(Review) Blood Wounds

 Title: Blood Wounds
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Pub Date: September 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 256

Source: I received this from the publisher for my review.

About the Book:

Blood can both wound and heal…

Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother.

Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harbored secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? But as Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she also keeps her own secret—one that has the potential to tear apart all she holds dear.

Susan Beth Pfeffer is no stranger to young adult fiction. She has written over seventy books. I have never read anything by Susan until now and I am pleasantly surprised and I am curious about her other books.
I knew this was going to be one book that I would have to take my time to read because it was a pretty intense story. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to read or what to expect. I really enjoyed the fact that they added some back ground story to the story and it all seemed to flow perfectly.

Willa is your typical teenager (from the outside looking in). She lives with her mother, step father and two step sisters. They seem to have a loving and caring relationship except Willa has a secret that no one really knows about and that is she cuts herself. Its not something she does all the time only when she gets stressed.

In the blink of an eye Willa’s world is turned upside down when her mother’s friend, Faye calls and leaves a frantic message for her. When Willa tries to call her mother, she can’t be reached before long the Police show up and are questioning Willa. Willa realizes that there is more to the story then meets the eye and that live as she knows it is about to change.

When Willa was a young child her mother and her ran away from him and she never really knew why or if she did she kept those memories hidden. The only father she has ever really known was Jack her step father. Willa quickly learns that her real father is a murderer and has killed his wife and children and is now making his way to Willa and her mother. Now this is where I have to say I have an issue with the book because I thought there might have been more of a story line there but there wasn’t because it just seemed like they were protected by the police for a very short time.

We also learn that Willa is really isn’t happy with her family situation because she has two step sisters who get what ever they want at a drop of a hat and this is mainly due to their mother being rich and poor Willa is basically scrapping by and doing without because no one really seems to care about her or what she would like and I think this also one of the reasons she cuts.

Willa is never one to rock the boat but when she decides she wants to attend her siblings funeral it seems to upset everyone but Willa is determined to go and when she does she uncovers some hidden secrets that no one wants to relive. Willa also begins to remember some things from her past that she has forgotten and i think wishes she wouldn’t have remembered. I think uncovering this was good for Willa because before the book ended she became a stronger person and was willing to speak her mind no matter what anyone said or how they felt.

I have to admit I was left with alot of unanswered questions.

Thanks to Thomas Allen and Sons for sending me this book to review.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
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