The Blood of the Seer: Blood-Rites Series Book 1

by Leisl Leighton

494 pages, Paperback

Published May 26, 2025

About the author

Leisl Leighton is a tall red head with an overly large imagination. As a child, she identified strongly with Anne of Green Gables, and like Anne, is a voracious reader and born performer. It came as no surprise when she went on to a career as a performer, script writer, script doctor, stage manager and musical director for cabaret and theatre restaurants.

After starting a family, Leisl stopped performing and began writing the stories plaguing her dreams. She is addicted to sci-fi and romance books and DVDs, she sometimes sings in a choir, loves to ski and horse ride, and was President of Romance Writers of Australia from 2014–2017. When she’s not writing, she helps other writers make their manuscripts shine.

You can contact Leisl through her website www.leislleighton.com or sign up to her Newsletter there and be the first to find out about new releases, appearances, special deals and exclusive giveaways.

Leisl is excited to be part of the Goodreads community and is happy to post reviews, but will only do so for books she has given 4 or more stars. 'I want to share what I love, not put negativity out into the world.'

Reviews

[Eternalknitter]

Fantastic book. Fast paced and hard to put down.

Hopefully it won’t be long until “The blood of the sire” will be out.

[Lauren Makepeace]

This was an interesting take on witch/vampire fantasy.
We follow Ardenne, a 19yo blind woman, who believes she's about to be trained to become the next Bartolli Prime - supporter of Lord Hei, the 'good' vampire. Instead, it turns out she's a powerful witch, and featured in the most important prophecy - that she is the linchpin, determining who will win in a war between humans, witches, and the various vampire clans (good, wild, and brethren). It is also a story about bonding or fated mates.

One of the interesting characteristics of Ardenne is her blindness, which leads her to relying heavily on her other senses. She is an empath, which has helped her in that department too. Once she's started training, she also learns she can see through other people's eyes.

I liked the beginning of the book, and found it to be fairly well written, with some lovely descriptions of the environs through the lens of a blind person. I enjoyed the middle, the training with Piven and the beginnings of her relationship with Gabriel, and the teasing voice in her mind.

I found the prophecy quotes at the start of each chapter a little puerile, and they didn't lend much to the story for me. I also found the last portion of the story a little trite - too much 'Oh woe is me' when she learned she would never see again with her own eyes. It also felt like she accepted the fact she'd been lied too far too easily. Then it all felt like summing up - it was a tad repetitive. The other part I wasn't a fan of was the attempt to ensure that Ardenne and Gabriel fell in love of their own accord, not because of the bond - except Gabriel basically said he loved her from the train ride to Firenze, so he loved her when he knew nothing about her, just her looks, scent, and the bond. I didn't feel they had the relationship development time if we're choosing not to hold the bond in any way accountable for their feelings (and we can't really choose otherwise, because if we did then that's creepy AF as the bond occurred when Gabriel was a full grown man/vampire and Ardenne was just a baby).

I am kinda wavering on my opinion of this. At one point I was sitting on 5 stars, and yet I'm almost on 3 now in retrospect. The basis of a great story really is there, and it's not badly written - it just needs more - more character development, more relationship development, more world building. I'm hedging my bets and giving it 4 stars.

[Ingrid]

I absolutely loved this story. The blind female main character is written with so much care and authenticity, and it was wonderful to see how she navigates her world with strength and intuition. The author does an incredible job of showing her perspective in a way that feels both immersive and respectful.

It was also so refreshing to see representation of a group that’s often overlooked in fantasy literature. Stories like this matter — they remind us that heroes come in all forms and abilities. Beautifully written, heartfelt, and empowering — I truly loved it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Krystal Macey]

honestly i was hooked, i loved that the FMC is blind and figuring out her world. a solid 4.5 stars for sure 👌 can't wait for the other books!