Review: Blood and Chocolate

Like many readers out there, I have been sucked into the paranormal romance genre that has saturated the Young Adult market. Most of what we see on the shelves is a complete cliche and is often poorly written (not that it stops me, or most readers from devouring it).  For the last couple of years I have seen reviews and praise for Annette Curtis Klause's  Blood and Chocolate. B&C was published in 1997, in other words, before Twilight and the paranormal craze. This story is unique and unabashedly honest.

Vivian Gandillon is a teenage werewolf. After a fire kills her father, her pack is forced to relocate to Maryland when several members  cause mayhem and almost reveal their pack's secret. The transition is rough, Vivian has never been able to make friends. Her intimidating beauty and self confidence have always led humans to reject her, that is, until she meets Aiden. In Vivian's world wolves do not consort with humans or "meat". It is beneath them and a temptation for flesh and blood makes it difficult to form a viable relationship. Vivian struggles with her own identity and whether or not to tell Aiden her most important secret. Her relationship problems also coincide with a serious reorganization of the pack and escalating leadership problems.  Can she actually have a relationship with the boy she loves or will the pack come first?

The reason I loved this book was Vivian's acceptance of herself and her sexuality. She is self assured and by no means a weak character. Krause does not shy away from Vivian's instincts as a wolf and as a young woman in charge of her body. She is the perfect embodiment of beauty, strength, and sensuality. Blood and Chocolate impresses me because Krouse does not repress her character's urges and instincts. She shows us that being in touch with our primal needs resides in all of us. Vivian just chooses to embrace it. The book is well written and doesn't conform to a typical love story. I won't give it away but the ending will shock you and upon further contemplation make you wonder how you didn't see it coming.

Highly reccomended, it definitely is a YA book that requires a mature reader. AKA it is YA with the sexiness that us 20 somethings crave ;)