Unholy Blood Vol. 1
Author: Lina Lim
Illustrator: Lina Lim
Publishers: Ize Press, Webtoon
Age Group: Teen
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Supernatural
Content Warnings: bloody violence, monster discrimination (with good cause), death
Spoilers ahead
Plot
Hayan Park is your average college girl, but with a twist. She’s a pureblood vampire desperate to keep her secret hidden. When a beloved professor is murdered a local police captain aims his suspicions at Hayan. Things start to get personal and the only way out may to be to use her powers to protect those she loves and protect herself.
This plot is interesting because we have a vampire who just wants to be a normal person in a world where vampires run amok being murder hobos. It guides you by the collar to keep reading.
Character Development
Hayan is very relatable. She just wants an average life where she can be with the people she loves which are Father Michael, the local catholic priest in charge of the orphanage, and the two orphan kids she knows as siblings, Yerim and Yunsu. She’s started college and wants to make friends, get a job, and just be a normal, average person who enjoys her life. There’s one major thing stopping her, she’s a pureblood vampire. While she can go out in daylight no problem, she absolutely cannot have anyone find out her secret or be electrocuted and thrown in a giant blast furnace to die.
She’s a very sweet character who helps others in need regardless of her own safety, but she isn’t completely reckless. We see this come up when Father Michael has part of a building on top of him. She wants to save him but he tells her to run away because she’d be caught. So regretfully, she has to run. When she turns into her vampire form she uses it for good, fighting against other vampires. She has no mercy for those that cannot live in harmony with humans.
Father Michael is a fascinating character. He’s a soldier with lots of guilt turned priest. He’s not afraid to use violence to protect his congregation or the kids (including Hayan).
Yerim and Yunsu may be kids but they have some of the best lines. They’re quirky good kids that know Hayan well. They don’t act much like children (which Hayan reminds them they should act like it more often). The dynamic between Hayan and these kids is very loving and very much like siblings.
Captain Hwang is the youngest to make it to police captain. He watches out for the new hire cops and those that are lower on the force ladder. He has a lot of awards and is exactly the overachiever you think he is. Yet, he sniffs out that Hayan is a pureblood and even protects her when the school insists on checking (by cutting people’s arms) if you’re a vampire or not.
World-building
The world in this is palpable because we know places that feel like it, either through experience or learning about them online. The world is dangerous, we all know this. The setting is modern Korea, but vampires stalk the night. It’s violent and humanity is scared. As vampire violence escalates the human population freaks out. We see this on campus when there’s an incident, people lose their minds to figure out the vampires and snuff them out. There’s curfew for humans and even reminders. We learn that all the information they have on vampires is wrong garlic and holy water don’t work on them.
On the flip side we get a little information into how the vampires operate. They’ve created organizations under the main group of six called ‘angels of death’. They’re the strongest vampires of all of them. Vampires also can only live for five years unless they drink from a pureblood (and we know who that is).
One aspect of the world-building that is intriguing is the crown of thrones Hayan has. Jesus had a crown of thorns, I’m pretty sure that’s the reference here. It helps Hayan to remember herself so she doesn’t become a complete monster like the other vampires. It’s used as a physcological device to come back to herself and calm down so she doesn’t turn into her vampire form.
I thought this part was done really well because it’s similar to EMDR which uses physical stimulus to help overcome trauma memory by helping you work through the emotions so it no longer has the same effect on you. In this case, Hayan uses the stimulus of the thorns digging into her to bring herself back to who she wants and strives to be.
Themes
I think the theme for this is more of a question to the reader: What price are you willing to pay to protect those you love and yourself?
In a world that seems to become more chaotic, this is an important question. What boundaries are you willing to cross and which ones do you refuse to cross? What kinds of things can you handle versus those you don’t. Knowing your limits is important, but so is knowing what limits are breakable.
Everyone puts limits on themselves whether they be boundaries because you scare yourself or morals and rules created by society. Yet, it’s up to the individual, regardless of consequence, to choose what they follow and what they don’t follow. What is your life worth to you? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your goals?
Hayan has to figure these things out as well after Father Michael dies. She chooses the path of revenge. Whether that’s the right thing or not isn’t up to society or the reader but to her as an individual. It’s the same for all of us.
Observations & Predictions
We know from the prologue that she’ll lose everything at one point. This will solidify her path to be on the opposing side of vampires, even though she is one. I’m hoping that Captain Hwang will be her ticket into that side of things.
She’ll have to go up against each of the ‘angels of death’ in order to destroy the vampires. They’ll be formidable opponents. The angels of death will throw every vampire they can make at her, though those vampires are mixed-blood, so just cannon fodder.
She’ll have to be more cunning in order to get the drop on the vampires. Not every fight has to be done with her fists (but most of them definitely will).
This is worth reading!
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