A Glamour of Blood is a standalone novel from L.E Sterling”s dystopian world, this book can be read alone or alongside the others within her series.
Whilst I enjoyed this dystopian story with a romance subplot there were moments that I found it to be over complicated and information dumping.,However I have not read any of the others in the series so that may have put me at a disadvantage.
If you enjoy YA dystopian, with secret societies and reborn gods, and an alpha hole then this one is for you.

A Glamour of Blood by L.E. Sterling review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ARC review

This book was so fun to read, in whatever way it can be fun to read a darker themed YA.

The writing was smooth and easy to read. Sometimes when I’m reading a fantasy I find myself rereading passages over and over but I didn’t do that with this one.

Serena Rouge is a sassy bounty hunter! She’s a strong willed and intelligent woman who’s been given a “gift”. She sees the unseeable and has to use it to her advantage when children start getting taken from the streets close to home. Serena’s gift makes her a target as much as a highly sought after professional.

Nolan Storm is stubborn and and sees himself as a leader in this post apocalyptic world. This can work in Serena’s hunt for children… If he wasn’t so sure she betrayed him.

Serena and Nolan have a lot of history and tension between them both and you’re left wondering if they can overcome it all to help the children being taken and their home when it’s subjected to an evil force. I was on the edge of my seat the entire book. Whether it was because of the chaos erupting so close to their home or wondering whether or not Serena and Nolan could set aside their differences and act one whatever it is that pulls them together.

This book is HEAVY in the world building, as some fantasy novels are. There were moments where I felt things were under-explained and it left me confused. Those moments were typically quickly passed and I either used context clues to figure it out or didn’t think about it again.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Entangled and NetGalley for this eARC!

This books was an interesting one, we get thrown right into the thick of the action, and spend the book trying to untangle what’s going on. There’s a trilogy / prequel, but this still works as a standalone book.

What’s going to happen next?? Look forward to seeing where this goes.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing a copy of this eARC for review.

I struggled a bit with how to rate this book. There were aspects of it I truly enjoyed. The author's writing is easy and accessible for readers, which I think is always good for YA books. The glimpse of the world I got was interesting and I was intrigued to learn more. I liked the development of relationships that the characters had. I am interested in seeing more from his author in the future.

My biggest problem is that I felt like I should have read the first series before I read this. The book felt like it was missing worldbuilding, descriptions, character connections, and other plot points that were built in another series and assumed the reader would know here. For instance, what the heck happened between Nolan/Selena? Her time with Jasper was confusing. The step-mother bits took me a while to suss out. I felt there were words I needed more definition for. What is a splicer? What technically is a talisman? The war needed more explanation as well as what a True Born was. I understood that it was something important, but I did not completely get the context. I also had a hard time picturing the world and the characters because they all seemed to be operating off of previously established work. It felt a little bit like I started a movie midway through. I feel like maybe a glossary would have been helpful as well as descriptions connecting different characters. It would have helped situate the timeline of this a bit more.

A Glamour of Blood by L.E. Sterling is an urban fantasy novel, setting in Dominion City (the world of the True Born Trilogy).

Serena Rogue is on a mission. Together with her best friend Carl she tries to help ro find the missing kids... but she has to admit that Nolan Storm is an important part of the mission. Although she'd never admit it out loud! No way! So, the plague is over, kids from her former gang are missing and then there are surprising news that could change her life forever...
What'll Serena do? Can she accept that she can't save this all alone? And can she deal with Nolan Storm near her?!


Sooooo, where do I start with my review?
Honestly - although the author says it's a complete standalone - I'd say it's better to read the True Born Trilogy first.
It felt like you're right IN the story.
No introduction or some kind of summary first. That's something I'd really love to have for this book. 😊
A summary with the most important facts about the world of Serena & Co. so I'd be able to understand things better...
But that's just my opinion!

But besides that I really enjoyed this book.
I loved Serena as the main character! She's a strong, young woman with a disability that doesn't really seem like one. It's more like some kind of "add-on". She can't see, but she can see the "True Born DNA" in colours. This was an interesting way to make a main character special. 😁

Her best friend Carl was hilarious!!! OMG! Carl is a True Born and half cat, half man. I loved his jokes and his whole personality!
He's the perfect companion for Serena and this adventure for sure.

And then there's Nolan Storm. Oooh, Nolan... be still my beating heart! He's the leader of the True Born.
There's a history between Serena and him... I loved their banter! This sizzling attraction. Like a cat and mouse play all the time!
I couldn't stop laughing about their back and forth. 😆

So all in all: A Glamour of Blood is a fantasy story full of action, suspense, excitement, some really scary or "eww"-moments, attraction between the main characters and funny banter.
I could have enjoyed it even more with some kind of introduction (as I already said), but anyway. Good read! 🙂

Thanks a lot to L.E. Sterling and Entangled Publishing for this ARC via NetGalley.
This is my honest review in my own words.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled publishing for the chance to read before publication. All thoughts are my own.

