Blood and Chocolate

This book is about sex. Not necessarily about having sex, but about wanting sex, thinking about sex, and the confusing and exquisite line between desire and love. It is, in essence, about the sexually charged and sexually confused state of being of a High School Teenager. Add to that already volatile mixture the aspect of being a werewolf, as well as the unpredictably powerful ingredient that is the Female Psyche, and you have Blood and Chocolate.I've always wondered why a lot of young adult novels don't focus more on sex. Not out of lewd curiosity and interest, but because if you are telling a story about teenagers, then that story will, by virtue of their young hormone-driven characters, be steeped (nay saturated) with sexual thoughts.I can only speak unashamedly from my own experience, but as a high school teenaged boy I can tell you unequivocally that from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed and even in my dreams...I was thinking about and wondering about sex--not actually having it, but wishing desperately that I could have it, a little jealous about others who I knew were having it, wanting and fantasizing about girls that I was too scared to ask out; and even when I managed to go on a date with a girl, feeling completely lost in the excited turmoil of sloppy kisses, uncomfortable and embarrassing erections in public places and the miracle of touching a girl's breast.I don't remember much about what I was supposed to have learned in high school to be honest, but I can explain in great detail about every girl I ever had a crush on, of every wayward sexual experience that I had, good or bad.Which leads me back to Blood and Chocolate. I love werewolf stories, as they seem more human in terms of a metaphor as opposed to a blood sucking dead thing. What I mean is that a werewolf is a creature of instinct and nature, two things which humans have worked very hard to try and bury and pretend don't exist in our lives. We typically let those two things come out when a.) we're having sex or b.) we're incredibly angry or hurt..and then we revert to our animal nature and either rut like beasts or lash out like mad dogs.Blood and Chocolate is the story of Vivian Gandillon, a beautiful teenaged werewolf, who is trying to set herself apart from the Pack, literally and figuratively. She believes that her Pack (her community of wolves) are growing more and more reckless and dangerous. She also believes that through her own wolf-recklessness years ago, that she may been the cause of her father's accidental demise in a building fire.But she is a powerful and beautiful werewolf, and her wolf-self gives her an enormous amount of confidence and self esteem within her pack. And also, unbeknownst to her, normal people look upon her beauty and confidence with a mixture of fear and awe, which is why everyone is afraid to talk with her at school. But when Vivian sees a boy, Aiden, that she is attracted to, she wastes no time being coy and waiting for him to ask her out--she sways her hips and goes right up to him and writes her number on the palm of his hand, giving him a look of unmistakable intentions. And when he does call her and they begin dating, it is she who is trying to initiate sex with him, not the other way around. He's being polite, respectful, etc., etc. --all the things a "good guy" is supposed to do; but she wants nothing of that. She thinks its quaint that he is deliberately refraining from having sex with her, even though he desperately wants to. In a way, he's teasing her, playing hard to get, while she's the one who's creating opportunities for them to have sex only to have him or circumstances dictate otherwise. She is a girl who knows what she wants and her sexuality is heightened by the instinctual power of her wolf-self, too. In a metaphorical (and almost figurative) sense, she's the predator and he's the prey.A beautiful, strong, confident female, who owns her sexuality instead of falling victim to it? This behavior in a female character could conceivably draw a lot of criticism from some readers who may regard her immediately as a slut, for a.) wanting sex, and b.) not afraid to get it.If this book were told from a male perspective, no one would think twice about this type of characterization and overt sexual behavior. In fact some may even applaud his boldness and sexual intentions and be rooting for him to get the girl, because I think we expect this from a male. But from a girl? It's almost unheard of.Vivian, to me, feels like an authentic female. There are things she does that I love, while others that I simply hate and confounded by. She reacts to situations with emotion, uncontrollably sometimes or with deliberate, or an with almost calculating (scary?) premeditation. She's not only aware of her sexuality, but she owns it and uses it to entice, tease, reward and punish. Why? Because she's a woman and she can, of course.The rest of the story is about Vivian and Aiden and the inevitable clash of whether or not they can be themselves (he a normal boy, and she a werewolf) and try to be happy together. Without giving too much away, the result of some honest exchange between the two results in some rather unexpected consequences. This is not your typical young adult novel. Love doesn't always conquer all, some people can't change despite how much you love them, and maybe you weren't in love after all, but just wanted them sexually.This book, I think, deals realistically--well, as realistic as you can get from a supernatural fantasy--but maybe we should say, instead, "authentically" with teen supernatural romance. To compare with another teen supernatural romance story, I'll use the Twilight series, which had a young teenaged girl who must choose between necrophilia or bestiality. And the only way she can fully be with one or the other is to become one of them (she became a beautiful looking blood sucking dead thing, by the way). The message being that you can't be with the one you love unless you (or the one you love) change to accommodate the other...?Blood and Chocolate handles the romance quite differently, addressing the fact that your girlfriend transforms into an animal with, what I would say, a fairly accurate human response.This book is about staying true to yourself...and living with both the pleasures and also the consequences of that choice.The writing is fantastic. Evocative and almost lyrical at times, but always at a brisk pace yet never feeling rushed. I loved this book. I wish more books were written with this amount of honest experience and realistic consequences. I love the character of Vivian; she is beautiful and dangerous, confident but possessed with doubt; powerful yet vulnerable; tender one moment, vindictive the next; soft as a flower, sharp as a knife. She is, finally, a woman.

