What do you think?
The Blood Dagger #3
Tree of Souls
The first vampire.
The last Nephilim.
The end of a saga.
The epic battle between angel and vampire begins in this third installment in the Blood Dagger series. Ever since his meeting with a group of all-powerful angels calling themselves the Grigori went awry, things aren’t looking up for Corinth Taylor or for his best friend, Larna Collins.
After Corinth was almost stabbed to death, Alastair Iszler, Corinth’s brother-in-arms, heroically stepped in to save Corinth’s life—thereby sacrificing his own in the process.Larna, still reeling after losing the love of her life, has only one mission in kill the vampire who tortured Corinth. Sarah. But things aren’t so cut and dry anymore when friends turn into enemies and enemies turn into friends. Trusting Gabriel Stanton, the leader of one of the most powerful vampire clans in the world, might just be enough to cause his downfall by her hands. Especially since she has the worst kind of history with him—the killing-your-father kind.
Will Corinth make it through his transition to become a vampire? Will the Grigori’s plan at world domination come to fruition? Can they pull together in time to stop the threat?
Find out in the last and most action-packed novel in the Blood Dagger series. It will not disappoint. A must-read from start to finish.
The last Nephilim.
The end of a saga.
The epic battle between angel and vampire begins in this third installment in the Blood Dagger series. Ever since his meeting with a group of all-powerful angels calling themselves the Grigori went awry, things aren’t looking up for Corinth Taylor or for his best friend, Larna Collins.
After Corinth was almost stabbed to death, Alastair Iszler, Corinth’s brother-in-arms, heroically stepped in to save Corinth’s life—thereby sacrificing his own in the process.Larna, still reeling after losing the love of her life, has only one mission in kill the vampire who tortured Corinth. Sarah. But things aren’t so cut and dry anymore when friends turn into enemies and enemies turn into friends. Trusting Gabriel Stanton, the leader of one of the most powerful vampire clans in the world, might just be enough to cause his downfall by her hands. Especially since she has the worst kind of history with him—the killing-your-father kind.
Will Corinth make it through his transition to become a vampire? Will the Grigori’s plan at world domination come to fruition? Can they pull together in time to stop the threat?
Find out in the last and most action-packed novel in the Blood Dagger series. It will not disappoint. A must-read from start to finish.
640 pages, Paperback
Published January 15, 2020
About the author
Misty Hayes
8 books330 followersMisty Hayes is a professional nerd, young adult fantasy author, and almost-retired cop who spent years chasing bad guys before deciding imaginary ones were more fun (because fiction is the only way to get away with murder).
After decades of writing reports, she spends any extra free time she can muster crafting high-stakes adventures filled with magic, mayhem, and the occasional supernatural showdown.
When she’s not lost in world-building, Misty enjoys defying pizza norms (pineapple and black olives—fight her), embracing the chaos of retirement planning, and keeping one eye out for plot twists—both in books and in life.
Her Blood Dagger Series is a multiple award-winning, high-octane young adult paranormal trilogy.
Book one, The Outcasts, has earned a Literary Titan Award, an IndieBRAG Medallion, and was the 2018 Solo Medalist Winner of the New Apple Literary Awards for YA Fantasy as well as the 2019 2nd Place Winner of the North Texas Book Festival in YA Fantasy. The sequel, The Watchers, took 2nd Place in the 2020 North Texas Book Festival in Teen Fiction.
Misty’s Ascended Guardians series, a spin-off of The Blood Dagger Trilogy, kicks off with Shield and Shade, available now. Follow Misty for updates on her award-winning series and upcoming adventures.
After decades of writing reports, she spends any extra free time she can muster crafting high-stakes adventures filled with magic, mayhem, and the occasional supernatural showdown.
When she’s not lost in world-building, Misty enjoys defying pizza norms (pineapple and black olives—fight her), embracing the chaos of retirement planning, and keeping one eye out for plot twists—both in books and in life.
Her Blood Dagger Series is a multiple award-winning, high-octane young adult paranormal trilogy.
Book one, The Outcasts, has earned a Literary Titan Award, an IndieBRAG Medallion, and was the 2018 Solo Medalist Winner of the New Apple Literary Awards for YA Fantasy as well as the 2019 2nd Place Winner of the North Texas Book Festival in YA Fantasy. The sequel, The Watchers, took 2nd Place in the 2020 North Texas Book Festival in Teen Fiction.
