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98 of 105 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What big eyes she has, August 19, 2004
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.
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38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I would give it more stars if I could!, November 14, 2004
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.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
To bloom in the dark...., June 10, 2000
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.
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