The Blood Between Us audiobook

I received a free copy of this book from Harper Teen in exchange for an honest review on my YouTube channel. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book, such a great story. I also loved how the lgbtq+ side of the story was ”smooth” and not forced as it can be in some books/stories. It didn’t take up the main plot at all and instead it was just cute and just, there. Like it should be. Hard to explain lol but you get it.

I really enjoyed this book. I think the characters were believable, if a little strange. The story had me hanging on the whole way through and I liked the fact that the author never had to put a label on the main character in any respect, because he was just a person. I enjoyed watching the characters develop and see new characters introduced throughout the story.

This. book! OMG .... I really had NO idea what to expect when I started reading The Blood Between Us but I can tell you, I loved every. Single. Word. I could not put this book down, y'all. I FLEW through it, it was that compelling and gripping. Adrien? I loved him. Loved everything about him from his don't fuck with me attitude, to his heartache and devastation at the loss of his parents, to his questioning his sexuality. Books from a male narrator, a young one at that, are rare in YA especially, and it was an absolute joy getting this book solely from his point of view. Mind you, it would have been intriguing to hear from Grace (Oh, man is she ever a piece of work!) or maybe even Viktor, but Adrien's voice is so strong, so authentic, that I was engrossed from start to finish. The pace of this book is frenetic, there is SO much going on, but it never feels overwhelming. Glossed over in parts, sure, (and the ending is QUITE abrupt) but again, none of that really took away from my utter enjoyment of this book. Is there an air of the unrealistic in the book? Absolutely, but again, it takes nothing away. And honestly, the world is a crazy place sometimes so maybe things aren't as farfetched as they might first appear. This book was fun. It's intense and gripping and at parts humorous and sad and tender. I highly recommend ... and whatever you do, DO NOT skip over the author's note at the beginning. It's one of my favorite parts of the entire book! I can't wait to read more from Zac Brewer!!Full review to come on: www.swoonyboyspodcast.com

I really enjoyed this book! The climax/plot twist was a bit meh, in my opinion, but to me that didn't really matter; the story itself was intriguing and I kept wanting to read it.

This book really addresses the new changes of society and the acceptance of LGBT's as well as Zac Brewer himself, a transgender and gay. (PS. The letter he wrote in the beginning of the novel for all his readers was incredibly touching.)Yes this book talked about family and mystery and communication, but I think one of the main points was trust. Throughout the novel Adrien did NOT trust his sister, Grace, AT ALL, but in a way he didn't trust almost anyone, but progresses to throughout the novel. I found this book to be a great shorter read (especially since it's AP test time). It was a good book with a bit of everything (action, love, mystery, and drama). The book was just great for something to find yourself in another world with someone else's problems for a while. Adrien had plenty of problems to share. Adrien and Grace's relationship was sad and yet a little relatable. I have two sisters myself (a twin and an older sis) whom I love, but can hate at moments and that's why I could see Adrien's side of things. It never feels good to be left out. Being a twin is a lot like Adrien and Grace's circumstance because everything needs to be fair and equal or nothing at all. The slight twist is that their equality really set off Grace's fury.Grace is that person we all love, but hate. She's the girl that got perfect grades but partied every day and never even touched her textbook. It sucks because no matter how much I wanted to see Grace's side of things in the beginning of the book I couldn't due to seeing things through Adrien's perspective. BUT DON'T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS (like I did) Things aren't always what they seem (Another great point this novel really shows)Adrien's sexuality. He really went through a lot, but I was glad that there was time for him to figure himself out. Unfortunately a lot of people are against certain sexualities which could even be seen through the peer pressure Adrien faced. This book really advocates for people to be whoever they are HOWever they are, because it's ok. THE PLOT TWIST. I saw it coming, but not really. I felt in my bones that something would happen, but what actually happened was nowhere close to my radar. SO YEA There was THAT.This book was very cute. There was a lot of chemistry related with this book so at the start of each chapter there were chem vocab words and definitions which made me laugh. (especially since I'm actually taking chem this year and I've been learning a lot of them). It was pretty cool to see something I learned in this book. The only problem I had with this book was the ending. I have a couple questions. ( What were on those pages?! ) As well as my dislike for the quickness of everything in the last 1-2 chapters. I felt stranded, because I felt like I had just gotten to understand everything and quickly my world was turned upside down. (otherwise I would have given this book a 5 star)Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend this to anyone in need of a book, but doesn't have a lot of time! For more head to : www.bringingpaperback.weebly.com

