I loved this book! I hope the author continues this series because this was a great start to her series.

Thank you for the opportunities to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

Mad Hatter Sunnies and YA Reading List

School is out and it’s time to plan for summer vacation! Whether you’re going poolside or seaside to get some sun, here are some book recommendations to introduce your teens to the joy of reading. Styled with fashionable hats, sunglasses and swimsuit, they could erase any thoughts that reading makes you look nerdy.

3. A JOT OF BLOOD

Book: A Jot of Blood The Coventry Years - Book One by Katherine Bayless
Hat: Sunny by Eugenia Kim
Sunglasses: Mykita STUDIO 6.4
Swimwear: Piper One Piece Swimsuit by Rebecca Minkoff

MY TAKE:
First, this is NOT Hogwarts. “A Jot of Blood” might have a school of magic in it,Hi but it is still its own story and has its own share of fascinating characters. And we have the usual suspects of werewolves, vampires and other magical beings.

Second, it is really a fun read. High school is high school whether you are in East Valley High or in a magical kingdom. Unfortunately, the kids, magical as they were still had to go through the usual high school issues beleaguering our youth like bullying, among others. Still, this is one of the reasons why the book is relatable.

And don’t worry. “A Jot of Blood” might contain some real world issues, but the fantasy part remains dominant and makes it a very good read.

So, grab your ivory/black striped toyo straw SUNNY sunhat from Eugenia Kim, don your Piper One Piece swimsuit from Rebecca Minkoff and take your Mykita Studio 6.4 sunglasses then curl up in your favorite sunbathing spot for a lazy day under the sun enjoying “A Jot of Blood.”

*****A 5 STAR REVIEW*****

I loved this book.

Here we have Lire. A clairvoyant who attends a boarding school for the magically inclined. Unfortunately for Lire, her school life isn't great. Due to her powers as a clairvoyant, if she comes into contact with anything which has been touched by another, she can become aware of their thoughts. Because of this, Lire ensures that her body is always covered and she cannot accidentally read anyones thoughts.
This is also a power than many people do not understand and she is treated as the lowest of the low by some of her teachers and many of her classmates.
Thankfully, on the first day of term, Lire makes friends with 2 new students. Cal who is a werwolf and his brother Zach who is an occultum.

Before long Lire, Cal and Zach are getting into all kinds of scrapes. The first one being an act of vandalism
which has been directed at a teacher who treats Lire badly and singles her out in lessons. Although Lire is blamed for this, the way that she stands up for herself shows her to have a very strong moral compass and very definite ideas of what is right and wrong.
As in any school, there are many gangs and cliques and all of the assumptions which goes with them. During the school year, Lire comes to realise that sometimes you need to make up your own mind about people and that you can't believe everything that you're told.

There are some fantastic characters in this book who I am hoping we will learn more about as the series grows.
Some very funny situations and plenty of sarcastic comments.

I have since found out that the adult Lire can be found in "A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life" , another series.by the same author. I had not read any of this authors work before but am rushing off to find more as soon as I have finished typing.

I cannot wait for the next instalment.

Oh, and I just adored the illustrations.

I downloaded this ebook months ago and had forgotten what it was about. Imagine my delight to find the story contains all types of mythical beings! I love these stories! I was definitely not disappointed.

Lire (Lear) is a 16 year old student at Coventry Academy. A private school for the psychically gifted and students with other "conditions" such as vampires, werewolves, telepathy, invisibility, to name a few.

Lire is a clairvoyant, and she's had a really horrible time at school since 3rd grade. She is shunned by 99% of the students. When Lire finds herself stuck smack dab in the middle of the disappearance of 2 werewolves, then the murder of a 900 year old Ubhnati magician, all kinds of trouble abounds. It seems that Lire just can't catch a break.

You don't want to miss this book, and I sincerely hope the author writes a series!
* I was not aware there are previous books about Lire and her life. I will have to find those books and read them also!

This book is a good read for early teens and older.

I thank the author and netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I hadn't read anything by this author before but will look for her books in the future. She has created an interesting YA paranormal boarding school world where 16year old Lire is a clairvoyant with 2 great friends, a werewolf and an invisible man. Lire is being bullied by a school "mean girl". The author has a fluent writing style with a good underlay of humour. The plot flows well with twists and turns. I actually liked the basic lack of sex scenes as they can become very repetitive.

Thank you to Net galley for an ARC for me to give my honest opinion.

First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review (as well as Netgalley for putting me in touch with them). Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Stars (Out of 10): 7/10 Stars

Favorite Character: It kept bouncing between Zach and Cal!

Spoiler Free: When I picked up this book, I didn’t know what to expect! While it has all-around decent reviews, it also did not have the largest readership yet (although I hope to change this!), so it really could’ve gone either way.

While I’d consider the beginning fairly rocky, as we were introduced to our MC and her life (and extreme prejudice she faces due to her gift), it quickly got better as we were introduced to the partners in crime. I “hit it off” with Zach and Cal almost immediately, but it did take me a few chapters to connect with Lire and her sometimes brash personality.

Additionally, while I usually find myself lost in a book without a clear cut plot, I found myself just enjoying the day to day antics this trio got up to (all enhanced by Cal and Zach’s witty banter/comments!).

