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roxiethebookslayer's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Full rtc
positivelyhorror's review
5.0
Blood and Water was a very tense read that starts with a feeling of unease that doesn't let up until the end. It is a very bleak and quite nihilistic story that is quite relevant with the pandemic we've been living through for the past year.
lou88's review
4.0
4.5/5 Stars
But I’m going to do things a little different from other book reviews and I’ve done my best not to include anything that could spoil the story for you, though the five words below will be explained at the end will contain some spoilers.
To start with I’m going to give five words to describe the book;
Family
Hope
Trust
Death
Desperation
We are immediately show a world that is gripped by a deadly disease that will kill you in three weeks. And there is no, known cure. London has gone from a nosy and bustling city to a silent and eerie place.
The story centres on Jay, his friends; Sean and Melanie and Jay’s sister Maia. The virus doesn’t take centre stage, instead the relationships between the characters are the main focus. We see how the relationships grow and change as the story goes on. The characters are written like real people, doing things many of us would do if we were in their situation.
Throughout the story we are given flash backs from Jay about the happier times in his life, evolving his friends and family, which is great for us readers and giving us some background information to the characters and their world.
SPOLIERS AHEAD!
Family – Jay, Sean, Melanie and Maia are more than just friends they are family. Sean and Melanie where there for Jay and Maia when their parents got the virus.
Hope – Each character hopes for something; a cure, more time… And that hope is so strong that it pushes them all to make a dangerous and tiring journey to France.
Trust – Jay, Sean, Melanie and Maia trust each other as friends and a family should. Jay even trusts Dr Devereaux to help and find a cure for his sister Maia, a trust that might be misplaced.
Death – One of the biggest themes in this book. We learn that Jay and Maia have lost both of their parents and learned the stages of the diseases at the same time. They know it’s coming so Melanie has Jay make a list of things he wants to do before he dies. Even though he’s accepted that their might not be a cure, if there is any chance of one existing Jay wants Maia to have it not him.
Desperation – Jay sleeping with Dr Devereaux seemed to me, to be an act of Desperation. He had originally wanted to be with Melanie but she didn’t want him. Jay’s relationship with Dr Devereaux does seem to develop more but betrays and death put a sudden stop to it.
But I’m going to do things a little different from other book reviews and I’ve done my best not to include anything that could spoil the story for you, though the five words below will be explained at the end will contain some spoilers.
To start with I’m going to give five words to describe the book;
Family
Hope
Trust
Death
Desperation
We are immediately show a world that is gripped by a deadly disease that will kill you in three weeks. And there is no, known cure. London has gone from a nosy and bustling city to a silent and eerie place.
The story centres on Jay, his friends; Sean and Melanie and Jay’s sister Maia. The virus doesn’t take centre stage, instead the relationships between the characters are the main focus. We see how the relationships grow and change as the story goes on. The characters are written like real people, doing things many of us would do if we were in their situation.
Throughout the story we are given flash backs from Jay about the happier times in his life, evolving his friends and family, which is great for us readers and giving us some background information to the characters and their world.
SPOLIERS AHEAD!
Family – Jay, Sean, Melanie and Maia are more than just friends they are family. Sean and Melanie where there for Jay and Maia when their parents got the virus.
Hope – Each character hopes for something; a cure, more time… And that hope is so strong that it pushes them all to make a dangerous and tiring journey to France.
Trust – Jay, Sean, Melanie and Maia trust each other as friends and a family should. Jay even trusts Dr Devereaux to help and find a cure for his sister Maia, a trust that might be misplaced.
Death – One of the biggest themes in this book. We learn that Jay and Maia have lost both of their parents and learned the stages of the diseases at the same time. They know it’s coming so Melanie has Jay make a list of things he wants to do before he dies. Even though he’s accepted that their might not be a cure, if there is any chance of one existing Jay wants Maia to have it not him.
Desperation – Jay sleeping with Dr Devereaux seemed to me, to be an act of Desperation. He had originally wanted to be with Melanie but she didn’t want him. Jay’s relationship with Dr Devereaux does seem to develop more but betrays and death put a sudden stop to it.
earlgreybooks's review
5.0
Originally posted at Tea & Titles
Um, wow.
I’d been looking for more writing blogs to follow when I found Briana’s blog. I can’t remember what post it was, but the first thing I saw was the cover of Blood and Water and I thought it was absolutely gorgeous. The thing is, I don’t often buy e-books because I use the website Scribd and I think paying for a subscription for that and then buying e-books on top is a little counterproductive. So I was just chilling on Twitter one afternoon when Briana tweeted that the book had gone live on Scribd.