Misty’s Ascended Guardians series, a spin-off of The Blood Dagger Trilogy, kicks off with Shield and Shade, available now. Follow Misty for updates on her award-winning series and upcoming adventures.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 27, 2020
Let me state right up front I found the Bone Dagger trilogy by Misty Hayes mediocre at best, it was very close to becoming a DNR. But before I give my reasons why I feel this way, let me once again state the rules...(For you who are familiar w/my reviews you can skip the rules)
Rule #1: No telling them they have an ugly baby. The writer put themselves into the story; they put a lot of work into it and truly believe in it and its merits. Who am I to tell them they created an ugly baby? So even if I am disappointed in it, I will not be cruel and a hater, but will be honest without being mean. On the reverse side, it has to be REALLY AWESOME to earn a 5-star rating. Don’t want to cheapen the rating system by giving out too many 5-star ratings; they have to be earned by golly!
Rule #2: No spoilers! You would not want me in a theater telling you what was going to happen next or expose a pivotal point before you get to experience it for yourself, so why would it be okay to tell you an important part of the story and ruin it for you? Not cool and won't happen.
Rule #3: If it is a series, I will review the entire series instead of each individual book. I may state that one book or part of the story arc is better than another, or that it started off slow and picked up or the reverse, but will review the whole instead of each separate part. This is partly due to my own laziness, but also to provide my opinion on the entire story. Using the movie metaphor again, you wouldn't review half a movie and then come back and review the second half separately, that would be silly. I will review the entire story, regardless if it is a duology, trilogy, or more.
Rule #4: and most importantly, take my review with a grain of salt. Read the story for yourself and make your own decisions. I am only giving my opinion and I may not be as impressed with it as you or you may think I am totally out of my mind and wonder if I read the same story as you. You always have the right to ignore what I write or disagree with me.
Misty Hayes is a very accomplished writer. She knows how to tell a story and is capable of keeping the audience interested in what she has to say. She maintains a good pace. In this series there was plenty of action to keep the story moving along at a break-neck speed but not so much that you got lost in what was going on. It also contained the requisite romance but maintained it at a level as to not be overly nauseating, though it did tend to be a bit irritating at times. Ms. Hayes has proven herself to be a very capable and worthy writer and I would consider reading future works from her.
The Premise:
Very briefly, the premise of the series is a young lady, Larna, fresh from graduating high school, travels to England to find her father who had abandoned her and her mother six years earlier without warning or a word as to why. Larna, at the beginning has low self-esteem and body issues. Since her father’s abandonment, she turned to food for comfort. Being bullied and taunted in school along with the guilt she feels for her father’s sudden disappearance takes a toll on her psyche.
Armed with her father’s journal she had recently uncovered from its hiding place; she travels to England to try to track him down. Once she arrives in England she is immediately thrust into the world of vampires. Of course, she never knew vampires existed outside legend and literature, but okay, vampires are real. Not only do vampires exist, but a very powerful, wealthy and influential vampire, Gabriel, is after her father who is in hiding because he stole a priceless relic, (a dagger) from Gabriel. The dagger, of course contains special powers and the “Chosen One” who wields it has tremendous powers and can not only kill vampires, but also with the dagger, the “chosen one” can turn vampires back into humans, a “cure” for vampirism if you will. To avoid giving spoilers, she becomes a pawn in the battle between her father and Gabriel. Of course, it is thought that Larna holds these powers and should wield the dagger. She is helped along the way by her high school flame and bestest buddy, Corinth and the chauffer/bodyguard Alastair. Lots of action, love triangle ensues, blah-blah-blah.
Minor Spoiler Alert: Turns out Larna is not the “Chosen One” but instead Corinth is. Gasp, what a shocker!!! NOT!!!
Anyway, you have good vampires versus bad vampires in trying to get this all-important dagger, (which by the way, Corinth ascribes a really stupid name). But that is not enough, you also get angels involved, are we also shamelessly borrowing from the tv series, Supernatural? Why not? If we are going to pick from the vampire genre might as well have angels too and while we’re at it, let’s borrow from the Living Dead and toss in some zombies for good measure, (no, thankfully there are no zombies in this series). There are also two factions of angels, naturally, the bad angels that want the dagger for their own nefarious plans and the good angels who are there to help our “heroes” and prevent the dagger from getting into the wrong hands of both bad vampires and angels, for whoever possesses the “cure” for vampirism can attain world domination, (don’t ask, just go with it).
Angels and Vampires and Slayers! Oh my! Sing that as you skip down this bloody red brick road. I am not exaggerating, there is copious amounts of blood in this series, no skimping on that aspect, the pages were almost literally dripping with it. But it was not graphic or gross, just abundant amounts being spilled, worn and of course, drank.
