Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

Release Date: 24th May, 2011

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 405pgs

The Story

Everywhere Silla Kennicott turns she sees blood. She can't stop thinking about her parents alleged murder-suicide. She is consumed by a book filled with spells that arrives mysteriously in the mail. The spells share one common ingredient: blood, and Silla is more than willing to cast a few. What's a little spilled blood if she can uncover the truth? And then there's Nick - the new guy at school who makes her pulse race. He has a few secrets of his own and is all too familiar with the lure of blood magic. Drawn together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick must find out who else in their small Missouri town knows their secret and will do anything to take the book and magic from Silla.

The Review

As soon as I heard about this book and reading all of the rave reviews, I knew it was going to be my kind of story! Blood. Magic. Love. Mystery. Yes - I was right. But I didn't like it . . . I LOVED every moment of it! A lot of young adult books haven't been uniquely written (at least when it comes to magic and romance), but with BLOOD MAGIC it brought a fresh insight into the world of witchy magic and I've read plenty in the past, but nothing will be so unique than this one right here since it's brought something new onto the table. For which, I'm thankful for. From the interesting journal accounts of magic to the mysterious deaths of Silla's parents, this book will bewitch you!

The thing I loved most about BLOOD MAGIC was the alternative POV chapters told between Silla and Nicholas, our main heroines. Each of these characters had their lives affected by magic which ultimately brought them together and boy . . . they awesome. But while the story is being told by two characters, you will also be introduced to a character named Josephine Darly, whom you'll learn more about throughout the book. She's weird that one. But let's talk about the main characters.

First you have Silla. There's a lot of things I loved about her. Silla maybe considered the "weirdo girl" in her town, but to me, she was sooooo fascinating. When her parents died, Silla then used the likes of acting to pretend everything in her life was fine - to mask away what she truly feels about her parents death and how it's affected her. Until Nicholas shows up. Through all the masks she puts up to hide herself away, Nicholas can still see right through it all. He gets her in ways no one can, and most importantly, he's the type of person Silla needs in her life in order to become a stronger person, to fight away the evils that are in her way. He brought her to life both through magic - magic she's only just discovering - and through her personality. By the way, I LOVED Silla's brother! However, what the author did to him . . . so NOT cool!

And lastly, you have Nicholas. Nicholas . . . Nicholas . . . Nicholas! Why are you so awesome? Why are you so hot? Why are you so fascinating like Silla? From the very first page, I loved everything there was to know about him and I wanted to know more! He's straightforward, snarky, super fun to read about, and he's just the type of character you have to care about! Now unlike Silla here, Nicholas knows all too well about blood magic and what it can do to people. He should know considering his mother went crazy! The thing that was great about Nicholas's character was that he seemed more relatable to readers than Silla was (though Silla did relate to me in some level of not caring what people think), but nonetheless, both of the characters were essential to the story. The only thing I hated about dear old Nick was the way he called Silla 'babe' all the time. I hate that girlfriend nickname!

Overall, I thought BLOOD MAGIC unfolds unlike any other story I've read. It's so flawless in its details and writing, not to mention the steamy making-out scenes that helped the story too! *evil grin* And the bloody scenes . . . Whoops! It's called BLOOD MAGIC for a reason (here's a spoiler): there's plenty of blood for you blood fanatics! While BLOOD MAGIC seemed very familiar to Beautiful Creatures story, but damn me for saying this . . . shamefully I love this book MUCH MORE! Even with Silla who's a lot like Lena in a way and the same goes for Nicholas who has the same likeness to Ethan's character, BLOOD MAGIC rocked in a way even Beautiful Creatures cannot! Anyway, the message I got from the books was that no matter where you come from or who your family are, it's what you do NOW that defines you! I don't know if that's the same message other readers got, but that's what it was for me. When it comes down to it, READ THIS BOOK OR YOU'LL REGRET IT! If you loved Beautiful Creatures, then you'll love this!

The Rating

5 /5 stars