I started reading it about an hour later once I’d done the few things I had to do. It took literally two hours to read the book, and it probably would have been quicker than that if I hadn’t had to stop so many times to remind myself to breathe. I think that probably sums up the general feel of this book. Every now and again, I’ll finish a book that has been so anxiety inducing that I just have to lie down for a minute so I don’t pass out. This was one of those books. I am literally shaking as I write this review, and my mind is still racing.
Let’s try and make this an actual review, hey? Firstly, the characters—I love them. I can sympathise with Jay in a way that I didn’t really expect to. I don’t always connect with male protagonists, but with Jay I could sort of relate to him. I understand his need to protect his friends and his family, and the lengths he goes to do that. I really loved Maia, Melanie and Sean but I can’t really explain why without ruining anything. I can say that they all had a really great relationship which I loved reading about.
If you hadn’t already guessed from my little spiel up there, this book is intense. Really intense. Even just thinking about the plot is making my heart race again. I love a good dystopian/apocalyptic book, but recently I’ve kind of being staying away from them because every one I read was pretty much the same. I was so so happy to see that this was different. There were so many moments I just wanted to scream through the screen because I was freaking out about what was happening. I definitely did not expect this to go down the road it did.
Excuse me, while I go do some breathing exercises.
Um, wow.
I’d been looking for more writing blogs to follow when I found Briana’s blog. I can’t remember what post it was, but the first thing I saw was the cover of Blood and Water and I thought it was absolutely gorgeous. The thing is, I don’t often buy e-books because I use the website Scribd and I think paying for a subscription for that and then buying e-books on top is a little counterproductive. So I was just chilling on Twitter one afternoon when Briana tweeted that the book had gone live on Scribd.
I started reading it about an hour later once I’d done the few things I had to do. It took literally two hours to read the book, and it probably would have been quicker than that if I hadn’t had to stop so many times to remind myself to breathe. I think that probably sums up the general feel of this book. Every now and again, I’ll finish a book that has been so anxiety inducing that I just have to lie down for a minute so I don’t pass out. This was one of those books. I am literally shaking as I write this review, and my mind is still racing.
Let’s try and make this an actual review, hey? Firstly, the characters—I love them. I can sympathise with Jay in a way that I didn’t really expect to. I don’t always connect with male protagonists, but with Jay I could sort of relate to him. I understand his need to protect his friends and his family, and the lengths he goes to do that. I really loved Maia, Melanie and Sean but I can’t really explain why without ruining anything. I can say that they all had a really great relationship which I loved reading about.
If you hadn’t already guessed from my little spiel up there, this book is intense. Really intense. Even just thinking about the plot is making my heart race again. I love a good dystopian/apocalyptic book, but recently I’ve kind of being staying away from them because every one I read was pretty much the same. I was so so happy to see that this was different. There were so many moments I just wanted to scream through the screen because I was freaking out about what was happening. I definitely did not expect this to go down the road it did.
Excuse me, while I go do some breathing exercises.
motherhorror's review
4.0
3.5 rounded up for Goodreads!
This book, BLOOD & WATER is a slight departure from my regular reading program but I felt like after getting to know the author, Briana on social media and learning of her hard work and dedication, I needed to show my support by reading and reviewing.
This is the story of a group of young people who are struggling in the wake of what appears to be a global disaster--a widespread, viral pandemic killing over half of the world's population.
Most of the main characters have contracted the deadly virus and time is running out for them--our protagonist, Jay, seems to have been sick the longest. His sister, Maia, is showing early symptoms. These two are joined by Jay's best friend Sean and his girlfriend Melanie--who also might be in love with Jay, so we have this love triangle pretty early on.
The story sets a fast pace developing the story with clear descriptions of setting & conflict as well as rapid-fire dialog that feels authentic and natural. I love that the chapters are short and end with a hook that keeps the reader engaged; turning those pages.
I will say that all the romance was a bit tedious for me, especially since the protagonists are much younger than myself and it felt a little bit self-absorbed in light of the dire situation they were all in. But it was handled with the utmost care and concern from the author as I could easily tell that character development is Briana's primary driving force. I really do appreciate that because nothing is less compelling than characters you don't care about going on some kind of epic adventure that falls horribly flat.
If I can't invest, why do I care about what happens to the people in the story?
So Briana Morgan certainly has characterization under her belt. Also, she dealt with the symptoms of disease rather well and believably. Some chapters had me feeling sympathy pains for the poor characters as they vomit up thick bloody bile and such--it felt really painful and distressing.
Morgan also taps her reader's emotions. I wasn't expecting that and it was a welcomed attribute of her writing.
