nicolebonia's review against another edition
4.0
Anyone with a tendency toward hemophobia should not read Tessa Gratton’s The Blood Keeper. You will not make it through. Almost from the first page, the novel’s heroine, Mab Prowd is cutting open fingers and wrists, bleeding into bowls, and mixing it up with other ingredients to connect to the earth and work her blood magic. I often felt like I was trying to read the book between my fingers, but it’s an absorbing read, and slight squeamishness aside, I wanted to keep going.
Mab Prowd is seventeen when she inherits the title of The Deacon (a magical keeper of the land, one who contains curses, and maintains a safe place for all the other blood witches scattered across the United States) from her Uncle Arthur who after hundreds of years as the Deacon has decided to move on. As a last request he asks her to destroy rose bushes planted in the garden. Unfortunately he neglects to explain the meaning behind this odd assignment, and Mab takes it upon herself to explore their power and essence before doing as he asks. She channels the energy of the roses into a creature she fashions out of mud and animal hearts. This turns out to be a big mistake – especially when her creation crosses paths with Will Sanger, a boy from the local high school who is struggling to define his own life choices at the time.
I liked The Blood Keeper a lot. Gratton can run long with her descriptiveness, making for some issues with pacing, but that was outweighed in the balance by strong, well-developed characters, solid mythology and details of the dark rituals comprising blood magic, and good story-telling. Point of view alternates between Mab, Will and a former resident of the blood land which slowly proves to have bearing on unfolding events.
The Blood Keeper is essentially the story of a lonely girl growing up on an isolated Kansas farm, weighted by the responsibility of inheritance and separated from people her own age. While she meets Will because of the danger she has exposed him to, they both need each other. Mab’s strength of character is sometimes to her detriment when she leaps before considering all of the possibilities, and she could benefit fun and the company of other teens. Will finds just as much comfort in her, as he tries to break away from the demands and traditions of his family in light of the unsettling death of his brother. Will was probably my favorite character in the book – his simple openness and trust, desire to do the right thing and his love for his dogs, made him very appealing and the romance very sweet. History, horror, romance and magic coincide for a compelling escapist read. Recommended.
Mab Prowd is seventeen when she inherits the title of The Deacon (a magical keeper of the land, one who contains curses, and maintains a safe place for all the other blood witches scattered across the United States) from her Uncle Arthur who after hundreds of years as the Deacon has decided to move on. As a last request he asks her to destroy rose bushes planted in the garden. Unfortunately he neglects to explain the meaning behind this odd assignment, and Mab takes it upon herself to explore their power and essence before doing as he asks. She channels the energy of the roses into a creature she fashions out of mud and animal hearts. This turns out to be a big mistake – especially when her creation crosses paths with Will Sanger, a boy from the local high school who is struggling to define his own life choices at the time.
I liked The Blood Keeper a lot. Gratton can run long with her descriptiveness, making for some issues with pacing, but that was outweighed in the balance by strong, well-developed characters, solid mythology and details of the dark rituals comprising blood magic, and good story-telling. Point of view alternates between Mab, Will and a former resident of the blood land which slowly proves to have bearing on unfolding events.
The Blood Keeper is essentially the story of a lonely girl growing up on an isolated Kansas farm, weighted by the responsibility of inheritance and separated from people her own age. While she meets Will because of the danger she has exposed him to, they both need each other. Mab’s strength of character is sometimes to her detriment when she leaps before considering all of the possibilities, and she could benefit fun and the company of other teens. Will finds just as much comfort in her, as he tries to break away from the demands and traditions of his family in light of the unsettling death of his brother. Will was probably my favorite character in the book – his simple openness and trust, desire to do the right thing and his love for his dogs, made him very appealing and the romance very sweet. History, horror, romance and magic coincide for a compelling escapist read. Recommended.
j_roos's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
This book was so good! I was really captured once I got into it. The complexity in its simplicity, if that makes any sense. I like that the book can be a independent book but some key characters make appearances to make the world a little bit more well known. I was vary fascinated by the magic system and really liked the information you get along the way in this book which was in another way then in the first one. If I may say so I actually maybe enjoyed this books story a bit more, but I don’t know.
This book is filled with magic, tension, danger, mind puzzles, problem solving, history, love, and much more.
I really recommend this book series to people looking for a easy read fantasy that delivers.
This book is filled with magic, tension, danger, mind puzzles, problem solving, history, love, and much more.