So now you have our hapless heroes trying to avoid the apocalypse, keep the dagger in the safe and proper hands of Corinth, learn this great secret how to cure vampirism and live happily ever after. There is of course the great climatic battle at the end, and you can guess how that turns out. Sorry if I am snarky, it is just it had so much potential and Ms. Hayes is such a good writer.
The problem lies within the story and the characters. There was too much/too many. Too much that suspended belief. Too much action without development. Too much ineptness by the characters. Too many story arcs. Too many loose threads that were never developed or explained.
Problems with the premise:
The whole concept of vampires battling and then add in angels battling, it was just too much for one series. Ms. Hayes would have done so much better if she would have had the series focus on the vampire battle and then if so desired, she could create a spin-off series of the angels involving themselves and starting up a new battle. As it is this does not give enough to either arc to develop it properly and explore it in detail. There are too many story threads left dangling or never truly explored; too many holes that have to be accepted. The story itself leaves you feeling exhausted and spent, like you have been sprinting in a marathon. You never get a chance to stop and take a breath and assimilate what has just happened before you are thrust forward into the next upheaval with a new turn of events or aspect to send your mind reeling again.
Also, you need to suspend all belief beyond what would be considered reasonable. Too many twists that are beyond plausible even in a fantasy story, forcing us to accept a round peg in the square hole of logic. When reading fantasy, it is expected that some “reality” is suspended, couldn’t have a story of the supernatural variety without it. But there are limits to what the reader should be expected to accept in this “altered world”. There are limits to how far the boundaries of reasonableness can be stretched before you throw up your hands and say, “Really?!? Come on!!! Give me a break!” This series did that. It forced too many dubious plot twists beyond acceptance So as not to include any spoilers, I will just state they are obvious when you run across them.
Problems with the characters
It is a story of vampires and angels and vampire slayers, as well as love, loss, loyalty and friends and family. It is expected in this type of book to suspend reasoning to a degree and accept the existence of supernatural beings; it’s fantasy so it is not supposed to be real. But there has to be some grounding in reality just the same. These were supposed to be common people, mainly Larna and Corinth who are thrust into a world they never knew existed, it would be expected they would freak out and have difficulty accepting this new reality. Nooooo! Their acceptance of the situation is so quick and how they adjust to it without hesitation is mind boggling. Avoiding giving away any spoilers, there are things Larna, Corinth, et.al. are confronted with that would send a person over the edge and they would lose their sanity. But these folks can quickly accept it and acclimate themselves to this new reality with speed of lightning acceptance. It was like bringing home a new puppy only to find it is really a coyote pup. That was the degree of their shock, and then they would say “okay”, and move on taking the pup in to raise it like a regular dog as if it was nothing, “oh vampires exist and want to kill me? Okay, By the way, what’s for dinner?” “angels exist and are warring over this dagger I possess and will kill me and my friends to get it? That’s nice. By the way, did you watch last night’s episode of Bachelorette?”. “Vampires and angels exist and there is a battle that could end all human life, I can deal with that. But the shoes I ordered on line are black not navy blue like I wanted and the wrong size too! That’s unbelievable!!!” That is how their acceptance felt when confronted with the news. To truly enjoy a character, you have to feel a little empathy and see yourself in them a little. How nothing really phases these characters, how they so quickly accept and adapt to the new “reality” of their world is beyond credibility. For a story to work the characters and their reactions have to be somewhat credible to the situation they are in and the world they exist. The characters in this series lacked the credibility.
Then add into that how utterly inept and downright incompetent they are, it is hard not to throw up your hands and say, “REALLY!!! How stupid are you?!!!?” If the book was to hold any “plausibility” the main characters would never have survived the first half of the first book. They were that stupid. They were careless and foolish, being overly altruistic and self-sacrificing to a nauseating degree. Sometimes you almost wished they would be destroyed only since they deserved it for being so stupid and reckless to get themselves into so many dangerous situations. And, of course, they had to be rescued, placing their friends in danger and blowing up any plans they had laid prior. “Let’s all be loose cannons and go off on our own even though it puts everybody at risk and destroys any chances we had of gaining the advantage” They sabotaged themselves so often and never seemed to learn but continued to make the same idiotic mistakes, keeping secrets and sneaking off only to get themselves in dire straits. It was like they were all trying to prove they could be the hero and sacrifice themselves for the others only for the others to step up and say, “No, you can’t die. Let me sacrifice myself.” And then the original person saying, “Oh no, I can’t let you die for me, I could never live with your death on my head, let me die to protect you” and so on and so forth until you think, why don’t you all die and then everybody will be happy, you can all sacrifice yourself. General George C Patton is credited with saying: You don’t win a war by dying for your country. You win a war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. These characters obviously don’t subscribe to that theory for they are consistently placing themselves needlessly in danger and having to be rescued. And that was the other annoying part. Instead of looking at the big picture of losing EVERYTHING and maintaining the overall goal, (preventing the dagger from getting in the wrong hands), whenever having to decide which was more important, the protection of the dagger or saving the idiot friend who knowingly and willingly put themselves in danger, they always chose the friend. They would risk losing everything to save the friend…like really? And if you fail in your rescue attempt, not only does the one die, but EVERYBODY dies and the bad guys get the dagger!!!
