[REVIEW] Bloody Fool for Love

[apachefirecat]

Title: Bloody Fool for Love
Author: William Ritter
Genre: Supernatural/Fantasy/TV
Review:







Every once in a while, you come across a character that stands out that they seem to have a lasting impact on your life and resonate deeply within you, perhaps even to your very core. Spike, for me and millions of other Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, was one such character. My life honestly would not be the same without this fandom, or without this character, both the man/Vampire as he is depicted and the man who first breathed life into him. There is no one who can do Spike like James Marsters! He even blew away the show's director, producer, entire creative team, bringing a character who was originally supposed to be the Big Bad for a five-episode arc into a lasting main character and some might say even the male lead of this long-lasting and truly revolutionary series.

As I've mentioned multiple times before, and others here have agreed, it is rare that we can find a book to enjoy based on a TV series we love, and vice versa. It often does seem a true rule of thumb that if you read the book first, the movie will pale, and vice versa. That being said, I've tried many Buffy books in the past, and honestly, the last Spike one I attempted took me most of a year to push through. And as rare as it is to find a character to resonate so deeply within oneself, it is also extremely rare to find a book that makes such a lasting impact as this book. I am honestly not kidding when I say this book rocked my world. It was a laugh a minute, and NO ONE except James Marsters does Spike better!

Spike, as those of us who love him already know, is far more than just a Vampire. He's far more than just a good or evil Vampire. He is a Vampire who fought for his soul for the love of a good woman. He is a Vampire with a poet's soul, his "William the Bloody" moniker actually coming from his "bloody" awful poetry. Those of us who watched him throughout the seven years of the show, six of which he was on, saw him moved time and again because of love. This is a bad guy who first fought to save the world simply to keep the woman he loved in it and keep being able to be bad with her and devour the "Happy Meals with legs" (us humans). This is a man who defied everything we fans thought we knew about the Vampires of his world when he fell in love with the Slayer, and decided to fight to become a truly better man and get his own soul back for her love.

This is a character, in short, who has always been driven by love, but this is something that many writers want to tend to ignore, gloss over, or otherwise forget about in favor of making him a Big Bad. I was honestly concerned about how much I would like this book because it is set during his time before Buffy, before falling in love with the Slayer, before any of the number of things that happened to him that made him want to become good. I'm not one for gore, or honestly even hardcore violence anymore, and these are both elements that one comes to expect with the Fanged Four.

I'm also not one for not being true to a character, for better or worse, so I fully expected these elements in the book. I did not expect to find the author so wisely wording the violent scenes, or finding ways to ebb away from the expected bloodshed. Don't get me wrong. There was violence in the book, as all good tales with bad Vampires must have, but it was handled with class and humor, and I'm delighted to say that the author stayed true to all the characters within while not coating his readers too much in blood or horror.

He also clearly had fun with his words, and breathed life into every page. There was never a slow moment, never a boring moment, and never a moment that made me feel that he wasn't being true to Spike, or to the two Vampiresses involved -- or even the other monsters. In fact, he breathed as much life into his original characters as the three established characters from the show, and I'd definitely happily read anything else he might care to introduce us to with any of those characters. There's also all kinds of characters within, from a girl who finally makes me understand what Spike saw later on in a certain meeky, geeky Scientist in Angel (don't get me wrong -- I'm a major geek myself, but was just never a fan of that particular Mary Sue-ish character) to gargoyles and all sorts of fun and interesting Demons.

The author's descriptions also truly breathe life into his characters and make his words come alive. There are certain moments where you know what is about to happen -- and he still has the best of us readers, and writers, still guessing and/or at the proverbial edges of our seats! He paints a scene quite nearly as vividly as if we were actually watching a prequel episode of Buffy, and while doing so, he manages a few things along the way that I honestly never thought I'd see. For example, seven years of Buffy, and however many of Angel, never made me a fan of Darla. But he did!

I also find myself, for the first time in years, truly appreciating the Spike/Drusilla bond and how delicate and caring Spike is around and over Dru. I am reminded, as we saw all the way back in Season 2 of Buffy when Spike risked everything to saved his beloved, Dark Princess, that monsters sometimes love even better than any of us humans will ever manage to do! This book is, in Spike's words, bloody brilliant, and I honestly cannot stop gushing or relishing it!!!!!!!!!!

My absolute ONLY complaint? That the author doesn't have more Buffy books -- yet! *fingers crossed* I've never pre-ordered a book in my LIFE, but if I hear he's releasing a new one, especially for my cherished Spike, I'll definitely do whatever it takes to get my hands on a copy of that next book!

A fangirl can always dream, right? :)

I also want to add that I feel this is a MUST for anyone who would like to know how Drusilla came by Miss Edith or her fascination with dolls, and I am again genuinely blown away by how well the author fleshes out the Fanged Four, or at least three of the Fanged Four (minor spoiler). I will seriously NEVER look at Darla in the same light again! I have come away with not only a brand new respect for her character, but actually find myself understanding very well where she's coming from during this point in her life. :)

In short, if you're looking for Spike to be just the blood-thirsty, raving Vampire that some try to paint him as in his early days, you're not going to like this read. BUT if you're looking for a window into the Fanged Four as an actual family, if you are, like myself and many other genuine Spike fans, believe the Vampire, even when he was the Big Bad, has always had a poet's soul and a deep love, both needing to feel loved and to be able to devote himself to loving someone, then you don't definitely don't want to miss this delightful journey! I've never spent $10 before on a fiction book in my life (at least, not that wasn't a trade paperback), but I have RARELY spent $10 on ANYTHING for myself that was more worth it! Spike fans, you do NOT want to miss this adventure!!!!