Scan barcode
A review by adkwriter15
By Blood by Tracy E. Banghart
3.0
The book opens up not where you would expect it at all. Emma is teaching a self-defense class with her cop dad. She’s really good at it. But then, on the way home, her dad drops a bomb. Her mom (his ex wife) is heading to Oxford, England, for a sabbatical, with her new husband and baby. She wants to bring Emma along to “help with the baby.” Her dad thinks it’s a good idea she goes. Emma doesn’t get an option. Oxford, of course, is her own personal hell. Her room is small, all her clothes don’t fit, she has to deal with baby puke and the too-cute, live-in research assistant her step-disaster has. Then she meets Ash, who introduces her to the fiery hot Simon and her Druid group, and … well, the story goes on from there.
One of my bigger problems was how long it took to get to the action-y part of the book. I felt like almost 50% of the book was ramping up to get somewhere. You understand later why Emma was almost incapable of making smart life choices, but after she makes stupid mistake after stupid mistake, it just starts to get annoying. Now, IN the second half of the book the tension is palpable and my heart was racing, so it was fantastic. It just took forever to get there.
I liked Emma as a character when she wasn’t being an idiot. She’s a fierce fashionista with a lot of sass and sarcasm. But behind all that swagger is a girl who is still trying to figure out how everything goes, and it shows in the most awkward, realistic moments. I felt really bad that all the stuff about her family was shoehorned in around all the guy drama, because I thought that that really needed more fleshing out. It’s a really big deal, but it just becomes a thing that happens and then is kinda jumped around for the rest of the book.
Then there is Simon and Josh. Simon is the dark, swoony, dangerous one. Josh is the cute, smart, geeky one. Do I need to say more? Because ARGH love triangles.
The Druid group was also filled with mostly stock characters. You’ve got the b*tchy one, the happy-go-lucky one, the slutty and all over each other guy/girl couple and the brooding, almost silent guy at the back. I thought that Ash, the happy-go-lucky one, certainly would have had some serious fleshing out if her family had been brought into it more, but they really weren’t important so that just stayed in the background.
Honestly, my favorite part of this is the last 50% of the book. The tension, the stakes, the crazy–ALL of it gets ramped up a bajillion notches. I also was NOT expecting the ending at all, and it’s really hard to get me not to guess how it’s going to end. What Banghart did, instead of making this your typical paranormal, was very interesting and unique and I really respect her for it. I can’t talk about this part much, obviously, but know that getting through the first 50% is worth the second half. I promise. I really promise.
If you’re looking for a new taking on paranormal themes, I recommend this book to you!
One of my bigger problems was how long it took to get to the action-y part of the book. I felt like almost 50% of the book was ramping up to get somewhere. You understand later why Emma was almost incapable of making smart life choices, but after she makes stupid mistake after stupid mistake, it just starts to get annoying. Now, IN the second half of the book the tension is palpable and my heart was racing, so it was fantastic. It just took forever to get there.
I liked Emma as a character when she wasn’t being an idiot. She’s a fierce fashionista with a lot of sass and sarcasm. But behind all that swagger is a girl who is still trying to figure out how everything goes, and it shows in the most awkward, realistic moments. I felt really bad that all the stuff about her family was shoehorned in around all the guy drama, because I thought that that really needed more fleshing out. It’s a really big deal, but it just becomes a thing that happens and then is kinda jumped around for the rest of the book.
Then there is Simon and Josh. Simon is the dark, swoony, dangerous one. Josh is the cute, smart, geeky one. Do I need to say more? Because ARGH love triangles.
The Druid group was also filled with mostly stock characters. You’ve got the b*tchy one, the happy-go-lucky one, the slutty and all over each other guy/girl couple and the brooding, almost silent guy at the back. I thought that Ash, the happy-go-lucky one, certainly would have had some serious fleshing out if her family had been brought into it more, but they really weren’t important so that just stayed in the background.
Honestly, my favorite part of this is the last 50% of the book. The tension, the stakes, the crazy–ALL of it gets ramped up a bajillion notches. I also was NOT expecting the ending at all, and it’s really hard to get me not to guess how it’s going to end. What Banghart did, instead of making this your typical paranormal, was very interesting and unique and I really respect her for it. I can’t talk about this part much, obviously, but know that getting through the first 50% is worth the second half. I promise. I really promise.
If you’re looking for a new taking on paranormal themes, I recommend this book to you!