Silla's parents died in a horrible, bloody tragedy. Someone named the Deacon sent her a book of spells written in her father's handwriting. Even though she is confused and afraid, Silla takes the spell book to the cemetery...just to see what happens. Magic happens, and Nicholas sees it.
The two become involved with one another as they begin to explore the blood magic in the spell book - the same magic that haunted Nicholas's own mother. Unfortunately, a witch named Josephine, who intends to live forever, comes in search of the book and their blood. Josephine is delightfully evil, and readers get to see her back story, which is just as interesting as the main story. But Silla and Nicholas must learn to wield their new powers to save themselves and the ones they love from Josephine.
If you have a weak stomach, you may not want to read BLOOD MAGIC.
I feel like that one sentence brings together everything that is both enticing and powerful about this book. Tessa Gratton writes with such skill, description, and ease, that a reader can't help but see, smell, and feel the blood dripping from Silla's hands. And there is a lot of blood. In fact, it has been a long time since a book made me feel this queasy.
The story intertwines blood magic with a love story, friendships, family, and a love of the theater, both on stage and off. Silla's character is broken and vulnerable, and I only wish she didn't spend so much time slicing her hand open. But that's me...just call me Weak Stomach McGee.
As a fan of Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls (Shiver) series, I loved that NARKOTIKA made an appearance!
Book Extras:
Tessa Gratton Web Site
Tessa Gratton Blog
Tessa Gratton on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Merry Sisters of Fate - website with Tessa Gratton, Maggie Stiefvater, and Brenna Yovanoff
THE BLOOD KEEPER - a stand-alone companion novel to BLOOD MAGIC arrives Summer 2012
About the Book:
Blood Magic (The Blood Journals) by Tessa Gratton
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (May 24, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375867333
ISBN-13: 978-0375867330
*Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by the Amazon Vine program. Click HERE
to read all of my Amazon reviews.
3 comments:
Nice review!
I read the book myself a few weeks ago and liked it a lot and you are right there is a lot of blood ;)
Nimue
This one sounds interesting, but I am not sure just how much blood I could take. It sure sounds like there was a lot! I liked your thoughtful review, but I might have to skip this one!!
I'm not sure this one is for me, but I would like to give it a try. It sounds great.
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