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Bloodline (Bloodline #1)

3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 · rating details · 1,354 ratings · 161 reviews

Thirty-five years have passed since the death of the Master. But now a new evil walks among the living. . . . When nineteen-year-old John Shaw returns from the trenches of World War I, he is haunted by nightmares—not only of the battlefield, but of the strange, cruel and impossible feats of his regiment's commander, Quincey Harker. Harker's ferocity knows no limits, and hi...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published August 17th 2006 by Razorbill (first published August 18th 2005)

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Apr 04, 2009 Polly rated it 1 of 5 stars

My 13 year old daughter brought this home from the library. She is a Twilight addict and probably wanted to see what other vampire books are like. I try to steal a book from her library pile every once in a while just to see what she's reading so I chose this one. I don't think I've read a book where the author did such a poor job with character development. I don't want to give anything away so that's all I'll say. Unless you enjoy superficial literature, don't waste your time.

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Nov 28, 2011 Megan McDade rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-since-blog-started

I gave this book 3/5 stars on my blog http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.com

Bloodline is a unique take on the vampire as it's set during the First World War, during a time of blood, death and carnage and to add a vampire into the mix was in my opinion genius. Especially a vampire descended from the original vampire, Dracula! At first I couldn't get into the book but I didn't want to give up on it so I continued and am glad I did as I really got into it and grow to really enjoy it.

The story is na...more

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May 29, 2012 Questingforaquest rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: to-own, to-re-read

Quick TL;DR:

*Great book, fun, compelling plot, engrossing characters, not a lofty read, but a fun one, and well-written for it.
*NOT your typical vampire YA novel--this is meant as a "sequel" to the original Dracula, and touches on some of the same themes, although not in as literary a way
*It's a trilogy, but the third book isn't out yet, and you'll be dying for more when you finish each one--be warned!!;-)

When I first saw this book, I was a page at my local library in high school. Shelving books...more Quick TL;DR:

*Great book, fun, compelling plot, engrossing characters, not a lofty read, but a fun one, and well-written for it.
*NOT your typical vampire YA novel--this is meant as a "sequel" to the original Dracula, and touches on some of the same themes, although not in as literary a way
*It's a trilogy, but the third book isn't out yet, and you'll be dying for more when you finish each one--be warned!!;-)

When I first saw this book, I was a page at my local library in high school. Shelving books is a good way to discover new ones to read, and I picked this one up to read the back cover. My first thought was that this was another of those books getting in on the vampire trend in YA, and that turned me off. But reading the back cover, I discovered it actually was a "sequel" to the original Dracula by Bram Stoker; all of the main characters are the descendents of the original gang in the Victorian novel, and it's set during World War I. I had read Dracula for fun the summer before, and loved it, so...maybe this wouldn't be too bad? My interest was piqued. Hesitantly, I decided to read it during my lunch breaks.

I'm so glad I gave this book a chance! It's not high literature, and if you're expecting it to hold up to the original classic, you're expecting too much, but this IS NOT another one of the typical vampire novels that are flooding the YA market right now in the wake of Twilight. The story was compelling, the characters were engrossing, and Cary manages a feat only one other author has been consistently able to pull off in successfully misdirecting me and doing it in a fun way (the other was J K Rowling, so I think that says something).

I couldn't wait for the next one,and when we got a copy of the sequel, I devoured--pardon the pun--that too. The frustrating thing that still gets me about these books is that they're meant to be a trilogy, but Kate Cary is a ghostwriter for the Warriors books. Those are more lucrative, so guess which she spends most of her time on? I don't blame her, she has to make a living, but I've been waiting years for a third installment, and it's one of those books that, when you first finish it, you want to immediately start the next one, so even waiting for the library to get it from another branch is frustrating. If you start these books, beware of that:you'll be begging for more and won't get it fast enough! I follow Kate Cary on Facebook, and she says she's not working on the third installment right now, despite there being several very passionate of us fans begging her for another. Maybe the muse just hasn't struck her right--er, bitten?;-)

