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bookstagramrepresent's review
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
0.25
I don’t even know what I just read but it was not good.
Kat, the Poor woke white girl MC - constantly mentions or shows off how much better she is than everyone else in the Vampire school, a lot of the racism and homophobia scenes are used just to show how much better she is than the other characters which is a huge problem. When she asks about why there aren’t more students of color one character doesn't know why and can list all of them for her because there are so few POC student and another asks her if she really thinks they would want to be at Harcote given the elitist racist vampire offspring - it is NEVER discussed that even if these other students of color wanted to go to Harcote they are not even granted an opportunity because of the racist school headmaster (a lot like what we see in real life with higher education institutions and academia circles). The racism in this book is so insidious.
There is a part where she's struggling to figure out her sexuality/queer identity while still dating a boy from school and those scenes are odd. She remembers her two queer human friends from home and their isn't anything really mentioned other than " just knowing" you're queer. I was hoping for more acceptance with this struggle but she magically figures herself out after berating herself for even questioning and this too comes across harmful. It's OKAY to not know who you are or where you might be in the queer spectrum. For someone who is supposed to be a 2022 teen coming from such an open and woke community in California this doesn't match with how she is in the other parts of the book. She's also not inclusive at all with the language she uses for someone who is supposed to be so woke.
Taylor is the other mc with a POV in the book and she faces a lot of lesbophobia which is not handled well or just used to make Kat look better or Taylor look like even more of a loaner. It's weird because while she is the only out queer person at the school she never once considers there could be other queer students until the absolute end of the book. She also comes across absolutely obsessed with Kat while engaging in a very toxic and secret relationship with another character. She's honestly so selfish in her POV scenes.
Kat, the Poor woke white girl MC - constantly mentions or shows off how much better she is than everyone else in the Vampire school, a lot of the racism and homophobia scenes are used just to show how much better she is than the other characters which is a huge problem. When she asks about why there aren’t more students of color one character doesn't know why and can list all of them for her because there are so few POC student and another asks her if she really thinks they would want to be at Harcote given the elitist racist vampire offspring - it is NEVER discussed that even if these other students of color wanted to go to Harcote they are not even granted an opportunity because of the racist school headmaster (a lot like what we see in real life with higher education institutions and academia circles). The racism in this book is so insidious.
There is a part where she's struggling to figure out her sexuality/queer identity while still dating a boy from school and those scenes are odd. She remembers her two queer human friends from home and their isn't anything really mentioned other than " just knowing" you're queer. I was hoping for more acceptance with this struggle but she magically figures herself out after berating herself for even questioning and this too comes across harmful. It's OKAY to not know who you are or where you might be in the queer spectrum. For someone who is supposed to be a 2022 teen coming from such an open and woke community in California this doesn't match with how she is in the other parts of the book. She's also not inclusive at all with the language she uses for someone who is supposed to be so woke.
Taylor is the other mc with a POV in the book and she faces a lot of lesbophobia which is not handled well or just used to make Kat look better or Taylor look like even more of a loaner. It's weird because while she is the only out queer person at the school she never once considers there could be other queer students until the absolute end of the book. She also comes across absolutely obsessed with Kat while engaging in a very toxic and secret relationship with another character. She's honestly so selfish in her POV scenes.
There are two Asian characters in this book. One is LucyK who is specifically mentioned as being Chinese when we first meet her (page 37 - I guess the white mc can just tell what kind of asian everyone is) and she is written as the mean girl's bff/sidekick. LucyK is a social media influencer and later holds an off campus vamp party in NYC SOHO and a really violent scene happens. Lucy tricked 4 winners of her social media contest to come party with her in the city and they are used as feeders for the vamp party. It's all completely nonconsenual and the other characters talk about how Lucy always throws these parties. Just Lucy. I shouldn’t have to explain why this is so harmful to link the ONLY visible Chinese character to violence against people who cannot defend themselves.
The other Asian character is the love interest king of the school type Galen. He is British and Indian. There is a whole scene (page 146) where he talks about how his white British father worked for the British East India company and that's how he met his mother in India, (who came from a wealthy merchant family so it's okay because "He didn't just make off with a helpless girl from some village" I cannot with this apologist colonizer bs. Racist apologist white colonizer passage shouldn’t have been in here PERIOD *screams* IDK why the woke mc didn’t call this out after she constantly comments on everything else. Kat asks him why he's not in the Students of Color Caucus and he basically replies that he's too busy and it's not for him which comes across as being beneath him and his status. I’m tired of white authors making their characters biracial for flavor and then disrespecting the nonwhite half! Galen is an odd character, his one dimensional even when his character goes from supporting the status quo to trying to make things better. He also constantly forces himself on Kat, she even has a panic attack and a few other terrible physical reactions to him that he completely doesn't notice and just does what he wants anyway. She doesn't even process this trauma but we see the effect it has on her throughout their time together.
