By Susan Beth Pfeffer
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Publish Date: September 13, 2011
Format: Hardback, pp 256
Age Demographic: Young Adult
b&n // amazon
Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother.
Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harbored secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? As Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she keeps her own secret—one that has the potential to tear her family apart.
*Summary taken from Goodreads.
Blood Wounds is a bone-chilling, suspenseful, keep reader's on the edges of their seat dark and thrilling read. It's rather interesting, that blood can both heal and wound at the same time, and to have Pheffer utilize that in a well developed, carefully crafted, and compelling novel is not only unique but quite a bit disturbing on some natural level. The writing and world building, were quite clever and her character's and their development throughout the novel as it builds to climax, were written and executed flawlessly. It did a magnificent job of showing that the world is dark, gritty, and violent just as much as it's filled with horrifying and tragic news of events that happen everyday in life.
This is a book that will stay with readers, long after they've read it. It seems, in many ways, that it was one that almost needed to be written, so that the story could leave its mark on people however good or bad that would be. At certain points it was easy to connect and sympathize with Willa. She is strong, relatable, and incredibly brave, in the face of everything that she has to deal with as she's discovering who she is beneath the facade she presents to the world, learning how to be strong for herself, and discovering who her other half of her family is such as who her father is and her other siblings.
Blood Wounds provides a dark gritty outlook on what a lot of young adults might be struggling with, such as the secret Willa keeps of her cutting. The lies, secrets, and pent up resentment are exposed and brought to the surface, as a way of showing that things may not always appear as they seem on the outside and certain actions can lead to events followed through.
There is a broad range of psychological emotions and reactions to things that occurr, as the story progresses, that will keep the reader engaged as well as possibly causing them a bit of discomfort. It is a brillant mass of complications that is highly thought provoking and quite spectacularly written. At times, it appears difficult to take in some doses, but in other's reader's will be able to see there is a deeper meaning and reasoning for the story being told. Family is defined and re-defined in so many ways throughout this novel, that it's incredibly sad, yet beautifully illustrated in other's. For every action, there is a consequence or a price to be paid, and Blood Wounds will re-affirm that over and over. For everyone who is capable of doing good in the world, there are other's who are just as capable of promoting evil, violence, and carrying out horrific tragedies with none other than their victims blood on their hands. Reader's will get a sense of this, while reading this novel and it will stay with them long after they've turned the last page.
It is a fast-paced, well written and developed, tension filled novel, that will chill reader's to the bone. It's likely a story that will be forgotten soon, perhaps that's the great thing about what Pfeffer has done with this story.
{ This ARC was provided by I Read Banned Books ARC Tours, in exchange for an honest review which I have provided. No money exchanged hands, I review books for fun because I love to read. I am not interested in monetary gain. Any piece of this ARC that was/wasn't quoted, is not part of the finished product and should not be perceived as such.}
