Nocturnal Blood by Vilimey Mist

 

Anchorage, Alaska. A place where people don't care if someone goes missing. A place where Leia Walker tries her hardest to hide from the world, wanting a normal without anxiety and OCD.

But Leia's bubble pops when an old friend is back in town and twists Leia's reality. A bloody event proves what Leia is scared to learn - Sophie Gardner, her old high school friend and saviour from the bullies, is a vampire.

Forced to run away with Sophie, Leia's life takes a terrifying turn when vampires and hunters come after them.

The only thing preventing them from losing themselves is their friendship...

But will it be enough to escape the inevitable blood bath?

Nocturnal Blood is a vampire book like no other. I love vampires in fiction and as a a result have read so many books based on vampires. I adore Anne Rice, Dracula and even Twilight (sorry) but this book is so different to those. This is a horror book with a lot of heart and tenderness that left me with a tear in my eye.

Technically Nocturnal Blood is a Young Adult novel but I feel it's an adult book it deals with some very adult themes which are portrayed in a really touching way. Vilimey's writing really drew me in, it felt really feel. I really identified with Leia a lonely young woman who, because she's an introvert, doesn't quite fit in with her peers at school which leads to her being brutally bullied. I loved how Sophie, how friend, was her polar opposite a loud extrovert young woman who also doesn't quite fit in because she's too headstrong. They're both destined to live on the outskirts of society but they can brace their outcast status together. What one girl lacks the other possesses in abundance and vice versa making them a strong team.

It's Sophie's and Leia's relationship that really drives the book. There's some very comic moments between the two of them. 

After being friends at high school and then drifting apart, trouble unites them once more, they are forced to run away in the dead of night. There were so many Thelma and Louise vibes as they head north in a small car with limited supplies. The writing is really graphic and I felt like I was there with them.

This book swings effortlessly from being really heartfelt and tender to bloody and brutal like you would expect in a vampire novel. People who enjoyed Let the Right One in by John Ajvide Lindqvist would really love this too! 

The ending was really spectacular and I'm really interested to see where this story will go in Book 2 Nocturnal Farm