Bloodsick (Scarlett Bernard #0.1)

This novella is set in the Scarlett Bernard series. If you haven’t read that series, you are missing out on some great reading.

Sashi is a healing witch, who meets up with Will (a cancer patient in remission) during a visit to the hospital. Because Sashi is a healer, she has volunteered to read to young cancer patients, and while she entertains them,she secretly nudges their bodies along to heal or at least relieves their suffering. Sashi’s mother is also a healing witch and a world renown oncologist, who expects Sashi to follow in her footsteps.

Because both Sashi and her mother are part of the supernatural community, werewolves frequently come to them for healing because they are unable to go to regular doctors and keep their existence a secret. Enter Astrid, a werewolf who is being abused by her alpha, Luke. You see, Luke has decided that Astrid will be his mate, and Astrid is fighting him – literally – every step of the way. After a healing session with Astrid, Sashi tries to help her situation, but is unable to really do anything for her. It is up to Astrid herself to find a solution to Luke and reclaim her life. Astrid and Sashi’s mother – for separate reasons – plan Luke’s death using Sashi’s love, Will.

As with all of Melissa Olson’s books, the writing is superb. When I read one of her books, I find it difficult to go back to reading some of the other authors, because clearly they need to hone their craft a LOT in comparison to her. I also love the “Old World” world-building that Olson has done for her supernatural community. Everything is very detailed, yet very clear to the reader, and all the lose ends tie up very nicely in all of her books. All that said, I found it very hard to really like this book. This was a very dark read with domestic abuse, a domineering mother, terminal cancer patients and extreme situations. I quite possibly would have liked it much more if even one of the situations in the book resolved itself positively. However, that didn’t happen. If you are a fan of happy endings, this novella is not for you. If you enjoy more realistic reads where life sometimes slaps people in the face and things are not as you would wish, enjoy.

Because of the wonderful writing, detailed plot, great world-building, and characters I came to care about, I would give this book 5 stars. However, the darkness, the sadness is a downgrade for me, but those are MY issues, not the author’s. It’s Melissa’s story and she can tell it anyway she wants.

This was really intense and revolting in places, but it was written to be intense and revolting. It was an unthinking view of what really werewolf culture would be like in the old world, and there were super graphic scenes that had to be written to be true to the world that was built.

But it was a tough read and even if it was super well-written there was a lot at play that made me feel uncomfortable, not because it was graphic, but because it’s a white woman writing about indian culture. And a lot of it made me sort of raise my eyebrow, but at the same time it was peripheral enough to ignore.

THe point is, this book is not for the faint of heart and it’s dealing with a lot of the complex emotional politics of domestic violence and abuse. As somebody who works a lot with that population, I found it real as *****. But I wouldn’t recommend this book to just anybody, particularly anybody with any sort of history with abuse or rape.

But I really would love to read more of Sashi’s story…

Set in the same world as the Scarlett Bernard series, this story is a prequel following two women. Sashi is a thaumaturge witch who is expected to follow in her renowned oncologist mothers footsteps in devoting her life to healing. Astrid is a werewolf whose alpha beats and rapes her into submission as he needs a mate to balance out himself and the pack. Astrid hates him. Besides being set in the same world, where humans are not allowed to know about the Old World population of witches, werewolves and vampires, the tie-in to the series is Will, a human who has struggled with cancer his entire life.

Its never taken me so long to read such a short story. Ive read a number of books where the point of view switches between characters, but in this case its pretty much telling two different stories that converge a few times before a combined climax. Each time the point of view changed, I felt like I had to play catch-up on where wed left it. Not especially difficult, but it slowed me down. For me, that made the story drag and I just wasnt feeling engaged in it until we get closer to the end.

Do you have to read the Scarlett Bernard series first? No, I dont believe so, although if youve read that series youll know most of the outcome.

I can say that Im glad I read it and liked learning more about Will, but dont believe Id ever re-read this one.

This was somewhere between a short story and a compilation of chapters. If you’ve read other books in this universe, this is definitely a much read. I swung back around to this short story when I was reading another anthology. I have always been interested in Will and Sashi and this gives you their full history.

I would recommend reading this at some point during your experience in the Old World, but I’m not exactly sure where it would fit best. Maybe after we meet Sashi? It would certainly help you feel a little more sympathetic for their situation. I both loved and hated that I knew where they would end up, but it was still totally worth the read.

This novella tells the story of Will.

It’s a heartbreaking love story that goes back to before the events of Dead Spots, the first book in the Scarlett Bernard series.

Sashi is a healer witch and wants to help an abused werewolf from the local pack, and in the process inadvertently gets Will involved.

The story is told from two points of view. The view of Sashi, and the view of the abused werewolf she’s trying to save.

I loved this story, and if you’ve read Dead Spots you pretty much know how this story has to end, but seeing Will as a kind and gentle human made me love this character all the more. I loved the character of Sashi, so strong and courageous, and I hope to see her again in a future Old World story.

If you haven’t read Olson’s Scarlett Bernard series (and you should), you can start here, then move on to Dead Spots, or you can read them all and go back to this one, like I did. I highly recommend this series.

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