Corny vamire puns aside, here's my actual review. The plot is paced very well, and the characters, as I said, are very engrossing...and unlike some other YA books, they get to have character arcs! Mary starts off very idealistic, but her opinions change by the end of the second book. She's a pretty cool heroine; it's hard to write a novel set in Victorian times and have the character be appealing to modern audiences without pandering to modern-day tastes about how women should act, which would compromise realism. Mary's no wilting violet, and she's far more empowered than Bella Swann, but she's still a little prudish and idealistic, which is treated as part of her character, and a flaw at that. She's not a Mary Sue; all of the characters are well-defined. I found myself developing crushes on some of the male characters--heh heh!^__^;--which rarely happens for me. When I go developing crushes on fictional characters, it's because I find them compelling. The book switches between several of the characters as narrators in each chapter, which works effectively in this story to give the reader a more complete view of what's going on and a more complex development of each character--characters can disagree with each other or trick each other,and while we know who we want to root for, it makes the book a lot more fun.

The series touches on sexuality a little, as you have to in a follow up to Dracula, but it's not "teen smut", as some YA books get called. It's done tastefully and briefly, with some of the characters discussing their hesitancy toward sexuality, but also a secret curiosity about it--this is Victorian England, after all, nice young girls of marriageable age don't go thinking abut sex, they think of England!;-)

But it's done frankly--we know when a character has been seduced and is living with a man in a sexual relationship outside of marriage, but in case any parents are worried about it, the characters do express feelings that they're not doing the right thing...and usually die, which is kind of odd. But if you're worried about what your 15-year-old daughter will learn from these books, it's exemplary compared to Twilight.

I did have one complaint; the novel is set during World War I, or The Great War, as they were then calling it. Mary is a nurse helping at the hospital that is treating wounded soldiers coming back from the trenches, and she speaks with horror of the agony of some of the soldiers who are being treated; they have burns or amputated limbs, and worst of all, some have been subjected to mustard gas, and it's now painful for them to breathe. The soldiers are treated as individuals; Mary transcribes letters to sweethearts for some of them, or bonds with favorites, or watches them grow quiet when asked about their experiences. Cary does an interesting job of portraying the horror of The Great War, which was then a major traumatic event for all parties involved, to the point where people thought there could never be another war after the suffering they'd all inflicted on each other. She talks about soldiers suffering from "shell-shock" (what they called PTSD at the time), people at home losing loved ones overseas, and the darkness of the violence the soldiers encounter in the trenches as represented by the cruelty of Quincy Harker, who tells us that the bloodshed is perfect for complementing and disguising his vampiric tendencies. But Cary doesn't commit to it; it's not graphic in the violence at all like people accuse The Hunger Games of being, but the personalization of the participants and the humanization of victims is done fairly well. But where's the resulting message? Here's all this horror; great, now tell us what you want us to take away from it. You don't get that involved in showing the horror of war and then not give the reader a message about it. What's the lesson? A generic, "war is horrible", something about the darkness of humanity, or the nature of evil, perhaps? Is all this talk of how horrible the war is just there to add to the horror element of the book, or increase the feeling of evil? Then again, this is just meant to be a fun book, a light read; Cary's going for a beach novel type of thing, not a didactic, "I'm going to teach the young generation to make the world they inherit better!" attempt at literature like Rowling and Collins make. If you go into it with too high expectations, you'll set yourself up for the wrong experience and not enjoy the book. As a fun read, it's wonderful, and I hope Cary gets on the third installment!(less)

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Dec 02, 2010 Robin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires

