When blood calls to blood, a Gabriel Davenport series - Book Review #8

So these next few articles will be in English, so if you're not familiar with the language I'm sorry; I'll do my best to make this comfortable for everyone somehow. In the meantime, let's talk about Vampires meeting Witchcraft and the Gabriel Davenport series, which books were my favorite of 2018.

[caption id="attachment_684" align="aligncenter" width="480"] The Gabriel Davenport Series, by Beverley Lee[/caption]



To be honest, Urban Fantasy have always been one of my favorite genres ever. I was always looking out for some good ones and never been disappointed in what I decided to pick up. And you all know I'm a picky and fussy reader.
It's been a few years, tho, that none of what catches my attention lives up the expectations and I felt kind of discouraged. I thought, very dramatically as my per usual, that that was it, no more Urban Fantasy for me. I've grown up, I will start reading all the noir and true crime novels out there like the perfect nan I am on the inside, and close the chapter about Urban Fantasy.

Then it happened that one day I came across this saga, first two book in the series specifically, because someone on Instagram posted a picture of them. There were wings and said wings were grey and black and my mind just started being annoying to the point that, no shame at all, next day I was on Amazon looking for them.

Being the little cautious s*it I am, I decided to buy only the first two and got into them without knowing nothing and thinking OH MY GOD FALLEN ANGELS ANOTHER SERIES LIKE HUSH HUSH HOORRAY

Man, let me tell you how wrong I was and how disappointed I've been until I picked up the actual story line and engaged with the characters, ahah!

I genuinely thought that fallen angels were going to appear somewhere, at some point. I was literally dying to get some of the old dark soul that has to save someone pure in order to get their wings back, some old style drama and angst that have always been my cup of tea when it came to this kind of novels, but.

It just didn't happen. And I wish I could say that this was the reason why I spent pretty much the entire time on the verge of tears, but that would be a lie, because the series was so good I actually cried because it was over and I wanted more. So let me get you through it and let me vent a little bit, so that maybe you will understand why Gabriel Davenport's story became one of my favorite trilogies ever.

Premises are that Gabe's family has been into a supernatural accident that killed his father and left his mother in a very dark place and condition. She doesn't speak, she doesn't really react to anything that happens around her until a bird doesn't knock on her window, one day - the D-Day.
Window belonging to Carver's house, where Gabriel has been living with her and some other lads that can do special things since when Noah, a local priest, saved him and his mother from what was supposed to be their fate - not a happy one, believe me - one snowy and scary night, ages before.
The only problem is that Gabe is a curious human being and wants to know what really has happened on that dreadful night, so he starts doing his researches behind everyone's backs, meeting odd people and creatures; some good, other pretty cruel.
So, everyone is happy and gay, and also busy researching this evil power that appears to be gone, but that is still trying to finish what was left undone that dreadful night.
And it's when vampires appear and offer Gabe a dash of light in all that mysterious darkness that things get difficult and the whole mess blows up so that our story can actually start.

I have to admit that at the beginning I hated pretty much everything and everyone, because I still wasn't over the fact that there were no fallen angels, but then I got into the story. Beverley (the author that you can find here and on her personal website) has this marvelous writing style that keeps the reader engaged from the beginning to the end. She knows how to leave clues and how to stop a story line in order to start a new one, but without making you feel like one story is more or less important than the other. She kind of makes you feel greedy, I shall admit.
She's never boring, there hasn't been a single line I skipped or that I felt I wasn't interested in. I needed to know e v e r y t h i n g and immediately, because that story was going too fast and I felt like I didn't have enough time to gather all the information and feel all the emotions I was supposed to feel.
It turned out to have a good pace, tho; it was just me being greedy and engaging so much I couldn't put it down. Again, I can't not praise Beverley's skills when it comes to the writing style; even tho there's a lot going on in every book of the trilogy, she knows how to give the right amount of attention and importance to every single event in her story.

