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Blood Song

(Blood Singer #1)

Cat Adams

3.75 · Rating details · 6,373 ratings · 476 reviews

Bodyguard Celia Graves has definitely accepted her share of weird assignments, both human and supernatural. But her newest job takes the cake. Guarding a prince from terrorists and religious fundamentalists is hard enough, but it seems like the entire supernatural world is after this guy too. When she is betrayed by those she is employed to help, and everything goes horrib ...more

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Paperback, 364 pages

Published June 8th 2010 by St. Martins Press-3PL

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· 6,373 ratings · 476 reviews

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Jun 19, 2012 Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ Rabid Reads-no-more rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, angels-and-or-demons, vampires, weres-shapeshifters, not-your-ordinary-creatures, best-series, some-kinda-magic, jerk-of-my-dreams, favorite-secondary-characters, i-cried

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

Meet Celia Graves, a 100% human independent security consultant (BODYGUARD), in a world full of creatures.

You: How's that work? o.O

Me: Someone wise once told her that no human is a match for the monsters, magic or no magic, and the important things are "brains and good equipment."

You: She got those things?

Me: It'd make for a pretty lame story if she didn't.

And a short one.

While on a gig for a particularly ~~royal~~ disgusting client, she's attacked by a vampire, who, inexpli ...more

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Aug 19, 2016 Maya rated it it was ok

Shelves: action, fantasy, paranormal, mystery, boring, meh, strong-h, violence-abuse

So...I got to 65% and I just couldn't go on. I tried but it didn't work out. When I started reading this book I was really excited and happy to finally get my hands on this story but after the few first chapters I felt like the story wasn't going anywhere. And therefore my attention has gone by by. Sorry...I wish I could say something else but this book just bored me and while I would have loved to finish it, I simply cannot read another page of nothing's going on plot...

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Sep 11, 2010 Missie rated it it was ok

Shelves: vampires

http://www.theunreadreader.com/2010/0...

Another one I had to force myself to finish. *sighs*

I started this book last month for Blog with Bite, and tried to have it done before the review deadline, but somewhere along the way, I completely lost interest. I revisited it this past weekend because of the Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon, and I can't say I enjoyed it very much.

The plot was a white hot mess, as were the plethora of unnecessary characters! I just couldn't wrap my mind around what was go http://www.theunreadreader.com/2010/0...

Another one I had to force myself to finish. *sighs*

I started this book last month for Blog with Bite, and tried to have it done before the review deadline, but somewhere along the way, I completely lost interest. I revisited it this past weekend because of the Read Your Own Books Read-a-Thon, and I can't say I enjoyed it very much.

The plot was a white hot mess, as were the plethora of unnecessary characters! I just couldn't wrap my mind around what was going on because there was no focus. Just when Celia Graves, ordinary human, who is a body guard in a world where all kinds of supernatural creatures exist, was getting out of one mess, another one would occur. I supposed the intended effect was to stir up some excitement, but I found it annoying. And really?! She is a professional body guard? Why? And why would supes (or a prince) even consider hiring a human as a body guard?

Back in college, Celia took demonology classes and formed friendships with clairvoyants, mages, and werewolves, but always felt like the odd ball for being just a plain human. But now that she has been bitten by a vampire and almost turned, but not quite, she is an abomination. This forces her to learn how to deal with her new vampire tendencies and prove that she is not going to be a risk to society. But that is not all, turns out Celia wasn't really all that human before the vampire bite. She is also 1/8 siren. What?

I found pretty earlier on that I just couldn't support Celia Graves as a heroine. The whole time, she just felt very strange. I got the impression that she was meant to be like Cat from the Night Huntress series, but it never worked in Celia's favor. Nothing about her was particularly likable, and without a clear male lead taking an interest in her, she didn't give off any sort of bad-ass chick vibe that I have found myself envying in other heroines. And, for as blasé as Celia pretended to be about money, she sure talks about it a lot. Apparently as a body guard, she makes top dollar for her services, and she spares no expense for her own security, weapons, and office space; she even has enough to make sizable donations to her alma mater. Yet Celia's poor personal assistant has to fork over some of her own money to get Celia a new outfit so she can look professional enough to do her job and conduct a meeting!