I really recommend this book series to people looking for a easy read fantasy that delivers.
lisaluvsliterature's review against another edition
4.0
First I have to say thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children's Books for letting me read the e-galley of this. Thinking back to the book, I had to go back and upgrade my rating from 3 to 4 stars. I have to say for some reason I liked this one a lot better than the first one. Not sure why. I did like the first one, but this one had me more on the edge of my seat and wanting to pick it back up when I had to put it down. While it is the "sequel" to Blood Magic, it doesn't really include the main characters from that book, Silla and Nick. They do factor in, and are part of the background story. And actually Silla's brother Reese who turned into crows in the last book, is a big part of the book. He has become Mab Prowd's familiar. He stays with her instead of staying with Silla, and helps her with her magic. The book starts off with Nick dropping off a young boy named Lukas who has a black candle rune carved into his back by his father, who we find out has cursed him and pulls on his magic. We also start with Mab trying to find out why the roses around the house were so hard to get rid of, yet her grandmother really wanted them gone. To find out more about them, Mab's spell creates a humunculus so that she can hopefully get it to talk about what is going on. This creature is able to escape from the protective circle and takes off running. It runs into Nick, and attacks him, so Nick has to destroy it with the help of his dogs. But it turns out Nick is now connected to Mab and will need Mab to help him figure out what is going on. Nick's life is not great to start with. One of his older brothers died about a year ago, and his family has been changed ever since. Again the diary entries/letters are mixed into the story. At first you don't quite understand what they really have to do with the story, other than they talk about Arthur, who was the Deacon of magic before he was ready to go join his wife and pass on the title of Deacon to Mab. We do learn about Mab's mother also. Soon as the story goes on, I began to try to figure out on my own the roses and the relationships between all these people in the past. It all gets a lot worse, right after it seems things are getting better, and has a lot of suspense at the end.
I really liked the characters in this one. There was still a lot of blood, but it seemed less for shock, and more as a part of the story. There were sometimes at the beginning that it drug a little bit, but mostly the story kept me really involved and as I said, wanting to pick it back up when I had to put it down. Definitely a good, and pretty original story in my opinion.
I really liked the characters in this one. There was still a lot of blood, but it seemed less for shock, and more as a part of the story. There were sometimes at the beginning that it drug a little bit, but mostly the story kept me really involved and as I said, wanting to pick it back up when I had to put it down. Definitely a good, and pretty original story in my opinion.
thanys_thoughts's review against another edition
4.0
A 4.5 review.
I didn't really expect a lot from this book. I received the book as an ARC the author signed. The author didn't really know how to describe her own book which didn't give me a lot of confidence. And the title kind of threw me off as well. Made me think of more bad witch than good witch.
I was wrong. The book was very good, surprisingly so. I really liked the characters of Will and Mab (dumb name, awesome character though). Their chemistry was great. The book stood alone and not as part of the series, but I felt like it took me awhile to get into the world. I probably would have understood if I started with the previous book. I liked her writing and how she described the blood magic (which turns out to be much more good witch than I thought). I will definitely like to check out her other books now, especially the novella about Reese.
I didn't really expect a lot from this book. I received the book as an ARC the author signed. The author didn't really know how to describe her own book which didn't give me a lot of confidence. And the title kind of threw me off as well. Made me think of more bad witch than good witch.
I was wrong. The book was very good, surprisingly so. I really liked the characters of Will and Mab (dumb name, awesome character though). Their chemistry was great. The book stood alone and not as part of the series, but I felt like it took me awhile to get into the world. I probably would have understood if I started with the previous book. I liked her writing and how she described the blood magic (which turns out to be much more good witch than I thought). I will definitely like to check out her other books now, especially the novella about Reese.
bellatora's review against another edition
2.0
This is a companion novel to [b:Blood Magic|8715032|Blood Magic (The Blood Journals, #1)|Tessa Gratton|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1285013996s/8715032.jpg|7201708]. It has new protagonists but the characters of Blood Magic show up, and the fate of Reese especially plays a big role. I guess you could read this as a stand-alone, but it's confusing enough even with the background knowledge of book one.
