The Blood Keeper

The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton

The stand alone companion to Blood Magic, which we all know I loved enough to want to fight people about, The Blood Keeper did not disappoint, and if anything I think I love it even more than I did Blood Magic, who knew that was even possible?

 For Mab Prowd, blood magic is as natural as breathing. She spends her days on a secluded Kansas farm with other blood witches, practicing spells for healing and trying to avoid boring lessons like algebra and history. 

Wild and confident, Mab uses magic to understand her entire world. But when one of Mab's spells mistakenly taps into a powerful, long-dormant curse, she finds her magic spinning out of control - and crashing right into Will Sanger, a boy from town. 

Will has always relied on the logical, tangible things in his life, like his dogs, his soccer team, and even his complicated family. So he tries to dismiss all he sees and feels around Mab. Still, the strangeness and beauty of her magic draw him in. 

As Will and Mab grow closer, the unbound curse grows stronger. Hiding in the shadows of the forest, it seeks to manipulate Will and gain Mab's power - even if that means destroying everything they love.

Personal Opinion:

Goodness. Now I may be biased, because I'm already deeply in love with Tessa Gratton and her work, but this book. Oh, this book.  

I waited to read this book form nearly a year after reading Blood Magic so I would be able to return to this world, and when I did it was even better than when I left it. 

Naturally, the characters were flawless, but I still want to talk about them.

Mab is the daughter of the main antagonist of Blood Magic, which makes readers who read Blood Magic distrust her right from the start. However, slowly, we as readers get to know her and are forced to realize that just because her mother made some particularly awful choices, (I still can't bring myself to dislike Josephine even after finding out what she had done before the events in Blood Magic)  it doesn't mean that Mab will necessarily follow the same path. That is such an important thing that I want to etch it in stone and underline it.

Will is also a very amazing character. I like him even more than I liked Nick, and I'm not sure if it's his love for his dogs,  the fact that he's still mourning his brother, or the fact that his family very subtly already had magic in their blood before he found Mab, but he blew me away. His relationship with Mab is one of the sweetest things I have ever read. Give me Will and Mab over a Nicholas Sparks novel any day.

Will+Mab = Relationship goals. 

When I read this book, I told myself  that I would not look into the other reviews because the reviews (on Goodreads) of Blood Magic flew me into a Ronan Lynch faced by Declan (This is a Raven Cycle Reference) sort of rage and I wanted to fight. However, because I am very much like Ronan, I looked anyway because I was looking for the fight.Luckily for me, and for everyone on Goodreads, the reviews were much less ignorant to the book's themes as they were last time, so I was able to refrain from rage, but I did see someone who wasn't thrilled with the cover redesign, and since I don't know which one they're talking about, I can't comment, however the cover on my copy is absolutely gorgeous and relevant.

Another thing I want to touch on, was how absolutely at home I felt while reading this book. With the descriptions of beautiful forests and fields and magic thrumming absolutely everywhere. Sticky counters and tables with scratches, an old house with a rotary phone on the wall, a family barbecue in the backyard while dogs run around excitedly. Everything that screams home to me was in this book and like a magic circle I plan to return to it whenever I need that comfort.

This book is wonderful, an absolute piece of art, I display it proudly on my shelf.

Favorite Quotes:

"Think about guns. If it hurt you to shoot a gun, don't you think people would think harder about when and where and why they did it?”

I had way more, but I'm no where near the book right now to find the exact passage. <3

Overall Rating:

5/5