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A review by orianymoom
Youngblood by Sasha Laurens
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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
2.5
on the surface, not terrible... it was generally entertaining and it did get me out of a reading slump, so it has that going for it :)
there is lesbian vampires and a murder mystery set at an elite boarding school, so the premise intrigued me and while I can't say it's bad, there is some room for improvement: the story only really picked up at about 60% in, the twists were highly predictable and the two main characters were just regurgitating the same points over and over again, so they felt a little flat...
there is also the very heavy-handed discussion of racism, classism and homophobia and while other people in these reviews (which i recommend reading) make much better, more educated points in that regard, i agree that it felt shoe-horned and perfomative and at least the racism aspect would have made much more sense if one of the main characters were a person of colour, because having them both be white kinda reeks of white savior complex... altogether, you could tell the author was well intentioned and trying, it just wasn't executed all too well...
the writing style is definitely aimed at a younger teenage audience, but i really liked the friends-to-enemies-to-idiots-to-lovers romance and the boarding school setting and the vampire lore were pretty well done too :)
2,5 out of 5 stars, not the best but i did enjoy it for the most part and do not regret picking it up :)
there is lesbian vampires and a murder mystery set at an elite boarding school, so the premise intrigued me and while I can't say it's bad, there is some room for improvement: the story only really picked up at about 60% in, the twists were highly predictable and the two main characters were just regurgitating the same points over and over again, so they felt a little flat...
there is also the very heavy-handed discussion of racism, classism and homophobia and while other people in these reviews (which i recommend reading) make much better, more educated points in that regard, i agree that it felt shoe-horned and perfomative and at least the racism aspect would have made much more sense if one of the main characters were a person of colour, because having them both be white kinda reeks of white savior complex... altogether, you could tell the author was well intentioned and trying, it just wasn't executed all too well...
the writing style is definitely aimed at a younger teenage audience, but i really liked the friends-to-enemies-to-idiots-to-lovers romance and the boarding school setting and the vampire lore were pretty well done too :)
2,5 out of 5 stars, not the best but i did enjoy it for the most part and do not regret picking it up :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Death of parent