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A review by lolasreviews
By Blood by Tracy E. Banghart
4.0
I got a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book get's a solid 4 stars, maybe even a 4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book, it has the perfect combination of drama, fantasy and mystery and sometimes even a little bit scary. I really enjoyed it! The story is really consistent in it's enjoyabilty and pacing.
When I started this book I had forgotten most of the blurb already, I only remembered the main character was visiting England and that was explained pretty soon in the book too. Emma has to spend the summer with her mom, her mom's new boyfriend and their baby. And she is not exactly looking forward to it. Emma could be a bit annoying at the beginning, but I could understand why she was acting like that. Instead of enjoying her summer she is stuck in another country, with people she hardly knows or is holding a bit of a grudge against.
I really liked the story and how it progressed and because I had forgotten the blurb I was really surprised when the druids where introduced. The story has some predictable moments, but it really surprised me too. There are some twists and turns I really didn't see coming and one twist I did see coming, but the main character didn't. The pacing was really consistent trough the whole book and there where no boring parts. I basically read this book in two sittings, because as soon as I picked this book up I couldn't stop reading. This book has a perfect combination of drama and mystery.
We mainly get to know Emma in this book, because the focus is on her. Also some of her new friends and a bit about her family. I really liked Emma as a characters, she did make some dumb descisions and acted a bit nasty towards her mom in the beginning, but I could understand why she acted the way she did. I liked how her relationship with her mom progressed. I also liked Ash and Josh and would've liked getting to know them better.
There is also a sort of love triangle in this book. I wasn't really a fan of the love triangle, but I liked how it turned out in the end. Also while there is some romance in this book, it's only part of the story. Other parts of the story are Emma's relationship with her family, her new friends, exploring Oxford and everythign surrounding the druids.
There is not a whole lot of world building in this book, but I really liked the way the magic/fantasy element was handled. It felt real, like this really could be happening. There wasn't a whole new world, just some magic that might or might not be real. And at the end I am still wodnering what exactly happened. There is no clear explanation, but the whole druid thing is handled so well. I really liked the fantasy/magic aspect and the idea of druids was fairly original.
To conclude: I really liked this book, the pacing and ejoyability was really conistent and there where no dull moments. I got sucked into the story and read it basically in two sittings. I did like Emma, but would've liked getting to know the side characters a bit better. I wasn't a fan of the love triangle, but I did like the end. I also really liked how the druid thing was handled in this book, a lot of mystery and not a lot of world building, but it worked so well. I am looking forward to reading more from this author!
This book get's a solid 4 stars, maybe even a 4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book, it has the perfect combination of drama, fantasy and mystery and sometimes even a little bit scary. I really enjoyed it! The story is really consistent in it's enjoyabilty and pacing.
When I started this book I had forgotten most of the blurb already, I only remembered the main character was visiting England and that was explained pretty soon in the book too. Emma has to spend the summer with her mom, her mom's new boyfriend and their baby. And she is not exactly looking forward to it. Emma could be a bit annoying at the beginning, but I could understand why she was acting like that. Instead of enjoying her summer she is stuck in another country, with people she hardly knows or is holding a bit of a grudge against.
I really liked the story and how it progressed and because I had forgotten the blurb I was really surprised when the druids where introduced. The story has some predictable moments, but it really surprised me too. There are some twists and turns I really didn't see coming and one twist I did see coming, but the main character didn't. The pacing was really consistent trough the whole book and there where no boring parts. I basically read this book in two sittings, because as soon as I picked this book up I couldn't stop reading. This book has a perfect combination of drama and mystery.
We mainly get to know Emma in this book, because the focus is on her. Also some of her new friends and a bit about her family. I really liked Emma as a characters, she did make some dumb descisions and acted a bit nasty towards her mom in the beginning, but I could understand why she acted the way she did. I liked how her relationship with her mom progressed. I also liked Ash and Josh and would've liked getting to know them better.
There is also a sort of love triangle in this book. I wasn't really a fan of the love triangle, but I liked how it turned out in the end. Also while there is some romance in this book, it's only part of the story. Other parts of the story are Emma's relationship with her family, her new friends, exploring Oxford and everythign surrounding the druids.
There is not a whole lot of world building in this book, but I really liked the way the magic/fantasy element was handled. It felt real, like this really could be happening. There wasn't a whole new world, just some magic that might or might not be real. And at the end I am still wodnering what exactly happened. There is no clear explanation, but the whole druid thing is handled so well. I really liked the fantasy/magic aspect and the idea of druids was fairly original.
To conclude: I really liked this book, the pacing and ejoyability was really conistent and there where no dull moments. I got sucked into the story and read it basically in two sittings. I did like Emma, but would've liked getting to know the side characters a bit better. I wasn't a fan of the love triangle, but I did like the end. I also really liked how the druid thing was handled in this book, a lot of mystery and not a lot of world building, but it worked so well. I am looking forward to reading more from this author!