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A review by literaryprincess
Youngblood by Sasha Laurens
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Everything I could have asked for from a boarding school lesbian vampire romance, and more, holy cow.
I cannot exaggerate how much of an absolute delight this book was. It was tropey and messy and mysterious and dramatic in all of the best ways. Our POV characters Taylor and Kat are a perfectly imperfect pair. Baby Butch Taylor, out and not-quite-proud, and "I didn't know I was a lesbian" Katherine have their own personal stories to sort out, yet they orbit around each other as ex-best-friends to rivals to roommates (oh my god, they were roommates) all while nefarious deeds dare to interrupt their classic high school cliches.
Laurens doesn't shy away from using the historical tropes and adages about vampires and melding them into a 2022 contemporary, complete with acknowledging the over abundant whiteness and heterosexuality that tends to persist. Coming from white protagonist Kat, it often feels just the tiniest bit white-savior-y, but nevertheless I'm glad it was included as more than a throw away line trying to insist that the main characters were "woke" enough.
I'm also just glad that young lesbians are allowed to be messy, make mistakes, date the wrong people, argue and bicker and fight, and still be all around good people. Side characters who I never expected to feel a shred of sympathy for grew on me. The plot, while predictable at times, was still gripping. The pieces fell into place at the exact right pacing and it was fantastic.
I adored so much about this book. It seems like the subgenre of lesbian vampires can simply do no wrong.
I cannot exaggerate how much of an absolute delight this book was. It was tropey and messy and mysterious and dramatic in all of the best ways. Our POV characters Taylor and Kat are a perfectly imperfect pair. Baby Butch Taylor, out and not-quite-proud, and "I didn't know I was a lesbian" Katherine have their own personal stories to sort out, yet they orbit around each other as ex-best-friends to rivals to roommates (oh my god, they were roommates) all while nefarious deeds dare to interrupt their classic high school cliches.
Laurens doesn't shy away from using the historical tropes and adages about vampires and melding them into a 2022 contemporary, complete with acknowledging the over abundant whiteness and heterosexuality that tends to persist. Coming from white protagonist Kat, it often feels just the tiniest bit white-savior-y, but nevertheless I'm glad it was included as more than a throw away line trying to insist that the main characters were "woke" enough.
I'm also just glad that young lesbians are allowed to be messy, make mistakes, date the wrong people, argue and bicker and fight, and still be all around good people. Side characters who I never expected to feel a shred of sympathy for grew on me. The plot, while predictable at times, was still gripping. The pieces fell into place at the exact right pacing and it was fantastic.
I adored so much about this book. It seems like the subgenre of lesbian vampires can simply do no wrong.