The premise and description of this book sounded so cool, but I felt pretty lost after the first chapter and struggled to finish. I did not realize that this was a spinoff of the authors other series, and I think that is why I struggled so much. There was a lot of information that seemed to be lacking in this book that supposedly can be read as a standalone. The pace seemed very slow moving, character descriptions seemed to be missing, etc.

Overall, this was a hard read for me, and not something I would pick up again. If I had read the other series I might have felt different, but after my experience with this book I don't particularly have a want to pick it up.

When I started reading this, I skipped the author’s note. I went back after only the prologue and a few pages of the first chapter, and I was confused and felt like I was missing something.

I know the author said you didn’t have to read it the first series, but as a reader, I feel like you do.

There’s so much history in the prologue that instead of being interested, I was confused and very quickly started to wonder if I’d picked up a sequel to something by accident. The first chapter is a little better, but the beginning of this book seems to assume you know a lot about it’s world so any information it gives is the sparse “recap” type.

I ended up DNFing because it just felt like I needed to read the tie-in series, but now I’m too annoyed to.

The concept of this story was insanely cool. Very cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic.
Serena is a total bada**! She’s such a cool, strong FMC. I love books where the author allows the main character to work around their disability. Serena is blind but can see colors in blood. Sometimes, it even allows her to see things others don’t.
Her sidekick, Carl is witty and funny. The love he has for Serena is so sweet too.
Nolan Storm is the epitome of overpowered. His strength is unmatched and the soft spot he has for Serena is swoon worthy.
My only complaint is that I wish I had read the other books that are tied to this world. The book can be read as a stand-alone but I think I would have liked to have all the background and details before reading this one.
Overall, an insanely good read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for granting me a copy of this book in return for my honest opinions.

Loved the characters of Serena Nolan as they team up to find out what is happening not the neighborhood children.

Serena's magic was great. Could use some more facts and background.

Overall a good book. Worth the read

Recommend.

I loved how unique this story was with Serena being able to see colors of True Born DNA and the dystopian fantasy vibes.
The characters were well written with lots of tension between Serena and Nolan as well as comedic parts between Serena and Carl her best friend that is half cat.

I think this book is a great fantasy YA starter book and I can’t wait for book 2 to come out!

Thank you so much need net galley and Entangled publishing for this arc!

Say what you will, A Glamour of Blood tries very very hard. LE Sterling has clearly put a lot of thought, time, and effort into this world and these characters. The world building is very thoroughly fleshed out, and the characters have complex backstories.

However, the writing style just isn't for me. Had this been the author's debut, I would have been more forgiving, but apparently it isn't--not by a few books. Odd prose choices--clunky dialogue and dialogue tags, especially,--compound an already slow-moving plot, making a book that just really isn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

This story had something really unique about it, the way the magical system runs and how, in my opinion, this book entangles dystopian vibes with those of magical fantasy really neatly!
I really enjoyed the set up, the characters interactions and the whole idea of it!
However I had sometimes wished to get more explanation, more depth on our main characters past, how exactly her sight works that has been a big part of the story and how the talismans manifest in different persona, sometimes a was a bit confused and had to accept it to move along with the story!

All in all a fun read, addicting at that and great for anyone looking for a sarcasm laced main character, magically dystopian vibes and a good enemies to 'whatever we are'-banter filled story!

🩸
⚜️ Book Title - A Glamour of Blood
⚜️ Author - L.E Sterling
⚜️ Rating - ⭐️⭐️
⚜️ Some Genre/Themes/Tropes: YA Fiction, Romance and Fantasy

I received an advanced reader copy (ARC) of this book via NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This is my honest review.

Oh gosh, I really wanted to like this but I feel like I made a mistake and started a book that was mid series. I had to double check the author note that this could be read as a standalone without any context of the True Born Trilogy.

The story jumps straight into it which isn’t a bad thing because I do like fast pace adventure. What I don’t like is not having the details to understand the world building or characters. For example, what’s a splicer? There were names of things constantly mentioned that I kind of got the gist what they were but I didn’t feel I had a sound understanding. This is suppose to be YA right?

Also, where were the character descriptions? I got crumbs here and there, but nothing defined. What does Nolan (MMC) look like? Serena (FMC)? I thought this was possibly due to Serena’s sight, but there are other character descriptions throughout. Although they were brief, it negated that theory.

The main character interactions were excellent. The tension between Nolan and Serena because of their rivalry was very well written. I do love some angst!

The story concept is very intriguing but with chunks of missing information I struggled to understand what was going on a large majority of the time. I hope that’s just me because it has many positive reviews. Maybe if I tried reading the trilogy some of the information gaps would be answered but from my understanding this could be read as a standalone, so that defeats the purpose.

Overall, I would not recommend this book to others. If I struggle to describe it, I can’t recommend it.