I read this because I love 'Dracula' and I was hoping for a sequal with equal kapow to keep me interested. I found about 1/10th of that in Bloodline. For a start, not many original characters are used other than Mary's father. Even Tepes wasn't actually Dracula (I think. That was very vague). I was annoyed that vampires can reproduce. Surely that's biologically impossible, considering how they're essentially animated corpses. Another Dracula spin-off, 'The Historian' by Kostova, is what led me t...more I read this because I love 'Dracula' and I was hoping for a sequal with equal kapow to keep me interested. I found about 1/10th of that in Bloodline. For a start, not many original characters are used other than Mary's father. Even Tepes wasn't actually Dracula (I think. That was very vague). I was annoyed that vampires can reproduce. Surely that's biologically impossible, considering how they're essentially animated corpses. Another Dracula spin-off, 'The Historian' by Kostova, is what led me to 'Bloodline'. Whereas 'The Historian' was well-developed, well-researched and unpredictable, 'Bloodline' was only half-developed, not very well researched and highly predictable. The title gave everything away! It was obviously about the continuity of the bloodline of Dracula from page one. Quincey ('Quincey'? Ha!) was obviously a vampire and Mina had turned into a slut, which really disappointed me. Sure, the brides of Dracula were supposed to be hot, but they weren't supposed to seduce the son of their husband by another woman. That was another thing that annoyed me. It was so nearly incest between Lily and Quincey (Rosmary + Mr Shaw --> Lily, Tepes + Mina --> Quincey, Rosemary + Tepes --> John). That's just a little too closely almost-related to be normal.

Mary was a little boring. And she was very nosy, reading John's diary. John annoyed me the minute he started interacting with Mary. He was very overprotective. The minute he found out he was half-vampire (like we all had guessed, and HOW?!) he immediately gave into Mina's seductions (eww gross) and became a vampire himself, while being a complete dick to Mary, Quincey and even Mina. Quincey was the only interesting character. He emulated Dracula rather well, and was easy to dislike as an antagonist (even though I was rooting for him because I'm annoying like that) but was obviously going to be either really evil or annoyingly good in the end. He ended up going good, which is boring. Lily couldn't have been flatter if Cary had tried. Mina was a complete whore. Rosemary was boring. Tepes was undeveloped and unnecessary. Dr Seward was underused.

Overall, readable. (less)

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Oct 25, 2010 Josh Dimond rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Aug 11, 2009 Joe Young rated it 4 of 5 stars

The first in a series by Kate Cary, Bloodlines tells the story of John Shaw, his sister Lily, nurse Mary Seward, and the enigmatic Quincy Harker, John's commanding officer in the English army. The story is told in epistolary fashion, with the plot being related through a series of journal entries, letters and other forms of written correspondence usually authored by one of the four protagonists. The novel opens with a journal entry from Quincy Harker, an English army Captain stationed at the fro...more

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Oct 03, 2009 Lolly's rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: blood-sucking-fiends, young-adult, part-of-a-series

This is a book which continues in the same vein (get it? Vein, vampires? Hardy har har) as the original Dracula both in its storytelling method (through diary entries and letters) and in many of the characters. However, it falls short of the original in its pacing, which is erratic, and story, which can't seem to make up its mind (is it a romance? Is it horror? Is it a thrilling action-adventure? It could be all of those, if the story were more cohesive). Character development is pretty shallow,...more

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Jan 27, 2011 SJH (A Dream of Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, vampire

'Bloodline' is an inventive sequel to the original Bram Stoker's Dracula. The story takes place many years after the events that led to the downfall of Dracula - events that left, however, his bloodline intact.

Quincey Harker is a captain leading a band of men during the war. John Shaw is one of his lieutenants, who witnesses the atrocious nighttime exploits of his captain and who returns to England to convalesce and recover from his injuries, haunted by what he's seen. Mary Seward is the daughte...more 'Bloodline' is an inventive sequel to the original Bram Stoker's Dracula. The story takes place many years after the events that led to the downfall of Dracula - events that left, however, his bloodline intact.

Quincey Harker is a captain leading a band of men during the war. John Shaw is one of his lieutenants, who witnesses the atrocious nighttime exploits of his captain and who returns to England to convalesce and recover from his injuries, haunted by what he's seen. Mary Seward is the daughter of Dr. Seward (from the original novel) and is in charge of helping John to return to good health. As she nurses him she falls in love but soon comes across his journal where she discovers the full depth of his torment. As Harker's relationship with John's sister Lily deepens, it's up to John and Mary to save her from a great evil.

I first read the original Dracula a few years ago but I could still remember enough to piece together the important parts of the story that were woven together with 'Bloodline'. The latter is an imaginative and intriguing take on a classic novel that's influenced a whole genre of books. I don't think it really matters if you haven't read Dracula itself although it's interesting to pick up the thread of the story and follow a new generation of characters. It also meant that I had a real sense of foreboding throughout the book and I was sat there reading and waiting for something terrible to happen!

