Thursday, October 8, 2015

The Blood Guard by Carter Roy - Review


Title: The Blood Guard (The Blood Guard #1)
Author: Carter Roy
Genre: Middle Grade, Urban Fantasy
Length: 279 pages
Publisher: Two Lions
Release Date: March 4, 2014
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

When thirteen-year-old Ronan Truelove's seemingly ordinary mom snatches him from school, then sets off on a high speed car chase, Ronan is shocked. His quiet, nerdy dad has been kidnapped? And the kidnappers are after him, too? His mom, he quickly learns, is anything but ordinary. In fact, she's a member of an ancient order of knights, the Blood Guard, a sword-wielding secret society sworn to protect the Pure—thirty-six noble souls whose safety is crucial if the world as we know it is to survive. Now all those after-school activities—gymnastics, judo, survival training—she made him take, make sense. For suddenly Ronan is swept up in a sometimes funny, sometimes scary, but always thrilling adventure—dashing from one danger to the next, using his wits to escape the Bend Sinister, a posse of evil doers with strange powers. Falling in with two unlikely companions, Greta, a scrappy, strong-willed girl he's never much liked and Jack, a devil-may-care teenage pickpocket, Ronan is left with only his wits and his mom's last words of advice: Trust no one. That's a lot for an ordinary kid to deal with. But then again, maybe Ronan's not ordinary at all.


This was a really cute Middle Grade urban fantasy with lots of action. Ronan is an unusual kid - mostly his mother's fault for enrolling him in all sorts of crazy extra-curricular activities. But when he ends up on the run from guys that really don't seem all that nice, he begins to realize that she had him learn all those odd things for a reason.

I really enjoyed the premise behind the Pure and the evil group Bend Sinister. The lore behind them was very well thought out and really added a cool element to the story. While figuring out who was the Pure was a little easy, I loved watching the Ronan's reaction when he found out.

A lot of the action was very James Bond-ish. It was very exciting and over the top in a fantastic way. From adventures on trains to underground secret hide outs, Blood Guard had just enough of everything.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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