Title: The Foundlings
Series: The Foundlings #1
Author: R.M. Garcia
Page Count: 396
Rating: 3.5/5
Cover Rating: 4.5/5
Recommended Age: 16+
Awards: Received 2nd place in the 2011 Reader View Awards
Summary (
GoodReads):
After the worst year of his life, all Donnie wanted was happiness, and when he met Abbie, he was sure he had found it. But their happiness together is placed in jeopardy after a chilling a encounter. They are dragged in to the world of Vampires. Orphaned, now they must fight to survive, fight to live and fight to keep their love alive. They find themselves outcasts in this world, the world of the Foundlings. In the vampire world of Foundlings, their kind is hunted mercilessly. Donnie and Abbie meet Espee and Nox, who along with other Foundlings stand to protect their members. As the leader of the den, Espee teaches them to survive, to hide, and to avoid detection from the formal Bloodlines. You see every vampire originated from a Bloodline Source, and each Bloodline could only birth a certain number of vampires from its Source. As it turned out, Foundlings complicated the formal Bloodlines’ plans and their possible numbers. For every risen Foundling, there would be one less vampire available to the corresponding Bloodline. Every formal Bloodline down the line, from the Reich all the way to the Old Ones, cared little for Foundlings. The reason for their hatred was unknown to every Foundling. To every Bloodlines, these bastard offspring, these “accidents,” were simply intolerable.
Can Donnie and Abbie's love survive? Can Espee figure out a way to protect her kind? She sees something in Donnie, something she has never seen in any other Foundling. Will he be the key?
My Say:
I like the book cover so much and I think it looks very classic and vintage. Maybe only in my eyes. The story on the other hand was actually quite satisfying since I was intrigued after reading the synopsis. The last classic vampire book I've read was Dracula. Reading this one seems to remind me of it. The author actually introduces the other side of vampires, as if they do act and live like any other human beings. The mixed of history manipulation kind of interesting, i.e Vampire Nazis. I have to admit that is genius. However, of course there's a flaw, I felt like he has many to tell, i.e, characters, which me sometimes lost track of it. But the main characters are great. The love relation they have, for me is enough to say that they do have the sparks, but to say it has blown me away, not really. Other thing that totally made me hooked was that I was fascinated by different bloodlines and powers that they have. I thought that was cool. I'm very looking forward to read the sequel, to know how much will the characters grow.
Note: I got a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Author Guest Post
What would happen if there are vampires really blending into our human community? Would it be like what happened in X-Men?
I actually cover this in The Foundlings, it’s actually a big part of joining a Bloodline, a process that I called the detachment. Its sole purpose is to make sure no one would be looking for you, and that you would not be on any missing persons lists. After a generation those files are closed and you can move about freely, even establishing a new identity. I surmised that since technology is so advanced today, that faking ones death was really the best way to go to stay completely hidden. There are others too, but in the Foundlings this is the detachment that is selected. I think that if the general population knew about vampires, that yes they would hunt them down. So I believe that vampires would do as they have always done, place thralls in power to control the flow of information, and by extension protect their secret. Like in X-men specialized techniques would evolve to deal with the threat, which some organizations that are in conflict with the vampires now use. Foundlings in many ways are like Mutants from the X-men, they cannot join the Bloodlines nor would they be accepted by the government, or would they, hmmm? Sorry lost my train of thought there, but I may explore that concept in the future. Readers who like the X-men should enjoy the book immensely. One of my readers, who enjoyed the book, drew many comparisons to the X-men as he read the story. After he made that comment I began to see them as well. For example the Reich Bloodline has an ability which they call the “Die Mauer” It translates into “The Wall” in German. This ability allows them to turn their flesh into living marble, a lot like Colossus’ ability to turn his flesh into living metal. I hope that after reading the guest post you decide to give the story a try.
About the Author
Born and raised in NJ, R.M. Garcia is the son of Puerto Rican parents who moved to NJ from PR shortly after getting married. He has two younger siblings, twins, Eric and Erica. Growing up he was a simple child who never asked for much because his imagination provided him with everything he would ever need. He was considered a dreamer by all of his teachers, but he never thought that was a bad thing. R.M. was initially very shy until he got older and stopped caring what others thought about him. Either you liked him or you didn’t but he was always true to himself. He has been called weird, quirky, funny, and trustworthy; all titles he holds dear. R.M. originally wrote the short story of The Foundlings when he was still in High School and it was not until much later that he fully developed it into a book. Back in the day, he used to write poetry and often compared his work to the work of a friend, Travis, who was far better at poetry in R.M.’s opinion. After High School, R.M. moved to Florida where he attended college before dabbling in varied professions over the next several years. Such jobs included Hotel Manager, Accountant, Insurance Agent, Travel Agent, Customer Service Rep, Draftsman, and even a Fry Cook. When R.M. started writing his book, he realized that writing was his true passion and what he is ultimately meant to do.
R.M. loved writing The Foundlings and even if it does not become a bestseller, he will continue to write. God willing, and with the help of his fans, The Foundlings will make a mark in the literary world.
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