The narrative alternates between the four main protagonists and is told through their thoughts, letters and journals. This gave valuable insight into their thoughts, feelings and emotions and helped to create three dimensional characters that seemed vividly real. It also meant that it was difficult sometimes to know where my sympathies lay because not everything was as black and white as it first seemed. My preconceptions were often turned completely upside down.

If I'm nitpicking, the only thing that didn't necessarily gel for me was the conclusion of the story. It seemed (without giving anything away) that it didn't work so well with some of the elements of the original novel. I didn't completely like the direction which it took at the end, although I think it has set things up nicely for the sequel, 'Reckoning' which is published in February 2011. That aside, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and finished it in one sitting as the story drew me in and continually left me on a knife-edge at the end of each chapter. The mystery and suspense was drawn out well, particularly in the latter half of the book, until I was on the edge of my seat and desperate to know how it was all going to end.
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Aug 26, 2009 Bayley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, young-adult, fantasy, horror

This book had a promising premise, and the first 1/3 of it was quite good, but it completely falls apart in the middle. The plot has an identity crisis where it can't decide whether it is a mystery or a romance novel. Also, the main character becomes so bloody passive that it gets very annoying and boring. He witnesses his CO pulling out people's intestines with his bare hands on the battlefield, but later decides he's a great guy and that he must have been halucinating? Pshaw. I wanted to see h...more

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Jan 17, 2010 Chris added it

Shelves: tenth-grade

John Shaw is a war veteran,and now a patient at the hospital near where he lives with his sister, with all too vivid memories of his times as a communications analyst. he especially remembers his commanding officer: a ruthless, fearless, and brave leader with apparent superhuman strength. he remembers those nights when Captain Harker would go on raids and come back claiming victory with a smile on his face. he remembers his harshness towards lower ranking officers. he remembers thinking that thi...more

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Oct 06, 2009 Natalie (Mindful Musings) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Frankly, I had a hard time getting into this book. Not that the premise wasn't interesting. I mean, who wouldn't want to read a speculative continuation of Bram Stoker's Dracula? And Kate Cary's writing style was rather good, especially considering the knowledge she had to have about Dracula in order to write the book.

So what threw me off? In one word: characterization. No, the character development wasn't awful, but neither was it what I wanted to see. The character of Mary Seward was rather we...more

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Mar 21, 2010 Gnomy Twerpening rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone wanting a good vampire story

Recommended to Gnomy by: Kate, Chas, and Laura

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. You want a real vampire story? This is definitely it!

It's WWII and Captain Harker is in the trenches sucking Nazi blood. He's taken a liking to Lieutenant John Shaw, though... Soon enough, John is injured on a personal night raid with Harker and develops a fever that send him home to England. He ends up in a sanatorium where Mary Seward works as a nurse. She reads his diary and quickly falls in love with John. Of course, John doesn't know this, thanks to the fever. So, Mary tends to him and wai...more You want a real vampire story? This is definitely it!

It's WWII and Captain Harker is in the trenches sucking Nazi blood. He's taken a liking to Lieutenant John Shaw, though... Soon enough, John is injured on a personal night raid with Harker and develops a fever that send him home to England. He ends up in a sanatorium where Mary Seward works as a nurse. She reads his diary and quickly falls in love with John. Of course, John doesn't know this, thanks to the fever. So, Mary tends to him and waits for him to come back to his senses. She also informed John's sister, Lily, that he was there. Lily soon hears of how Captain Harker rescued him when he was injured. She is so grateful of this heroic act that Lily sends him a letter to thank him. Captain Harker responds to her that he will be in England for business and will be sure to visit both Lily and John. He is invited by Lily to stay with her (and John when he returns to the Hall) just before John wakes up. When he does, he has his suspicions of Harker because of vague memories of the war. For the meanwhile, he blames these on the fever and tells himself that Harker is only friends with his sister. John is also involved in his own romance with Mary Seward, so he has a lot on his mind about how to go along with how to tell her of his affection. Captain Harker sends Lieutenant Shaw to work in London, and then he steals off with Lily, intending to "marry" her in his home country of Romania. When John returns to his hometown and informs Mary of this, they ask her father for advice on what to do. John had just proposed to Mary and was upset to have to leave her so soon to rescue his sister from his captain. Mary's father, though, is reminded of who Harker is and tells the lovers that they must go and rescue Lily before it's too late. They take off to go to Romania, but you'll have to read the book to find out whether our beloved characters will be captured by the bloodline of Count Dracula or not.(less)