DISCLAIMER: Way before Twilight and all the copycats, there was this book. It’s OG. In my opinion, it’s much more thoughtful and original than the YA romance fantasies that came after it. I used to read it over and over in Jr High. Now, as an adult, I reread it just to see how it holds up. So, bear with me because this is super nostalgic for me and I’m 100% biased. It’s such a guilty pleasure. Now that that’s out of the way...Vivian, the main character, is a “pirate of the night”, a teenage werewolf, with a strong sense of community, purpose, rebelliousness, and confidence. This book always gets criticized for being too sexual for YA, but honestly, who doesn’t remember having a one-track mind as a teenager? More importantly, the book is much more sensual than sexual. Vivian is real, well fleshed out character. She makes real actions/decisions/mistakes, but she takes responsibility and her actions eventually show that listening to her gut in the end will always guide her straight. Her self-image of her body is very healthy, a wonderful role model for a teenager (the message seems to be: if she can accept herself as beautiful as essentially a monster or as a girl, why can’t you?) She glorifies how good it feels to run through the woods, delights in her senses of taste, sight, sound, hearing and touch that gives readers a great impression of how to live intensely in the moment. Sure it’s because her senses are highly attuned as a wild animal, and, sure, a lot of the things she enjoys might be uncomfortable to a human (such as when she’s chewing a piece of meat while staring at a human thigh) but what’s to stop your average human reader from being inspired to also revel in the little things? The book offers a wonderful sense of freedom: freedom to experience, to fail, to risk, to love. Most of all it stresses the ever-important more that when you accept yourself, you are your strongest self.The writing style is just superb. All killer, no filler. The jokes are great. It is dense with sentiment, and you never forget whose eyes you’re looking though. Almost every move a werewolf makes - even in their human form - is described in the most animal-like way possible: lots of “snarling”, “bristling”, “ears pricking up”, “nuzzling”, “clawing”, “howling”, etc. Furries take note - you’ll probably like it. They even say “love gift” to describe a necklace given as a present - you know, those dead “gifts” your cat or dog leaves on your doorstep!Though a short read, it’s high quality, and gives it an elegant feel, but with plenty of action and dialogue. There’s a ton of great one-liners in here, and not a single line is wasted fluff. For example:“He was a human after all: a meat-boy scantily furred, an incomplete creature who had only one form.How sad, she thought.” As a teen, when everything felt new and unknown, this book taught me that to truly enjoy and engage in the unknown, and that to be able to grow from it, you must first accept yourself. I know that sounds corny, but every young adult should receive this message. And, to any Christian fundamentalists reading this, calm down: when I say the “unknown”, I don’t mean the occult (in the context of MY life anyway). Maybe it’s just adventuring outside of your comfort zone, like choosing a career in architecture or hacking, or maybe it’s befriending someone with different political viewpoints, or finding a sense of community in an edgy hobby like skydiving, or listening to a new music genre, etc. The point is to embrace the unknown as authentically as possible to get the best results.TL;DR: Is it a little trashy? Yeah. Is it fun? Absolutely. Is it meaningful? Of course. The story is truly about the exquisite beauty of the everyday, and how knowing yourself can lead you to find truly precious things in this very short time we have on Earth.

I read this book because I seem to be one of the few people who actually enjoyed the film. I can see why there were complaints as they are actually two totally different stories, basically they just have the same names and it features werewolves.In the book I never really warmed up to Vivian, she just annoyed me, she comes across as full of herself and stuck up, but at times still seems childish and I wasn't particularly sold on either of the guys.I think one of the many differences of the film was that it was more adult, while this is much more of a children's book.

Having seen the film first I was curious about the book. Well I've satisfied my curiosity and, other than the names and the fact they are wolves; I can report the two bear no resemblance what so ever! Personally I didn't enjoy the book as much as the film, the characters in the book were un appealing and did very little for me. My advice is if you enjoyed the film steer clear of the book and if you liked the book you'll be disappointed with the film.

I bought 'Blood and Chocolate' after watching the movie adaptation, I decided to read the book, you know the saying ~ 'the book is better than the movie', so, I was very pleased to find a copy of the book.The book is in the condition as stated, speedy delivery. All I have to do now is actually read the book.

I still remember reading this when I was a teenager, and I still now enjoy reading it! ... Although I would recommend if for any teenager audience or anyone going through an identity crisis! The movie however is not worth it! Such a disappointment!!

Wasn't my cup of tea to be honest but I gave it a go I suppose.