The other Asian character is the love interest king of the school type Galen. He is British and Indian. There is a whole scene (page 146) where he talks about how his white British father worked for the British East India company and that's how he met his mother in India, (who came from a wealthy merchant family so it's okay because "He didn't just make off with a helpless girl from some village" I cannot with this apologist colonizer bs. Racist apologist white colonizer passage shouldn’t have been in here PERIOD *screams* IDK why the woke mc didn’t call this out after she constantly comments on everything else. Kat asks him why he's not in the Students of Color Caucus and he basically replies that he's too busy and it's not for him which comes across as being beneath him and his status. I’m tired of white authors making their characters biracial for flavor and then disrespecting the nonwhite half! Galen is an odd character, his one dimensional even when his character goes from supporting the status quo to trying to make things better. He also constantly forces himself on Kat, she even has a panic attack and a few other terrible physical reactions to him that he completely doesn't notice and just does what he wants anyway. She doesn't even process this trauma but we see the effect it has on her throughout their time together.
Unnecessary HP reference in the arc WHICH SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Replaced with a Stars Wars reference which still comes off as ableist. Funny how that did not make it better.
There is a lot of ableist language (like the use of lame no one says this anymore please just stop) and the way things related with the disease in the book was just not handled well. The disease was created by one of the bad guys and put into BATS to spread into humanity. After everything we have endured with Asian Hate this pandemic that should NOT have been a plot point. The history of the disease in the book plays out almost like the HIV/AIDS epidemic and this does not sit right with me. The disease is also used to murder a character in the middle of the storyline and the way it's used as a threat is just wrong.
I've seen several other reviewers on bookstagram call out the Antisemitism in this book as well. There are a lot of Antisemitic vampire tropes in this book and it's worth reading up on that.
I've seen several other reviewers on bookstagram call out the Antisemitism in this book as well. There are a lot of Antisemitic vampire tropes in this book and it's worth reading up on that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Ableism, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cursing
melaniereadsbooks's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for the arc of this book!
Kat has wanted nothing more than to go to the Harcotte school for Youngblood Vampires and be among her own kind. When her dream is realized through an anonymous donor, she goes despite her mother's insistence that she stay. But it turns out her roommate is Taylor, her ex-best-friend and betrayer. And perhaps her mom was right about her not going to the school...
This book started so strong! Kat is a really interesting character and there are a lot of threads to follow throughout the story. There were a lot of different mysteries and realizations that kept the story interesting and moving along quickly, and the tension between Kat and Taylor was awesome. I really love Taylor and her unapologetic queerness and I loved to get to see inside her head as well as Kats. Galen was also a really interesting character! I honestly wish he had been able to do more.
Was I incredibly disappointed by the HP reference? Yes, yes I was. But I heard that that will be taken out for the final version, which I hope is true. In the end, my rating was lowered a little because I wasn't satisfied by the pacing at the end or how everything turned out. I was really invested for the first 90%, but it just didn't end strong for me.
That being said, I overall really enjoyed this one!
Kat has wanted nothing more than to go to the Harcotte school for Youngblood Vampires and be among her own kind. When her dream is realized through an anonymous donor, she goes despite her mother's insistence that she stay. But it turns out her roommate is Taylor, her ex-best-friend and betrayer. And perhaps her mom was right about her not going to the school...
This book started so strong! Kat is a really interesting character and there are a lot of threads to follow throughout the story. There were a lot of different mysteries and realizations that kept the story interesting and moving along quickly, and the tension between Kat and Taylor was awesome. I really love Taylor and her unapologetic queerness and I loved to get to see inside her head as well as Kats. Galen was also a really interesting character! I honestly wish he had been able to do more.
Was I incredibly disappointed by the HP reference? Yes, yes I was. But I heard that that will be taken out for the final version, which I hope is true. In the end, my rating was lowered a little because I wasn't satisfied by the pacing at the end or how everything turned out. I was really invested for the first 90%, but it just didn't end strong for me.