I want to say thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Note (How I rate): Three stars is a good, enjoyable read. Four is an excellent read and five is a comfort read that lingers with me for life (very difficult to get but not impossible).

L. E. Sterling’s “A Glamour of Blood” takes us on journey through a plague ravaged dystopia. As Serena Rogue’s unique gift unravels secrets that could reshape everything, we are thrust into a realm where darkness reigns. Trust is a rare and dangerous currency as Serena is forced to confront her past and save her city from complete ruin.

The overall plot involved Serena uncovering who is behind the disappearance of over 40 street children. There is also the battle for who leads society now that the plague is cured. Will it continue to be the country’s previous leaders or will a cult that’s been lurking in the shadows of thousands of years take over.

The plague that was destroying the world has come to an end thanks to a mysterious blood rain in the prologue of the novel. We follow the main character Serena in the after math as the power begins to shift now that people are no longer dying at an accelerated pace. I will say it is a bit hard to understand the world building in the beginning. Some of my questions about when the plague started (30 years ago) or even where this dystopian novel takes place (Somewhere in North America) were only mentioned in passing halfway through. Much of the initial chapters are focused on set up and foreign terms are constantly thrown at us. It is easy to get confused and lost in the story. I think the weak point would be that this series is a spin off. Though I felt that it is strong enough to be a stand alone novel many puzzle pieces were messing that I think could only be explained by the precursing series. I have not read the True Born series, so my perspective is from a reader coming into the world blind.

I really liked Serena as a character. She was someone who could see normally and then one night at the age of 15 she lost her sight. The reason she can see the world at all is thanks to that cure bomb of sorts that I am guessing is fully explained in the original series, but her sight will never be what it used to be. I can relate to the inability of being able to see clearly without correction and its nice to see that reflected in a dystopian fantasy setting. The male lead Nolan was a fun character to explore, and I loved the tension he had with Serena. Carl is the half-man half cat best friend of Serena and provided some much-needed comic relief to the story. The wit and sarcasm between the pair of best friends was incredibly entertaining. The chemistry between the characters is what saved this story for me.

The narrative subtly intertwined themes reminiscent of contemporary pandemic induced shifts, touching about our evolving social dynamics, political landscape, and global influence. The author herself spoke about her hesitance to publish a book about a plague when the pandemic occurred. As a Young Adult there is tension and maybe a few kisses but there are no spicy scenes. The book is appropriate for young readers while still maintaining enough complexity to hold my interest.

This was an excellent ya urban fantasy! This was an action packed fantasy read and I adored its unique magic system. I loved Serena’s character and her magic. I enjoyed the interactions between Nolan and Serena as well. This was a wonderful fantasy that I didn’t want to put down and I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. If you are looking for a young adult fantasy, you should consider checking this one out!

❤️ A Glamour of Blood ARC Review ❤️

Thank you so much to LE Sterling and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book!

A Glamour of Blood is a dystopian fantasy read. Bounty Hunter Serena has survived a lot in her life. When local children start disappearing, she teams up with Nolan, her rival to help find the culprit. But will they end up uncovering more than they expected??

This was definitely an interesting read! I loved the rivalry to allies dynamics between Serena and Nolan. The progression of their friendship and relationship was really fun! The world and magic lore was super complex and I felt like it just jumped right in without a lot of explanation - which caused me to feel like I was lost and playing catch up for a while, but that’s a “me” issue and not a book issue

Overall this was a solid three star read. I enjoyed the characters and the overall storyline. This book had a romantic plot and a few make out scenes, but no on page smut - so one flame for spice

If you’re a fan of YA dystopian adventures with strong women, mysterious men and unique magical lore, then absolutely pick this one up!!

A Glamour of Blood by L. E. Sterling, published by Entangled Teen, is the first book in the True Born Series.
It's the introduction in storyline.
Serena lives on the streets since age 12. She was on her own after losing her mother and blood family. And she's one rare talent, one of the only salvagers in the realm. When other teens are missing she's determined to find out what happened to them. And she's capable to hold her own.
A slow starting, action packed unique read that had me intrigued right from the start. I loved the world building, the magical world of Serena and her chosen family and can't wait for the next book.

It was a bit hard to get into at first. It feels like there's a lot of info at the beginning which makes it kind of confusing but once it gets going it really gets going!
There was tension, a magic system, and a some good humor sprinkled throughout all in a great dystopian setting.

I give this book 3 1/2⭐️ I just felt like I was missing something the whole time and it’s because it’s a spinoff series but other wise the story was really good interesting and the the tension was was very good I just wish it had more of a back

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled for giving me the opportunity to review the EArc for this story.

3.5/5

This was appropriately labeled Teen/YA dystopian fantasy. I like the tension between the main characters. I also liked seeing the MFM grow and become stronger. The reason for my rating was sometimes the story was a bit confusing, especially in the beginning. In all I enjoyed reading this story.