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Aug 27, 2012 Elizabeth (Stuffed Shelves) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: in-my-library, my-favorites

What is the book about?

It's the end of 1916, and John Shaw has returned from the trenches of the first World War with the fever that is causing him pain, delirium and horrible nightmares. Mary Seward is immediately drawn to him and takes a special interest in John.

When John is brought into the sanatorium he is clutching a red leather journal, that Mary brings home for safe keeping. Curiosity kills her, and she reads of the things that he has witnessed in the war. It's no wonder is he is ranting...more What is the book about?

It's the end of 1916, and John Shaw has returned from the trenches of the first World War with the fever that is causing him pain, delirium and horrible nightmares. Mary Seward is immediately drawn to him and takes a special interest in John.

When John is brought into the sanatorium he is clutching a red leather journal, that Mary brings home for safe keeping. Curiosity kills her, and she reads of the things that he has witnessed in the war. It's no wonder is he is ranting and raving from the fever.

John's Commanding Officer, Captain Quincey Harker, is a ruthless and determined leader who has been known to do solitary missions at night to attack and kill the enemy. John has suspicions that there is more to Harker, but hasn't put his finger on it quite yet.

When John wakes up, he remembers how well he was taken care of by Mary, and they spend time together outside of the sanatorium when he is discharged from care.

Mary and John find out that John's sister Lily has fallen in love with Harker and run off with him to elope in Transylvania. When Mary and John discover who Quincey Harker is, they follow after them, in hopes to stop the inevitable.

What did I think of the book?

Bloodline is written in journal format, showing you the journal entries from each of the characters; Mary, John, Lily, and Captain Harker. It bounces back and forth keeping up with time to show everyone's perspective, which I thought is brilliantly written.

Cary's first novel to the Bloodline series, has a great twist to the vampire stories of Van Helsing and Dracula. There's blood, love, romance, and death all wrapped up in a great novel. I thought Kate Cary did a great job at the dialogue between the characters, since it takes place during World War I, the speech differs from current times, and it seemed realistic while also entertaining and easy to understand.

I cannot wait to start the next book in the series, I don't have it yet, but I'm hoping I can take a trip to my favorite used book store, and pick up a copy today!

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Oct 30, 2010 Nina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Taking a look at this cover, you have a pretty good idea what the book is about. But I had no idea that it would sway me of my feet.

Mary Seward is a character I liked from the start. She is a caring, sweet young girl and wants to help others the best she can. I could tell from her writing in her journal that she was deeply in love with John, and I could feel her connection with him. She is also very brave, strong and determined to find a solution.

John Shaw is 19 years old and reading his writing...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Dayna Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is almost like a sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula. It takes place in 1916-17 during World War I. While Dracula was killed in Stoker's tale, his evil was not. The story centers around Quincey Harker, the son of Jonathon and Mina from the original tale. John Shaw is sent to the front lines in France and placed under Harker's command. He begins to notice that his commander is stranger, cruel, and capable of impossible feats. After being wounded he is returned to England to the hospital tha...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Janaan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I picked up bloodline because, I wanted to read my share of different genres. But I soon found out Vampires and me, do not like each other. This is a ook which is written in a format of which, the stories are all journal entries. Our main character John Shaw, or Liteunant Shaw is at war for England against the Germans. He soon finds out that the Germans are quickly dying during the night time, then they are during the morning. But the entire English army knows why.. It's because of their super-h...more