That being said, I overall really enjoyed this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Grief, Bullying, Homophobia, and Ableism
Minor: Death of parent
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
(14-March edit: Author has confirmed the reference will be removed! Am very excited!)
I really enjoyed this one, but the HP reference at 93% was really unnecessary. WHY!? Especially in a queer book. WHY!?
Youngblood follows estranged best friends Kat Finn and Taylor Sanger. As vampires, both of them are dependent on Hema, a blood substitute. But their access to Hema is very different. Kat and her mother live in poverty and can barely afford Hema and their rent. When Kat is offered a full ride scholarship and all other expenses paid to Harcote School, a private academy, for young vampires, she jumps at the chance to lift a burden from her mother.
When Kat and Taylor become roommates, they decide to be civil with each other. When Taylor finds the body of her vampire teacher and Kat unearths secrets in the school archive, the two realize much more is happening at Harcote than any of the other students realize. Taylor has always been an out and proud lesbian, and Kat has always thought she was straight, but she comes to think that she might have feelings for her roommate after all.
I really enjoyed this one. I love boarding school stories. I was so excited to see one about queer vampires finally. Gave me so many Vampire Academy vibes, but even better! I loved both Kat and Taylor as characters. The chemistry between these two was almost unbearable. I swear I spent most of this book going "Kiss Already!". It was such a great slow burn, and I really appreciated seeing Kat's questioning journey on page, I think a lot of sapphic queer people will relate.
One thing that did bug me was that Kat is all for social justice activism, but refers to multiple people as "guys". She disparages the Headmaster for using "ladies and gentleman" as a non-inclusive phrase (and she's right), but she also doesn't use gender neutral language. Guys is not a gender neutral term, but some that are: y'all, people, everyone, friends, cowards etc. Making an inherently masculine term the default is the opposite of being gender neutral. It really bugs me that she seemed to be so progressive on similar issues, but not this one? Made me sad.
Rep: white questioning-sapphic female MC, white lesbian female MC, white queer nonbinary side character, Salvadorian gay male side character, Chinese female side character, biracial white-Indian male side character, Black side character (briefly mentioned).
CWs: Lesbophobia/lesbomisia, blood, murder, violence, panic attack. Moderate: general queerphobia/queermisia, racism, ableist language, biological warfare, death, medical content.
(14-March edit: Author has confirmed the reference will be removed! Am very excited!)
Youngblood follows estranged best friends Kat Finn and Taylor Sanger. As vampires, both of them are dependent on Hema, a blood substitute. But their access to Hema is very different. Kat and her mother live in poverty and can barely afford Hema and their rent. When Kat is offered a full ride scholarship and all other expenses paid to Harcote School, a private academy, for young vampires, she jumps at the chance to lift a burden from her mother.
When Kat and Taylor become roommates, they decide to be civil with each other. When Taylor finds the body of her vampire teacher and Kat unearths secrets in the school archive, the two realize much more is happening at Harcote than any of the other students realize. Taylor has always been an out and proud lesbian, and Kat has always thought she was straight, but she comes to think that she might have feelings for her roommate after all.
I really enjoyed this one. I love boarding school stories. I was so excited to see one about queer vampires finally. Gave me so many Vampire Academy vibes, but even better! I loved both Kat and Taylor as characters. The chemistry between these two was almost unbearable. I swear I spent most of this book going "Kiss Already!". It was such a great slow burn, and I really appreciated seeing Kat's questioning journey on page, I think a lot of sapphic queer people will relate.
One thing that did bug me was that Kat is all for social justice activism, but refers to multiple people as "guys". She disparages the Headmaster for using "ladies and gentleman" as a non-inclusive phrase (and she's right), but she also doesn't use gender neutral language. Guys is not a gender neutral term, but some that are: y'all, people, everyone, friends, cowards etc. Making an inherently masculine term the default is the opposite of being gender neutral. It really bugs me that she seemed to be so progressive on similar issues, but not this one? Made me sad.
Rep: white questioning-sapphic female MC, white lesbian female MC, white queer nonbinary side character, Salvadorian gay male side character, Chinese female side character, biracial white-Indian male side character, Black side character (briefly mentioned).
CWs: Lesbophobia/lesbomisia, blood, murder, violence, panic attack. Moderate: general queerphobia/queermisia, racism, ableist language, biological warfare, death, medical content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Medical content, and Racism
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