sinister to it. I hope we get an answer in the sequel.

I didn't really become invested in the characters or the plot until around 50% of reading it. The plot really picked up there and I flew through the next 35-ish% because I was so eager to find out what happened next. Our main character Calla starts off as a really relatable character in my eyes but the way she captured nearly every single male's heart she came in contact with really started to grate on me by the end of the book. I actually got tired of reading about every man flirting with her immediately upon meeting her. The book had a lot of "telling" instead of "showing" which made my mind drift off when reading the multiple large portions of dialogue where different characters would spell out what was going on or explain the past in detail to the main character. There was no room for the reader to realize things on their own or have that aha! moment that many of us love to have because the book spent so much time explaining the obvious to us in these huge dialogue blocks. I also didn't particularly love the way a pseudo-incest situation was portrayed (pseudo because nothing actually took place but a great-uncle wanted to engage in a relationship with his great-niece). Instead of there being disgust over the characters' actual blood relations to each other, it was more of a you're-a-bad-person-so-I-hate-you vibe. Lastly, there were a lot of spelling errors and grammar mistakes. It was really distracting for me when I stumbled on a word like "bridal" trying to puzzle out why someone was suddenly getting married when the author actually meant "bridle" and to curtail someone's behavior which made a lot more sense. It really broke up the flow of reading for me.

Overall, I'm intrigued enough to read the sequel. There are so many characters and plot lines that need to be tied up that I'm eager to see what takes place in the next book. I'm particularly interested to see if anything comes of the foreboding feeling I got near the end of the book when something is implied about the main character's necklace. I'm also hoping to see some actual romance in the next book since it feels a bit odd to me that this book is labeled as a romance when there really isn't much of one to be seen. I was hesitant to even tag it as such in my own shelves. Regardless, onto the next!

This one of those books that is hard to review. Over I enjoyed the story and the plot. There are just a few facepalm moments in the book where you know the character's behavior is not realistic for people in very stressful situations. And why does everyone "like" the MC...... I still really enjoyed the book and plan to read the next.

Another exciting world brought to us by Cameo Renae!
Of the Blood is a dark exciting read that I enjoyed to the very end! So many things I love about this tale! As always the characters feel so real & alive. Get ready to be thrown into their moments & go places you never dreamed of. Morbeth is no joke. I’m gonna need more of Calla & Trystan ASAP! Can a girl get book 2?!?

This book was like the extra bootleg version of Twilight set be for Edwards birth. I read all reviews and thought it would be a great read but it was flat.

This premise was everything I ever wanted. And the book draw me in so quickly in the beginning that I had a hard time to do anything but read. But as the book goes on, I find myself struggling to keep reading. I think I'm just, right now, pretty over the vampire stuff.

It was love at first sight. When I saw this epically beautiful cover, I was DYING to read this book.

The plot kept me on my toes and made it hard to put the book down from start to finish. I found it a little hard to connect with the characters because of how many people are involved in the story, and how quickly they come and go, but other than that I really enjoyed following this story until the end. I also have mixed opinions about the MC and don't really know how to feel about her. What I do know is this...

I NEED MORE TRYSTAN. STAT. HE IS MY SHIP. I NEED MY SHIP.

I was frantically flipping the last page hoping for more Trystan... But alas. Guess I'm just going to have to patiently wait for book 2.

DNF. Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy! I decided to not keep reading this one, it was not for me. Thanks!

this was a great start to a series, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the plot. I look forward to more in the series and from this author.

I received a free copy of this book from the author.

This is the first book I've read by Cameo Renae. I have to say this YA Fantasy novel is great! It's set in a time where the world is more haves and have nots. There are different sections of countries or continents if you will. Calla Caldwell is just turning 18 and she's only known that humans exist.

Her entire world is flipped upside down at her birthday party, however. I mean everything she knew is not the only truth. There's more to the world than she imagined could be.

Calla finds herself in a battle for her life though. Thus taking her on some twists and turns she never expected. Of course who would when they thought just days ago only humans populated the planet?

I really enjoyed reading this story. I had a little bit of difficulty getting into the story at first but then it picked up and took off. If you're a lover of Fantasy novels this one I would recommend reading. Even if you're an adult, like me, you'll still enjoy the new world the author has spun in her story telling.

Now can we speed up time so we can get to the next book? I'm ready to see what happens next!

From the start this book had me hooked and I was unable to put it down. We started off with a regular birthday party and was soon thrown in a world with vampires, princes, villains, protectors, witches, magical creatures and so much more. The author did a great job with world building and getting you sucked into the story as we go on this journey with Calla who slowly begins to discover who she is. I enjoyed the building mystery and suspense throughout the story and I loved the secondary characters who helped to move the story along however I wished we got more of Tristan and Calla together. The story was intriguing and I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to all lovers of paranormal fantasy novels.

I was intrigued by this book because I love vampires (yes I'll admit it). It was fascinating to see vampires used in a fantasy setting along with witches, kings/queens, pirates, and sea monsters. I heavily enjoyed the blended mythology in this story.

The characters are intriguing, and the romance is a classic 'connection on first sight sort of deal'. Really where can you go wrong?

The main character Calla is definitely one you can root for! Seeing her journey from a helpless little girl to a powerful creature is nothing if not an entertaining one! My singular complaint about this character is that she is incredibly boy crazy.

While the plot was slightly rushed due to the author trying to cram many things into the first book, it was still a story I enjoyed!

I will be picking up book 2 in the future and I look forward to continuing the journey!

All I can say is WOW to the start of this new series from the mind of Cameo Renae. From the moment she turned 18, Calla's life has been wrought with revelations and danger. if you are a fan of high fantasy then I wholeheartedly recommend this this story. The story is intricate and dark with turns around every page as we journey with Calla to find answers. As Calla adapts to her new life, she has no shortage of "hot" royalty all wanting to "help". I absorbed this story pretty much in one sitting and could not turn the pages fast enough to read more. I am captivated and need more in this series.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC in return for an honest review.

Of The Blood is old school YA paranormal/ fantasy. It's filled to the brim with tropes we have the classic..
Insta Lust/ Love
The most special snowflake
Every handsome man wants the MC (and there are an abundance of handsome young men in who the MC crosses paths with)
Everybody loves her
Potential love triangle/ square/ octagon.
Special, special snowflake... i know iv'e already mentioned that one but shes just THAT special.

So yes, Of The Blood is filled with all the classic tropes but despite this i actually had a grand ol' time reading it!

Calla our darling snowflake is naught but an innocent girl one who enjoys reading, time alone with her horse and spending time with her best friend but when her best friend throws her a birthday party for her eighteenth birthday things dramatically change for Calla. Her family is being hunted by one of the vampire Kingdoms and Calla is on the run with the aid of another vampire prince Calla is on a journey to save her family and discover who she is.

Of the Blood takes us on a spellbinding journey with witches, pirates vampires, kings, princes & Goddesses. Of the blood is a taste of classic YA, it was a nostalgic trip that i thoroughly enjoyed and i will be keeping an eye out for the sequel!