Daughter of the Blood: Black Jewels, Book 1

Three things you should know before getting this book. It's very dark and very mature, and if those things are okay with you, the author will take you on a wild ride through the world she created.

The darkness of the book comes from the world it's set in. Some of the characters have names we are familiar with... Saetan, Daemon, and Lucivar... however their names have nothing to do with their namesakes. This is a fantasy world that has nothing to do with ours. To be honest it could have been easier to just name them something else, yet since those names come with connotations, they impress upon us the dark/evil nature of these men... sortof. For instance, Saetan is the High Lord of Hell, yet he's an old man who walks with a cane and acts more like a grandfather. I'll admit it took me a good hour to become comfortable listening to the book because of the names and circumstances but it was worth it.

The mature content is pretty much everything under the sun, tho it could be worse. There's graphic violence and those who take pleasure at watching it, some not-so-graphic sex scenes, the bad guys of the book have a thing for young girls, and the women are uber-sexual females that use some males of their kind as pleasure slaves. However, all that said, the way the book is written, not all of it is smiled upon... it was almost as if the author was showing a world caught up in the worst part of itself. How it needs to be saved. And there's a promise of a young witch who just might.

The world is really well imagined and will definitely appeal to those who like the darker side of novels. There are some moments of revenge that you are hoping will happen, and there's even room for a bit of humor. Imagine two really tough brutal guys falling head over heels for a young girl, one becoming a father-type, the other a protector, both having no clue how to handle someone so powerful and so innocent.

If you're a fan of the dark side, it's a credit-worthy read.

I have been waiting forever for the first three of the series to come out on Audio. John Sharian is the best narrator for her books!! I can't wait to see the other three come out on audio as well!!! Thanks Anne, for giving me the hope that they were coming out on audio!!! :)

You'll have to put aside any Western Judeo/Christian meanings for the names of the characters and be open to the idea that humanoids are not the only intelligent, feeling race.

This first book is very dark and sick making and ends on an unresolved note. You could skip this one and start with the second book, but I wouldn't. You'll miss some important backstory.

It is a story of love that echoes how we really go thru ups and downs weaving thru a good vs. evil fight that may keep you awake way past bedtime.

This entire series is one of the best I have. I have the physical books also. I am currenly waiting (im)patiently for Audible to get the rest of the series so I can buy them.

Love all of the Black Jewel trilogy books. Bought all the books before buying audio. When I first got 'Daughter of the Blood', I wanted to read/hear more. Would recommend all the Black Jewel books. Didn't love Sebastian and Belladonna as much. And I absolutely love listening to John Sharian.

I found this book so entertaining that I kept taking wrong turns while trying to listen to it while driving. I found the characters really interesting and sympathetic. The world that Bishop creates is *almost* too complicated for my liking (I can never get into books where the world-building is more prominent than the actual plot - for example, LOTR). But I was mostly able to keep track of where we were and who was who. For me, the gold standard of any book is that I care what happens to the characters, and that was definitely the case here - I haven't worked up the energy to listen to the other books set in this world, but I've listened to all of the ones about Jaenelle and company. They only get better from here.

A different narrator would have made this spectacular for me.

I love this story, I've always loved this story. I own all of the books in the series in multiple formats. I love how detailed and well thought out all the characters and story lines are. There has been so much care put into creating a world that we can see, hear, and related to. These books are my go to when I'm not feeling well, or have had a bad week, or just want something comforting and familiar.

Maybe. I think that if I hadn't been as familiar with the books as I am, then I would not have had an issue with him. However, having read these books for years, and having my own preconceived notions of what the characters sound like, and how things are pronounced, I think that these books were not able to live up to my own reading of them.

The book itself always makes me happy. The characters are very familiar to me and remind me very strongly of people and situations around me. The narration of this book made me very unhappy because of how strongly it deviated from my own mental images of the book.

I definitely recommend these books to anybody with any kind of interest in fantasy and even romances. (And I detest romance books in general.)

I liked this book, it wasn't what I expected though. This is defiantly NOT a romance so don't buy it thinking you will get one. It is a bit confusing, there is a lot of detail, it jumps back and forth so you must pay attention to the reader to know which scene you are entering with the new chapter.

Overall I did enjoy this book!!

Fantastic story. The best. Looking forward to read more of this story.

This is a terrific book and excellent beginning to a series. I have waited impatiently for it to come out on audio for the longest time. John Sharian does a phenomenal job on all the books by Anne Bishop. Listen to this one! It's GREAT!

It was not time well spent because it was not enjoyable and became rather annoying.

Certainly not.

Yes.

I won't be reading anymore books from this author.

It really isn't that this book is terrible, it's just so much monolog with so little actual activity. In some ways it's more like a subject matter book or text book because to me it's just chatter and inner monolog and chatter and drinking Yarbro and chatter.