The story just didn't make a whole lot of sense; the overloaded plot and the underdeveloped characters fell flat, often moving through scenes without any distinguishable transitions. The end of the story made it clear that more books in this series are planned, but I'm not interested enough to read more about Celia's haphazard adventures. ...more

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Apr 14, 2010 Wicked Lil Pixie (Natasha) rated it it was amazing

Celia is a bodyguard who is sent to guard the Prince of Rusland, which in the book is located in the Ukraine. While guarding the Prince is a series of shady strip clubs, Celia is set up in a political plot and ends up being killed. Well not really killed, a Master Vampire bites her but doesn’t drain her nor does he change her, so she becomes an Abomination (a term for the in-between stage, not fully mortal but not undead either). There aren’t many recorded instances of Abomination’s, but those w Celia is a bodyguard who is sent to guard the Prince of Rusland, which in the book is located in the Ukraine. While guarding the Prince is a series of shady strip clubs, Celia is set up in a political plot and ends up being killed. Well not really killed, a Master Vampire bites her but doesn’t drain her nor does he change her, so she becomes an Abomination (a term for the in-between stage, not fully mortal but not undead either). There aren’t many recorded instances of Abomination’s, but those who were recorded were locked away in institutions, killed or committed suicide. Celia refuses to let that happen to her, she’s too strong to succumb to that and she’s hell bent on finding out who did this to her and why!

But…Celia’s “Master” is hunting her, trying to call her to his side so he can either finish the job or kill her. People around her are dying and somehow it’s all connected, with the help of a Mage who happens to be Celia’s ex-boyfriend, a werewolf who keeps his furry-ness hidden, a warrior-priest, a cop and an elderly clairvoyant, Celia is set to figure out what all of this is about and why she was targeted.

Blood Song is the first book in The Blood Singer series, written by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp under the name Cat Adams. I honestly could not put this book down, not even to answer the phone. It was just that good people, I haven’t read a book this year that I flat out refused to put down until I was finished, this was that kinda book. I am already craving the release of the second book, I need to know what happens. The Blood Singer series, just jumped to the top of my favorite series list.

Celia is such a great character, you fall in love with her determination and love for her friends right away. Cat Adams developed the characters in Blood Song perfectly, you feel like they’re true to what they would be if they did exist. You know, people you would want to have your back in the world. You laugh with them, fight for them and even cry for them because this book has some real hard to deal with moments of upset for Celia. The politics are true to form, so much so you’d think there really was a Rusland. With the cliff-hanger of an ending, you’ll be dying to get your hands on the next book in the series. I am. Want it NOW.

Filled with political plots, supernatural politics, family drama all wrapped up in a wicked Urban Fantasy, Blood Song is a MUST have for fans of the genre who want to read something different.

I honestly can’t rave enough about how much I enjoyed this book, I thought I’d read some great 5 star books this year, but Blood Song blew them all out of the water. ...more

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Jan 31, 2014 Mitticus rated it really liked it

Shelves: vampiros, w_bodyguard, fantasia-urbana, psychic-powers, psychic-clairvoyant-seer-prophet, magos-magicians, magia, demons, z-2016-readings

4.3 wavelet stars

In the end, even the toughest human is afraid of the monsters.

Este es el tipo de libro en que te dejan caer en medio de la acción, y te van explicando de a poco lo que va pasando. Incluso busqué si existia una precuela (que no hay), porque tiene muchisima información volando.

Para empezar en este mundo hay vampiros (malvados, hipnotizadores, le afecta los simbolos religiosos). Y aqui va el gran asunto NO explicado e indeterminado y que no me quedó nada claro--> Hay facciones ...more

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Feb 20, 2011 Liv rated it it was ok

Shelves: urban-fantasy

I just finished the book and thought that I should write this review while things are still relatively fresh in my mind... This book could have potential - the premise, the setup, the characters could have been 10 times better. Unfortunately, while I saw the potential of a good book, Blood Song just didn't cut it with me. I had one word to describe it - FLAT. The plot was flat; the writing was flat, the characters were flat. So, just plain FLAT - and I can't think of a better word for it.

I can i I just finished the book and thought that I should write this review while things are still relatively fresh in my mind... This book could have potential - the premise, the setup, the characters could have been 10 times better. Unfortunately, while I saw the potential of a good book, Blood Song just didn't cut it with me. I had one word to describe it - FLAT. The plot was flat; the writing was flat, the characters were flat. So, just plain FLAT - and I can't think of a better word for it.

