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teddybears1221's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
rockymthorrorshow's review against another edition
5.0
WHAT the living SHIT. Easily the most fucked up book I have ever read, and I enjoyed every second of it. Would I recommend this? Only if I knew you really, really well and either thought you were the picture of stoicism or just really wanted you to suffer psychically or something. Would I read this again? Give me a few weeks to let the nightmares settle, and then yes, absolutely.
abaugher's review against another edition
5.0
Barry Lyga continues to bring alive the character of a serial killer in the grimmest fashion, and then the terror of the son that he will become just like his dad. He also includes the painful, but all too real and very relevant, issue of child sexual molesation. If you read this and it strikes you as too difficult to get through, it probably already happened to you.
It is crucial that teens get a chance to heal through reading of another person (fictional or not) having lived through the same trauma, and survived to make choices different from their abuser. Showing ugly doesn't mean supporting and advocating ugly.
It is crucial that teens get a chance to heal through reading of another person (fictional or not) having lived through the same trauma, and survived to make choices different from their abuser. Showing ugly doesn't mean supporting and advocating ugly.
athnyx230's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
Minor: Vomit and Excrement
mars_aria's review against another edition
3.0
My Rating - 3/5 stars
There are spoilers in this review (so after this first sentence, stop reading if you care).
Overall, Barry Lyga is a really great writer, but this last novel of the "I Hunt Killers" series I did not like (as much as I did the first two books).
Here are some things I did not like about "Blood of My Blood" that prompt me to only give it only 3 stars:
1) There were too many twists and turns. After a while, it kind of got hard to keep up because things kept changing (i.e. there being no name under father for the birth certificate).
2) The whole "Oedipus" thing.....EEEEWWWWWW.
3) The side focus of race (I get that they live in the middle of nowhere in the South, but really?) or more specifically inter-racial dating.
4) The Crow King thing... it was an original idea, but it fell short for me. It was unexpected to find out who the king really was (I guess it's nice to surprise your readers), but the whole sibling duo thing made more sense to me.
5) The time jump at the end. I don't understand why YA fiction writers nowadays (i.e. the Hunger Games series, the Harry Potter series, the Divergent series) feel it's necessary to end a book series with a time jump! Why, writers?? Why???
6) I was left with one main frustrating question: How the hell is all of this chaos going to be portrayed as an ABC Family television show where Jazz is a girl? I mean, doesn't that change a lot??
7) The book seemed unnecessarily long at some parts, so much so that it dragged and had to take a break from reading it (if it's good, I shouldn't have to). This dragging feeling did not occur until towards the end of the book; the beginning was smooth and fast-paced.
Things I did like:
1) Connie escaped Billy! How neat is that? No one ever had before.
2) Jazz did not have to go to jail! Yay!
3) Billy's paralyzed from the waste down and in prison again! Yay!
4) Most importantly, Jazz is alive and able to function! Whoo-hoo!
5) Jazz got a mostly happy ending despite everything looking so bleak (being able to stay with Connie, becoming rich, having at least one decent relative).
6) I liked that the ending scene with Jazz and his mom showed how he was FINALLY in control of his life.
Overall, I liked the series. I just wasn't that enthused with some of the things that went on in the conclusion.
There are spoilers in this review (so after this first sentence, stop reading if you care).
Overall, Barry Lyga is a really great writer, but this last novel of the "I Hunt Killers" series I did not like (as much as I did the first two books).
Here are some things I did not like about "Blood of My Blood" that prompt me to only give it only 3 stars:
1) There were too many twists and turns. After a while, it kind of got hard to keep up because things kept changing (i.e. there being no name under father for the birth certificate).
2) The whole "Oedipus" thing.....EEEEWWWWWW.
3) The side focus of race (I get that they live in the middle of nowhere in the South, but really?) or more specifically inter-racial dating.
4) The Crow King thing... it was an original idea, but it fell short for me. It was unexpected to find out who the king really was (I guess it's nice to surprise your readers), but the whole sibling duo thing made more sense to me.
5) The time jump at the end. I don't understand why YA fiction writers nowadays (i.e. the Hunger Games series, the Harry Potter series, the Divergent series) feel it's necessary to end a book series with a time jump! Why, writers?? Why???
6) I was left with one main frustrating question: How the hell is all of this chaos going to be portrayed as an ABC Family television show where Jazz is a girl? I mean, doesn't that change a lot??
7) The book seemed unnecessarily long at some parts, so much so that it dragged and had to take a break from reading it (if it's good, I shouldn't have to). This dragging feeling did not occur until towards the end of the book; the beginning was smooth and fast-paced.
Things I did like:
1) Connie escaped Billy! How neat is that? No one ever had before.
2) Jazz did not have to go to jail! Yay!
3) Billy's paralyzed from the waste down and in prison again! Yay!
4) Most importantly, Jazz is alive and able to function! Whoo-hoo!
5) Jazz got a mostly happy ending despite everything looking so bleak (being able to stay with Connie, becoming rich, having at least one decent relative).
6) I liked that the ending scene with Jazz and his mom showed how he was FINALLY in control of his life.
Overall, I liked the series. I just wasn't that enthused with some of the things that went on in the conclusion.
katie1031's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
This book was a great ending to the trilogy. However, I did guess the big twist in book 1. I thought it was going to be the twist in that book but I ended up happening here. Overall I'm glad I picked these up. I flew through them which is a testament to how much I enjoyed them and how well they kept my interest.
This book was a great ending to the trilogy. However, I did guess the big twist in book 1. I thought it was going to be the twist in that book but I ended up happening here. Overall I'm glad I picked these up. I flew through them which is a testament to how much I enjoyed them and how well they kept my interest.
xxrrir's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
chemwitch's review against another edition
2.0
So I've been thinking about why I didn't like this book and I just...
It's so over-the-top. The twist was obvious - I'd guessed his mother was involved back in book two. The ending was flat. Jazz didn't seem to get any consequences. Then he works for the FBI? Seems a little ridiculous. And the ending with his mom was just... Okay. It just wasn't a satisfying conclusion at all.
I really don't know what else to say about this. It wasn't for me.
1/18/19: I... didn't like this one? I'm shook considering how much I enjoyed the first two.
It's so over-the-top. The twist was obvious - I'd guessed his mother was involved back in book two. The ending was flat. Jazz didn't seem to get any consequences. Then he works for the FBI? Seems a little ridiculous. And the ending with his mom was just... Okay. It just wasn't a satisfying conclusion at all.
I really don't know what else to say about this. It wasn't for me.
1/18/19: I... didn't like this one? I'm shook considering how much I enjoyed the first two.