Blood Poisoning

Blood Wars Trilogy #2

by C.F. Kreitzer

In a world where the poor are used as a source of blood for the diseased elite, Aston is a prisoner.

Trapped inside the walls of the king’s mansion, she’s forced to donate her blood to a wealthy a sickly royal prince she once loved. Even worse, the king threatens her family and poisons her with a serum that causes horrifying hallucinations. All she has to do to end the nightmare is reveal a secret she's sworn to keep, but thousands could die.

Now she only wants three

1. Escape recipient territory before the royals bleed her dry or drag out her secret.

2. Recruit any recipients loyal to the cause.

3. Find and join the rebellion battle against the king. Aston must be cautious, for not everyone she trusts can be trusted, and not all her enemies are as wicked as she believes.

Unless she can figure out who to trust in the fight for her blood, the king's poison will consume her, her secret will be exposed… and death will reign.

Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult, Fantasy

382 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 21, 2023

About the author

C.F. Kreitzer is a crossing guard turned novelist in Vineyard, Utah where she lives with her husband and five children. She loves stories of angsty teens because she still identifies as one. When she isn't writing she's hiking with her family, reading, or binge watching Netflix originals.

Reviews

[Briana Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book!! Its supposed to be Hunger Games (without the games) dystopian meets Pride and Prejudice, so don't mind me while I go and make all the Hunger Games comparisons. The Snow character is just as horrible, if not more so. The Gale character.... I don't quite hate him, but it's close. The Coin character, you just love to hate her. Now for the Pride and Prejudice comparisons, I love the Lizzie and Darcy!! We don't get much of the Mrs Bennet in this one, but oh she was something else in the first book. The Mr Bennet is less likeable in these books than the original.

[Crystal Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh….. you’re killing me smalls!!!!

Emotional roller coaster does not even come close to describing what this book does to me….. beautifully complex in its story with characters that you fall in love with and and ending that will make you question if you have any heartstrings left to tug ….. it’s a must read for people who love red queen, hunger games and Devergent!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forewarning: I’m not finished reading yet. I’m hoping I’ll be able to make it through the book but at this rate I’m not so sure.

I hate saying this because I absolutely loved the first book and couldn’t wait for this one to be released.

I’m not sure if I got a bad copy, or something was messed up with the upload to kindle, or if this book was just very poorly written/edited. It seems to be out of order and like there are entire sections (sometimes a single sentence, sometimes entire paragraphs) missing.

Best example so far: chapter 6 Loc 918 (page 69). All of a sudden Aston is talking to someone yet the previous paragraph is her describing how she’s been alone all week and she is currently alone in her room reading.

I’m going to try to reach out to the author via email and see what’s going on. Hopefully it’s some technical glitch because, as I said, I loved the first one (rated it 5 stars) and was so excited for this release. Not to mention, the reviews so far are pretty good.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of dystopian books, I did enjoy this one. Yet, I did find myself struggling with the pacing of the story. It waivered for me in the pacing. There were periods where it felt like the story took a long time for anything really exciting to happen. Although, the latter half of the story did go a bit faster for me.

I definitely am on Aston's side. Even in her current predicament, she still is a fighter and not just sitting back accepting her fate. Where Marcus is concerned, I went back and forth on my feelings towards him. On one hand, I did not like him as he felt cold at times in the way he interacted with Aston as if he did not care that she was a blood donor. Yet, on the other hand, he was trying to save Aston. Then there is Gannet, who I liked. He and Aston shared a few moments together. Although the romance is not a main focal point if this story. What a cliffhanger ending. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds in the third book.

[Doc Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many words, little progress

This fell flat for me, it was bloated and often nonsensical. The FMC remains self-indulgently melodramatic, the author acknowledges that but tries to play it for a strength. The FMC keeps getting burned with trust, but remains gullible and lacking in leadership, and when she does show any leadership it's by accident. Her lack of insight causes lots of deaths but she still remains committed to a doubtful end goal she apparently has no understanding of. The villains just seem to like the sounds of their own voices, that can be the only explanation for their long-winded, lecturing approach to get from A to B (like Dr Evil without the humour). It was also totally unnecessary as demonstrated by the quick and efficient ending, that really could have occurred much earlier.

[Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I still want her to end up with Marcus!!

I like Gannet, but don't at the same time. The resistence is doing just as much killing if not more than when Marcus set a bomb off in the factory.

I didn't like it when Marcus spent time with Lazili (spelling?). I was worried they were going to fall in love. I was so glad that Marcus still loved her.