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Jul 08, 2010 Ellaha rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had just randomly gotten this book at the library and I can honestly say I'm happy I did. "Bloodline" was a book I could NOT put down. I am very happy it was not a sappy book like the Twilight series. This book contained real vampires, like the ones in Bram Stoker's amazing story. I am a big fan of "Dracula", so I really enjoyed reading a book where characters such as Mina Harker and Van Helsing were mentioned/used. "Bloodline" was written in a creative way, through letters and journal entries...more

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Mar 16, 2009 Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, vampires, young-adult

The journal entries of Captain Quincey Harker, Lieutenant John Shaw, Lily Shaw, and Mary Seward tell the story of a vampire bloodline that descends from Count Dracula's son. John Shaw is a World War I officer in the trenches under Harker's command. Harker shows exceptional strength, an iron will, and a terrifying battlefield bloodlust. After John is wounded, Harker joins him and takes an interest in John's sister Lily. When Lily is enticed from her home to become Harker's bride in Transylvania,...more

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Jun 01, 2009 April Hochstrasser rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book by mistake. I was really looking for Borderline by Nevada Barr. However, I decided to give it a chance. It was set in Britain around 600 CE (which I learned is like AD but means common era). The warring factions were hard to keep track of, but the plot was ok. I would have liked more descriptions of the time period and how they lived. It kind of seemed like a fort in the old west, rather than a fortified city in 600 CE. The end notes gave more history of the time than the a...more

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Apr 07, 2009 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 20, 2012 Benny rated it 5 of 5 stars

I personally Loved this book. It got my attention straight away. I loved the take on it, I loved the style in witch it was written. I like how it is written in journal form. It inspired me to write my own journal but in the form of a blog.

I was quite taken by the character 'Quincy' We don't hear much of his side of the story, but you get enough to be able to form a picture for yourself. The book isn't all that suspenseful, because Yo can guess what will happen next, but at the same time it keeps...more

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May 08, 2012 Keiagane Mork added it

this was a very interesting story. It defiantly left you at the edge of your feet the whole time. I think the back of the book kind of gave the story away however. I enjoyed that it was a person reading a diary and that person had a story of their own. I would recommend this book to people who like intense books and being left at the edge of your seat chapter after chapter. Thought that it was a good idea to place this story in the middle of a war and not in some town with nothing else going on....more

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Jun 06, 2010 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: advisory-2009-2010

i got to say i didn't really like this book, it seemed like it took way to long to get to the plot and it was pretty boring. This book is basically about the experiences of John Shaw, The protagonist, his sister Lily Shaw, Quincey Harker john's commander in world war II, and a nurse named Mary Seward. This book unlike anything other books i normally read is written in forms of letters, journals and diary entires that each of the character writes. John realizes that his commander, Quincey is not...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Josh Schmidt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis: John Shaw, a man ravaged by World War 1, fights against the descendants of the Count Dracula, a long bloodline that was fought by Van Helsing Centuries before. During the Great War, he meets Captain Harker, who turns out to be a vampire, a descendant of Dracula. In order to continue the bloodline, he must take a wife, and make her his own kind, and spread the curse of VAMPIRE. lily Shaw, takes kindly (well more like she loves Capt. Harker) to the mysterious Captain and decides to elope...more

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Jun 19, 2009 Brendan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ok, so. This book started out really good: the classic clueless young guy (25) diving headfirst into the trenches of WW1. Thrilling battle descriptions with a hint of mystery make the first chapters of Bloodline hard to put down.

But then the second part.

John Shaw (clueless young guy) is taken out of the trenches and into a sanatorium (english assylum) after recieving a bayonet to the shoulder and a bad case of Trench Fever along with it. He kinda goes crazy from there. I wont bore you with the r...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Kelsey rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked up this book about eight years ago in an airport gift shop. Having to face the daunting task of an eight hour flight with no music, no in flight movie, and not having any new book to read was simply too impossible an idea for me. So I picked it up on an impulse. From the very first paragraph, I loved the journal format. It gives an interesting inside view into how a character perceives every experience. The main protagonists are honestly a tid bit typical. John Shaw, who has a truly goo...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Leaf rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

In the World War One John Shaw is a soldier fighting in the trenches against the Germans. There he meets Captain Quincey Harker, a man like no other, and they become friends but something about Quincey is just not right. After John gets trench fever and int he hospital he has horrible nightmares about Quincey and when he returns to his house he finds that Quincey is to marry his sister. Now he must stop him or risk loosing his sister.

