True of Blood

True of Blood (Witch Fairy Series)

By Bonnie Lamer

I downloaded this book as a free book from amazon. This is another teen book with a paranormal storyline and a romance. I can’t say there are any new plot devices or surprising twists but I did enjoy the interactions between the two main characters. The girl is named Xandra and the story is told from her point of view. In looking at other books written by Lamer, it looks like she also wrote some from the point of view of Kallen, the love interest.

The story opens as Xandra’s seventeenth birthday has dawned. Xandra lives with her Aunt Barb and her brother Zac - and her ghost parents. That’s right: Xandra’s parents were killed in a car accident but came back as ghosts to take care of their children. Aunt Barb is a researcher who often absentminded. Both children are home schooled and they live out in the wilds of Colorado. One plot device was that Xandra had lots of online friends and yet no “live” friends. I wondered how many of those friends online were stalkers or deviants but I digress. 

Xandra discovers that she is actually half witch (how she never figured her mother was a witch was beyond me) and half fairy. This is apparently a lethal combination that should never have been allowed to live. So, there are those from the land of fairy (and I think some from the witch kingdom) who are trying to either kill her or get her to do their evil bidding. Kallen is one of the fairies (he is actually over 300 years old but later informs her it is more like being around 19 which is way more convenient to their romance). 

Xandra has never been taught to use any of her magic - fairy or witch -- so Kallen bravely attempts to do so. This involves going even further out into the woods away from everyone. You can pretty much tell what is going to happen, can’t you? Anyway, as  silly and predictable as the plot was, the dialogue was funny. 

I had a hard time figuring out how the whole family could be so isolated and the kids be so ignorant of their parents’ nature. Looking back, I can see more similarities between the Twilight characters of Bella and Edward than I noticed at first. In fact, the more I write this review, the less likely I will be to recommend it.

What did this book have to do with my faith? I think the love of Xandra’s mother for her daughter was striking. She chose not to have her aborted, even though everyone informed her that this child would have the ability to destroy the world. She chose to keep this baby, even though the father only used her to free himself. Then she was able to keep herself tied to the earth in order to continue to protect and look after her children. What love she exhibited! I kept wondering how she could allow Xandra to go off with Kallen but maybe she understood it was time to let go. It would take a very strong person to be able to have this kind of love. This makes me think of Christ and his love for the world. He was willing to sacrifice himself for us. He was then resurrected in order to send the Holy Spirit to guide and protect us. What love!

I half-heartily recommend this book. Read it if you are a big Twilight-genre fan.

Happy reading!

Amelia