Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

Series: Blood Journals, Book One

Publisher: Doubleday Childrens

Format: Paperback

Published: 7^th July 2011

Number of Pages: 416

Book: Bought

Genre: Paranormal, Dark Romance, Urban Fantasy, Magic, Action, YA

Recommended Age: 13+

Contains: Violence, Mild Swearing, Death, Alcohol, Cutting (You Need Blood For The Spells – It’s Slightly… Glorified?)

No, Drug References

Author's Blog: Tessa Gratton

“My whole body shivered.  I was about to find out if magic was real.  The electric thrill of terror was sharp on my tongue.  I cut deep.”

Silla is damaged and lost since the death of her parents.

Nick is the new boy in town with a chilling past of his own.

A mysterious spell book steeped in blood magic will bind Nick and Silla together.

But at what cost?

A fiery, intoxicating and pulse-pounding debut novel.

Review:

Silla has been left a shell by the death of her parents and her brother Reece isn’t much better off.  So when a book of magic is sent to her in the post by a man called only “The Deacon”, she sees it as a second chance.  A chance to prove what she knows is the truth.  With only salt, air and her blood, Silla regenerates a leaf.  Nick, the new boy in town, sees her doing magic and is bombarded with memories.  Slowly, Silla, Nick and Reece come together, fascinated by the magic.  But then they get a look at the darker side: Someone is after their book.  Can they defeat this new, dark foe?  And even if they can, at what cost?

This was my favourite magic book of the year by a long shot.  It had so much going on: love, action, magic, plus it had brilliant characters and believable relationships.  I was addicted, and now I want the magic!  It was just wonderfully dark and blood-filled, and not a vamp in sight…  I really liked Blood Magic!

Silla (full name Drusilla Kennicot, poor girl) was great.  The death of her parents damaged her, made her withdraw into herself, away from her friends.  She began to wear “masks”, hiding behind mental masks for calm, happy, ect.  She described them all, and they were wonderful: so detailed and intricate.  They were a way of protecting herself from everything.  This, her flaws and scars only made me love her more: she was both vulnerable and incredibly strong.

Nick Pardee was wonderful and totally cute.  He was damaged, too, but he was so sure of himself, only not in an arrogant-obnoxious way.  I loved him!  And I loved that he called his stepmom ‘Lilith’: mother of all demons.  It was great seeing how he grew, changed, and evolved throughout the story.

Reece Kennicot was a brilliant character.  When he got into something, he became obsessed, learning everything he could about the subject – something I found completely adorable.  He was also damaged by his parents’ deaths, and he, too, withdrew into himself.  He was just a real sweetie, and a wonderful brother.  He and Silla just had a sweet and totally believable relationship.  They both took care of one another, and trusted the other with everything.  They were so close, and completely felt like brother and sister.

Their Gram Judy was wonderful.   She wasn’t Reece and Silla’s biological grandmother, but she might as well have been.  She loved them and they loved her.  She was so strong, so wise, so caring and accepting: I loved her!

As for the romance of the story: Nick and Silla were perfect!  They got one another, and their relationship felt one-hundred-per-cent real.  I could feel how much they loved one another, how they’d do anything for one another.  They were just so cute!

The writing was wonderful.  I just loved the style: split between Nick and Silla, with diary entries from the ‘baddie’, for lack of a better word.  Split POV is, as some of you may have guessed, my favourite style of writing, and Blood Magic was no exception.  I loved getting to see how both Nick and Silla looked at everything – which was often in rather different ways.  The diary entries also helped me understand the backstory better, as well as giving an insight into the events that led to those in the story.  It was interesting, intriguing and genius.

As for the magic of this book: it was absolutely amazing, unlike anything I’ve read about before.  Life blood, magic, will.  I guess it all makes actual, common sense really.  Blood keeps us alive, magic celebrates life.  The good magic was just beautiful – there’s this one scene that I could just see in my head: technicolour, stunning.  It was used for healing, reviving and protection: wonderful.  Bad magic… not so nice.  Possession, eternal life and other such things aren’t quite as nice as healing, now, are they?  But overall, the magic was completely new and totally brilliant.

And the storyline was flawless, new and quirky.  A few twists: I guessed.  But the others?  No clue.  Nada, none.  The plot was just perfect, it had so many twists and I just got completely lost in it: it was wonderful.  And there was this one part that was so sudden, so sad.  So horrible and unexpected.  I cried – I actually cried.  Plus, the action was remarkable.  Birds, corpses, deer.  There was just so much going on! Just enough blood spilled to pump me full of adrenalin, but not enough to totally creep me out.  Perfect!

This book had everything: romance, action, suspense, magic, blood.  I was absorbed from start to finish, trying to figure it all out.  I loved it!  I need the next book!  Now!

Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Wicca Series by Cate Tiernan

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCallough

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

Happy Reading

Megan