I can immediately think of numerous shortfalls that make this book less than desirable, and will attempt to capture them here in this review. There may be spoilers (I'll try my best to avoid them) so please proceed with caution...

(1) The protagonist/heroine of this book, Celia, was supposed to be a bodyguard - it was her profession. After the first few chapters of the book, I was like, what the hell?!?! She's a bodyguard?!?!? She was not badass enough, bitchy enough, tough enough, in my opinion, to be portrayed as a bodyguard. It would have been more convincing if she was protrayed to be a professional "babysitter" instead... Seriously, when I think bodyguard - especially a female one - in a supernatural setting, I would think of a badass character like Anita Blake or something. I wasn't buying this one bit....

(2) The writing annoyed me, tremendously, especially during parts where something drastic happened to Celia. Sometimes I would be like... come on, get some emotions going here would ya!!! The authors could have put more emotions and descriptors to the situations Celia was experiencing, but nooooo, she just sucked everything up and went on her usual business as though it was no big deal (even though her inner voice would say that it was a big deal). This wasn't even someone acting tough - it just seemed outright UNNATURAL for a supposedly human to react as such. Sorry, not buying it again...

(3) The whole business about Celia hunting down her sire drove me nuts. She kept going on and on about how it was vital that she found her sire first, but she kept getting caught up in other matters that she never really got around to it. Then suddenly, he was conveniently killed and her problem was solved!!! I was like, huh??!! That's it? Man, I thought that was the stupidest part of the plot and her sire served no purpose to the overall story other than turning her into an "abomination"...

(4) As mentioned in the beginning of this review, the characters were flat, and there were so many of them. So many times, I would be midway through a section and when a minor character popped up again, I would be like "who's that again?!?"... I'm not joking, I lost track of who's who on multiple occasions in the book. Even with the two major male characters in the book - Kevin (the werewolf) and Bruno (the mage), neither guy made me feel wow-what-a-hot-guy-I-want-him-so-badly. I thought they were introduced very nicely and had huge potential, but the author just didn't do them any justice. They started off nicely, but then went downhill from there. There were no sparks or chemistry at all between Celia/Bruno or Celia/Kevin. There was this supposedly hot scene between Celia and Bruno at the hotel, but other than seeing the words on paper, I felt nothing - no heart racing, no palm sweating, no swooning over the hot guy whatsoever. Kevin literally disappeared after a very brief appearance near the beginning of the book and we saw very little of him again - what a waste!!!

(5) The plot in general was dry and flat. In places where there were dangers and surprises, the actions were over so quickly that you wouldn't even feel the adrenaline running or the anticipation building. Imagine a roller coaster that kind of just ran up and down small bumps slowly with no real loops and turns and heights - that's how I felt after I finished the book.

I would have given this book a 1-star rating only, but decided to give it 2 instead, simply because of the siren princess introduced at the end. The princess was described as a beautiful, arrogant, inconsiderate and self-centric woman. Normally a character of this type wouldn't appeal to me, but ironically, I thought she walked in with style and was the most interesting character in the entire book. For her alone, I am willing to attempt to read the second book in this series, just to see what may transpire. ...more

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Feb 13, 2017 MrsJoseph rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2016, 2016-reading-challenges, is-this-author-fucking-with-us, lendable, violence-against-women, hated-it, i-am-unable-to-can, i-cant-even

http://bookslifewine.com/r-blood-song...

1.5 stars rounded down to 1 star!!

I received my copy of Blood Song in December 2013 as a Hogsfather's Day gift. This means that Blood Song qualifies for my The Mt. TBR Struggle is Real challenge!

So. Blood Song.

I didn't enjoy Blood Song very much. But there were some rather nice parts. My biggest issues with Blood Song revolves around it's complete and utter failure of the Bechdel Test*, it's jumble on plots/plot points that left the ending confusing and th ...more

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Nenia ✨ Queen of Literary Trash, Protector of Out-of-Print Gems, Khaleesi of Bodice Rippers, Mother of Smut, the Unrepentant, Breaker of Convention ✨ Campbell

Jan 04, 2019 Nenia ✨ Queen of Literary Trash, Protector of Out-of-Print Gems, Khaleesi of Bodice Rippers, Mother of Smut, the Unrepentant, Breaker of Convention ✨ Campbell is currently reading it

Shelves: pnr-uf, romance, vampires

Buddy-reading this with my friend, Heather!

