Reading Teen

At a Glance:Although the pacing was sometimes slow, I found the Book of Blood and Shadow to be intense, exciting, and intriguing. It is full of history, loaded with betrayal, and sprinkled with romance and friendship. I have never read a book like this!The Audiobook:Yes, yes, yes. If you're looking for a new audiobook, or you're debating between audio and hardcover, I'm going to just put my vote in for the audio. Why? Well, first of all, the reader is fantastic. She does an amazing job with voices, accents, and languages. She reads things in Latin, in Czech and of course English! :D I was seriously impressed. But the biggest reason that I would choose listening to this over reading it, is because of all the words that I didn't have to figure out or pronounce! There was a ton of Latin in this book, and Emily Card just rattles it off as if it's her second language. If I had been reading it, I would have stared at all those words and phrases, then ended up just skipping over them or mispronouncing them, so listening to the audio was perfect! "I should probably start with the blood..."Yeah, The Book of Blood and Shadow definitely had it's fair share of bloodiness, as you can imagine, but it wasn't nearly as bloody as I thought it might be. That's how this story begins, though, with the blood, which immediately had me fascinated. I love a good mystery, and this book was full of them. Mysteries, lies, murders and surprises at every turn. Although I had my theories, I ended up suspicious of just about everyone at one time or another! I love it when there are clues to the answer, but not such obvious ones that the hero/heroine looks like an idiot for not seeing them.Historical Fantasy/Contemp Mystery:Yeah, I'm a fan. Who knew? Blood and Shadow was a mix of historical fantasy and contemporary mystery. Now, I'm going to admit, I don't like a lot of detail when I'm reading. And this book had a lot of background information, details about scenery, and many internal ponderings that did slow things down quite a bit. In the middle of the book, I actually considered putting it down because it was just not moving fast enough for me. BUT, I pushed myself over that hump, and I'm SO glad I did. This story got seriously intense, and completely fascinating! I love how much it was based on historical facts, but then completely re-imagined with this entire secret society of people. I was blown away.Characters, Friendships, Love and LiesI love the way these relationships were set up. The friendships and romances in this book were so original. There were layers and layers of complications. Just when you thought things were going to move in one direction, they would go a completely different way. It was almost like reading multiple books in one. I wasn't necessarily a fan of all the characters, or love interests, but they were definitely well-written and complex. Whether I wanted to slap them or kiss them, they all evoked pretty strong feelings from me!A YA Da Vinci Code?Yeah, this book reminded me a lot of the Da Vinci Code. With the rich writing, the historical detail, the old religion, and of course, the Latin! There were mysterious old documents and writings, strange religious cults, and the fascinating, yet creepy setting of Prague. But about that YA part.....I'm not so sure. I really enjoyed reading it, but I can't imagine my daughter (Kit (17)) reading it. It was just too much (too much detail, too much history, too many slow parts). I do think that some teens will enjoy it; those deeper thinkers who love excellent, detailed writing and historical fiction. But others, I'm afraid, will just find it too slow for them. I think this one might appeal more to college age and above. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!Book Doppelganger:The Da Vinci Code-AndyeReadingteen.netContent: Profanity: Moderate Sexual Content: Moderate Violence: Heavy Other Notables: Underage DrinkingFor more details, check out The Book of Blood and Shadow on ParentalBookReviews.com