“Remember, Kat, a closed mouth won’t be fed.”
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Youngblood
Sasha Laurens
I’m so glad vampires are low-key back, and even more pleased to have this LGBT title amongst the genre.
Set at an elite boarding school for vampires, an estranged friends-to-roommates-to-lovers wlw romance blooms as dark forces are at play in this standalone YA novel. Ideal for readers who want something that feels fresh, addresses contemporary problems, and still manages to make you smile through it all as it plays into tropes in heartwarming ways. Not to mention gay awakenings, particularly juxtaposed with the notion of the sometimes hardened, but no less welcoming, “born this way” mentality.
Despite the monstrous nature of the characters, and a few scenes with a good amount of blood, this book steers clear of true horror and settles comfortably between balancing activism, subterfuge, and romance.
Kat Finn and her mother can barely make ends meet living among humans. Like all vampires, they must drink Hema, an expensive synthetic blood substitute, to survive, as nearly all of humanity has been infected by a virus that’s fatal to vampires. Kat isn’t looking forward to an immortal life of barely scraping by, but when she learns she’s been accepted to the Harcote School, a prestigious prep school that’s secretly vampires-only, she knows her fortune is about to change.
Goodreads blurb
Taylor Sanger has grown up in the wealthy vampire world, but she’s tired of its backward, conservative values—especially when it comes to sexuality, since she’s an out-and-proud lesbian. She only has to suffer through a two more years of Harcote before she’s free. But when she discovers her new roommate is Kat Finn, she’s horrified. Because she and Kat used to be best friends, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well.
When Taylor stumbles upon the dead body of a vampire, and Kat makes a shocking discovery in the school’s archives, the two realize that there are deep secrets at Harcote—secrets that link them to the most powerful figures in Vampirdom and to the synthetic blood they all rely on.
The lovely thing about standalones is they answer all the questions they bring up (at least good ones do). Youngblood definitely falls into the category of “good ones.” Would it be okay having another book set in the world Laurens has created? Absolutely! I’m curious more than anything about what happens after the book ends to the world, but Taylor and Kat’s story feels wrapped up to a lovely degree.
The more I write about this book in my review, the more and more I like it, and I wasn’t lukewarm about it either as I finished. There is nuance and depth to all of the characters, including those who are antagonists. Evangeline in particular is such a fantastic character in that role that, while I disliked her, I also understood her a lot and so did the other characters. No one excused her though.
I also know this book isn’t the right title for everyone. The obvious trigger warning for those who can’t handle any discussion of blood applies, but some might disparage the book for focusing on activism and ethics too much, but to that I want to point out — have you met a teen recently? This book is for them more than it is for the adults looking to soak in any wlw romance or trendy vampire story they can find. Kat’s stances in particular feel authentic rather than soapbox-y, and part of that comes with the pressures associated with being the new girl on financial aid at this elite (read “expensive af”) boarding school for vampires, when all she has known is living paycheck-to-paycheck with her mother and the public school system. The self-awareness, or burgeoning self-awareness, of characters is also authentic without being stressful, especially in moments where heated exchanges about facing privilege happen.
Laurens also does a great job of creating the additional system of vampirdom for characters to contend with and analyze. You may also be asking yourself “how can vampires be ethical?” and one of the things that allows this book to treat vampires differently is the premise that someone has created a blood substitute; and in doing so has opened the door for more elevated discussions about what it means to be a vampire once the need to be a predator for meeting basic needs has been removed. It functions as an excellent add-on to other systems of oppression while still acknowledging those as the problems they are — all while balancing other plot points and the romance side of the book.
I do want to address the physical romance aspect of the book, if anything for me to reference back to when I look up my reviews when considering them for recommendation. Though nothing more graphic than kissing is described on the pages, there are definitely characters having sex throughout and dealing with the emotional ramifications of those choices. Truly, as mentioned before, the self-reflection in this book feels right on target for teen audiences today who are working through those same social emotional troubles.
The most wonderful thing about this book though? It’s an easy read, though it may be easier for others if they’re comfortable with big questions. It’s a book you can think on and hopefully discuss after reading, as it really does touch on so many cornerstones of contemporary issues. I hope adults and teens alike pick up this title and enjoy for the fun it has, but also the queries it brings up as well. I know I will be gladly handing it to my high school crowd, and still might hold back on even my advanced middle school readers as the audience is really intended for that more mature reader.
The Little Book Witch 