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Jun 07, 2010 All Things Urban Fantasy rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed-by-abigail

Review courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com

Review:
It’s no longer enough to have traditional vampires or classic werewolves in urban fantasy books, we want something new, something innovative when it comes to the supernatural. In Cat Adams (aka C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp) BLOOD SONG we get treated to a host of new (and tweaked familiar) paranormal creatures including bats, nulls, abominations, werewolves, demons, clairvoyants, mages, psychics, and others I can’t giveaway.

Celia Graves Review courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com

Review:
It’s no longer enough to have traditional vampires or classic werewolves in urban fantasy books, we want something new, something innovative when it comes to the supernatural. In Cat Adams (aka C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp) BLOOD SONG we get treated to a host of new (and tweaked familiar) paranormal creatures including bats, nulls, abominations, werewolves, demons, clairvoyants, mages, psychics, and others I can’t giveaway.

Celia Graves is a vanilla, someone without any magical abilities at all. She’s worked hard to make up for her lack of magical prowess by rigorous physical and weapons training that have helped earn her well deserved reputation as one of the best elite bodyguards. She has a slew of cool spells and gadgets that help her defend against all sorts of paranormal nasties…until she narrowly survives a vampire attack that half turns her. Now she’s an Abomination (dhampir), feared by humans and hunted by vamps.

As you can imagine, being hunted by blood thirsty vampires translates into lots of action, but to be a truly excellent urban fantasy (which BLOOD SONG is), I need some kind of romance as well. Cue Celia’s mage ex fiancé and a seriously smokin’ hot werewolf. The two of them provided plenty of romantic tension that promises to play out in future books.

And did I mention the topnotch plotting? Cat Adams doesn’t appear to believe in coincidences, everything that happens in BLOOD SONG has a reason. This provided several very cool ‘oh, that’s why…’ moments for me while I was reading. Seemingly insignificant details early on combined for some extremely satisfying revelations at the end. It’s always good to read a series written by an author who understands the importance of good plotting. I’m sure there will be even bigger payoffs in the subsequent Blood Singer books.

Overall, Cat Adams new Blood Singer series, starting with BLOOD SONG, is the latest in a string truly excellent urban fantasy debut’s this summer. A resilient heroine, a supernatural smack down, and not one but two potential romantic leads? I can’t wait to read Siren Song which will be released on September 28, 2010 followed by Demon Song in 2011

Sexual Content: References to sex. References to homosexuality. A scene of sensuality. ...more

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Jan 02, 2016 Monty Cupcake ☠ Queen of Bloodshed ☠ rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016, urban-fantasy, machalo-august-2016-challenge, magic, vampires

When I was finally able to get into this series, I liked it. I'd give it a 3.5 stars for originality and giving the character a maze of a personal life. And while I liked this book, I don't think I'd recommend it because the series as a whole isn't good. It's beyond formulaic and that's really not the greatest in UF. The appeal of these is ease of reading, pretty good pacing, and an odd vamp-siren mix. But there is an endless list of things that annoy me s out this series, a few are:
- love trian ...more

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Jan 21, 2019 Heather *Awkward Queen and Unicorn Twin* marked it as nevermind

This book does not spark joy in my life.

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Jun 24, 2010 Leeanna rated it liked it

Blood Song, by Cat Adams

"Blood Song," featuring tough bodyguard Celia Graves, is the first in a new urban fantasy/paranormal series. Celia is at first a "vanilla" human - no magical abilities - but quickly becomes an abomination when a bodyguard gig goes horribly wrong.

