Bloodwood by John Rykken
My rating: 4/5 cats
this is one of those “crossover” books, which usually means that “growed-ups can like it, too!!” but in this case, i think it is a YA book that crosses both ways, and appeals to both a younger-than-YA and an older-than-YA audience.
because i am older. wayyy older. and i loved it. but at the same time, it is not too scary, too sophisticated, too saucy for a younger-than-teen crowd. but it’s also not cutesy; it is just a good thriller blending humor and action in a very satisfying way.
yeah, it’s vampires, don’t give me that whole “i am so over vampires” spiel. because it is also “secret society that explores the underverse” (great word, by the way) and “normal kid getting sucked in to crazy adventures” which i assume will not always revolve around vampires in the later books. this one does. but it does vampires in a smarter way than other books do. they aren’t sexxy love interests nor irredeemable monsters. there is more nuance in this story than in most, and there are really nice examples of human concerns and good-heartedness. i am making this sound like a disney book, which is not my intention. but the characters are very winning, and believable, and the story was fast-paced and original.
the only thing i didn’t like was the multi-epilogue bits at the end. i understand that some people like a nice tidy wrapping up of where each character is at the close, but i didn’t feel that peter and abby’s ending added anything to the book overall, although their chapter heading ties into sam’s epilogue, which was both necessary and very poignant. so don’t listen to my tiny gripes.
a perfect solution to the “boys don’t read” problem, but one that even old ladies like me can give four stars cats to.
and if you have better luck than i do, maybe you can win it here:
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho…
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