Still, my horror heart longed for way less relationship drama and more bite--more teeth--more, well, horror...but that's just me and my endless appetite for destruction.
This was a solid 3.5 read for me, I enjoyed it but only as much as YA and love stuff can, ya know?
I highly recommend for fans of dystopian, young adult drama and romance.
This book, BLOOD & WATER is a slight departure from my regular reading program but I felt like after getting to know the author, Briana on social media and learning of her hard work and dedication, I needed to show my support by reading and reviewing.
This is the story of a group of young people who are struggling in the wake of what appears to be a global disaster--a widespread, viral pandemic killing over half of the world's population.
Most of the main characters have contracted the deadly virus and time is running out for them--our protagonist, Jay, seems to have been sick the longest. His sister, Maia, is showing early symptoms. These two are joined by Jay's best friend Sean and his girlfriend Melanie--who also might be in love with Jay, so we have this love triangle pretty early on.
The story sets a fast pace developing the story with clear descriptions of setting & conflict as well as rapid-fire dialog that feels authentic and natural. I love that the chapters are short and end with a hook that keeps the reader engaged; turning those pages.
I will say that all the romance was a bit tedious for me, especially since the protagonists are much younger than myself and it felt a little bit self-absorbed in light of the dire situation they were all in. But it was handled with the utmost care and concern from the author as I could easily tell that character development is Briana's primary driving force. I really do appreciate that because nothing is less compelling than characters you don't care about going on some kind of epic adventure that falls horribly flat.
If I can't invest, why do I care about what happens to the people in the story?
So Briana Morgan certainly has characterization under her belt. Also, she dealt with the symptoms of disease rather well and believably. Some chapters had me feeling sympathy pains for the poor characters as they vomit up thick bloody bile and such--it felt really painful and distressing.
Morgan also taps her reader's emotions. I wasn't expecting that and it was a welcomed attribute of her writing.
Still, my horror heart longed for way less relationship drama and more bite--more teeth--more, well, horror...but that's just me and my endless appetite for destruction.
This was a solid 3.5 read for me, I enjoyed it but only as much as YA and love stuff can, ya know?
I highly recommend for fans of dystopian, young adult drama and romance.
avalonroselin's review
3.0
Not for the squeamish
A tense and anxiety inducing read that is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. Unfortunately I did not care for the romance elements, but I still recommend it, especially if you do like darker romance elements.
A tense and anxiety inducing read that is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. Unfortunately I did not care for the romance elements, but I still recommend it, especially if you do like darker romance elements.
lauren_elizabeth91's review
4.0
Can you call a dark book a fun read? Because that's exactly what this was. Despite the book finishing at under 200 pages, the characters are well developed and complex creatures. The relationships between Jay, Maia, Melanie, and Sean felt realistic and made me keep reading. There's a twist and enough tension to keep the pages turning. You'll finish this book before you know it! Definitely recommend for those looking for something a little dark that doesn't hit you over the head with sadness and doom.
tahernandez's review
5.0
It was such a pleasure to read this again after its rerelease and rediscover the characters and their struggles. Morgan's writing style is beautifully clear and poignant and the book provides all the elements of a great story: an interesting premise, intriguing characters, unexpected twists, depth, and emotion. I loved it.
This is very much a character-driven story more than it is a plot story, so the book focuses more on characters and their inner journey rather than external plot and conflict, though there was definitely enough of that to keep things interesting. The author embraced that, allowing the story to center on the characters, and I thought it worked really well. Jay was particularly well-written as the novel's protagonist. The relationships between him and other characters in the story were developed nicely. Since much of the story centers around those relationships, I appreciated that the author did such a great job with that aspect of Jay's character. I easily identified with him and his emotional struggles (and there were a lot of those), rejoicing in his triumphs and aching for his sadness and heartbreaks.
I'm a huge sucker for bittersweet endings and this story definitely delivered in that regard. It was still a satisfying ending though, and I can't imagine things turning out any other way. If you're looking for a great YA book with strong characters, this is one worth reading.
This is very much a character-driven story more than it is a plot story, so the book focuses more on characters and their inner journey rather than external plot and conflict, though there was definitely enough of that to keep things interesting. The author embraced that, allowing the story to center on the characters, and I thought it worked really well. Jay was particularly well-written as the novel's protagonist. The relationships between him and other characters in the story were developed nicely. Since much of the story centers around those relationships, I appreciated that the author did such a great job with that aspect of Jay's character. I easily identified with him and his emotional struggles (and there were a lot of those), rejoicing in his triumphs and aching for his sadness and heartbreaks.
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