Hello, everyone! I’m BACK! *dramatic entrance*

Well, my mini-hiatus was good, for the most part. But man, it’s good to be back!

(Also, I’m doing some mini-renovations over here, just in case you noticed something was different.)

And now, for the post I’ve been hinting for weeks about . . .

That’s right. It’s time for my first BOOK REVIEW!

And I decided that today I’m going to be reviewing:

He’s spent his life running from who he is. She’s been trying to escape her past for 100 years. . . .

Born with unexplainable abilities he struggles to control, college student Ion tries desperately to integrate into his new school and finally put his dark past behind him. But after making a serious enemy, which leads to an accidental rendezvous with the mysterious old man next door - and his hauntingly beautiful but troubled young protégée Hawk, Ion realizes his life will never be normal again.

Late one evening, Hawk drags him by the hand into a closet-turned-rabbit-hole to an extra dimension, and Ion finds himself stumbling involuntarily into a secret society of training for “anomalies,” teenagers with a special set of abilities. Just like him.

As they train to become Protectors of future Earth, battling each other as well as their own demons, both Ion and Hawk begin to realize that they are far more alike than they realized. Unsettlingly so.

When the Dimension is shaken by an unthinkable betrayal, will an ancient prophecy bring Hawk and Ion together - or will a deadly threat hidden in plain sight cost them both their powers . . . and their lives?

{taken from back cover}

My Rating: 5 Stars

I was SO EXCITED for this book when I got it, but I decided to wait to read it until I could read it in one sitting. And . . . I did, in fact, read it in one sitting. And it was excellent.

Although . . . at first I was only going to rate it 4.5 stars. But then I reread it and realized: no. This is a five-star book!

Let’s take a look. . . .

The characters. I liked how each of them was flawed in a way that felt realistic, considering their backstories (don’t worry, I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers!). Ion and Hawk were so conflicted and worried all the time (aww), and Fin was just plain awesome (because sibling love! <3)

Sensei’s appearence. How did she even think of that??? Again, no spoilers, but all of you who have read the book know what I’m talking about. ;)

The cover. Yes, you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but come on. That cover is beautiful and gorgeous and pure amazingness.

The cliffhanger. You probably think I’m weird for including this, but I’m sorry, what was that and what????? I have no words. None.

The allegory. I didn’t catch it the first read through, but I definitely caught it in the second, and it is very cleverly written!

Now, for the bad stuff. . . . (Because yes, there was some bad stuff.)

Otherwise . . . not much??? Honestly, I liked this book. But here comes the content. . . .
Some major spoilers down here, just a warning.

Language. While there is less cursing in The Blood Race than in other certain YA books I’ve read *cough cough* The Hazel Wood *cough cough*, there was still enough of it to make me go, “Um, what did you say?” Something I did find interesting was that the author “censored” some of it out by putting a dash through the rest of the word. I kind of liked that, because I could replace words with some like “flamingos.” (Makes the rest of the reading very entertaining.) Also, in the Dimension, cursing is frowned upon.

Drugs. There is one scene where Mel (Ion’s girlfriend) gets him drunk (to make him spill secrets). Again, shown in a negative light. This scene also made me really dislike Mel.

Sex. One suggestive comment that I can think of (made by Ion - and the comment afterwards made me laugh). The biggest concern here is that one of the main characters (I won’t say who, but once you start reading, it’s not hard to guess) was raped as a child. This is shown in a very negative light, and the character’s whole personality is changed because of this. However, there is one scene where this particular character flashes back to the events leading up to the event. Fortunately, it stops before the actual event begins, ending in a rather forced kiss. (I was just glad she didn’t write the scene.)
I didn’t take off any stars and rated it 15+ for the content. Overall, it was a great book, and I’ll definitely reread it, along with the next book in the series. I wasn’t a huge fan of the content, but the flashback scene is very easy to skip, if anyone feels like it.

-Nicole