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A review by rychelereads
Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton
4.0
I started this book and couldn't put it down until it was literally too creepy and chill-inducing to continue reading into the witching hours [heh, go figure what with the contents of the book and all]. At this point, I had read through the first quarter of the book in one nightly sitting.
Then, I was so effectively creeped out, enthralled and immersed and frightened, but creeped out that I couldn't even make myself continue reading until about 1 and a half weeks later at which point I told myself, "you've just borrowed 2 books from the library, due in no less than a week, you must finish what you started!" And so I did, tapping into the speed force, and I am happy to say, that it definitely doesn't lose the creepy or enthralling factors it had since page one, but it does tie everything together in the end. I wanted to add the words "quite nicely" in that last sentence, but decided that those two words just do not fit in a review of this book.
That isn't to say that Tessa Gratton's writing isn't done "quite nicely;" just that I didn't think "quite nicely" was the diction I wanted to use to describe the deep, dark, intriguing, twists and turns of this fantastic read.
I don't want to spoil anything, because I think that if you're picking up this book based on what is written in the synopsis and Maggie Stiefvater's one sentence review, then you will not be disappointed; dare I say, you will be quite satisfied indeed. Sufficiently creeped-out, no doubt, but satisfactorily, and surprisingly so.
I would also like to add that this is one of those YA books that makes you question your own beliefs. Not just if you believe that things like magic, and the often paranormal, supernatural, or mythical contents of most YA books are real or could be remotely based on truth, but also makes you really consider what your own personal moral obligations mean to you, and in effect, what you are or are not willing to sacrifice to uphold them.
*In the end, I give this book a total of 3.5 stars.*
I really enjoyed it, but there were bits of it that felt a lot more told than shown; and if the third grade mantra "show don't tell" is any indication to a good story... Anyways, I did have a bit of a hard time connecting with the story at the parts where it simply stated what was happening instead of painting the picture. I found this particular writing style occurred most in bits where the character was left to interact with themselves. I will say though, that Tessa Gratton has a great way with developing relationships between characters. Just when they're alone and the reader gets to peak into their brain for a bit, they're (or rather the story telling is) a bit duller than the rest. Also, the bloody bits were excessively bloody at parts, I sort of had to rub at bits of my own skin to make sure they were still intact, but I think that's a plus for some, I just had to take breaks here and there because of it (at one point a whole week and a half was necessary).
Still, it's a book you really want to get to bottom of, and it only took me about 8 working hours (with breaks in between) to do so.
Then, I was so effectively creeped out, enthralled and immersed and frightened, but creeped out that I couldn't even make myself continue reading until about 1 and a half weeks later at which point I told myself, "you've just borrowed 2 books from the library, due in no less than a week, you must finish what you started!" And so I did, tapping into the speed force, and I am happy to say, that it definitely doesn't lose the creepy or enthralling factors it had since page one, but it does tie everything together in the end. I wanted to add the words "quite nicely" in that last sentence, but decided that those two words just do not fit in a review of this book.
That isn't to say that Tessa Gratton's writing isn't done "quite nicely;" just that I didn't think "quite nicely" was the diction I wanted to use to describe the deep, dark, intriguing, twists and turns of this fantastic read.
I don't want to spoil anything, because I think that if you're picking up this book based on what is written in the synopsis and Maggie Stiefvater's one sentence review, then you will not be disappointed; dare I say, you will be quite satisfied indeed. Sufficiently creeped-out, no doubt, but satisfactorily, and surprisingly so.
I would also like to add that this is one of those YA books that makes you question your own beliefs. Not just if you believe that things like magic, and the often paranormal, supernatural, or mythical contents of most YA books are real or could be remotely based on truth, but also makes you really consider what your own personal moral obligations mean to you, and in effect, what you are or are not willing to sacrifice to uphold them.
*In the end, I give this book a total of 3.5 stars.*
I really enjoyed it, but there were bits of it that felt a lot more told than shown; and if the third grade mantra "show don't tell" is any indication to a good story... Anyways, I did have a bit of a hard time connecting with the story at the parts where it simply stated what was happening instead of painting the picture. I found this particular writing style occurred most in bits where the character was left to interact with themselves. I will say though, that Tessa Gratton has a great way with developing relationships between characters. Just when they're alone and the reader gets to peak into their brain for a bit, they're (or rather the story telling is) a bit duller than the rest. Also, the bloody bits were excessively bloody at parts, I sort of had to rub at bits of my own skin to make sure they were still intact, but I think that's a plus for some, I just had to take breaks here and there because of it (at one point a whole week and a half was necessary).
Still, it's a book you really want to get to bottom of, and it only took me about 8 working hours (with breaks in between) to do so.