In addition, they are annoying. The banter they have is flat and the only one seeing the humor in it is themselves. They are just obnoxious and annoying. The only “likeable” character is Gabriel who you love to hate but is the most realistic of the bunch. Others are just stereotypical cut-out caricatures who though play a significant role, appear to have the personality and depth of a puddle of water. The characters were lacking personality and the ones who contained personality were just annoying twits.
Problems with loose threads and unrealized arcs:
There are too many loose threads and potential story-lines that were hinted at but never pursued; mentioned and then dropped to never be returned to or were given the briefest cursory reference and not explored further. For instance, Larna and her bodyissues. This appeared to have significance at the beginning to be mentioned quite often , but hten suddenly it disappeared. Like one minute she has body issues and an eating disorder the next it is like it never existed and is never mentioned again. Another example of this is Larna and Corinth’s family left in the states. In the second book, the two of them, Larna and Corinth, are being hunted by Gabriel in England and are in hiding. They are worried about their family back home which could easily be taken hostage by Gabriel w/ his vast resources to force them out of hiding. If Gabriel truly wanted to find them, this would be the easiest way to flush them out, use their family as leverage. This is addressed so briefly and lamely it is insulting. To address this, Larna and Corinth have a friend go back and check on Corinth’s family to make sure they are safe and they send Larna’s mom on a vacation on cruise ships. Really?!? This is a one-time deal and after a cursory check on the fam it is not considered again though in reality the threat would remain. It is not like they had somebody watching the family all the time, they just completed a quick check and then went back to England. It is like the family was checked on Wednesday and found to be safe so it’s all good, though who is to say the family is not kidnapped on Thursday or Friday? It doesn’t make sense and weakens the legitimacy of the story. By just adding a simple line or two, stating the family was being watched by allies of Corinth and Larna would have been more acceptable. There are a number of instances like this throughout the series that are just sloppy and
Rule #1: No telling them they have an ugly baby. The writer put themselves into the story; they put a lot of work into it and truly believe in it and its merits. Who am I to tell them they created an ugly baby? So even if I am disappointed in it, I will not be cruel and a hater, but will be honest without being mean. On the reverse side, it has to be REALLY AWESOME to earn a 5-star rating. Don’t want to cheapen the rating system by giving out too many 5-star ratings; they have to be earned by golly!
Rule #2: No spoilers! You would not want me in a theater telling you what was going to happen next or expose a pivotal point before you get to experience it for yourself, so why would it be okay to tell you an important part of the story and ruin it for you? Not cool and won't happen.
Rule #3: If it is a series, I will review the entire series instead of each individual book. I may state that one book or part of the story arc is better than another, or that it started off slow and picked up or the reverse, but will review the whole instead of each separate part. This is partly due to my own laziness, but also to provide my opinion on the entire story. Using the movie metaphor again, you wouldn't review half a movie and then come back and review the second half separately, that would be silly. I will review the entire story, regardless if it is a duology, trilogy, or more.
Rule #4: and most importantly, take my review with a grain of salt. Read the story for yourself and make your own decisions. I am only giving my opinion and I may not be as impressed with it as you or you may think I am totally out of my mind and wonder if I read the same story as you. You always have the right to ignore what I write or disagree with me.
Misty Hayes is a very accomplished writer. She knows how to tell a story and is capable of keeping the audience interested in what she has to say. She maintains a good pace. In this series there was plenty of action to keep the story moving along at a break-neck speed but not so much that you got lost in what was going on. It also contained the requisite romance but maintained it at a level as to not be overly nauseating, though it did tend to be a bit irritating at times. Ms. Hayes has proven herself to be a very capable and worthy writer and I would consider reading future works from her.
The Premise:
Very briefly, the premise of the series is a young lady, Larna, fresh from graduating high school, travels to England to find her father who had abandoned her and her mother six years earlier without warning or a word as to why. Larna, at the beginning has low self-esteem and body issues. Since her father’s abandonment, she turned to food for comfort. Being bullied and taunted in school along with the guilt she feels for her father’s sudden disappearance takes a toll on her psyche.
