Customer Reviews

Blood and Chocolate

5 star:		(254)
4 star:		(69)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Tons and tons of books for teens carry this message: Love is the bond that breaks all prejudices and fears. You know the kinds of books I mean. These tend to contains plots in which people of different races learn to love one another after undergoing some sort of a trial. Very few books, as a result, carry this message: Love your own kind. Oddly enough the incredibly popular (and oft banned) "Blood and Chocolate" carries this very lesson at its core. An alternative message might be: You can't deny your true self. Whether or not you agree with what the book says depends greatly on how engaging you find the story. And it is an interesting little bugger, no question.

Vivian's not happy. A tragic fire killed her father a year ago, and now her mother (partly out of grief) has started flirting with men half her age. The Five, a group of adolescent boys her age, are completely immature around her and she doesn't have any friends at school. And then there's that problem with being a werewolf. Normally it doesn't bother Vivian. After all, as a member of the loups-garoux, she and her tribe (including the aforementioned mother, Five, and even her dear departed father) keep mostly to themselves. They mingle with humans to some degree, but soon they'll have to find a place outside of civilization where they can be themselves. There's mutiny stirring amongst the pack, however. Without a strong leader factions are struggling to gain control, and no one knows where it will all end. And then Vivian falls in love with a human boy...

The book's a well written fantasy that makes the idea of werewolves just a touch less silly than usual. Vivian is an uncommonly self-assured young lady. Often thinking about sex (hence the book's clockwork banning by certain communities) and using her sexuality in a forthright manner, she comes off as someone who knows her own mind. Not to spoil anything, but Vivian never ACTUALLY makes love to anyone in this book. Anyone who wishes to ban it, therefore, wants to do so because "Blood and Chocolate" contains a woman who thinks about sex. An odd crime to condemn a book for.

Vivian's actually not all that sympathetic though. She begins the tale by acting superior to the humans around her, becomes smug when the object of her affections returns her admiration, and ends up whiny and incapable of a logical decision by the tale's climax. Otherwise, she's very interesting. Young adult books rarely contain beautiful self-assured female protagonists. Those that do tend to be fantasies (like "Hollow Kingdom" by Clare Dunkle, for example). So there's a lot to be said for a story in which the heroine isn't constantly fretting over whether or not she's pretty enough or if her boobs are too small. On the other hand, she kinda dislikable.

Good fantasy breaks barriers by speaking beyond the obvious message in the text. In this particular case, the message here is a bit odd. Vivian does the wrong thing, learns from her mistake, and is better for it. I personally found the ending to be a bit perplexing. Should I never fall in love with people different than myself because I'd never understand them and they'd never understand me? If you can overlook this somewhat archaic message, the book's a fun read. It certainly doesn't deserve to be banned. Mildly ignored from time to time, maybe. Banned, never. If you'd like a book that is, in my opinion, the best teen werewolf book ever conceived, this puppy's for you. It's fun and frolicsome and an enjoyable jaunt. Just don't read too closely into it.

This is one of my favorite books ever! I own it and I have read it at least 7 times. It is about 16-year-old Vivian, a "werewolf" who lives in a city with many other members of her "pack," including her mother and 5 boys who are her age that she used to be friends with but now are too rowdy for her. Her father, who used to be the leader of the pack, died about a year ago when the pack was living in West Virginia, and humans found out about them and set their Inn on fire where they worked. Vivian's father was trying to save everyone left in the building, and in the process he was killed. Now the pack has no leader, and everyone is quarreling about who the new one should be. Meanwhile, at Vivian's new school (I forget where they live now that they have left West Virginia), she has no friends, but she sees a poem in the school magazine about werewolves, written by a boy named Aiden. She falls in love with Aiden, but is it safe to tell him what she really is? Vivian tries to ignore her mother Esme, who says that Vivian should only date members of the pack. Vivian must choose between her human side (chocolate) and her wolf side (blood). Sizzling with mystery and romance, this book is definitely a must-read for every teenage girl, even if you are not into fantasy.

Vivian and her clan are loups-garoux, werewolf kind. She absolutely loves the feel of being a midnight creature, hunting and running under the moon. But in Maryland, where they dwell, is becoming too taxing for the health of the pack. Humans are everywhere, and when you have the Five, Astrid; the backstabber, and no leader, its very dangerous. Vivian ends up connecting to an open-minded artist named Aiden, and he loves her dearly, till she shows what she truly is. She is duality at its finest, but he cannot accept the fact and breaks up with her. Treachery, lust, love, and knowing oneself are themes in this book. The clincher and message is sometimes you cannot be with someone who cannot accept all of you. But chance comes along when the brooding and strong Gabriel becomes leader, he's obnoxious, but he proves to Vivian that her tale is close to his. He wants her. Maybe she'll realize that her need to feel accepted resides in the person she fears and despises most.
I love this book! It took me two hours to read and the complexity of the themes had my heart racing. Vivian is the perfect semblance of beauty, strength, and sensuality. Blood and Chocolate impresses me because Annette makes werewolves seem so tangible. And that being so in touch with their primal needs and actions resides, though repressed, in all of us.

Of the many books I read in a class about children's and young adult literature, "Blood and Chocolate" ranks as one my favorites. Teenager Vivian Gandillon comes from a family of "loups garoux," or werewolves. After a massacre in which her father was killed, Vivian and members of her pack begin life elsewhere. She also develops an attraction for poetic Aiden Teague, a "meat boy" (a loup-garou euphemism for a human) at her new high school.

