Kinda slow, but an interesting look into the life of this specter that's been in the books since the beginning. ( )

Great short story! I was completely enthralled and read it in its entirety in one sitting. I was fascinated, horrified, and heartbroken by Pippa's story. I've never been a fan of Perry's mother, and now I'm REALLY not a fan! ( )

Pippa's story. A sad tale of a hard life filled with poor choices. I found it slow and hard to stay focused on. There were some background detail of Perry and Declan that were slightly revealing but noting shattering. She just didn't hold my interest for what ever reason. ( )

First, I want to say how impressed I am with Halle's planning of this series. It appears she had much of the ongoing plot mapped out before even starting the first book, and I can now see that in the minute details and clues that are interwoven throughout each book.

With that said, this novella was a quick and essential read for me to find answers to questions and to gain a better understanding of Perry and Declan's backgrounds and motivations. One of the foremost questions is who exactly is the crazy, creepy clown lady. She consistently appears throughout the series and her cryptic comments make the reader believe that she knows quite a lot about Perry and Dex. Old Blood explains Pippa's relationship to both both characters and, by telling Pippa's story, Halle provides greater clarity about why Perry began to see ghosts as a child. I also have a better understanding of why Dex behaves as he does (...maddeningly frustrating at times to me).

Pippa has her own poignant story of struggling to to find her way in the midst of love and loss. Pippa's character is strong, independent, daring to defy fate for the love of a daughter. The consequences of her decisions have impacted Perry's life in ways I couldn't have imagined until now.

I'm not a fan of novellas and tend to skip over them if possible when reading a series. However, Old Blood provides the transition readers need to move forward with the series. ( )

Huh? Yeah! I'm totally listening. So, in 2nd grade, you tripped on a rock, you say? Fascinating...





Man. After so much creepy clown lady creepiness throughout the series, I expected her story to be frikkin awesome. It wasn't. It was boring and long.

The details. The incessant insignificant details! She's so frikkin long-winded and I would have loved to have gotten this story in half the words. It could have been told that way just fine. Even with all those words, I felt zero connection to this character. Such a letdown after such a buildup. I get her role and the story itself isn't bad. It's just the telling of it. So tedious.

Additionally, some of her scenarios/circumstances were too contrived for me. Whatever. Moving on to the next book.




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