3,5*I enjoyed this quite a bit. I would have preferred if the book was a bit longer, especially the ending felt a bit rushed. But I rushed through this book because I just wanted to know things.

Adrien was adopted as a toddler and he has never gotten along with his sister Grace. She is a full believer that he is not really family, and those family bonds are going to be tested. Their parents die in the first chapter of this book. And while both kids go to boarding school, Adian tells his guardian that he wants to go to school far away from his sister. He wants nothing to do with her, as she wants nothing to do with him.Fast forward 4 years later. His guardian tells him to come home. At the same time he starts getting weird anonymous texts that say his sister Grace may have killed their parents to steal their chemical research, and he won't know unless he comes home. So home it is. It’s only supposed to be for a month. He can hold out for a month.This book is full of mystery. Did Grace have anything to do with her parent’s death? Was it really an accident? Plus Adrien has to navigate the school he used to go to, but now most people are on his sister’s side. Afterall he left his sister alone to deal with their parent’s death.This is a decently paced read. Adrien's journey to re-assimilate, find a new path in life, and discover what he wants to do after school is a joy to read. The story moves at a pretty jaunty pace. It is heartfelt and has it’s funny moments, and really feels like a teenages life. The ending however wound up quickly. It went from who does Adien really want to kiss, to hey here’s what really happened with that fire and oh by the way, the exploding bathtub didn’t go as planned. It was just way too quick. I had more questions. It was a fun listen, and Brewer can keep a reader entertained.#MusicChallnege (2 Evils) #BBRC - trans author

I had never heard anything about this book, picked it up on a whim and I’m so glad I did! I really enjoyed the characters and the mystery element of the story was great. Adrian’s character was flawed as was Grace’s bit events at the start of the book definitely showed why that needed to be the way it was done. I really enjoyed Adrian exploring his sexuality too, it fit in so well with the conflict in him. The only reason this wasn’t a 5 star was that I guessed the twist which ruined my enjoyment just a little! Still, a surprising but really great story!

A semi slow burning mystery with some false leads and an ending out of left field. The premise is cool, but just not fully explored. Some of the characters were a little flat, and some of their conversations felt like they didn’t add up to much. The romance was neat, but also not completely realized. I like it nearly as well as Brewer’s other works, but the ending came too fast and ended to abruptly. I do like the last chapters, but would have liked them even more if they had more detail or were just better supported by the rest of the novel.

I like that Brewer devotes a considerable amount of the effort developing the relationship (or lack thereof) between the main character and his sister. I love that the hero is an LGBT teen. The science described in the novel seems entirely plausible (Think intuition and emotional awareness as a form of extrasensory ability.) and is integrated well into the entire plot. I would absolutely read the sequel(s) as this point.

** spoiler alert ** This book was a very good read. It took me almost no time at all to finish it because I just couldn't put it down! The suspicions were so realistic and I was feeling them just as he was. I was a little disappointed to find out that it wasn't his sister, but I guess it's a good thing for them all that it wasn't. Definitely recommend it though!

3.5-4⭐️ based on other reviews I don't know what I was expecting. It wasn't awesome, it wasn't terrible. The last 2 chapters were a whirlwind and I guess made the book better. All in all decent quick read.

This was one of the best books I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it if you are into crime, mystery, and suspense. So many twists and misleads everywhere, giving the ending a phenomenal Surprise. Highly recommend this book!