My main issue with the novel was revealed in the chaotic ending, and my inability to keep track of what was even going on at points. This part of the book revealed that the world is explained as things relevant are occurring, which often led you to being overwhelmed with important information exactly as action was also taking place. It also led to important parts of the world being concealed until later in the novel, even if they seemed like things that should have definitely been mentioned earlier on. (Lastly, as soon an important world point was shown to the reader, it seemed to appear quite frequently in Lire’s inner thoughts, contributing to the oddness of certain facts not being mentioned sooner.)

All in all, this was definitely a great read, and I hope the series continues! I miss these characters already!

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers: Lemme just talk about that ending for a bit. What even happened in that last 20%?? We got thrown into so much new stuff, from world building to character reveals. And then it all gets taken away from Lire too, so it feels like it didn’t even happen in the epilogue. Additionally, why are we just now heading about sidhe queens and kings in the last bit of the book when they are obviously important to the overarching series plot?

I dunno, just feels like the world information could definitely have been plotted out better.

But still! The characters more than made up for it, and I still can’t decide if I like Lire better with Zach or Cal (even though my overall favorite is definitely Zach.)

Which, now that I’m on characters, made me really dislike the epilogue. It felt almost unnecessary, and made the last chapter feel cheap almost. Lire is shown 3 months later, with a new friend, having gone to the homecoming dance with Ted (as friends, is claimed), and shows the quickly deteriorating communication between her and Zach/Cal. If anything, this would have been a much better start to a second book, with our trio coming back together again shortly after (maybe with the addition of Lire’s new roommate.) Overall, that extra epilogue added nothing but sadness to my perception of the book, and made the relationship/adventure Lire had with Zach/Cal cheaper in a sense.

Good story line and interested concept. Full of adventure and hardship that would be identifiable traits to those high school teenage readers. Can't wait to read the next book to see what Lire is up to.

Ah, high school, being a teen, and oh yeah, paranormal abilities that's what makes this book. There's a whole range of characters that you'd hope to have, from werewolves, vampires and onward. The world building was strong. I found it good enough to read more in the series. While many of the themes are well-used ones, the story still held together.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

4.25
I read this book after reading another magical boarding school book so I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t skeptical but this book exceeded my expectations.
The author painted a setting of the school that made me want to gain powers and start going there immediately and the book was very engaging. The thing that stopped this book from being a 5 star read was that there were some details and wordings that made it a tad confusing.
This book follows the story of a clairvoyant at a boarding school for the supernatural.
PROS
-Setting: As I said the author painted a setting that was interesting and engaging and it set the scene perfectly.
-Characters: The characters were built up well and the author did a great job of making it feel like we learned who the characters were throughout the book instead of a chunk of text describing who and what they were.
-The Relationship: Yes, a relationship happens in this book and though you can see it coming from the beginning I am so happy to report that it was not insta-lovey and it happened organically (or as organically as a relationship in a book can go)

CONS
-Cover and Title: Just a PSA: These were not the factors that made me dock any points and I didn’t consider this when I was rating the book. However I have to say the title and the cover do not give me the full picture of this book and if I saw the cover on a shelf I probably would not reach for it. It’s not that its ugly it just doesn’t….fit the vibe the book gives off. Same with the title, I get that the author was trying to be creative but the title makes it sound a lot more vampirey and creepy than it actually is.
-Details and Wording were a problem in this novel, but it didn’t stop me too much from enjoying the book.


All in all this book was quite the adventure and I can’t wait for the next book!!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed "A Jot of Blood" by Katherine Bayless. It was a fast paced YA novel with an interesting plot that still wove in real word challenges for teenagers (bullying, first loves, social jockeying, etc.). The protagonist, 16-year-old clairvoyant, Lire Devon, wasn't without flaw, but was overall a likeable character that the reader wanted to root for. Her main aggressor, the popular Queen B/bully, Amanda, was a little one-dimensional and I wish there had been more development of their back story - not to spoil this, but the tattletale incident was a little weak) to show why Amanda hated Lire so much and what lengths she went to make Lire's life awful for so many years. The addition of Cal and Alex to the plot created many fun moments and helped flesh out the world building.

All-in-all, this was a fun read and I look forward to learning Lire's future fate and adventures!

Lire Devon is a clairvoyant, able to see the thoughts and memories of anyone she comes into skin-to-skin contact with. She is ostracized by peers for this ability, and her own family had broken apart because of it. Coventry Academy is a refuge of sorts, even so, because she loves learning about magic and the different abilities that others have. This year is even better because she actually made two friends, the werewolf Cal and the occultum (invisible man) Zach.

Jot of Blood is book one of the Coventry Years, and is apparently a prequel to another series. I hadn't read that, so I didn't have any preconceptions or expectations about the characters.

There are rivalries between students and Lire's insecurities, all of which are real but have that supernatural edge to it. Lire is a wonderful character to read about, and the consequences of being a clairvoyant are vividly outlined. At the same time, she has such hope in the midst of her anxiety and pessimism, and she does have a good sense of humor.

