Flutter (My Blood Approves #3)
By: Amanda Hocking
Available Format: Paperback, ebook
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
In the third installment of Hocking’s My Blood Approves series, the protagonist, Alice Bonham, has finally joined the ranks of the undead. Unfortunately for Alice, things aren’t as great as she thought they would be when she crossed over. While Milo is thriving both physically and emotionally, Alice finds things are still quite complicated for her. Her relationships with Jack and Peter, as well as the brothers’ relationship with each other, are still strained. There is trouble at home, as Mae tries to reconnect with her former human family members. Alice’s best friend, Jane, now aware of the vampires’ existence, is becoming a vampire bite addict. Her whole world seems to be in chaos as Alice tries to adjust to her new abilities and desires. In order to escape some of the stressors at home, and perhaps atone for hurting Peter, Alice volunteers to join Ezra on a rescue mission. It could be, however, that the savage vampires they are up against will prove to be too much for even Ezra.
I bet quite a few of you are probably just about sick of hearing about this series from me! It is getting a little more difficult for me to review these books, because really most of the issues have already been covered in previous reviews. However, I am usually one to see things all the way through, so bear with me if you will.
The reader will certainly find much more action in Flutter than there was in the previous two installments of the series. Now that Alice has been transformed, a lot of her human angst is finally in the past. She certainly still has some issues, but Hocking seems to begin to move the focus on something else for a change. The love triangle between her and Jack and Peter is obviously still there, but I believe it is less of a concern at this point. I still prefer Peter over Jack, and I’m afraid I will never be satisfied.
The new characters Hocking introduces in this book, the “lycans,” are interesting and refreshing. It is also nice that we get to travel away from Alice’s home and spend some time without Jack. I couldn’t help but be a tiny bit irritated about Jane, and I guess with any addict there will be some frustration. It seems like my reaction to that situation was proper, and Hocking did a good job writing that in.
I was intrigued by the ending and anxious to see how the new situation with Mae and Peter would turn out. It was a huge relief that all the tension between Alice and Jack was finally removed! Flutter left me with enough interest to continue on to the next book. I’m pretty easily persuaded, of course. Ha!
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the other two, but it was still a good, quick read. There are still quite a few grammar and mechanical errors in the ebook, but, as I mentioned in previous reviews, these may be forgiven because Hocking is self-published. Some readers will absolutely adore this series, and some will just not be able to get through it. The basic story is good and the writing could probably use some work, but I know from Hocking’s other work that she does indeed improve! If nothing else, the cover art is really pretty! (I love trees and green is my favorite color :-).)
The moral of the story is: Don’t write the entire series off until you at least try it!
