Maryland: Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

Sorry peeps. It has been a rough few days and I just somehow got behind. I do have a ton to talk to about as I have listened to an audiobook in addition to reading Blood and Chocolate. Well let’s just jump into it shall we. We are onto Maryland for the challenge.

Synopsis via goodreads. Vivian Gandillon relishes the change, the sweet, fierce ache that carries her from girl to wolf. At sixteen, she is beautiful and strong, and all the young wolves are on her tail. But Vivian still grieves for her dead father; her pack remains leaderless and in disarray, and she feels lost in the suburbs of Maryland. She longs for a normal life. But what is normal for a werewolf?

Then Vivian falls in love with a human, a meat-boy. Aiden is kind and gentle, a welcome relief from the squabbling pack. He’s fascinated by magic, and Vivian longs to reveal herself to him. Surely he would understand her and delight in the wonder of her dual nature, not fear her as an ordinary human would.

Vivian’s divided loyalties are strained further when a brutal murder threatens to expose the pack. Moving between two worlds, she does not seem to belong in either. What is she really—human or beast? Which tastes sweeter—blood or chocolate?

This paranormal romance took me no time to finish. I believe I read it over the course of three nights, making it a perfect selection for reluctant teen readers. The size is about 260 pages so it would not frighten lower level readers to check it out from the library. I will say that this title is for your older teens, not middle school readers.

Blood and Chocolate was released in 1997, a good eight years before Twilight was published. Yet, I had never heard of it until college (circa 2007) where one of my best friends said it was her favorite book. When she discovered there was a movie, we ran to Blockbuster to rent it and we lay about in her dorm room watching it. When I read this book just a few days ago, I kept thinking how the movie was nothing like the book. Like not at all. It even had a different setting! This led to an ending that was a lot more surprising than I originally anticipated.  That being said, it is a paranormal romance so there are some typical characteristics to be on the lookout. All in all, I liked it.

What I liked:

-Vivian in some ways. I liked her confidence and general bad ass attitude. She also protected her mother and Aiden from antics of the pack, which I think made a bit more endearing. She didn’t seem like a placeholder or Mary Sue character that many paranormal romances tend write as their female lead; however, she did have flaws as I will mention later.

-Female werewolf perspective. I appreciated this because some of my favorite books from this challenge have been paranormal stories where we have the female protagonist as the witch or angel or what-have-you. Perhaps I enjoy the character development and growth in that scenario? The female protagonist realizes her strength to save the day. This is more pleasant, as opposed to having the female be mere mortal while trying to get the immortal gentleman to court her.

-Not quite the ending I anticipated. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but Vivian does not end up in the situation I originally guessed. It was nice surprise.

What I didn’t like:

-Vivian in other ways. She was way too obsessed with her looks and frankly, she just seemed mean-spirited and manipulative. For example, the way she treated Aiden in some ways felt like he was a cute toy to mess with. Though she changes in some ways later, I still think she was too obsessed with her beauty and not her heart.

-Most of the secondary characters. In this case, I didn’t like Esme, Vivian’s mother, nor did I like Aiden, especially at the end. Gabriel grew on me towards the finish, but he started off so sketchy.

In general, this was a nice, action-packed read.  I am mad that I read this after reading the Twilight series. I felt like throughout the whole read all I did was compare the two, which really isn’t fair to Blood and Chocolate because it came out first.

Bottom line, my recommendation is to get this book if paranormal romances are still popular with your youth. Let’s face it, that statement is probably true so just get this title for your collection.

That’s 19 down, 31 more to go.

Summer Reads: The Heist Society series by Ally Carter

Synopsis via goodreads for Uncommon Criminals. Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners. There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed. Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time. Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.

Synopsis via goodreads for Perfect Soundrels. Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the fifth were born to lead completely different lives: Kat comes from a long, proud line of loveable criminal masterminds, while Hale is the scion of one of the most seemingly perfect dynasties in the world. If their families have one thing in common, it's that they both know how to stay under the radar while getting-or stealing-whatever they want. No matter the risk, the Bishops can always be counted on, but in Hale's family, all bets are off when money is on the line. When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother's billion dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there's no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. But Kat won't let him go that easily, especially after she gets tipped off that his grandmother's will might have been altered in an elaborate con to steal the company's fortune. So instead of being the heir-this time, Hale might be the mark. Forced to keep a level head as she and her crew fight for one of their own, Kat comes up with an ambitious and far-reaching plan that only the Bishop family would dare attempt. To pull it off, Kat is prepared to do the impossible, but first, she has to decide if she's willing to save her boyfriend's company if it means losing the boy.

For some reason of all the series I have experienced this summer, this is one that I wanted to continue. I wrote about the first one (as an audiobook) back in July.  I really enjoyed the plot, to the point where after catching up this past month, I went out to borrow these titles and read over a weekend.  I could not put them down! This series has now sort of become my guilty pleasure. I can’t explain it. I know I gave Delirium and Shiver some crap for being predictable and cliché, but this one I love? Perhaps it is because Ally Carter does not take it too seriously. This is supposed to be action-packed, fun, and plot driven, not super lovey dovey or dramatic. Also, I had a little crush on Hale. What can I say?! I found him to be adorable.

So this series is not exactly literary gold, but it’s a lot of fun and it will get reluctant teen readers reading. Additionally, aside from kisses, it’s not heavy on language or sex scenes so I think parents would be OK with these books.  I only have one issue, it looks like a Heist Society 4 may not happen for a few years! Grrrrrr! Maybe they will make an awesome movie.

I recommend these for teen mystery sleuths who have graduated from Nancy Drew.