Blood and Chocolate - Hardcover

Klause, Annette Curtis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385323050 ISBN 13: 9780385323055

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 1997

Synopsis

In Blood and Chocolate, Annette Curtis Klause does for werewolves what Anne Rice has done for vampires.

Sixteen-year-old Vivian Gandillon is trying to fit in to her new home in the suburbs.  But trying to act "normal" isn't always easy, since Vivian and her family are werewolves.  It's glorious to have the power to change, and Vivian is a beautiful loup-garou with all the young wolves howling for her.  But she wants no part of her squabbling pack, left leaderless by her father's recent death.

Then Vivian falls in love with a human, a meat-boy.  If she reveals herself, will he relish the magic of her dual nature?  When a brutal murder threatens the pack's survival, Vivian's divided loyalties are further strained.  What is she really--human or beast?

About this title

Review:

Characterizing the adolescent experience as monstrous is not exactly a new idea. M.T. Anderson's woefully confused teen vampire in Thirsty and Jean Thesman's reluctant young witch in The Other Ones serve as excellent examples of this metaphor set to fiction. But no one really captures how our hormones make us howl as well as Annette Curtis Klause. Blood and Chocolate chronicles the longings and passions of one Vivian Gandillon, teenage werewolf. Her pack family, recently burned out of their West Virginia home by suspicious neighbors, has resettled in a sleepy Maryland suburb. At her new school, Viv quickly falls for sensitive heartthrob Aiden, a human--or "meat-boy," as her pack calls him. Soon she is trying to tame her undomesticated desires to match his more civilized sensibilities. "He was gentle. She hadn't expected that. Kisses to her were a tight clutch, teeth, and tongue... His eyes were shy beneath his dark lashes, and his lips curved with delight and desire--desire he wouldn't force on her... he was different." But Vivian's animal ardor cannot be stilled, and she must decide if she should keep Aiden in the dark about her true nature or invite him to take a walk on her wild side.

Klause poetically describes the violence and sensuality of the pack lifestyle, creating a hot-blooded heroine who puts the most outrageous riot grrrls to shame. Blood and Chocolate is a masterpiece of adolescent angst wrapped in wolf's clothing, and its lovely, sensuous taste is sure to be sweet on the teenage tongue. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

From the Back Cover:

* "Klause's imagery is magnetic and her language fierce, rich, and beautiful... [a] powerful, unforgettable novel."
--Booklist, starred

" [A] fierce, suspenseful chiller."
--Kirkus Reviews

"...as addictive as chocolate."
--Publishers Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0385323050
• ISBN 13: 9780385323055
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272