Armed with her father’s journal she had recently uncovered from its hiding place; she travels to England to try to track him down. Once she arrives in England she is immediately thrust into the world of vampires. Of course, she never knew vampires existed outside legend and literature, but okay, vampires are real. Not only do vampires exist, but a very powerful, wealthy and influential vampire, Gabriel, is after her father who is in hiding because he stole a priceless relic, (a dagger) from Gabriel. The dagger, of course contains special powers and the “Chosen One” who wields it has tremendous powers and can not only kill vampires, but also with the dagger, the “chosen one” can turn vampires back into humans, a “cure” for vampirism if you will. To avoid giving spoilers, she becomes a pawn in the battle between her father and Gabriel. Of course, it is thought that Larna holds these powers and should wield the dagger. She is helped along the way by her high school flame and bestest buddy, Corinth and the chauffer/bodyguard Alastair. Lots of action, love triangle ensues, blah-blah-blah.
Minor Spoiler Alert: Turns out Larna is not the “Chosen One” but instead Corinth is. Gasp, what a shocker!!! NOT!!!
Anyway, you have good vampires versus bad vampires in trying to get this all-important dagger, (which by the way, Corinth ascribes a really stupid name). But that is not enough, you also get angels involved, are we also shamelessly borrowing from the tv series, Supernatural? Why not? If we are going to pick from the vampire genre might as well have angels too and while we’re at it, let’s borrow from the Living Dead and toss in some zombies for good measure, (no, thankfully there are no zombies in this series). There are also two factions of angels, naturally, the bad angels that want the dagger for their own nefarious plans and the good angels who are there to help our “heroes” and prevent the dagger from getting into the wrong hands of both bad vampires and angels, for whoever possesses the “cure” for vampirism can attain world domination, (don’t ask, just go with it).
Angels and Vampires and Slayers! Oh my! Sing that as you skip down this bloody red brick road. I am not exaggerating, there is copious amounts of blood in this series, no skimping on that aspect, the pages were almost literally dripping with it. But it was not graphic or gross, just abundant amounts being spilled, worn and of course, drank.
So now you have our hapless heroes trying to avoid the apocalypse, keep the dagger in the safe and proper hands of Corinth, learn this great secret how to cure vampirism and live happily ever after. There is of course the great climatic battle at the end, and you can guess how that turns out. Sorry if I am snarky, it is just it had so much potential and Ms. Hayes is such a good writer.
The problem lies within the story and the characters. There was too much/too many. Too much that suspended belief. Too much action without development. Too much ineptness by the characters. Too many story arcs. Too many loose threads that were never developed or explained.
Problems with the premise:
The whole concept of vampires battling and then add in angels battling, it was just too much for one series. Ms. Hayes would have done so much better if she would have had the series focus on the vampire battle and then if so desired, she could create a spin-off series of the angels involving themselves and starting up a new battle. As it is this does not give enough to either arc to develop it properly and explore it in detail. There are too many story threads left dangling or never truly explored; too many holes that have to be accepted. The story itself leaves you feeling exhausted and spent, like you have been sprinting in a marathon. You never get a chance to stop and take a breath and assimilate what has just happened before you are thrust forward into the next upheaval with a new turn of events or aspect to send your mind reeling again.
Also, you need to suspend all belief beyond what would be considered reasonable. Too many twists that are beyond plausible even in a fantasy story, forcing us to accept a round peg in the square hole of logic. When reading fantasy, it is expected that some “reality” is suspended, couldn’t have a story of the supernatural variety without it. But there are limits to what the reader should be expected to accept in this “altered world”. There are limits to how far the boundaries of reasonableness can be stretched before you throw up your hands and say, “Really?!? Come on!!! Give me a break!” This series did that. It forced too many dubious plot twists beyond acceptance So as not to include any spoilers, I will just state they are obvious when you run across them.
