Net Galley Review: Blood by K. J. Wignall
Publisher: Egmont USA
Publication date: 09/27/2011
Audience: YA 13 and up [tweens/teens]
“The year was 1813 and, though it had taken the best part of a century, I had learned a valuable lesson, that death wanted me no more than life did. I was forever suspended between those two states and I believed it would always be so.” Pg 152
Will, a 16-year-old boy, was bitten and left alone to survive in the year 1256. He knows nothing about the creature that created him, only that it has forced him to live alone without family, without humanity…without love. He wakes on and off for hundreds of years, never gaining any knowledge of his destiny, until he wakes up in the twenty-first century. Seeking nourishment, he finds Lex, a man who seems to be alone and who will not be missed. As Will approaches him, Lex enters a trance and speaks to Will as if he knows him. Distracted by the smell of blood, Will drinks from Lex, taking his life from him. Before leaving, Will finds Lex’s notebook, and is shocked to see a name underlined on one of the pages- William Mercia. His name.
To add to his confusion, Will meets Eloise, a beautiful girl whose picture he first saw sketched in the mysterious notebook. They are connected, and Will struggles with their relationship knowing that love is impossible, even though she seems to be the girl he had been looking for… for seven centuries. As Will and Eloise face the dangerous reality of Will’s past and future, they desperately search for the evil being responsible for stealing Will’s humanity.
Blood, written by K. J. Wignall, gave me a fresh perspective on a hot teen topic: vampires. It offers an unexpected love story intertwined with dangerous spirits and evil beings. The characters are likable, in fact, I found myself rooting for Will to reach out to Eloise- to trust her. The fact that these two experience attraction and feelings in the midst of mystery and chaos keeps the reader captivated by the story. There is just enough violence and action to tempt teen boys, and the right touches of forbidden romance to capture the girls. Blood is a winner, and will surly attract tween/teens who love a story with all the right elements: the undead, a mysterious past, and impossible love.
