I really liked Galley's previous series, and this is off to a great start of another series! Looking forward to more! ( )

Book source ~ Tour. My review is voluntary and honest.

When 13-year-old Tonmerion Hark’s father, Prime Lord Hark, is murdered on their front steps Merion is sent to live with his last living relative, his aunt Lilain. The problem for Merion is that she doesn’t live in London. Or even in the Empire of Britannia. She lives across the Iron Ocean in the wilds of America, the New Kingdom. But not in one of the bustling cities. Oh, no. Poor privileged Merion has to trek all the way out to Wyoming and live in Fell Falls, the latest settlement at the current end of the Serped Railroad Company’s railroad line. But at least he wouldn’t be going alone. Traveling with him is his best friend, Rhin. Except no one knows about Rhin, being that he’s a faerie and all. Let the adventure begin!

Ben Galley has created one hell of a world in Bloodrush! This is fantasy at its finest. The writing flows so easily and the world is so creative! I mean, who would think that Wild West meets Fantasy would be such an interesting combination? I love everything about this tale. Except Merion. Okay, okay, I know he’s a 13-yr-old boy who is used to a life of privilege, but the way he reacts to everything and his attitude in general still gets on my last nerve quite a lot. But really, that’s just me. I can step back and tell you that he acts just right for his setting. But he still pisses me off and I can’t help it. To make any book a delicious meal for this reader, I need to at least like a main character (more than I do Merion - way more). But this is told from several POVs so it’s not like I’m stuck in Merion’s head all the time. There are other great characters to hop around in. And there’s the mystery of Prime Lord Hark’s murder. Not to mention the dangers way out there in Wyoming. And don’t get me started on the Hark family secret. Oh, boy! It’s a damn good one and nothing I’ve read about in any book, which is saying something. There is one hell of a good story here, make no mistake. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good yarn. ( )

Bloodrush has an interesting concept, combining fantasy with the western genre (although the latter comes out mostly in the setting; the feel of it is fantasy). I think this book definitely shows promise, but I'm not entirely happy with the execution. It feels unfocused, untidy. Somehow it was just too much of a jumble for me. I had the feeling that it would have been better if it would have been compressed a bit. There were bits that really pulled me in, but there were also transitions that pulled me out again, and this made for messy reading. In the beginning I was willing to overlook it, since it usually takes some time before you really get into a book. After a while it became jarring though, and I considered to stop reading several times between pages 300 and the end (~500). Not a good sign after having made the commitment of reading 300 pages...
Part of what was bothering me was the character of Merion, the protagonist. Perhaps I shouldn't have expected so much of a 13-year-old boy, but on the other hand, this is a western, at least in part, and I had hoped for a bit less whining and stupidity, and a bit more growing up. Again, I was fine with it in the beginning, hoping for improvement later on, but that improvement only came all the way at the end. ( )