Problems with the characters
It is a story of vampires and angels and vampire slayers, as well as love, loss, loyalty and friends and family. It is expected in this type of book to suspend reasoning to a degree and accept the existence of supernatural beings; it’s fantasy so it is not supposed to be real. But there has to be some grounding in reality just the same. These were supposed to be common people, mainly Larna and Corinth who are thrust into a world they never knew existed, it would be expected they would freak out and have difficulty accepting this new reality. Nooooo! Their acceptance of the situation is so quick and how they adjust to it without hesitation is mind boggling. Avoiding giving away any spoilers, there are things Larna, Corinth, et.al. are confronted with that would send a person over the edge and they would lose their sanity. But these folks can quickly accept it and acclimate themselves to this new reality with speed of lightning acceptance. It was like bringing home a new puppy only to find it is really a coyote pup. That was the degree of their shock, and then they would say “okay”, and move on taking the pup in to raise it like a regular dog as if it was nothing, “oh vampires exist and want to kill me? Okay, By the way, what’s for dinner?” “angels exist and are warring over this dagger I possess and will kill me and my friends to get it? That’s nice. By the way, did you watch last night’s episode of Bachelorette?”. “Vampires and angels exist and there is a battle that could end all human life, I can deal with that. But the shoes I ordered on line are black not navy blue like I wanted and the wrong size too! That’s unbelievable!!!” That is how their acceptance felt when confronted with the news. To truly enjoy a character, you have to feel a little empathy and see yourself in them a little. How nothing really phases these characters, how they so quickly accept and adapt to the new “reality” of their world is beyond credibility. For a story to work the characters and their reactions have to be somewhat credible to the situation they are in and the world they exist. The characters in this series lacked the credibility.
Then add into that how utterly inept and downright incompetent they are, it is hard not to throw up your hands and say, “REALLY!!! How stupid are you?!!!?” If the book was to hold any “plausibility” the main characters would never have survived the first half of the first book. They were that stupid. They were careless and foolish, being overly altruistic and self-sacrificing to a nauseating degree. Sometimes you almost wished they would be destroyed only since they deserved it for being so stupid and reckless to get themselves into so many dangerous situations. And, of course, they had to be rescued, placing their friends in danger and blowing up any plans they had laid prior. “Let’s all be loose cannons and go off on our own even though it puts everybody at risk and destroys any chances we had of gaining the advantage” They sabotaged themselves so often and never seemed to learn but continued to make the same idiotic mistakes, keeping secrets and sneaking off only to get themselves in dire straits. It was like they were all trying to prove they could be the hero and sacrifice themselves for the others only for the others to step up and say, “No, you can’t die. Let me sacrifice myself.” And then the original person saying, “Oh no, I can’t let you die for me, I could never live with your death on my head, let me die to protect you” and so on and so forth until you think, why don’t you all die and then everybody will be happy, you can all sacrifice yourself. General George C Patton is credited with saying: You don’t win a war by dying for your country. You win a war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. These characters obviously don’t subscribe to that theory for they are consistently placing themselves needlessly in danger and having to be rescued. And that was the other annoying part. Instead of looking at the big picture of losing EVERYTHING and maintaining the overall goal, (preventing the dagger from getting in the wrong hands), whenever having to decide which was more important, the protection of the dagger or saving the idiot friend who knowingly and willingly put themselves in danger, they always chose the friend. They would risk losing everything to save the friend…like really? And if you fail in your rescue attempt, not only does the one die, but EVERYBODY dies and the bad guys get the dagger!!!
In addition, they are annoying. The banter they have is flat and the only one seeing the humor in it is themselves. They are just obnoxious and annoying. The only “likeable” character is Gabriel who you love to hate but is the most realistic of the bunch. Others are just stereotypical cut-out caricatures who though play a significant role, appear to have the personality and depth of a puddle of water. The characters were lacking personality and the ones who contained personality were just annoying twits.
Problems with loose threads and unrealized arcs:
There are too many loose threads and potential story-lines that were hinted at but never pursued; mentioned and then dropped to never be returned to or were given the briefest cursory reference and not explored further. For instance, Larna and her bodyissues. This appeared to have significance at the beginning to be mentioned quite often , but hten suddenly it disappeared. Like one minute she has body issues and an eating disorder the next it is like it never existed and is never mentioned again. Another example of this is Larna and Corinth’s family left in the states. In the second book, the two of them, Larna and Corinth, are being hunted by Gabriel in England and are in hiding. They are worried about their family back home which could easily be taken hostage by Gabriel w/ his vast resources to force them out of hiding. If Gabriel truly wanted to find them, this would be the easiest way to flush them out, use their family as leverage. This is addressed so briefly and lamely it is insulting. To address this, Larna and Corinth have a friend go back and check on Corinth’s family to make sure they are safe and they send Larna’s mom on a vacation on cruise ships. Really?!? This is a one-time deal and after a cursory check on the fam it is not considered again though in reality the threat would remain. It is not like they had somebody watching the family all the time, they just completed a quick check and then went back to England. It is like the family was checked on Wednesday and found to be safe so it’s all good, though who is to say the family is not kidnapped on Thursday or Friday? It doesn’t make sense and weakens the legitimacy of the story. By just adding a simple line or two, stating the family was being watched by allies of Corinth and Larna would have been more acceptable. There are a number of instances like this throughout the series that are just sloppy and
November 15, 2020
The final showdown between vampires and angels.
