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A review by motherhorror
Blood and Water by Briana Morgan
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.