BLOOD MAGIC by Tessa Gratton

Okay, so today's bookanista post delves back into the fantastical. The magical. The bloody.

That's right. Bloody. BLOOD MAGIC by Tessa Gratton, to be exact. There were a lot of reasons I liked this book, but the first was the magic.

Let it be known that I love magic. I love thinking about magic, and I wish I could do magic. For real. But without having to cut myself and drip blood onto stuff.

See, that's what happens in BLOOD MAGIC. Here's a little synop: Everywhere Silla Kennicott turns she sees blood. She can't stop thinking about her parents alleged murder-suicide. She is consumed by a book filled with spells that arrives mysteriously in the mail. The spells share one common ingredient: blood, and Silla is more than willing to cast a few. What's a little spilled blood if she can uncover the truth? And then there's Nick—the new guy at school who makes her pulse race. He has a few secrets of his own and is all too familiar with the lure of blood magic. Drawn together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick must find out who else in their small Missouri town knows their secret and will do anything to take the book and magic from Silla.

So there's blood and there's magic. I could take one without the other, but Tessa does a good job of not making it too gory.

The reason I loved this story was because of the characters and the relationships they have. Let's examine.

Silla. I liked Silla a lot. If you know me at all, you know I like broken characters. And Silla is busted into a million pieces, what with the death of her parents and all. I won't spoil anything, but there's another death that is just fantastic. That came out wrong. But it's real and perfect, and I'm glad that it happened, even though I didn't like it when this person died.

Nicholas. I liked Nick too, he's just not as fragile as Silla. He narrates too, so it gives an interesting perspective, and the two stories are expertly interwined, and I enjoyed that too.

Reese. He's Silla's brother, and I loved their relationship. It was at times messy and complicated, at times very sibling-ish, and at other times best friend-ish. In short, it was very well done.

The villain. I won't tell you who it is, because that would spoil the whole mystery of it. Let me just say that there were 3 possible suspects for me, and just when I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. And that, my friends, is some darn fine mystery storytelling right there.

So if you haven't heard of BLOOD MAGIC yet, add it to your list. You won't be sorry.

And spill. Do you like bloody books?

Check out what the other Bookanistas are up to this week at the Reading Room.

Or on their blogs:

• LiLa Roecker adores Hourglass
• Shannon Messenger applauds A Need So Beautiful – with giveaway
• Carolina Valdez Miller sees beauty in Between Shades of Gray
• Bethany Wiggins finds Bad Taste in Boys delicious
• Shana Silver celebrates A Need So Beautiful
• Carrie Harris thinks Wrapped simply rocks
• Sarah Frances Hardy finds the awesome in Okay for Now
• Stasia Ward Kehoe delights in Delirium
• Megan Miranda has a passion for Possession
• Christine Fonseca sings high praises for Possess – with giveaway
• Myra McEntire welcomes Blood Magic author Tessa Gratton into the Fort
• Rosemary Clement-Moore is giddy about Hourglass