I enjoyed this book, it was just a slow read for me. If you like this spin on angels and vampires,, this is a good book to read..
In this one Corinth wakes up as a vampire nephilim hybrid. Larna is mourning Alistair since he drank Corinth's blood so he could be turned. Corinth is told that Alistair may be able to be restored to a life as a human since he is filled with angel blood. This begins the long journey to find the cure for the vampire virus because Corinth's body is rejecting the virus and killing him.
Larna, Alistair and Corinth finally get to meet the Watchers, a group of angels who are trying to protect people from vampires. They also go up against the Grigori, a group of angels who want the downfall of humanity.
As with the first two books in the series, they have a hard time figuring out who is on which side. Can they trust Gabriel who still claims to be on their side? Can the trust all of the Watchers? One of them seems to hate Corinth with no explanation.
The author made this the last book in this series but has left it open to start a new series with a different angle.
This series is fine for most ages. I'll only say there is a lot of violence due the the epic war between factions, so maybe read before allowing young kids to read.
I enjoyed this book, it was just a slow read for me. If you like this spin on angels and vampires,, this is a good book to read..
In this one Corinth wakes up as a vampire nephilim hybrid. Larna is mourning Alistair since he drank Corinth's blood so he could be turned. Corinth is told that Alistair may be able to be restored to a life as a human since he is filled with angel blood. This begins the long journey to find the cure for the vampire virus because Corinth's body is rejecting the virus and killing him.
Larna, Alistair and Corinth finally get to meet the Watchers, a group of angels who are trying to protect people from vampires. They also go up against the Grigori, a group of angels who want the downfall of humanity.
As with the first two books in the series, they have a hard time figuring out who is on which side. Can they trust Gabriel who still claims to be on their side? Can the trust all of the Watchers? One of them seems to hate Corinth with no explanation.
The author made this the last book in this series but has left it open to start a new series with a different angle.
This series is fine for most ages. I'll only say there is a lot of violence due the the epic war between factions, so maybe read before allowing young kids to read.
December 7, 2019
I can’t even process what just happened with this book. This series has been a whirlwind of wonderful since the very beginning but this last book has ALL the feels. I did have to stop reading after the first chapter or two and reread The Watchers because I couldn’t remember exactly what had happened to Larna, Corinth and the rest of this fabulous cast of characters, but that was a quick read because I couldn’t wait to get back to this book!
Talk about an epic conclusion, this was on par with the final battle scene in Breaking Dawn part 2. With Gabriel switching sides like a dirty politician and Corinth’s still evolving abilities this was such an amazing end to the series. I laughed, cried and swore but in the end it was just perfectly put together. And the EPILOGUE!!!!! I can only hope Misty Hayes writes fast because I am in no way ready to let these characters go!
Talk about an epic conclusion, this was on par with the final battle scene in Breaking Dawn part 2. With Gabriel switching sides like a dirty politician and Corinth’s still evolving abilities this was such an amazing end to the series. I laughed, cried and swore but in the end it was just perfectly put together. And the EPILOGUE!!!!! I can only hope Misty Hayes writes fast because I am in no way ready to let these characters go!
December 9, 2019
Wow, I don’t even know where to begin! Tree of Souls kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, I couldn’t read it fast enough! After reading The Outcasts and The Watchers I didn’t see how Misty Hayes could top those two, but she proved me wrong. The back and forth point of views from each character made the book so much better. I knew exactly what they were going through and I could picture it all in my mind. I can definitely see these books being made into a movie. Hayes kept me engaged the entire time with all of the twists, turns and shocking chain of events. She kept me wanting more and more. Part of me was sad that this was going to be the end of Larna, Corinth and Al, but the Epilogue was a great tease. Misty Hayes has proven to be an amazing author and I look forward to reading all of her future books.
December 8, 2019
Ok, with an ending like that, how can that be the last in the series?! I loved the book! Misty has outdone herself! I am probably the easiest person to shy away from fiction that is at all "religious" and the angels/bit of religion that was in the book wasn't too much for me. I enjoyed getting to see from multiple POVs. Especially Vin's! I would like to know more about him. I would also love to read more about The First Vampire. About Nan, Gabe, Danel, Leo...
In Tree of Souls we get to learn how vampires were created. There is a history/story that we are just seeing the "conclusion" to. We learn more about the Blood Dagger and why Corinth was chosen to wield it. There are deaths that make you cry. There are miracles of wonder. There are things you never even see coming. This book is so good and I highly recommend it!