The bullying and stereotypes in the novel reflect what many teens go through, but with a supernatural twist. There are lighthearted times in the novel, even with the very serious themes involved. Zach is definitely comic relief, but there is depth there as well.

Lire is such a fun character to read about, and the magic discussed in the book is vividly described. I hope to read the other books in this series and look for the parent series this came from.

Lire is a 16 year old psychic at Coventry Academy. Thanks to her enemy Amanda, who is a bully and for years has spread lies about her, Lire is despised and feared by the majority of students. Her ability is rare and little understood, being able to read the history of objects and the secrets of people and all their memories. These memories tend to overwhelm her so she goes to great lengths to never touch anyone or anything with her bare skin. A very lonely existence.
Cal and Alex enter her life at this point and prove to be true friends. Even though they also have hidden agendas, they befriend her and help her find a real place at the school. In between dealing with the lying and bullying they also solve a disappearance and a murder.
This was an entertaining read and I enjoyed Lire's story. I can recommend this to teens 13 and up and many adults would enjoy it. Mild bad language and a kiss. I wish there had been a way to solve the bullying without magic.

This book was great. I loved the book. I got invested in the characters and wanted to find out what happens to them.

This was a lovely, fresh "take" on the paranormal genre. Great characters, nice plot. Hope to see more from this author!

I haven't read any books by this author previously but I'll certainly be seeking them out in future. Lire is just my type of girl, if she thinks it she says it, even when she shouldn't! The school is certainly typical of many in books - the popular and the bullied but it's always nice when they point out not everyone is as they seem at first. I hope there are more in this series as it's one of my favorite books of the year so far

The characters in this novel had me hooked when I first met them. Lire is a fantastic protagonist and her 2 cohorts, well, I don't know how, if and when the time comes, she can choose between them. Now I'm waiting for the next book in the series. Highly recommend this book.

"A Jot of Blood" explores the high school years of Lire, the psychic/clairvoyant who is the star of the "A Clairvoyant's Complicated Life" series. I have not read any of that series, but based on the quality of "A Jot of Blood", I plan to check out the series.

Clotilde (Lire) Devon is a clairvoyant who attends Coventry Academy, a school for those with magical powers or curses (magus, vampires (strigoi), shifters (werewolves, etc.), psychics, etc.). However, school life is not particularly pleasant for her. As a clairvoyant, if she touches any person or animal or any product that has been touched by another person or animal, she "absorbs" the thoughts of the person or animal. As a result, even on the hottest days, she wears long clothes and gloves to avoid coming into contact with anyone (or anything that is not psi-free (never touched by human or animal)). Most of her classmates, and some of her teachers, ostracize her. However, the school year improves when she meets and befriends two new students, Cal, a werewolf, and Zach, an occultum (which means he is invisible).

When her father dropped her off, he jokingly told that "perhaps a little bad was called for". He wanted her to have fun, but not so much that the headmaster called him. Before long, Lire finds herself in trouble due to a prank pulled on the teacher who mistreats her the most and for which she is blamed. In facing the repercussions of this prank, she find herself with powerful allies and enemies. As the school year progresses, she also finds herself in situations, some of her own making, that involve being more than "a little bad."

The author has created a number of very interesting characters with their own secrets and pasts that could easily lend themselves to further books. The book has numerous intriguing subplots. What I particularly liked is how the author addresses a number of social issues pertinent to students and to society in general. The US government had previously forced members of the magic community to register with the government so they could be tracked and monitored. Some members, whose magical abilities or afflictions were less obvious, were physically marked so "normal" people could identify them. There is tension between the school and the local community because of the nature of the school's residents, but "town versus gown" is a common tension in many college towns throughout the US. Coventry Academy (as well as similar schools throughout the country) was focusing on combatting bullying by students, a subject that was quite relevant to Lire. One of the subplots involves the suicide years earlier of a student (and clairvoyant) as a result of bullying. The book addresses stereotypes and the tendency to make assumptions or believe the worst about those who are not like you. However, the author is not heavy-handed in her discussion of these issues, weaving the social commentary into the various plots and subplots in the book. With her new friendships, Lire grows in confidence and assertiveness, while also having to challenge her own assumptions about certain people or groups. Although my previous statements may make the book sound very cerebral, there is plenty of action, intrigue, humor, and lightheartedness.

If you are normally turned off by paranormal books, I would encourage you to give this one a chance. While paranormal abilities are an integral part of the characters and the book, the paranormal aspect is not as "heavy" as some paranormal-themed books, where it seems like every page the reader is reminded that it is a "paranormal" novel.

I could also see this book being a good choice for a high school course that addresses some of the social issues that the book touches upon. Because the "other" in the book are individuals with paranormal abilities that separate them from "normal" humans and even from each other (strigoi (vampires) vs. shifters vs. magus vs. psychics, etc.), a teacher could have discussions on the differences among groups of people and the stereotypes and assumptions people make about others without having to focus directly on the potentially volatile subjects of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual or gender orientation, or physical/mental ability/handicap.

I really enjoyed reading A Jot of Blood. I loved the characters and the entire storyline. Lire is a great character and I love reading more about her when she was younger. I can't wait to read what happens next!