One thing that I loved in particular and that at the beginning I thought I was going to hate was the ability with which she mixed together Witchcraft, supernatural elements and Folklore.
Somehow in my mind something like that can't possibly work out - couldn't, because I have been proven wrong and I have changed my mind after reading these books - so I wasn't ready to get into it and then face another disappointment, but she managed to make the trick work once again.
I am glad to say that she found THE formula to put in the same cauldron both Witches and Vampires without making these two elements feel like they've been forced in an environment that doesn't belong to either of them. They blended together rather than fight in order to have one that prevailed on the other.
I loved the way she talked about Witchcraft (if you know me a little, you also know how demanding I am when it comes to this kind of elements) and the whole system she gave birth to. I honestly was and still am speechless, because she made something pretty folkloric feel like it was realistic and that could potentially happen in someone's life one day or the other.
Also, honorable mention: it was the kind of old magic I would die for. We talk about curses and witches and wars between good and evil. We talk about immortality and rest found only after a revenge. It's about spells and charms and rebirth, but also possession.

And vampires, guys. The vampires. Oh, my, god. Forget about Edward Cullen and Damon Salvatore (soz bae, you've been replaced). These ones will steal your heart in a blink of an eye.
There's so much going on in each and every one of them that you can't even imagine. Beverley portraits them with features belonging to the classical vampire you'll meet in the very first books ever written about these creatures: fangs, blood thirsty, strong and with all the five senses that are more developed than usual. They live at night and sleep their dead sleep during the day. Sensible to the light and able to read minds, communicate through them, but.
Beverley doesn't like to play easy, because her characters, doesn't matter which category they belong to, are many-sided. There's a lot of different aspects belonging to every single one and a lot going on in their lives, past and present, that they look more human than the actual human beings.
One thing you can't avoid is definitely falling in love with at least one of them. When it came to me, I fell for all of them regardless, but I still have my number one, that is the one and only.

I will keep on saying it until I have the chance to do this: I found myself in one character in particular. I disliked him at the very beginning but then I got to know him more in depth and I understood how similar we were. I can't deny he scared me, because he was living and perceiving everything the same way as I've been doing, so finding on paper all my feelings and thoughts and fears kind of hurt.
But another praise for Beverley goes to her ability when it comes to character development. Every single one of them grows up and changes, it doesn't matter if they're main characters or side ones. So does my bae, so does the reader alongside them, so my experience felt a little disorientating at the beginning but became a lot more safe and smooth the more I got to know this character specifically. I somehow grew up with him, understood things about me and found courage and strength where I never thought I could or would, so it has been interesting and what I needed at that specific stage of my life. Needless to say that it motioned something I am working on with all myself, right now, and even tho it's scary, if he managed to find his way out and be happy and safe, why can't I?
As I said, characters are really well developed and none of them is flat or stereotyped. They're not the kind of characters that you can take for granted, because they'll always find a way to surprise you, leave you speechless and heartbroken, sometimes. But once again, for good and for worse you will love them regardless.
What I really appreciate - of these characters but of the novel in general - is the way they make you think about everyday life and topics we consider matter of facts. We don't really think about Religion, i.e., which is an important topic she explores throughout the three novels, because it's part of our lives since when we are born whether we like it or not. We don't really get to choose until late and we spend most of our lives wandering and looking into other people's perspectives in order to find our answers, whilst Beverley gives us characters that doubts instead of trying and give said answers. She makes us readers think and choose and pick a side and I find it admirable.
She has the guts, let me tell you. She's not afraid of words and of speaking what comes to her mind or her characters' ones.

Also, this saga really makes you think about love, friendship and family; how relationships develops, how they deteriorate, how they get stronger and how hard is to keep on believing in someone when the whole world somehow seems to know it's the wrong thing to do. It teaches the reader that sometimes in order to do something good, something bad has to happen, but also that the bad can always be fixed. That there's a time for everything, a solution to every problem, that trust is a big thing that can't be underestimated or taken for granted. It teaches the value of sacrifice and explains pretty clearly that you can't have something without working hard in order to obtain it. And above all, Equivalent Exchange permeates the whole story line and yeah, if you're not sold yet and if you didn't go and buy the three books already, please feel free to tell me what else you need to know.

Maybe that vampires are holding grudges that will lead to a match of cops and robbers, only with much more cruelty involved and no mercy at all? That witches don't really like vampires and Beverley tells you why? That there's a lot of angst and melancholy but also a hell of a bad ass female character? That there are fireflies??

Trust me when I say that you don't want me to spoil the whole saga to you, because this rant should be enough for you to be somewhere reading those books instead of getting to the end of this post.

But if you're still with me, then I want you to know that soon it will come something even more juicy about this world and its characters. Beverley and I had a little chat and I will soon share some of it with you, so stay tuned and by that time make sure you've read everything about Gabriel Davenport!

In the meantime, lots of love to you all.

Sam.