Bloodborn

By Karen Kincy

Brock Koeman had always loathed werewolves and Others like them. Then, while tracking a werewolf suspected of murder, he and his brother Chris were bitten—and infected with the very disease they despised. Chris is now fighting for his life in the hospital, but Brock faces another kind of battle: stifling the fierce urge to transform into a beast.

When werewolves kidnap him and the girl he loves, Brock discovers what it means to be Other—the thrill of unearthly powers, overshadowed by unrelenting danger. Brock begins to see the life that awaits him, but he must accept his new identity . . . before the wolf within kills him.

Praise:
“Brilliant, dark, and filled with haunting images. Highly recommended.”—JONATHAN MABERRY, New York Times bestselling author of ROT & RUIN

• Language: English
• Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
• Release date: Apr 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9780738739816

Karen Kincy

Karen Kincy writes books when she isn’t writing code. She has a BA in Linguistics and Literature from The Evergreen State College, and an MS in Computational Linguistics from the University of Washington. Karen is a PAN member of RWA. Find Karen on Twitter at @karenkincy Sign up for Karen's mailing list: http://eepurl.com/HeLSP

Reviews for Bloodborn

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

BLOODBORN takes a different approach to a werewolf novel. In this world Others are out and not particularly rare. They are protected by law but still face major prejudice. Brock has been raised to hate all the "gicks" and, while hunting and harassing them, he and his brother are bitten. His brother is in the hospital fighting for his life but Brock is home fighting to keep from becoming something that he hates more than anything else.When he and his ex-girlfriend are kidnapped by the pack, Brock is still determined to get revenge on the werewolf who bit him. Randall is the werewolf who bit him and he has been assigned to bring Brock up to speed about his new reality. Meanwhile, the whole pack is on the run from the local sheriff who has decided that the only good werewolf is a dead werewolf despite what the law says. It takes Brock quite a bit of time to get used to the idea that he is a werewolf and learn that werewolves are still people. His ex helps him come to that realization. Cyn is an interesting character who remains a bit of a mystery. She's human. She loves being right and being the smartest person in any situation. She is much more tolerant of Others than Brock. She recognizes that he hates himself and tries to help him learn to accept himself. Fans of werewolf stories will enjoy this one.

[bookswithbite · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really loved this book! The elements in the books left me feeling very satisfied as well a feeling of wanting more.The characters of this book is what got me hooked. The main character, Brock is so fresh and brightening, that I automatically fell in love with him. You can tell right from the start that Brock is not the same as the others. His heart is so much purer than what I thought it be. He made sacrifices and never thought of himself but of others. I love that even the girl he was running with made such a significant change in his life.The plot line of this book is just filled with pure awesomeness. I love turning the next page cause I knew I would not be disappointed. Ms. Kincy did a great job in keeping the reader ensnared in her writing and taking them on a great reading adventure. I love that the reader is learning the ways of being a werewolf along with Brock. The fighting and struggle in the book really made my heart race. Ms. Kincy's writing made it very easy for the reader the fall into the world she so lovingly created.What I also liked is how Ms. Kincy added everyday prejudice stuff in the book. She wrote about the characters being prejudice against werewolves and of course finding acceptance. I really like how the characters came to understand Brock and what he is going through.This is a great book! It took me by surprise and really bit me. I loved the ending. Even though the ending is bittersweet what Brock did will always take my heart. It want to read a fantastic world full of werewolves, action, and being on the run, read this book! It's action-packed and has a love in it that makes your heart melt!

[abookwormshaven · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Karen’s first book in this world was Other and I really enjoyed the characters and mythology she created for us. I was excited to get back to this place with Bloodborn and see what Brock was up to since being bitten by a werewolf. In the last book, we saw how Others live amongst the humans and are known about, but not always well liked. The werewolves were on the outskirts of the story, but are the main event for Bloodborn. Brock and his ex-girlfriend Cynthia are kidnapped by the pack with the man that bit Brock. While with them, Brock needs to learn where his loyalties really lie. His whole life he has been taught to hate Others, he thinks they should all be hunted to extinction, but now that he is one, he is not sure what to think.Bloodborn is told through Brock’s eyes, which are full of hate, prejudice and self-loathing. I understand his anger, he has been thrust into a life that he did not choose, but was forced there by a stupid mistake him and his brother made. So, it was tough for me to empathize with him. He is so negative all the time and his hatred of Others runs so deep it is frustrating to read about at times. I am not a fan of prejudice in any form and having to be in the head of a person constantly burning for revenge was not my favorite experience. I get that he is going through an enormous amount of changes and they are difficult to accept, but hating the world is not getting him anywhere and it is what got him into this mess in the first place. This does not mean I did not enjoy the story, because I did, I just grew weary of the negativity. On the positive side, I do like that we follow him through his journey in discovering what is really important and where he belongs, I just wish he could have figured it out a little faster so his thoughts could have been a little brighter, rather than doom and gloom all the time.As with Other, the plot of Bloodborn moved along very quickly and there is rarely a moment of down time. It kept me guessing about what trouble Brock was going to find himself in next, especially since I was surprised by quite a few of his decisions as the novel progressed. I always like when authors keep the plot moving forward this way because it keeps me engaged and excited about the story. Karen has done well with that with both her novels.Since I have been talking about Other quite a bit I would like to mention that it is not necessary to read that book before Bloodborn. Other is only a companion novel to Bloodborn, not a prequel or the first book in a series. Karen gives you enough information in Bloodborn to understand what events took place in Other that led to Brock’s situation now. However, I would recommend reading Other because it does enhance the overall experience and there are great characters in there!Overall, I did enjoy Bloodborn and getting to see where Brock’s past decisions have led him, but I did not like it as much as Other. I connected more with Gwen than I did with Brock. I could not sympathize completely with all the hatred Brock felt and therefore did not crave learning more about him like I did with Gwen. I still think Karen has given us a fascinating world and solid characters to learn more about, but Bloodborn was just okay for me, while Other was fantastic! If you enjoyed Other, I would still read Bloodborn because it does have great action and interesting paranormal characters throughout. Brock also learns a tough lesson and Karen writes his journey well. I look forward to future books from Karen in this world!