So so so sad that Marcus is basically in his bed dieing at the end and she still leaves to go to the resistence! She should have stayed!! Especially since the king can see everything threw her. She is his survellience. By her going with the resistence, she gave up their location and her grandma died. So stuipd! Why did she go? She should have stayed with Marcus!!

So sad that her maid died :-(

The king is horrible. I hate him. How he torutures her so.

Aston drove me nuts in this book. She was so stupid and naive. I had to remind myself that she really was 16, but she should have been smarter. Her personality drove me nuts in this book.

I loved when Marcus and her painted in his bedroom's sitting room. That was adorable and so romantic.

Marcus says so many swoony things. I love the things he says much more that what Gannet says.

The author made a TON of mistakes in this book. She kept switching between calling the king president and king. Which is it? Is he a king? Or is he a president? I definitey lean more towards a president vibe. I didn't buy the king vibe. He reminds me a lot of president snow in the hunger games.

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't captivate me as much as the first book—and I had issues with the first book. There were still quite many a typo which kind of took me out of the immersion. I also feel it was very slow-going, but I did appreciate more information on the history, and how the world Aston lives in came to be. I feel like King/President (I don't know what to call him because the book says he's both a king and a president, depending on who you ask) Malloy was more creepy than an actual, evil villain. He was evil, no doubt, but he more so rubbed me the wrong way and was sometimes almost comical in the way he talked, as opposed to a villain who you hate only because the hero hates them. I guess this story just wasn't for me, but I'm glad it's out there in the world for others who enjoy it.

[Shannon Bolton · Rating 5 out of 5]

See, this is why I don't start book series until all volumes are released. This ends on a cliffhanger and there's not even an estimated date for book 3 😭. As for the book itself, this series has totally hooked me and I really can't wait to see how everything will work out in the final book! Is Marcus alive? Where's Gannet's head right now? Is Torrin safe from the king? Where is Aston's mam? I need answers. Here's hoping it doesn't take a year for book 3 to release 😳

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved

What a rush this second book was. I'm still at the edge on my seat with the most shocking ending, although I did see it coming. I just didn't want to believe it. What a revelation. What will Aston do now? I can't wait for this third book to come and wreck me and put me back together. I hope Aston does survive to see this new world with the guy she loves. Poor Marcus, I'm rooting for you!

[Lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first book. The technology in this story is pretty confusing and almost pushes this dystopian novel into the fantasy realm. We didn't get introduced to many new characters, but appreciated the ones that came into Aston's life. I am as torn by her love triangle as she seems to be! I'm looking forward to continuing/completing the trilogy.

[Sharon Golding · Rating 3 out of 5]

confusing

This book was not nearly as good as the first one. So much about it was confusing, particularly the last part. I just didn’t understand the attack. People died but it was perceived reality and not real? Does that mean they’re still alive? Also, it was very hard to follow and to understand what was going on. So unlike the first book.

[Terri Marcoux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read

I have thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy, great plot, great characters and well written, my only issue, which is more of a testament to the book, is how long l have to wait for the next book and I will admit I'm not a patient person when it comes to my favorite past time.

[Rachael Runyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stick with it.
So this book almost lost me because I'm very for our protagonist and Marcus. That being said, it's all alright. We'll writen and easy to read book. I enjoyed it slightly less than the first book, and I'm still waiting on the edge of my seat for the 3rd book

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read

Enjoyed this book, reminds you a lot of what happened durning COVID and other events in history. Would like to ready about the other characters and what has happened to them that lead then to this point.

[Xannie Jacobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as good a read as the first. I didn’t dig the love triangle idea that got floated around but it fizzled quickly and I was happy for that. Some predictable twists, some not. Definitely giving Hunger Games vibes but I’m here for it.

[Stephanie Bartles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need the next one ASAP

I cried so much during this one, but definitely need to read the next pronto!! So many feels for this

[Sewster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a lot of middle books, this felt like a lot of filler. The PR concept is interesting.

I had no idea I was getting myself involved in an unfinished trilogy. Sigh…

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will read no.3 because I want to know how it ends but it isn't an easy and enjoyable read. Quite difficult. Almost DNF and might on the 3rd depending on quality.

[Kas · Rating 1 out of 5]

pet peeve

It’s “by accident”, not “on accident”. Absolute pet peeve of mine. Enjoying these books but the lack of proofreading is starting to get in my nerves.

[Maegan McBee · Rating 3 out of 5]

let down

The series is great, but you’re left with more questions than answers and no third book to tie it all together.

[Caroline Magann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this one more than the first - really got to know the characters and be immersed in moral dilemmas. Ended on a cliff hanger and can’t wait to find out what happens next

[Amy Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I love this book more than the first one!