Bad Bloods is a solid work of dystopian YA that will delight any fan of the genre. It also includes an angle that is too often overlooked by other authors in the category.
Serena was born a bad blood–a person with strange unique powers. In the city of Vendona, that’s an automatic death sentence. Before Serena can be executed, a prison guard helps her escape, setting into motion a chain of events that will determine Vendona’s political future and every bad blood’s right to be seen as human.
While I can’t say “Bad Bloods” is particularly original–we’ve seen a lot of stories like this in the past ten years or so–I think it still works. The plot is engaging, the characters are interesting and the bad bloods’ powers are unique. What really sets Bad Bloods apart is a world building aspect many dystopian YA seem to forget:
The political climate of Bad Bloods is eerily similar to our own.
This past election year has been hard on everyone and I don’t want to focus on it too much (this is a book review, after all), but it’s hard to deny that the question of who gets what fundamental rights has been front and center lately. When I realized that Bad Bloods dealt with a very similar dilemma, I got chills and made me want to read on.
I’m not sure if Thompson meant for the major conflict to come across like that, but that’s how I interpreted it and I think it makes Bad Bloods stand out in the dystopian YA genre for the better.
If you liked books such as Hunger Games, Divergent, or even James Patterson’s Maximum Ride, I’d definitely say you should check out “Bad Bloods.” It has all the things dystopian readers love about the genre, plus an extra kick. So, if you’ve got some free time over the New Year’s holiday, head over to Amazon and check out Bad Bloods for yourself.
Thank you for reading Bad Bloods!
~SAT