Official Review: Bloodline Gypsy Jook and Gypsy Volume 1

ananya92 · Post by **ananya92** » 06 Mar 2015, 10:23

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Bloodline Gypsy Jook and Gypsy Volume 1" by Shirley A. Martin.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Bloodline Gypsy: Jook and Gypsies Volume 1 written by Shirley A. Martin is a book in the fantasy genre. The book traces the origin and history of a malevolent creature that has terrorized humanity since centuries. It follows the story of seventeen year old Susannah Henika, who lost her mother and grandparents in an accident and has now come to live with a father she has never known. But her life is going to change in ways she would have never imagined.

Susannah has lived the life of a nomad with her mother and her mother's family since birth. They made their living at Renaissance Faires, where her grandfather sold leather products and grandmother predicted fortunes. Her new life with her father would seem placid now. But her new life at her father’s mountain resort can hardly be called peaceful. Her nights are plagued with nightmares and her heart is filled with a sense of dread. Mixing herbs and potions is not new to Susannah, but there is something unique about her that has bothered her since childhood. Now with her oddly shaped birthmark growing clearer, she feels that something terrible is about to happen, something which is related to the entry of two strange Romanian twins in her town.

This book is written from the perspective of multiple characters, both main and side characters. I liked the character development of Susannah and her father, Chandler, in the book and how the author has dealt with the awkwardness of their relationship. The author has developed their relationship quite well, detailing the adolescent need felt by Susannah to be loved by her parent and Chandler’s attempts to make Susannah a part of his family. This proves to be a bit difficult with Susannah’s step mother making her dislike for Susannah pretty clear, though both of her sons happily accept Susannah. Coming to the supernatural element in the story: it’s spooky, horrifying and creepy. There are some scenes in the book which are really chilling, where the reader would be expecting some horrifying scene to take place while on the hand, some horrific scenes are placed just when the reader doesn’t expect them. Unlike other fantasy books, this book doesn’t limit itself to action packed scenes and supernatural violence only. The scenes are made as gruesome as possible with a combination of gore and sexual violence, which is at times too descriptive. The story is fast paced and quite engaging.

However, I was a little unhappy with the second half of the story. I think the series created this genre of teenage/supernatural romance involving a shy girl and a mysterious boy, which all the teenage supernatural novels felt compelled to follow. Personally, I didn’t like the Twilight series much, and when this novel takes this familiar, over-trodden route, it’s quite disappointing. That said, some readers are still quite fascinated with the Twilight genre, and hence, they might like those parts of this book as well.

I rate this book 3 out of 4, since it’s a really engaging, supernatural tale of horrors. However, though it might seem that this is a teenage novel, I would recommend teens to read this one at their own risk, since there are plenty of explicit, violent scenes penned down in the book.

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Bloodline Gypsy Jook and Gypsy Volume 1
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ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 09 Mar 2015, 04:52

Ooh! This sounds like such a good book! Something I would totally be into! Thank you so much for the wonderful review!

ananya92 · Post by **ananya92** » 09 Mar 2015, 05:13

Thanks

Alanna1837 · Post by **Alanna1837** » 09 Mar 2015, 06:01

Thanks for the review, I will have to check this one out. Although I'm not a huge fan of twilight as well.

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 09 Mar 2015, 06:16

I read a book once that was actually labeled as a Young Adult, but I felt that it was more of an adult book... funny how this one seems to be the opposite. Or is it? I like YA!