Out for Blood - Alyxandra Harvey

Out for Blood is the third book in The Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey. It is released on 1st November 2010 by Bloomsbury and it is 304 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy for review!

Plot

Hunter Wild is a vampire hunter in training at the Helios-Ra academy and also one of the top students. As a new school year starts, she thinks it is going to be a good one, especially after attending the new vampire Queen’s coronation.

As the school year gets into full swing, it doesn’t take long for strange things to start happening. Students are getting ill left, right and centre and no one has any idea why but Hunter has her own suspicions. There is only one person that she seems able to trust and that is Quinn Drake who also happens to be a vampire. If Hunter’s Grandfather knew she was friends with a vampire he would probably have a heart attack. Quinn is stunning and Hunter has a hard time concentrating around him but will she be able to pay attention enough to solve the mystery and save her friends?

What I thought
The Drake Chronicles just keeps getting better and better. Each new book that I have read is so much better than the last that I keep changing my mind about which I like the most.

Hunter is really the ultimate female in this genre for me. I’m really against all of these silly names in books but for some reason, Hunter fits her perfectly and I couldn’t imagine her being called anything else. As a vampire hunter, she is strong, determined and independent with none of the whining that I hate. I think what I loved most about Hunter was the fact that she was able to be a part of Helios-Ra but still keep her feminine qualities. Hunter refuses to cut her long, beautiful blonde hair and she likes to be able to paint her nails with roommate Chloe. I really don’t see any reason why vampire hunters still can’t be beautiful and feminine at the same time as kicking some serious ass. Although Hunter has these qualities, they aren’t over the top or in your face at any time and I felt like this part of her personality was balanced really well with the more fierce side of her.

I don’t know if I am ever going to have a favourite Drake brother but I did really like Quinn. Each of the Drake brothers have different qualities that make them so different but so loveable at the same time. What I liked most about Quinn was the fact that he was extremely cheeky. He knows he has a certain way with the girls and he’s used to getting who he wants. It was also nice to see how different he is to his twin because of this. I was expecting Quinn to be quite cocky and arrogant, knowing how good looking he is and being able to have who he wants, but he wasn’t at all. He was very aware of himself and what he is capable of and funny with it at the same time and I think this is what made him so likable. Quinn has a certain charm that makes him quite irresistible.

Like the previous two books in this series, the story is told from different points of views which this time around are from Hunter and Quinn. I like the fact that we only get to hear from the two main characters because I like to know how people are feeling from both sides of the story. I think that this way of telling the story really made me connect with both Hunter and Quinn and get to like them both for different reasons.

A big part of the previous two books have been about the assassination of someone in the Drake family so it was nice to see that this wasn’t the case this time around. The main story revolves around Hunter and her friends at the academy. I liked the fact that there was quite a big mystery that didn’t really involve the Drakes. Yes, they do get involved but the story doesn’t begin and end with what is happening around them. I couldn’t quite figure out what was really going on or what exactly was behind the strange going ons at the Academy. I always like to be kept guessing so this was a good aspect of the book for me.

I’m excited to see which Drake brother’s story will come next and how book four will be different from the three in the series so far. I love Alyxandra Harvey’s series and would definitely read anything of hers from now on. I loved this book and highly recommend that you read the whole series!