Celia has to quickly learn to deal with her new existence as a cross between a vampire (bat) and a human; she has supernatural abilities such as quicker healing, but also weaknesses such as craving blood. If that wasn't enough, s ...more

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Apr 07, 2010 Mrs. Badass rated it liked it

Shelves: nook

This book has a lot of promise. But fell flat for me. Celia Graves is a human bodyguard. She get's paid a lot and has a lot of cool guns and magical enchanted weaponry. She often goes up against 'monsters' (Vampires {Called Bats} Apparently she is good at what she does, but we don't see that really, she just tells us that. When she get's attacked and becomes an abomination, the story stalls and most of the dialogue is internal woe is me, "Omg what am I gonna do, this just totally sucks for me!" ...more

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May 30, 2010 Schwana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: have-read

I was not sure what to expect when I received this book. It caught my attention right away. The main character, Celia Graves, is a diverse individual. I was pleased to find that she is not the "oh woe is me" or "I can kick anyone's butt" type of character. I enjoyed that she can take as good as she gets; she is not just a "pretty face" nor is she just an average run-of-the-mill character in which everyone just absolutely loves.

I got to the end of the book and wanted to grab the next book and sta ...more

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May 11, 2011 Yodamom rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite

I feel in love with this book from the first chapter. We have a protagonist that is one tough kick-arse chick with real problems and deals with them realistically. She is a body guard/vampire hunter with a great (boarding on geekish) love for her weapons and gadgets. She is self supporting and works hard to pay the bills. When her life or her friends lives are in danger she does not stop to play footsie with some hunk she gets into gear and does something. Actually, there is only one brief roman ...more

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Jan 10, 2010 ~Tina~ rated it it was ok

Shelves: bite-me, couldn-t-finish

While I thought the twist in magical paranormal was fascinating and the characters were head strong and strikingly created, I could not for the life of me get into the plot and writing flow.
This is just me, since I picked this up thinking it was YA and didn't know it was UF till after (oopsy) But I don't think this is why I didn't like it, it lacked...spark.
I think I'll have to give this one a re-read another time.
However, anyone looking for an original concept in urban fantasy should find Bloo ...more

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Feb 25, 2011 ♆ BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme rated it it was ok

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Well, I know I read this book yet it didn't really stick in my mind. How bad is that? This was an okay book since I can't remember even enough to write a full review. Since this was over a year ago, I could use that excuse except I remember books from when I was a kid. O_o

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Jun 13, 2010 Jennifer Wardrip rated it it was amazing

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews, trt-gold-star-award-winner, read-by-other-reviewers

Reviewed by Breia "The Brain" Brickey for TeensReadToo.com

BLOOD SONG is the work of amazing duo C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp, writing as Cat Adams.

In this story we meet Celia Graves, a bodyguard to the rich and famous who, although she is a regular human, knows about ghosts, demons, and other types of supernatural beings. While on assignment guarding a prince from a small European country, she is left wounded from a vampire attack.

This attack leaves her as an Abomination, not really vampire but no ...more

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Dec 16, 2009 Literary Ames {Against GR Censorship} rated it it was ok

Shelves: vampires, urban-fantasy, read-in-2010, 1st-in-series, do-not-own, fae, series-abandoned

After reading this, I had quite a few unanswered questions. At times the story was all over the place and couldn't decide what path it was going to take. It's left me confused about certain outcomes plus quite a few characters were introduced and I didn't always understand their significance with so little information being given about them.

Mainly I wanted to meet Celia's sire, learn about his relationship to Edgar, and more about these vampires in general but this was scuppered by the King of R ...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Kandle rated it did not like it

Shelves: oh-fuck-no

Before I get started on this review let me just say that I've tried to read this book before. I finally managed to finish it after several attempts. And that's an understatement. I've had this book on my "Going to Read" list for a couple of YEARS. And I now I remember why I've been putting it off.

First off, the whole book is all over the place. I understand that the author is trying to incorporate pieces of the main character's past into the story but the way she did it only succeeded to make my ...more

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Jun 01, 2013 Susan ...so many books and so little time rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-can-read-over-and-over

Amazing book...I loved it from beginning to end!!! I love the main character Celia...she is strong willed...and has a great eye for weapons...my kind of woman!!! I am definitely going to read the next book in the series...I need to know what happens next!!!

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Aug 21, 2016 Gary rated it really liked it

only 4 stars for this as it took awhile to get into

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Jan 11, 2019 Iori rated it really liked it

It was kind of fumbling at the start but really picked the pace at 10% or so of the novel. The world of Celia is parallel to ours, the supernatural creatures live alongside humans but some are revolted and killed on sight; like vampires, or persecuted (werewolves). We little by little discover Celia's tragic past while she struggles with the change the vampire attack on her person caused. Her life changes and it all started with her best friend death.