Mab is a powerful bloodwitch, the daughter of the Big Bad (Josephine Darly) from Blood Magic. She recently became the Deacon (leader) of a tiny bloodwitch coven that has the feel of a hippie commune. Mab spends about zero time angsting about having a villainous mother. She feels bad about what happened to Silla and Nick in the first book, but she's not expressing any fear that she, too, is evil. Mab is too busy being super into magic. She loves it! She loves magic! And she's also a bit crazy and unconventional. This is a girl who does not always understand normal societal conventions (basically what you'd think would happen to a child that is home schooled on a commune and has minimal contact with the rest of the world).
Will is from a conventional family that is still trying to recover from the death of his older brother (Aaron). Will comes from a long line of military men, but since Aaron died he's starting to rethink the path that has been chosen for him. Will's oldest brother, Ben, is home on leave, and keeps badgering Will about joining the military.
Mab and Will meet when Will is attacked by the homunculus Mab created to try to get rid of a curse on the roses in her commune (yeah, it's not explained for a long time what that really means).
Gratton has major pacing issues. This story drags, drags, drags. Halfway through the book and it still felt like it was setting the foundation for some actual action. The Big Bad doesn't appear until the last third, and he appears suddenly and then the entire focus is on getting rid of him.
Most of the book is (not necessarily in order): magic spell, Will is mysteriously sick (homunculus curse passed to him during the attack, of course), magic spell, Will hangs out with some boring friends, magic spell, small boy named Lucas (whose evil father has used him as a familiar) joins the commune, magic spell, Ben harasses Will about the military, magic spell, Will is sick, magic spell, Ben harasses Will, magic spell, etc. And by magic spell, I mean that Mab putters around and fiddles with curses and spells dealing with the land. About the halfway point, Will FINALLY comes to Mab about the fact that his sickness might have something to do with her. And then the action stalls again as it turns into Mab-and-Will-hang-out-time.
I thought at least there'd be some tension with this crazy hippie witch girl having to interact with normal high schoolers - especially since maybe one of the high school girls has a crush on Will after he rescued her from drowning? And rescued girl's friend is maybe a mean girl and maybe is going to harass Mab? But when Will's friends briefly appear it's only to be all "hey, man, who's your new girl? we should all hang out!" and Will is all "nah, not right now, bro. How about later?" and the friends respond "cool, man. later!" That is pretty much the extent of Mab & Will dealing with other young people. It gives depth to absolutely no characters and drives the plot not at all.
Besides the pacing, there is also the issue of the poorly differentiated voices of Mab and Will. They both narrate parts of this story, and it doesn't work. Mab is a hippy witch and Will is a military brat. They should NOT sound like essentially the same person. Switching constantly back and forth between POVs also kept disrupting any momentum that had been building up.
There is also ANOTHER POV sprinkled throughout - first person present (ugh, annoying) musings by the old Deacon's (Arthur's) lover, Evie. Her story is EQUALLY BORING AND POINTLESS. She loves Arthur. Arthur has a bromance with Gabriel, and Gabriel is jealous. Josephine shows up and even the shit that she stirs up isn't interesting. It is 99% Evie pining after Arthur then them getting together. THESE ENTRIES ARE COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY TO THE PLOT. The entries do tie into the curse on the rose bushes and the Big Bad of this story. This is ostensibly useful backstory, but really since the Big Bad appeared and then told Mab who he was and what had happened ANYWAY, it was pointless. (and, yes, he told his own version of the truth, but considering he was obviously evulz, what had actually happened would be pretty damn clear anyway). If more of the Big Bad/Evie backstory was necessary, then the other characters who knew Arthur and Evie and some of that past could've talked about it and it could've come in more naturally. Instead I had to suffer endless chapters of the surprisingly boring Arthur/Evie/Gabriel love triangle.
Oh, and the Will/Mab love story is limpid at best. There's no spark. They know each other for a few days, have no heat in the relationship, and yet it is all "I will die for you!" Gosh, teenage hormones are a powerful thing.
All these complaints were the same ones I had for Blood Magic (confusing and pointless POV switches, instalove with no real heat, pacing issues) but the first book had a really creepy first half and at one point a gripping paranoia of who the Big Bad would possess next. This book I liked less because it didn't have those same redeeming features.
I think maybe Gratton is just a short story writer at heart. She writes FANTASTIC short stories. She has a beautiful style and very imaginative worlds. Short stories take advantage of her style and eliminates the flaws.