I picked this book up because Goodreads recommended it to me a...more

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May 20, 2012 Vickie Ramage rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmm. I loved the start of this book, with detailed accounts of John's life in the trenches, all the horrors he saw there and the unease he felt towards his CO, Harker. Mary joins in too, as we are reading his account at the same time as her - as John has come back from the trenches feverish and she decides it's a perfectly decent idea to nick his diary and read it. She looks after him oretty well though, I'll give her that.

There was just too big a plot hole to ignore during this book however. Ev...more

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May 11, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-review-read, read-in-2011

Mary is working as a nurse in a sanatorium when she recognises one of her patients as a boy she knew as a child. John was injured during the war and has been sent home to recover but he is struggling with nightmares of his time in the trenches. Mary wants to find a way to get through to John so she reads his journal to find out what happened to him, the more she learns about Captain Quincy Harker the more sure she is that something strange was going on. When Harker turns up at the hospital and s...more Mary is working as a nurse in a sanatorium when she recognises one of her patients as a boy she knew as a child. John was injured during the war and has been sent home to recover but he is struggling with nightmares of his time in the trenches. Mary wants to find a way to get through to John so she reads his journal to find out what happened to him, the more she learns about Captain Quincy Harker the more sure she is that something strange was going on. When Harker turns up at the hospital and sets his sights on John's sister Lily it is up to Mary to try and protect her friend and figure out what the captain is really up to.

I'll admit now it's been years since I read Dracula by Bram Stoker but I was looking forward to reading Kate Cary's sequel Bloodline. I love reading stories based on old classics and Bloodline wasn't a disappointment. The story is told using journal entries and letters from each of the 4 main characters which was a great way to see the story from different angles and allowed the author to build suspense. I actually found it really hard to put down because I'd keep thinking to myself "just one more journal entry" and then I'll go to bed!

I really liked Mary, she was probably the most well rounded out of all of the characters and she was very strong and determined. It soon becomes obvious how much she cares for John and she is worried for his sister Lily. I didn't like Lily much, she was very weak and needed constant reassurance from those around her but I was impressed with her when she finally found her backbone towards the end of the book. John was quite sweet but he really annoyed me with some of his actions (I can't really say more without giving spoilers though). Harker intrigued me and I'm very curious to see what happens with him in the sequel, there is definitely more to him than it first appears.

I really enjoyed reading John's accounts of life in the trenches, the writing was descriptive and made it easy to picture the sights, sounds and even smells that the soldiers were surrounded by. This was continued throughout the story and helped me create solid mental pictures as the characters journeyed to Transylvania and arrived at the castle. There was a great twist at the end that I hadn't seen coming but this is where I became more than a bit disappointed with John, perhaps we will see him redeem himself in the sequel Reckoning but I'm not sure if he can! Either way I'm definitely looking forward to picking up the next book to find out what happens next, I'm also very tempted to dig out my copy of Dracula for a reread in the meantime.(less)

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Mar 07, 2010 Kayla Gough rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, young-adult, tame-or-young-adult-romance

The novel Bloodline, by Kate Cary is a wonderful read about war and love, tragic death, blood and gore, and senseless murder, ....did I mention it is about Dracula? Yes, I know, the vampire thing is getting old, but this is a true vampire novel.

Taking place in the legendary Romania, this book digs up a dusty tale of a macabre monster and polishes it into a one of a kind story. The bloodline of Dracula is still at large, people!!!!

When John Shaw enrolls in World War I, he has no idea that his c...more

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About Kate Cary

Kate Cary is a writer of fiction for children and young adults. She is the writer of the BLOODLINE series of novels.

She is also one of three writers of a best-selling series of YA books called WARRIORS, published by Working Partners through HarperCollins, under the pseudonym Erin Hunter.

More about Kate Cary...

Books by Kate Cary

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“I have tried many times to express my feelings, but at each attempt, I find myself tongue-tied.” — 19 people liked it

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