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Mar 24, 2012 Kathy Davie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, urban

First in the Blood Singer urban fantasy series revolving around Celia Graves, a personal security specialist in Southern California.

My Take
Well this was different! Talk about drama and tension. Thank you, lord, for not making Graves a whinging, drama queen! Instead, she's kick ass with compassion with an unusual living arrangement, an independent consultant with her own security business, a range of also-unusual friends, and the "required" dysfunctional family.

While Graves gets on well with the ...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Mello ❣ Illium ✮Harry✮ ☀Myrnin☀ Torin Ichimaru rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: action, adult, demons, mages, magic, urban-fantasy, vamps, werewolves, supernatural, shapeshifters

Synopsis:

Bodyguard Celia Graves has definitely accepted her share of weird assignments, both human and supernatural. But her newest job takes the cake. Guarding a Prince from terrorists and religious fundamentalists is hard enough, but it seems like the entire supernatural world is after this guy too. When she is betrayed by those she is employed to help, and everything goes horribly wrong, Celia wakes to find herself transformed.

Neither human nor vampire, Celia has become an Abomination—somethi Synopsis:

Bodyguard Celia Graves has definitely accepted her share of weird assignments, both human and supernatural. But her newest job takes the cake. Guarding a Prince from terrorists and religious fundamentalists is hard enough, but it seems like the entire supernatural world is after this guy too. When she is betrayed by those she is employed to help, and everything goes horribly wrong, Celia wakes to find herself transformed.

Neither human nor vampire, Celia has become an Abomination—something that should not exist—and now both human and supernatural alike want her dead. With the help of a few loyal friends—a sexy mage, a powerful werewolf, and a psychic cop—Celia does her best to stay alive. On the run from her enemies, Celia must try to discover who is behind her transformation…before it’s too late.

My Thoughts:

I ended up enjoying this book more than I expected to. A few of my GR friends read the series, but I've put it off. I didn't think I'd like it much. Turns out I was wrong. Go figure.

I actually ended up liking Celia quite a bit. She's a pretty strong heroine. She has her vulnerabilities and faults, but they don't seem to get in the way of what she needs to do. She's very professional in her job even when she can't stand the client. It turns out that she should have gone with her first instinct and not taken the job because the night ends really damned badly. When she wakes up, she's changed. Not completely, but enough so as to have some people consider her a monster because she's now an abomination. Despite that, Celia has remarkable self-control and keeps from attacking others despite getting hungry or angry. A childhood trauma and the therapy she's taken in the past seem to responsible for that. Lucky for Celia or she'd like have ended up losing her head. There also seems to be another aspect to her that helps her out as well. When her grandmother finally fesses up about it at the end of the book, safe to say, Celia is shocked. It doesn't stop her from using her new-found abilities when she's in a pinch, though. Granted, she's been using them since she hit puberty, she just didn't know it.

There are quite a few things going on in this book. Celia needs to find her sire before he tries to kill her or finish changing her. She ends up getting more involved in the plot surrounding the events of her change, though. We actually only ever saw her sire try to contact her the once and then I practically forgot all about him. When he was taken care of, it was in a way I sure didn't see coming. The offer that came with it was the same way. The way the plot surrounding the royal family from Rusland came to a close was exciting and definitely a close call. It seems, demons are on the move. I wonder what they have planned?

The secondary characters seem interesting enough. I'd have liked to actually get to know Celia's best friend Vicki. We really only see her through memories and then (view spoiler) ...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Lura (The Life of Serendipity) rated it liked it

Bodyguard Celia Graves piles her trade in a world where vampires roam the night and movie stars openly practice witchcraft, where cops use memory enhancement spells on witnesses and street-corner psychics have real powers. And ordinary , Celia use her street smarts- and charmed weapons to protect the rich and famous.

Celia is guarding the prince of a small but politically vital nation while he tours Los Angele's least savory hot spots when she is attacked by a master vampire.

Expecting to die, Cel Bodyguard Celia Graves piles her trade in a world where vampires roam the night and movie stars openly practice witchcraft, where cops use memory enhancement spells on witnesses and street-corner psychics have real powers. And ordinary , Celia use her street smarts- and charmed weapons to protect the rich and famous.

Celia is guarding the prince of a small but politically vital nation while he tours Los Angele's least savory hot spots when she is attacked by a master vampire.

