'Gypsy Blood' in the series 'All The Pretty Monsters' by Kristy Cunning follows the story of Violet, a Portocale gypsy who moves to a paranormal town after her mother leaves her a shop. The plot revolves around Violet's interactions with the alphas Vance, Damien, and Emit, who are intrigued by her, as she navigates her gypsy heritage and the mysteries surrounding the monsters that run the town. Written from multiple points of view, the book introduces a strong and sassy protagonist who keeps readers entertained with her unique personality and the enigmatic dynamics between her and the male characters.
The series is praised for its intriguing story, lovable characters, and the unique twist of being a reverse harem with well-developed plotlines. Readers appreciate the world-building, the slow-burn romance, and the strong, independent nature of the protagonist, Violet. is described as captivating, funny, and filled with paranormal elements that add depth and excitement to the narrative.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of death, supernatural violence, and potential grief-related incidents that may be triggering for some readers.
From The Publisher:
I'm not all that special, really. Or uncommon. I'm sure there are a lot of girls with old gypsy blood who see the dead, have killer cults hunting their family, and turn into something that gets scary when they panic. Yep. Completely unoriginal, if I do say so myself.
Move along. Nothing to see here. Nope. I'm just an ordinary girl.
I wish people would believe that.
I've been labeled as one thing or another for most of my life:
Death Girl.
Crazy Gypsy Girl.
Gothic Chick.
Monster...
It took my mother's death for me to finally start getting answers about what's really been going on. Unfortunately, most of the answers come from men...who aren't just men. Somehow, I've gone and landed myself in a world truly filled with monsters, and I'm starting to think this is where I should have been all along.
Only...I don't understand what's going on. I'm walking into the middle of a story that's thousands of years old, and I'm the new girl on the block who doesn't have a clue how this world even works. My only guides happen to be the most lethal of the bunch.
They decide who lives or dies. They decide who gets stabbed or tortured.
Yeah...
I've gone and drawn attention to myself, and the ones paying attention are the ones everyone else seems to fear.
How do these things always happen to me?
**Reverse Harem
**Language warning
**Sexual content
**Dark Humor
Ratings (63)
Incredible (12) | |
Loved It (30) | |
Liked It (13) | |
It Was OK (5) | |
Did Not Like (3) |
Reader Stats (126):
Read It (64) | |
Currently Reading (4) | |
Want To Read (37) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (19) |
1 comment(s)
I honestly am loving this. Utterly. Like, it's one of those "holy crap it's 5am I have to go to bed" books.
It's a weird, interesting, complicated, emotional world and backstory. And I've blitzed through the first 2 books without being able to put it down at all. Seriously, I'm going on like 3 hours of sleep right now.
Re-read May 2019 (yes, just days after the initial binge of the first 5 books)
I know, it is ridiculous that I'm re-reading immediately after finishing book 5. I can't help myself, I wasn't ready to step out of this world.
I like it even more on the re-read than I did initially. I can see the pieces she's putting into place, and given who I suspect Anna is, I'm all the more intrigued.
I can also see places where she's made some minor tailoring to the overall story from what was established in this first book. I'm going to put this in spoiler tags, because it is a discussion of later books in the series and how those plot points tie into this opening book.
I think that the series arc grew to include Idun in the telling of the later books, because she doesn't seem to be part of it here. I mean, we definitely have the specter of her, because Arion talks about how a woman was the downfall, etc. But little things, like Damien saying his personal curse is because two gypsy women cursed him at the same time for something ... and his implication that Violet wouldn't feel sorry for him if she knew what it was ... that's different from the reveal of more details in later books. We're later told that Idun slapped that nasty curse on him because he kept straying from her, so she wanted to make sure he couldn't get pleasure from anyone else.
These are things that don't fall under the heading of retconning to me (something that I consider a cardinal sin) because they are so minor. They're just interesting to me, because constructing and deconstructing stories is one of my favorite things, and I love to see signs of a "living" story that grew in the telling, especially when the growth means adding awesome detail (as was done here) rather than deleting inconvenient bits.
On the other hand, having read through book 5, I'm suspecting that Anna is Pandora, and that plays as if it was solidly the case from book 1. But even if she isn't Pandora, she is definitely not a typical ghost - at minimum, she's something more like Ace ... a projection done by a living being. I think that was why they (Ace and Anna) were careful to avoid each other - they each worried they would be caught in their bullshit if seen by a different "ghost" that Violet trusted. Anna's moments of lucidity are too convenient, and I suspect she plays the silly ghost to build trust with Violet while dropping real truth bombs in as necessary to help steer Violet.
Re-read Sept 2019 (after completing entire series)
Man, I really love this series. And it holds up pretty strongly now that I've finished the series and all the secrets are out. I can see some wiggling, like maybe some things grew in the telling, but the primary structure is all there and I am really enjoying it. Not ready to be done with this world.
What can you read after
Gypsy Blood?
About the Author:
Kristy Cunning always loves a good laugh, and lives and breathes the emotions of the characters she becomes attached to.
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