Mab is a powerful bloodwitch, the daughter of the Big Bad (Josephine Darly) from Blood Magic. She recently became the Deacon (leader) of a tiny bloodwitch coven that has the feel of a hippie commune. Mab spends about zero time angsting about having a villainous mother. She feels bad about what happened to Silla and Nick in the first book, but she's not expressing any fear that she, too, is evil. Mab is too busy being super into magic. She loves it! She loves magic! And she's also a bit crazy and unconventional. This is a girl who does not always understand normal societal conventions (basically what you'd think would happen to a child that is home schooled on a commune and has minimal contact with the rest of the world).
Will is from a conventional family that is still trying to recover from the death of his older brother (Aaron). Will comes from a long line of military men, but since Aaron died he's starting to rethink the path that has been chosen for him. Will's oldest brother, Ben, is home on leave, and keeps badgering Will about joining the military.
Mab and Will meet when Will is attacked by the homunculus Mab created to try to get rid of a curse on the roses in her commune (yeah, it's not explained for a long time what that really means).
Gratton has major pacing issues. This story drags, drags, drags. Halfway through the book and it still felt like it was setting the foundation for some actual action. The Big Bad doesn't appear until the last third, and he appears suddenly and then the entire focus is on getting rid of him.
Most of the book is (not necessarily in order): magic spell, Will is mysteriously sick (homunculus curse passed to him during the attack, of course), magic spell, Will hangs out with some boring friends, magic spell, small boy named Lucas (whose evil father has used him as a familiar) joins the commune, magic spell, Ben harasses Will about the military, magic spell, Will is sick, magic spell, Ben harasses Will, magic spell, etc. And by magic spell, I mean that Mab putters around and fiddles with curses and spells dealing with the land. About the halfway point, Will FINALLY comes to Mab about the fact that his sickness might have something to do with her. And then the action stalls again as it turns into Mab-and-Will-hang-out-time.
I thought at least there'd be some tension with this crazy hippie witch girl having to interact with normal high schoolers - especially since maybe one of the high school girls has a crush on Will after he rescued her from drowning? And rescued girl's friend is maybe a mean girl and maybe is going to harass Mab? But when Will's friends briefly appear it's only to be all "hey, man, who's your new girl? we should all hang out!" and Will is all "nah, not right now, bro. How about later?" and the friends respond "cool, man. later!" That is pretty much the extent of Mab & Will dealing with other young people. It gives depth to absolutely no characters and drives the plot not at all.
Besides the pacing, there is also the issue of the poorly differentiated voices of Mab and Will. They both narrate parts of this story, and it doesn't work. Mab is a hippy witch and Will is a military brat. They should NOT sound like essentially the same person. Switching constantly back and forth between POVs also kept disrupting any momentum that had been building up.
There is also ANOTHER POV sprinkled throughout - first person present (ugh, annoying) musings by the old Deacon's (Arthur's) lover, Evie. Her story is EQUALLY BORING AND POINTLESS. She loves Arthur. Arthur has a bromance with Gabriel, and Gabriel is jealous. Josephine shows up and even the shit that she stirs up isn't interesting. It is 99% Evie pining after Arthur then them getting together. THESE ENTRIES ARE COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY TO THE PLOT. The entries do tie into the curse on the rose bushes and the Big Bad of this story. This is ostensibly useful backstory, but really since the Big Bad appeared and then told Mab who he was and what had happened ANYWAY, it was pointless. (and, yes, he told his own version of the truth, but considering he was obviously evulz, what had actually happened would be pretty damn clear anyway). If more of the Big Bad/Evie backstory was necessary, then the other characters who knew Arthur and Evie and some of that past could've talked about it and it could've come in more naturally. Instead I had to suffer endless chapters of the surprisingly boring Arthur/Evie/Gabriel love triangle.
Oh, and the Will/Mab love story is limpid at best. There's no spark. They know each other for a few days, have no heat in the relationship, and yet it is all "I will die for you!" Gosh, teenage hormones are a powerful thing.
All these complaints were the same ones I had for Blood Magic (confusing and pointless POV switches, instalove with no real heat, pacing issues) but the first book had a really creepy first half and at one point a gripping paranoia of who the Big Bad would possess next. This book I liked less because it didn't have those same redeeming features.