Expecting to die, Celia is shocked to wake strapped to a table in university lat. She has become an Abomination, neither fully mortal nor fully vampire. When she's accused of murder, the cops aren't sure if she should be locked up or just staked. And then there's the demon she glimpsed during the vampire attack...

Struggling to cope with her new powers and trying not to terrify everyone she meets with a flash of fangs, Celia reachers out for help from her once (and future?) lover, a powerful mage; his warrior-priest brother; a handsome werewolf who keeps his lupine nature hidden; and elderly clairvoyant; and the one cop she trusts.

Celia Graves has three days to save the world, her sanity, and her soul.

I picked this book up by the look of the cover, and what I read on the back cover. I thought it sounded new and different and very, very, interesting. Well at first glanced I thought I would end up loving it, but as you can see what I rated it I was, sad to say, slightly to disappointed. I didn't think that I wouldn't have loved the book, but I was taken by surprise. I didn't love it, but it was a good read.

Plot - ☆ ☆ ☆ The plot was really well thought out, but that is all. It's a good plot, but as I read through it I found myself having a hard time following it. At times I would just say to hell with it and throw the book down and not pick it up for awhile. Now don't go and make the decision and not try and read the book. Just because I didn't enjoy it as much as I wish I did, doesn't mean you won't enjoy it.

Writing - ☆ ☆ ☆ The writing was simple at best. I found myself reading paragraph after paragraph and I didn't feel that much challenged, not in the least. It was a little to simple for my taste and I found myself getting bored easily, and that is never a good thing for a reader of any genre of book.

Characters - ☆ ☆ ☆ The characters were the only thing that I really enjoyed of this book. They were interesting and I found myself wanting to learn more about the characters, then I wanted to read the book. I wanted to learn about them all, about their past, present, and future.

Now after finishing Blood Song I will most likely read the next book, Siren Song (Blood Singer, #2).

Overall I give this book ☆ ☆ ☆ - no more and no less! ...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Jessica rated it really liked it

I was about ready to give up on urban fantasy, because as I've complained in other reviews, few of Buffy's ass-kicking, demon/vampire/werewolf/whatever-slaying descendants tend to be likable in the least.

I picked up Blood Song while in Wisconsin, intending to read it on my flight back to Seattle, but ended up getting absorbed in the Hunger Games instead. I should have been reading this series earlier, clearly.

Celia Graves is a bodyguard (yay! Something other than a detective!) who's taken a gig I was about ready to give up on urban fantasy, because as I've complained in other reviews, few of Buffy's ass-kicking, demon/vampire/werewolf/whatever-slaying descendants tend to be likable in the least.

I picked up Blood Song while in Wisconsin, intending to read it on my flight back to Seattle, but ended up getting absorbed in the Hunger Games instead. I should have been reading this series earlier, clearly.

Celia Graves is a bodyguard (yay! Something other than a detective!) who's taken a gig protecting an Eastern European prince. After she's attacked by a vampire, she learns she's become an abomination: not fully a vampire, but no longer human, either. Now she must find and kill the vampire who sired her, as well as tracking down a lurking demon and convincing the police force not to stake her.

The book is a page-turner. Celia is wry and a bit sardonic without being bitchy, and the supporting characters are well-drawn, with believable attitudes toward her.

One of the things I liked the most is the take on vampires. They're not super-sexy normal people who drink blood and just want to be loved (as they are in most urban fantasy). When you become a vampire, you lose all your memories of who you were, and vamps (referred to as "bats") are not human in the least. The vampires spend most of their time offstage, which makes them more fascinating when they do show up. While telepaths, mages, and warrior priests are recognized and accepted members of society, vampires aren't. They're the enemy, pure and simple. THANK GOD. I AM SO SICK OF HEARING ABOUT HOW VAMPIRES FEEL.

The book's not perfect -- at times Cat Adams seems on the verge of losing her grip on the busy, breakneck plot -- but I enjoyed it and would recommend it as a refreshing change to the urban fantasy genre.

I think my reason for liking it so much more than most urban fantasy novels was because it is primarily concerned with coming to terms with a human's transformation into something nonhuman, and with others' reactions to it. While many urban fantasy novels deal with a heroine who already had some sort of powers gaining new ones, Blood Song is about a normal woman who's accepted that she'll never have any sort of supernatural abilities getting saddled with some pretty inconvenient ones, and it doesn't skimp on exploring what that means for her relationships.

