What Kills Me

What Kills Me
By Wynne Channing

This was one of those books that my husband recommended I read. Now, sometimes this means the book sits on my "to-be-read" shelf for months. But this time I "borrowed" the book from his kindle (he finally succumbed to the ebook thing) and I really enjoyed reading Channing's first novel.

What Kills Me is about a girl named Axelia who becomes a vampire. I suppose that sound like every other teen paranormal book out there but this one is different. Axelia is never bitten. Instead, she falls into a sacred well of ancient vampire blood. Now she is a vampire but a different vampire. She never sleeps and can go out into the sun. She begins a journey of self-discovery and courage. She becomes stronger - physically and mentally - each step of the way.

There is a love interest named Lucas but their love is more subtle that most teen romances. They are really thrown together, against Lucas' instincts. But Lucas begins to warm to Axelia even as they get closer to danger.

Lucas also has pretty much the only normal name in the book. The weird names that Channing used was one of the drawbacks of the novel. The other drawback was the beginning of the novel. Axelia succumbed too easily to the handsome Italian man. Her judgment seemed completely off for someone living in a foreign country for the first time. Once he was out of the picture, Axelia was a much better judge of character and the remainder of the book was delightful.

I really liked What Kills Me because it was a different take on the whole vampire genre. The character of Axelia was also attractive and strong. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys vampire stories.

What did this book have to do with my faith? Well, you have heard of being washed in the blood, right? Axelia was washed in the blood -- however this was the blood of ancient and powerful vampires. The blood changed her and she came out as a super vampire. For Christians, washed in the blood refers to the blood of Jesus. I see it as a reference to our sins and the fact that Jesus' own sacrifice of blood and life made it possible for God to completely forgive our sins. They are washed away. When we are "washed in the blood," we come out changed. We aren't super Christians, but we do have the promise to go on to perfection. I wonder how we are doing as changed people.

I highly recommended What Kills Me.

Happy reading!

Amelia