In Tree of Souls we get to learn how vampires were created. There is a history/story that we are just seeing the "conclusion" to. We learn more about the Blood Dagger and why Corinth was chosen to wield it. There are deaths that make you cry. There are miracles of wonder. There are things you never even see coming. This book is so good and I highly recommend it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2020
I haven’t been this emotional over the ending of a book since Dobby died.
Tree of Souls was the perfect ending to a three part book trilogy that started with The Outcasts, continued with The Watchers, and culminated with an epic, next level story about a couple of ordinary teenage kids caught in a battle for their lives when they stumble upon the knowledge that vampirism is, not only real, but it’s a virus caused between a warring group of angels.
The characters are engaging, lovable, and endearing (and you even love to hate the bad guys). I would highly recommend this book series and go so far as to say that it’s one of my favorites of all time.
I CANNOT wait for the next book in the spinoff series. So please — someone make this a Netflix original right now.
Tree of Souls was the perfect ending to a three part book trilogy that started with The Outcasts, continued with The Watchers, and culminated with an epic, next level story about a couple of ordinary teenage kids caught in a battle for their lives when they stumble upon the knowledge that vampirism is, not only real, but it’s a virus caused between a warring group of angels.
The characters are engaging, lovable, and endearing (and you even love to hate the bad guys). I would highly recommend this book series and go so far as to say that it’s one of my favorites of all time.
I CANNOT wait for the next book in the spinoff series. So please — someone make this a Netflix original right now.
December 25, 2019
Excuse me as I wipe my runny nose and blink away the tears. I'm very emotional right now coming straight from finishing the last page.
This book . . . was EVERYTHING.
Never have I read a finale so perfect, so satisfying. It went beyond my expectations, wrapping up so nicely and still leaving room for more (a spin-off is coming--heavens, yeees).
Tree of Souls was such a roller coaster of feelings. Love, loss, faith, despair. So brilliantly beautiful. I would die for these characters--Larna, Corinth, Vinson, Leo.. I just love them all.
Read this series if you haven't. It's my all time favorite.
This book . . . was EVERYTHING.
Never have I read a finale so perfect, so satisfying. It went beyond my expectations, wrapping up so nicely and still leaving room for more (a spin-off is coming--heavens, yeees).
Tree of Souls was such a roller coaster of feelings. Love, loss, faith, despair. So brilliantly beautiful. I would die for these characters--Larna, Corinth, Vinson, Leo.. I just love them all.
Read this series if you haven't. It's my all time favorite.
October 21, 2020
Battles rage in this final installment of the Blood Dagger trilogy. Larna Collins is in shock. The love of her life sacrificed himself to save her best friend, and there is nothing on her mind but revenge against the people who attacked them. Corinth Taylor is reeling... the vampire blood in his system, which was used to keep him alive, is warring with the angel blood he was born with. The only thing that matters? Defeating the Grigori. Will Larna and Corinth be able to defeat their enemies at last? Find out by reading “Tree of Souls” by Misty Hayes!
*i received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
*i received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
December 3, 2019
The book, I believe is the best of the three. I love the way the author uses multiple points of view in her writing allowing you to know what each character is thinking while allowing the storyline to advance. Utilizing this method of writing, to me, allows you to almost feel like you know each character personally. I love this trilogy and hardly can wait for her next publication.
December 8, 2019
This book is no less than a wonderful ending to the saga....or is it. I had all the feels with the story. Many moments of suspense and others of heart break. I was lead one way and then the floor drops leaving me gripping to the pages for more!! I couldn't put the book down, maybe one of my all time fastest reads! Get the book and read it. You'll love it!
February 15, 2020
I have read this book and giving my honest review.
What a great 3rd book.
Full of action, tension and surprises.
Enjoyed the book from beginning to the end.
Hope you enjoy as much as I did .
A cliff hanger .
What a great 3rd book.
Full of action, tension and surprises.
Enjoyed the book from beginning to the end.
Hope you enjoy as much as I did .
A cliff hanger .
February 26, 2021
Blood dagger series- book 3...
I truly enjoyed reading the entire series. With this final book, I laughed and I cried happy and sad tears alike. Highly recommend if you need a paranormal entertaining read.
I truly enjoyed reading the entire series. With this final book, I laughed and I cried happy and sad tears alike. Highly recommend if you need a paranormal entertaining read.
August 8, 2020
We are proud to announce that TREE OF SOULS (The Blood Dagger #3) by Misty Hayes is a B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree. This tells readers that this book is well worth their time and money!
October 21, 2020
Love this book! Its a perfect ending to a well-rounded, action packed trilogy. Really excited for what this writer does next. Love me some Gabriel!!
July 26, 2021
Very enjoyable series. Each book got better.
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