I'll be picking up the next book in the series soon. I'm a little nervous about whether Cat Adams is about to follow the Laurell K. Hamilton route of just piling on a bunch of powers (not only is Celia half-vampire, she's also a siren!), in which case I won't be sticking with the series long, but so far, so good. ...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Cody rated it liked it

Shelves: 2012, not-owned, reviewed

Synopsis:
Bodyguard Celia Graves has definitely accepted her share of weird assignments, both human and supernatural. But her newest job takes the cake. Guarding a Prince from terrorists and religious fundamentalists is hard enough, but it seems like the entire supernatural world is after this guy too. When she is betrayed by those she is employed to help, and everything goes horribly wrong, Celia wakes to find herself transformed.

Neither human nor vampire, Celia has become an Abomination—somethi Synopsis:
Bodyguard Celia Graves has definitely accepted her share of weird assignments, both human and supernatural. But her newest job takes the cake. Guarding a Prince from terrorists and religious fundamentalists is hard enough, but it seems like the entire supernatural world is after this guy too. When she is betrayed by those she is employed to help, and everything goes horribly wrong, Celia wakes to find herself transformed.

Neither human nor vampire, Celia has become an Abomination—something that should not exist—and now both human and supernatural alike want her dead. With the help of a few loyal friends—a sexy mage, a powerful werewolf, and a psychic cop—Celia does her best to stay alive. On the run from her enemies, Celia must try to discover who is behind her transformation…before it’s too late.

My Thoughts:
When I bought the book, I was excited and pumped to read it thinking this was going to be a pumped up action story with lots of twists and turns and in my excitement, I bought the next two books in the series as well. The beginning of Blood Song starts out with action and excitement, and then that drops when you start meeting the other characters. While a lot of detail is given to describing scenes and events (which slows down the reading quite a bit), not much is given in the way of learning the characters (which makes them slightly difficult to connect with). I began regretting my impulse purchase of the sequels. With that in mind though, you do start to eventually warm up to the other characters about midway through and it’s at about the same point that I was able to differentiate between the past love interest and what might possibly be the current love interest.

I LOVED the world built by Cat Adams-where monsters are known about, and society has been made to deal with it and work beside them. Vampires are avoided at all costs since they lost all humanity when they are turned. Partially turned humans are called Abominations. Werewolves, demons, spawn, and Sirens all have their part in this story and by the end of the book, I wasn’t regretting my impulse purchase anymore and I’m now itching to read the next in the series, Siren Song. ...more

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Feb 14, 2012 sj rated it liked it

Shelves: end-of-the-world-challenge

Full disclosure, I'm really only reading this series because I won the fourth installment from First Reads. I'm not entirely sorry I read it, but I am a little disappointed.

Good Stuff

The world building was excellent. The two ladies that are Cat Adams created a believable AU, where magic, vampires, werewolves and demons are fairly commonplace. I bought what they were selling.

The main characters seemed to be fully realized (but there were some other issues with characterization that I'll touch on ...more

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Jul 30, 2010 Jessica(Spinecracker) rated it really liked it

Originaly posted on http://thespinecracker.blogspot.com/
4.5 stars

Blood Song is one of the most original character-based pieces of fiction I've read since maybe Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking. There's a story to be fair, but it's all about Celia and the secrets she discovers about herself and the ones around her. The writing duo of Cathy Clamp and C.T. Adams, or better known to you and me as Cat Adams, knows how to utilize 1st person POV. Every action, conversation, inner monologue is all with ...more

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About Cat Adams

Cat Adams

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This is the pen name of Cathy Clamp and C.T. Adams (co-authors of the Thrall trilogy and the Sazi series published by Tor). They created this name to write under to make it easier for new fans (or old) to find them on the book shelves.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/catadams

Other books in the series

Blood Singer (7 books)

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Quotes from Blood Song

“It's already bad. I'm honestly not sure how much worse it's going to get." Notice that I didn't say couldn't get worse. It can always get worse. I know this. And thus I refuse to tempt fate. Superstitious - probably. But magic exists. So does karma, and karma can be a bitch.” — 84 likes

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