Bloodmaiden Review

Zale. Gauthier. Varden. These three dynasties... They all sound like something out of an ancient, oriental myth or fairy tale. The concept of humans and dragons helping and living in harmony with one another, without fear. To me, that's exactly what they are. A distant dream only read of, whispered secretly, quietly yearned for. For, you see, I am the new Quelda of Tynan.

Along with her new husband, Chalom, Crislin must choose to embrace cruel tradition, run from it, or stand against it. The young couple's only hope is to rally the help of the three peaceful dragon dynasties of Sulaimon-but tradition is not on their side, even outside the realm of Tynan.
Taken from GoodReads.

Bloodmaiden is the story of a newly married young lady named Crislin and her husband, the unfortunate victims and offerings to the dragon dynasties to keep the humans and dragons living in safe harmony. Desperate to live and unwilling to simply accent their fate, the young couple is searching for allies, protectors, saviours...anything, but it's soon clear that hope is trumped by tradition and fear. Do they even stand a chance against this long-standing tribute, or is their fate sealed?

When I was contacted to review Bloodmaiden, I'll admit I had a brief moment of hesitation because, while I hate excessive hype, when there is no hype around a book, I worry about the content of the story. I was pleasantly rewarded by my decision to read Christine Schulze's novel. The author has a very distinct voice - perfectly capturing the tedious first-person tone and merging it with vivid details and descriptions that bring this otherworldly environment alive for the reader.

Bloodmaiden is a very visual story that sweeps you along despite and exorbitant amount of details in the first two chapters. Somehow, the story keeps moving at a good pace, and the fearless and endearing nature of the MC, Crislin, pops through, giving the reader a reason to become invested in the story. That was all extremely well-done. If I may admit one small qualm though, I felt that (at times) the amount of detail later in the story was a bit excessive only because the world had been established, and it only pulled me out of the story a wee bit later on.

I give Bloodmaiden a very strong 4 out of 5, and I'd highly recommend it to YA fans of fantasy and Christian fiction (the morals are very strong). Those who enjoy Eragon and The Sword of Truth series will likely truly enjoy Bloodmaiden.

I received this book free of charge from the author in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.