Vivian's struggles to live as a "normal" human and lycanthrope, as well as the pleasures and pains of her relationship with Aiden, provide the book with its primary strengths. Vivian is also a fully-developed character, with readers able to know her thoughts. From them, we learn she is strong, vulnerable, sardonic, and in touch with her feelings. Vivian is also worthy of the reader's sympathy, even empathy: "Blood and Chocolate" provided me with the vicarious experience of feeling for Vivian, especially after she reveals her hidden self to Aiden in a scene filled with psychological and sexual symbolism. (Her mounting desire for total acceptance from Aiden reminds me of the words of another "dangerously" sensuous sixteen-year-old from literature and opera, addressed to the severed head of the man she desired: "If you had seen me, you would have loved me.") Of course, this is one one of many scenes that symbolize the perils of adolescence: the angst, insecurity, and desire for acceptance that occur no matter how beautiful one may look, or how confident one may act. "Blood and Chocolate" is also teasingly sensual (as one can imagine from the mortally seductive cover), whether describing Vivian's feelings for Aiden or her transformations into a creature of the Moon. Through these scenes, the book addresses the fresh adolescent passions that many forgetful adults hate and try to control (out of jealousy would be my guess).

An unfortunate weakness I must note (though this may just be me): the plot becomes bogged down in a murder mystery involving the pack. While it may provide "Blood and Chocolate" with suspense, it detracts from the book's essential strengths and magic.

While "Blood and Chocolate" may be a young adult book, I as a not-so-young adult enjoyed it. Whatever age you are, get in touch with your inner loup-garou and enjoy this howler of a book.

_Blood and Chocolate_ is the story of Vivian, a young werewolf who meets a human teenager named Aiden and becomes infatuated with him, even though relationships between pack members and "meat boys" are looked down upon within the pack. Gabriel is the fascinating and dark leader of her pack, with definite animal magnetism and charm. He frustrates, irritates, and attracts Vivian, who is learning what it means to grow up through the course of the book. There's danger and darkness, romance and horror, a believable heroine and, of course Gabriel, who is quite thrilling and an incredibly sexy character. Very highly recommended.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I didn't particularly like the protagonist Vivien (I won't call her a heroine because really... she wasn't) because she was cocky, arrogant, and not really very likeable. However, Klause's ability to make the family group feel like an actual wolfpack was incredibly well done and detailed, and her worldbuilding with the creation of the loup garou underworld was fabulous. So it was a good book (it was made into a movie recently, albeit a very loose adaptation) but I'm not sure it was my type of book.

I read this book because a friend suggested it, and since then I have read it twice. This book is incredible. The main character Vivian will make you think what it is like to be a teenager - even if you aren't a werewolf. This book is unusual in that Vivian can control her being a werewolf except during the full moon. The only other book that I have read about werewolves that has this is "Blood Trail" by Tanya Huff. Vivian's "pack" has moved to the suburbs after their farm was burnt down and their leader (Vivians father) died. In the suburbs there are constant fights for leadership, and Vivians mother must deal with the threat from a younger female. All that conflict is made worse when Vivian starts seeing a "meat boy". Vivian must decide whether or not to reveal her true nature to her new love - and she must also deal with the advances of the Five.

Vivian was a character that became like an old friend. You completely enter her world of scornful teenagers and pack-rules of her family. Gabriel makes you love him and hate him in turn as he becomes Vivians hunter and protector. At times I was frustrated with this book because it seems as if the author was keeping a secret from you - only to have the story engulf you.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone with a taste for the unusual. If you enjoy this book then you should also try "Blood Trail" - which has a vampire as well as werewolves.

Much like the author's first book, The Silver Kiss (which was perhaps one of the best first YA novels ever published), Blood and Chocolate contains that same exciting mix of romance, teen angst and longing, and horror. But this title is even scarier, sexier, stronger, and "sassier" than The Silver Kiss. There are two stories here: both revolve around Vivian, a teen girl werewolf. In the first, Vivian falls in love with a boy at her school, Aiden, and wants to reveal her true self, her secret self, her wolf self to him. Like most other teens, Viv is struggling with her identity, hers complicated by human passion conflicting with animal instinct. In the second story, Vivian's family/pack is in turmoil as they relocate and choose new leaders. Within the family are rivals, allies, and enemies, none of whom Vivian has any real connection than blood. Her relationship with her mother is complicated by Viv's conflicting emotions of compassion and actions, like dating Aiden, of defiance. The two stories co

Klause became one of my new favorite writers about three months ago. I'm hooked on her and her books...they are wonderful. If you like the strange paranormal plots with a little touch of love that occur in werewolf, vampire, and suspense novels...this is the author for you. Vivian is a half human, half werewolf who falls in love with a human (not to mention that the human falls in love with her too). Vivian also hangs out with her other fellow werewolves who are have face-offs (in werewolf form) and other cool stuff. This book is definitely worth your time! I've read it several times and it just gets better! :) Happy reading!

Blood and Chocolate incorporates werewolf mythology, sexy teen romance, and gruesome violence. Annette Curtis Klause is a fine writer with a flair for detailing plot sequences around well-developed characterizations. Group scenes at concerts, in barrooms, and while battling it out in the woods are particularly vibrant and fast-paced.

Vivian sets the stage for the book as a beautiful, confident teen who is set apart from her classmates but doesn't know why. While it is true that having the gift to transform oneself into a "wolf" (Vivian does not believe the word accurately describes her transformations) is not typical fare for most teens, the concept of being different and misunderstood is a common adolescent theme many readers will be able to relate to. Despite her outsider status, Vivian attracts a senior at her high school, Aiden, and falls for his sweet kisses and affection. This alluring connection between humans and werewolves hints at the erotic and the dangerous. It is also an effective metaphor for exploring more realistic taboos facing contemporary teens.

Not for the faint of heart, Blood and Chocolate gives readers a taste of what it would be like to live with (and among) a pack of werewolfs on the outskirts of a modern-day suburb.