Blood Magic

Review Time! Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton is a 2011 YA Debut, I’ve kept an eye on this one since December last year when I went Debutante hunting for my event. Witchcraft isn’t something I usually read (unless it’s Harry Potter) but Blood Magic sounded so intriguing! Thanks to Random House for the ARC!

(Goodreads) For Nick Pardee and Silla Kennicot, the cemetery is the center of everything.

Nick is a city boy angry at being forced to move back to the nowhere town of Yaleylah, Missouri where he grew up. He can’t help remembering his mom and the blood magic she practiced – memories he’s tried for five years to escape. Silla, though, doesn’t want to forget; her parents’ apparent murder-suicide left her numb and needing answers. When a book of magic spells in her dad’s handwriting appears on her doorstep, she sees her chance to unravel the mystery of their deaths.

Together they plunge into the world of dark magic, but when a hundred-year-old blood witch comes hunting for the bones of Silla’s parents and the spell book, Nick and Silla will have to let go of everything they believe about who they are, the nature of life and death, and the deadly secrets that hide in blood
 
 The Short Story? – A fresh take on witchcraft! Original and captivating, fans of all things paranormal will love this debut! A dark and enticing plot, a protagonist with a haunted past and a romance that’s like no other. A thrilling novel with a brilliant narrative voice, a fantastic debut!

The Long Story? – To be honest, my final thought about the book is still a jumble. You should definitely read it because it’s a really great book but for me I felt as if it didn’t meet my expectations. There was all this hype about the book and so when I read it, it’s was brilliant but I was kind of expecting more. I think I’m just over thinking it because this was a fantastic debut!

My main problem was the plot. I felt all the suspense and mystery was excellent but the action was all bunched into the last 50 pages of the book and for a book with 400 pages, I felt that there should have been a little more evenly spread. Perhaps two big heart-pounding moments instead of one. It was well-written and a fantastic flow though and the final showdown was amazing, grip-the-edge-of-the-seat-amazing. I also like how Gratton has worked all this mystery, suspense and secrets into the novel, they acted has little hooks that didn’t let you go! I stayed up past my bedtime (not that I “really” have one) to finish this novel, the ending is really is brilliant! If not for anything else, you should definitely read this book because it’s got an ending that will rock your world! :P Also the romance is to die for, Silla and Nick are probably one of the cutest couples I’ve met this year. Small town, girl who took a turn for the worse, new guy in town, loves her for who she is and not who she used to be. Filled with sizzling kisses, romance junkies will approve!

The characterization is great. Gratton has written the novel so that the story alternates between being told from Silla’s perspective to Nick’s perspective, therefore by the end of the novel we know both of them pretty well. I especially liked Silla’s character, she was a great protagonist – her and Nick both were – but there was depth to her. She wasn’t what readers wanted her to be, she was flawed and she wasn’t afraid to admit that she’s torn by the grief of her parent’s death. She was strong and kind and I really loved her character. Nick was hilarious, he was such a boy! Sarcastic, proud and lots of attitude but you just got to love the boy, he really was just so funny! He also had this sweet and kind nature that came out when he was with Silla and I liked that, he was someone who didn’t have to put on a show for his girlfriend because he wanted to be himself with her. Reese, Silla’s brother was also a fantastic character, the novel probably wouldn’t have been the same without him and I’m sad he didn’t’ get a happy ending!

In a nutshell – Blood Magic is really something. It’s interesting, it’s engrossing and it’s got a fantastic romance. The characters are great, I loved both Silla and Nick. Gratton has a very unique YA voice and she writes brilliantly in a male’s perspective (so good that I think she should write more books from a guy’s perspective). Again, the action was great, I just wished that it wasn’t all bunched together at the end, although if it was spread out over the course of the book, it probably wouldn’t have had the same effect. For lovers of the supernatural, Blood Magic is one that you would want to check out!

Rating – 4/5

Badass Bookie xx