I think maybe Gratton is just a short story writer at heart. She writes FANTASTIC short stories. She has a beautiful style and very imaginative worlds. Short stories take advantage of her style and eliminates the flaws.
delaneybull's review against another edition
4.0
This book was good. I liked the magic in it, the plot was engaging, and the split POV wasn't bad. I did have an issue with the introduction of the characters (or, rather, the lack of introduction) so if you didn't read the first book RIGHT before this one, you'll be hopelessly lost as dozens of characters are introduced without a reminder of who they are.
happilyruined's review against another edition
3.0
I credit Christopher Pike with beginning my love of gory novels. Admittedly, "Bury Me Deep" likely isn't as gory as I remember it being when I was twelve. But nonetheless, I like to think that my adoration of "The Blood Keeper"'s particularly gruesome passages has to do with Pike.
Gore is what Tessa Gratton does best. She treats bloody eyes and gouged flesh with the same tenderness that some writers devote to kissing scenes. All of this was on full display in her debut, "Blood Magic", and its companion novel doesn't let up. (That said, nothing will ever duplicate the near gag-factor of "Blood Magic"'s memorable reanimation scene.)
"The Blood Keeper" ditches "Blood Magic"'s likable heroes Silla and Nick, and I've got to say that this may have been a mistake. Mab in particular never really grabs me like Silla did. She's distant, and I get that--as a figure in a fully-embraced magical world, she shouldn't be a normal girl. Yet I feel that she was almost too distant, too cool for the reader to connect with. That said, her counterpart, Will, is plenty likable for the both of them. Gratton does an excellent job of portraying a military family in conflict. It's a good spoonful of reality coloring an urban fantasy novel that I have to tip my hat to.
Will was so interesting on his own that I wish we'd seen more of him. However, the novel's third perspective--a throwback POV, much like Josephine's was in "Blood Magic"--is so deliciously creepy that I found myself looking forward to those little snippets when following the present-day storyline.
Of course, as with most YA urban fantasy, there's a romance. But it's much less of A Thing than Nick and Silla's; and I don't know if that was an intentional choice on Gratton's part, or a lack of attention paid to Mab and Nick's relationship. Either way, it leads to the otherwise likable novel's main problem: even once the book was over, I felt as if it was leading up to something that really never happened. There was no tension, no big event. I wanted to feel more dread, a greater sense of urgency. It never happened.
While "The Blood Keeper" is certainly good and worth picking up, I can't say that it's a must-read. Definitely give it a shot if you enjoyed its predecessor. Otherwise, it's good for a rainy day.
Gore is what Tessa Gratton does best. She treats bloody eyes and gouged flesh with the same tenderness that some writers devote to kissing scenes. All of this was on full display in her debut, "Blood Magic", and its companion novel doesn't let up. (That said, nothing will ever duplicate the near gag-factor of "Blood Magic"'s memorable reanimation scene.)
"The Blood Keeper" ditches "Blood Magic"'s likable heroes Silla and Nick, and I've got to say that this may have been a mistake. Mab in particular never really grabs me like Silla did. She's distant, and I get that--as a figure in a fully-embraced magical world, she shouldn't be a normal girl. Yet I feel that she was almost too distant, too cool for the reader to connect with. That said, her counterpart, Will, is plenty likable for the both of them. Gratton does an excellent job of portraying a military family in conflict. It's a good spoonful of reality coloring an urban fantasy novel that I have to tip my hat to.
Will was so interesting on his own that I wish we'd seen more of him. However, the novel's third perspective--a throwback POV, much like Josephine's was in "Blood Magic"--is so deliciously creepy that I found myself looking forward to those little snippets when following the present-day storyline.
Of course, as with most YA urban fantasy, there's a romance. But it's much less of A Thing than Nick and Silla's; and I don't know if that was an intentional choice on Gratton's part, or a lack of attention paid to Mab and Nick's relationship. Either way, it leads to the otherwise likable novel's main problem: even once the book was over, I felt as if it was leading up to something that really never happened. There was no tension, no big event. I wanted to feel more dread, a greater sense of urgency. It never happened.
While "The Blood Keeper" is certainly good and worth picking up, I can't say that it's a must-read. Definitely give it a shot if you enjoyed its predecessor. Otherwise, it's good for a rainy day.
lemongrabb's review against another edition
4.0
Being based around Mab and Will instead of Silla, I wasn't sure if the book would work with the new characters. However, both of them ended up being enjoyable to read about. Both of them are fleshed out nicely through their own back stories and personalities. The plot develops really well too; entwining their different problems into one as well as delving into the past simultaneously. A very nicely done sequel.