Bad Blood by Demitria Lunetta
Published: March 14th 2017 by Delacorte Press for Young Readers
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
This eArc was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Goodreads Summary:
A girl discovers a family secret and a past full of magic that could both save her and put her in mortal danger in this suspenseful novel that’s perfect for fans of Katie Alender and Natasha Preston.
All sixteen-year-old Heather MacNair wants is to feel normal, to shed the intense paranoia she’s worn all year like a scratchy sweater. After her compulsion to self-harm came to light, Heather was kept under her doctor’s watchful eye. Her family thinks she’s better—and there’s nothing she wants more than for that to be true. She still can’t believe she’s allowed to spend her summer vacation as she always does: at her aunt’s home in Scotland, where she has lots of happy memories. Far away from all her problems save one: she can’t stop carving the Celtic knot that haunts her dreams into her skin.
Good friends and boys with Scottish accents can cure almost anything…except nightmares. Heather can’t stop dreaming about two sisters from centuries ago, twins Prudence and Primrose, who somehow seem tied to her own life. Their presence lurks just beneath the surface of her consciousness, sending ripples through what should be a peaceful summer. The twins might hold the key to putting Heather’s soul at rest…or they could slice her future deeper than any knife.
First, I want to say that I really liked the setting in this book. Scotland plus witches? Yes, please.
Unfortunately, that’s really the most praise I can give for this book. The pacing was very slow, and it took a long time to develop why Primrose and Prudence’s chapters were relating to Heather. Rereading the synopsis, I realize that it says they are dreams, but I forgot about that going in and was a little confused about the flashbacks. For most of the book it was about Heather spending her time in Scotland with her aunt and friends, and occasionally having a huge urge to cut herself. Every time she always wonders why she has to and why can’t she be normal, but she never does anything to change the impulses. The idea of witches pops up every now and then during Heather’s normal day to day life, and it wasn’t until about 80% in that it really becomes relevant or start to connect with why Heather.
I felt as if all of the characters were very one dimensional and very cliche. We don’t really get a sense of who they are, and I never felt like I could connect to any of the characters as well while reading. For the most part, I kept thinking why was I still reading this book when I don’t even care about the characters?
By around the 80% mark though I started to become a little bit more invested and wanted to know how the whole story would play out. When the big showdown happened though, I was a little disappointed that what Heather did was all it took for everything to stop. I felt after all that (slow) buildup there should have been a bigger showdown between Heather and the twins.
Overall, it’s a decent book to read in between series or if you just need a book to read while waiting at the doctors office or something. It’s a slow build up, but at least the writing style was very nicely done. I definitely found myself reading in a Scottish accent whenever anyone talked, and Heather had a very distinct American one. Would probably make for a very good audiobook.
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