Helpful Score: 3
Wow! I was unsure about this book, especially in the beginning. It was very disturbing and tragic, but having said that, I loved it in the end. It is hard to put down and it is beautifully done. The characters are powerful, the story is intense, but it ends wonderfully. It is a story of love, family and moral decisions and it is captivating. What a book!
Willa Coffey is a quiet girl who doesn't expect much. She lives with her mom, step-dad Jack and her two step-sisters, Alyssa and Brooke. Jacks ex-wife Val makes sure that Alyssa and Brooke have everything that money can buy and Willa is usually left on the outskirts looking in. Her mom and Jack cannot afford those things for Willa. She doesn't express her discontent, but instead hides in the basement and cuts herself.
When she receives a phone call from her mom's best friend while she is home alone, her whole world is turned upside down. It seems her dad, her real dad, has killed his new wife and little girls and is on his way to her house. The police get involved and everyone freaks out about how Willa is the daughter of a killer.
Willa decides to put herself first for once and demands that she get to go to Pryor, a small town hundreds of miles away, to attend her sisters' funerals. Even though she has never met them and hasn't seen her dad since she was four, she feels she needs to find out where she came from.
There, she learns more about herself, her mom and what it means to be happy. When she returns to her home, her mom and Jack once again set her world atilt. Because of Brooke and Alyssa's special schools, they must move once again, right before Willa's senior year. She contemplates cutting deeper this time and removing herself from the situation for good.
Blood Wounds is a page-turning read that pauses you to think about what humans to do one another. How one thoughtless action can wound another deeply. The characters are brought to life by the author's creative writing and the turmoil that Willa goes through is still fresh in this reader's mind. Definitely thought-provoking.
When she receives a phone call from her mom's best friend while she is home alone, her whole world is turned upside down. It seems her dad, her real dad, has killed his new wife and little girls and is on his way to her house. The police get involved and everyone freaks out about how Willa is the daughter of a killer.
Willa decides to put herself first for once and demands that she get to go to Pryor, a small town hundreds of miles away, to attend her sisters' funerals. Even though she has never met them and hasn't seen her dad since she was four, she feels she needs to find out where she came from.
There, she learns more about herself, her mom and what it means to be happy. When she returns to her home, her mom and Jack once again set her world atilt. Because of Brooke and Alyssa's special schools, they must move once again, right before Willa's senior year. She contemplates cutting deeper this time and removing herself from the situation for good.
Blood Wounds is a page-turning read that pauses you to think about what humans to do one another. How one thoughtless action can wound another deeply. The characters are brought to life by the author's creative writing and the turmoil that Willa goes through is still fresh in this reader's mind. Definitely thought-provoking.
This book was promoted as a psychological thriller with mysterious aspects regarding family and personal secrets. MISLEADING! It is really more of a coming-of-age tale set in horrific circumstances. The thriller aspect appears immediately and is resolved just as quickly. The heart of this book is in Willa's development after her world is turned upside down. As for all the secrets everyone keeps from each other, the reader knows them all. As soon as a secret something appears, it is revealed on that page or the next. Unlike with many YA novels centered on heavy issues, I like Willa, the teenage protagonist. It's the adults who are rude, selfish, and pedantic. I did enjoy the book and read it very quickly, but it gets a 3-star for being touted as something it's not, and being okay for what it is.
