Review: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Book 1: Blood Feud!

Are you tired of pansy, glittering, sensitive vampires? Are you even more sick of the accident-prone, helpless girl who can't keep herself out of trouble? ME too. That's why I was absolutely delighted to get my hands on a copy of Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Book 1. There is ABSOLUTELY nothing softcore (that's the opposite of hardcore, right? ;]) about this book. Within the first couple of pages, a guy gets his head blown off! You can't get much more action-packed than that!

I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me collect my thoughts.

Ok. There.

The novel starts with a military science-esque scene that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm a very analytical person and I like making things that require a lot of careful, little steps (I'm an art major). I think that's why I found the opening pages so amazing. All that strategy...all that planning...all that action and gore and bad-assery! For a while, you're reading and you're like "Where's Pan??". But patience, dear reader. The beginning unfolds and makes the world of Pandora that much more interesting. Not only that, but you get to see the vicious, hungry, hardcore vampire that everyone knows and loves.



Fast forward. You meet Pan. Pan's life is chaos. She's new to the area (which she hates) because of her parent's recent divorce, is the target of obnoxious bullying (but man does she ever stick up for herself!), OH! And she's got "monster vision". This means that on top of all the things in her life that suck enough already, the girl's got to deal with seeing horrifying monsters where everyone else sees typical human beings.

Without giving away too much, (I'm a firm believer that if a book is good enough, you should have to discover the secrets on your own...and this one is DEFIANTLY one that you want to discover!) Pandora's journey really begins when she's sent to stay with her dad after punching the sh*t out of a girl who'd been picking on her. Before she even leaves the subway, a giant monkey-like creature crashes into the platform and runs away. Confused, Pan bumps into a steamy apprentice monster hunter and it compels her to investigate for herself (it's not like she was following to get to know the guy!). After saving his life, Pandora meets Annie and her world is completely changed. The two new acquaintances are fully aware of her abilities and...they're not phased!

All the while, the mysterious item #179 is being shipped from across seas to Pandora's father (who owns a horror museum). What would appear to be just another exciting addition to the museum is actually an object of great value and power. Vampires in London are stalking about the seller's warehouse and Vampires from Japan are on a jet headed to find the object.

It's then that you, as the reader, realize: all hell's about to break loose.

I'm not going to ruin the ending. I'll leave you with a promise, though. Blood Feud will NOT leave you wishing the book had more to offer. It won't ever bore you. It'll suck you in and before you know it, you've spent hours reading.

Before I gush too much, let's get on to the ratings!

Creativity of Writing: 5/5 Easily scored, guys! This book absolutely sucked me in and didn't let me go! I found myself being late to work and class and ignoring the rest of the world. The characters are beautifully developed and relatable. Pandora is so three dimensional that you feel like you've known her your entire life. So many aspects of the book are so creative that you KNOW it's something that hasn't been thought of before. Then there's the militaristic parts that had to have been carefully researched. If you're a big fan of comics, you're going to LOVE all of the references that the characters drop throughout the book. It's non-stop action that leaves you anticipating what's going to happen next. And sometimes, wondering what JUST happened! No matter what genre you're into, Blood Feud has something to offer any reader of any age.

Creativity of Art: N/A


Overall Casual Read Rating: 5/5 I really enjoyed reading this and I'll be the very first to buy the next book! I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone with the ability to read. And if you can't read...I'm going to have to suggest that you learn just for this book! ;)


On a another note: Steven A. Roman is AMAZING! He's been so extremely awesome about emailing me and chatting about the book and whatever else. He's answered all of my questions and I admire someone who can really get behind their work!

Wanna buy it? http://www.pandorazwieback.com/