Every character choice and arc is interesting and clearly well thought out, but we never spend time getting to establish and marinate in the finer details before immediately moving to the next point. From the initial conflict with Reign, to Cinderella the Art, and even crucial items like the early stages of Shell and One's relationship, each gets so little time to set up and develop before the status quo evolves. The breakneck pace only becomes more detrimental as the plot thickens in later sections. This makes the big moments feel weaker, even if the story is written well enough to read between the lines and understand these things. Each major arc needed at least 10-20 chapters, and the final arc required even more than that. I wouldn't have these complaints if I disliked Blood Bank. I like the chemistry and emotion in Shell and One's relationship. In fact, I like it so much that it's a crime I don't get more steamy and love-stricken scenes between them. I think the art is great, the minor characters serve their purposes well, and I wish I had more time to appreciate everything this narrative set up. None of the writing is bad, it's just impatient when I wish we could marinate a bit more.
All this aside, I would still highly recommend reading Blood Bank. It's a BL where many readers come for the art, the promise of BDSM, or their love of vampires. But they stay with the series and eat it up ravenously because it has a lot more meat to it than the average tropey erotica of the genre. (Look, I'm not here to bash a fun stereotypical time. I LOVE a light and smutty read.) Even with these narrative gaps, Blood Bank is still a pretty good story. But I'm a bit disappointed that I won't be able to read the story I fully believe the author is capable of writing if given more time.
