Reign of Blood by Alexia Purdy is about a teenager turned post-apocalyptic vampire hunter named April Tate. As the story opens, we are introduced to April and her family, which has her mother and 6-year old brother. April and her family travel around Las Vegas, Nevada alone and fight feral vampires as they look for food and shelter necessary for their survival. They had hoped to come across more humans — even a human colony maybe — but as far as they know, they are the only remaining humans.

One day, during a typical hunt for resources and other human beings, April’s mom and brother disappear. The rest of the story takes April to places she never thought she’d go and in alliances she never imagined she’d make as she searches for her family members.

On Amazon.com, Reign of Blood by Alexia Purdy has a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5. There were so many positive reviews that I just had to add this one to my collection. I have to admit, I am a sucker for a good post-apocalyptic tale. That being said, of all the post-apocalyptic novels I have read, this one fell a little flat for me. The premise of the novel and the beginning had me intrigued. However, after April’s mother and brother disappears, the story falls a little flat. While April is definitely a strong female character — there wasn’t enough of a connection for me as the reader to keep myself engaged during the part of the story where she was the solo character. Not one to give up on a book, I had to force myself to read the parts of the story where she was by herself. Without other characters to support her — April just wasn’t interesting enough.

Once other characters come into the story — further into the book, the story picks up a bit. However, I had a hard time with the “insta-romance” that develops between April and another character in the story. The author smoothly explains the lack of build-up in the romance between April and Rye — so it won’t feel like too much of a stretch to the reader.  However, on a personal level, I am picky when it comes to romance in novels because I like for the romance to build.  I like to be invested in all aspects of a novel and of the characters written.  So, for me, the instant romance seemed like a reach– given April’s attitude about vampires throughout the story.

If you have read this story, what did you think?

The story is well-written.  I enjoyed the action scenes in this novel and will not let this one story make me shy away from reading an Alexia Purdy novel in the future. 🙂

My Rating for Reign Of Blood (#1):