Bloody Fool for Love by William Ritter || Vampires and Demons and Werewolves, Oh My!

Bloody Fool for Love: A Spike Novel

Bloody Fool for Love from New York Times best-selling author William Ritter marks the beginning of an all-new series that explores prequel stories about fan-favorite Buffy characters.

Spike just wants to enjoy the spoils of his new badass reputation. He’s now a legendary slayer-killer, and he’s returning to London—the greatest city in the world. Unfortunately, his new abode is far from ideal (mostly a dank basement), and the rest of his strange little “family” is reeling from the fact that their patriarch, Angel, abandoned them. Spike’s love, Drusilla, seems especially heartbroken over the loss and spends her time lost in her tarot cards and planning their next gruesome family dinner when they all can be reunited.

Desperate to break Dru out of her melancholy, Spike vows to steal a powerful relic that will help her focus on their dark future together. It’s the perfect plan—that is until a monster named Gunnar, leader of the demon underworld of London, steals the relic first. Forced to form his own ragtag group of mercenaries, Spike plans an epic heist against a ruthless gang of undead criminals. Confronted with paranormal plots, royal black ops, and tea (they may be abominations, but they’re British abominations, thank you very much), Spike soon realizes that his homecoming is about to get bloody.

This rompy, action-packed novel inspired by one of Buffy’s most infamous bad boys is part Bonnie and Clyde, part Sherlock and Watson, with just a bit more bloodsucking.

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Perfect for readers who want:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-in books.
• Vampires, werewolves, and demons.
• All sorts of paranormal goodness.
• Lots of snark and banter.
• A supernatural heist plot.
• Historical London at its . . . messiest?

Many thanks to Disney Publishing Group and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I’ll confess that it’s been a loooong time since I’ve watched either Buffy or Angel, but those shows were pretty much what made up my teen years. Which, okay, it’s been a minute since then, but oh my gosh, I just can’t resist all these spinoff books coming out now! So that being said, I knew I’d be at sort of a disadvantage going into this book, not remembering a lot of the series. But . . . I mean . . . Spike. Who could possibly resist that? Especially during his dark and glorious days pre-Buffy. Um, yes.

Bloody Fool For Love is a Buffy prequel set in historical London, filled with all the Spike snark we could ever want, a thrilling heist plot, and lots of Easter eggs from the show.

I do think that someone who’s a bigger fan of Buffy will likely get more out of this book, because I’m sure that probably 95% of significant references went completely over my head. Though, that being said, this book might also frustrate hardcore Buffy fans who want a more realistic depiction of what pre-Buffy Spike might be like, because he was basically dark and evil in name only in this book. Though the heist plot took a while to ramp up, I had a lot of fun with it! I mean, any time spent with Spike is a good time, right? Well . . . if you don’t mind all the blood, of course.

Through vivid writing and careful world-building, Ritter brings historical London to life in all of its . . . messiness?

I mean, let’s face it, London wasn’t a great place to be in the 1800s. Not many places were at that point in time. Ritter doesn’t pull any punches with describing how dark and depressing the city could be at times. I really enjoyed the way he described the setting, almost making it an entity in and of itself. People don’t choose to leave in London. Nay, London takes them in and swallows them whole. Particularly vampires who make their home in the sewers, which . . . yuck.

While this book is certainly primarily a paranormal story, the historical elements are equally delightful, and I’d be remiss not to mention that! However, there are moments that pulled me out of the time frame with their awkwardness. While I’m all for social commentary, the 1800s isn’t really the time for feminist rhetoric in terms of whether female vampires have the ability to seduce men or if men are just projecting their desires. Especially from a 400-year-old vampire, whose beliefs would already be antiquated for 1800s London. There were a couple sections in the book with similar scenes, where the discussions and beliefs just didn’t seem to fit the setting and felt included more for the audience than anything else, which was a little jarring.

That being said, though, I enjoyed all the little Easter eggs of the time period, like Jack the Ripper and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which is definitely a point of contention with Spike (because why should Dracula deserve his own book?! He hasn’t even killed a slayer!).

Ritter manages to capture all the things I’ve always loved about Spike in a compelling heist story.

Namely, sarcasm and impulsivity. Why plan when you can completely wing things and hope for the best? I’ve always liked Spike’s character, even if he doesn’t necessarily have a good character. Even at his worst, Spike’s sarcasm is almost endearing, and his impulsivity makes for some pretty interesting plot elements. You know, like suddenly deciding that stealing a holy relic would be a fabulous idea.

Despite not being as heartless as I expected going in, Spike’s character was basically everything I loved from the series. Ritter does a great job of capturing his personality, and I definitely want more books about him!

Spike isn’t alone in this book, of course (because what’s a heist with one person?!). He’s got a rather interesting squad around him, starting initially with the vampires he’s traveled with since being sired, but extending to a rather interesting gang of misfits.

Fans of the show will recognize Darla and Drusilla, of course, both of whom are very different from Spike but nicely balance his personality. I do think that hardcore fans of the series may find some of the characterization frustration, particularly Drusilla, who is almost infantilized in the book in a really weird way that makes her seem less like a vampire and more like a pet whose head is patted every so often to let her know she’s a good girl. There are, however, little scenes that hint at the more terrifying aspects of her nature, which I absolutely loved and wish there had been more of!

This group isn’t at all what you would expect (or necessarily even want) from a squad. I can think of a lot of adjectives to describe them, but “professional” and “capable” are definitely not among them. Which, obviously, makes this heist all the more fun. The secondary characters had, well, lots of character, and I loved that. Always new surprises around the corner, and a cast larger than life that fit perfectly with the heist plot.

Previous knowledge of Buffy or even Angel isn’t necessarily required to read this book, so the current generation of YA readers who may not have watched the series don’t necessarily need to miss out.

While I definitely think readers who enjoyed one or both series will get more out of the book (and, as I said, will pick up on Easter eggs), Ritter sprinkles in enough backstory and explanation where having knowledge of the world ahead of the time isn’t necessarily required. I’ve forgotten a lot of what I used to know about both series (much to my husband’s chagrin), but I didn’t feel like that dampened my enjoyment of the book at all. It stands on its own fairly well and isn’t entirely dependent on previous knowledge of the series it’s based on.

The plot felt a little all over the place, with mostly a slice-of-life feel with some more exciting subplots that didn’t quite tie neatly together.

Granted, a slice-of-life book about vampires is necessarily going to be much more thrilling than any other type of slice-of-life book, but still. With how much emphasis is placed on Spike’s bloody past and his horrific reputation, I expected a darker book. I understand that this is YA, of course, so there’s some limitations in that regard, but Spike’s darkness was really just in reputation only, as he didn’t really do anything particularly evil. In fact, the plot feels more concerned about his feelings than anything else.

Based on the blurb, I had been expecting a dark, thrilling heist, but that’s really just a subplot . . . and one that doesn’t actually rear its dark and glorious head until halfway through the book, when the slice-of-life plot finally falls away to a heist. The two didn’t quite blend seamlessly together, though.

There was a lot going on in this book for being only 256 pages long, which I felt pulled readers in a few too many directions, rather than focusing on a single point. I mean, I obviously loved the heist, and I wish that had been given more focus, because it was exactly what I wanted!

About William Ritter

William Ritter is an author of YA and MG fantasy who made his debut in 2014 with the New York Times best-selling Jackaby series. He is also an Oregon educator and a proud father of two.

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