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.

This was very different than I expected. I also enjoyed it much more than I was expecting. I really like Lire as a character, she was fun, grew well as a character. Cal and Zach were great too, I loved their introduction, it was fun and unique. I really enjoyed finding out about the different kinds of magic. I thought the way Lire learned more about her powers was well done and has got me wondering what else she can do.

The mystery was good, it kept twisting and turning, keeping me guessing. I want to know more though, I want to know more, I am very much looking forward to the next book. The conflict between Lire and the popular girl (cannot remember her name) was interesting, seemed like jealousy on the popular girls part.

Cal, was a great character, I can see him being a very popular book love interest. He is strong and fun and a great friend. And yes he sounds like a catch.

I will be reading the next book in the series. And raving about this book to anyone who will listen.

Want a book with magic, werewolves, vampires, fun, excitement and a lot of mystery, go on pick this up you won't be disappointed.

4 out of 5 stars

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.

While the supernatural YA novel is nothing new, Katherine Bayless is able to imbue the story of Lire, the clairvoyant high school narrator of this novel, with such an easy, authentic and conversational tone that even the werewolves and vampires prowling her school ground seem little more than an obvious part of the high school experience. Told in a believable teenage voice, by a narrator whose special talents have made her a bit of a social pariah, and cast featuring characters of all skill levels (though mainly from privileged backgrounds), the novel is, like its narrator, sometimes juvenile and frustrating, but always smart, clever, witty, and thoroughly engaging. Definitely a good choice for the fantasy-living preteen/young teen in your life.

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!

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher. Don't confuse this author's name with that of dancer Katherine Bailess!

If I'd really been paying attention and properly noted that this was the start of a series (The Coventry Years), I probably would not have requested to review it. I am not a fan of series. Once in a while one comes along that is worth pursuing and I had hoped this would be one, but in general series are very derivative, unimaginative, and often tediously and unnecessarily drawn-out, as this was. Plus it's in first person because, as you must know, it's quite illegal in North America to write a YA novel in any other voice....

I was initially curious about this though, which is why I requested it, but my curiosity was squelched at only five percent in, when I wanted to ditch this thing because of the tired YA clichés with which it was larded. By fifteen percent it was honestly nauseating me because I have read this same sad, stupefyingly simplistic story a score of times, and this author had brought nothing new to it.

It's like there is a certain category of YA author which is devoted to cloning every other YA author, and that's not for me. Maybe there are readers who like that kind of thing, but if there are, I feel bad for them for being in such a rut. I look for the authors who prefer the read less traveled, and who try to bring something original and unique to their audience. OTOH, if you want the same old, warmed-over fare you already were force-fed in the last YA novel you picked up, then this might be for you.

The cloning (such as using Vampire Academy's 'strigoi' liberally, for example), the trope, such as the incipient love triangle, the instadore in Lire's pathetic mooning over Cal, and the truly pathetic main character herself really turned me off. I made it to the end of chapter ten, which was 47% in, and could not bear the thought of reading any further, let alone going through a whole series of this.

It's supposed to be about upper high school kids, but it felt like reading a lower middle-grade story, because these people were so immature and petty. The main character - with the highly unlikely name of Clotilde Devon - goes by 'Lire' for reasons I never understood. The nickname is pronounced 'Leer'. I can understand that.

The Goodreads blurb read, in part, "Adolescence is hard enough, but add magic to the mix and things have a way of getting complicated in a hurry. Even at Coventry Academy, one of the best schools in the world for the magically inclined, some 'gifts' mean nothing but trouble." I didn't get how this was supposed to be the best school. There was nothing in the first fifty percent of the story to indicate that.

Quite the contrary; it seemed like any ordinary high school, but with far more bullying than any ordinary high school would have. The oddest thing though, was that it was so ordinary. Unlike at Hogwarts for example, there were no magical lessons taught here - not even how to control or use your particular skill. That seemed extraordinarily strange (and not Stephen Strange!) to me, so where the 'add magic to the mix' came in is a complete mystery. There was none practiced here.

One reviewer who reviewed this negatively said that "Cal wasn't a typical twilight werewolf", but he was. There was literally nothing new here at all. Cal is your typical trope werewolf and Zach is your typical standard-issue buddy (but more obnoxious). Let's call them what they are: Clone-Wolf and Yuk. Neither of them were remotely interesting except in how obnoxious they were, immediately and repeatedly calling Lire 'princess' for no apparent reason, and randomly tugging on her ponytail again and again for no apparent reason. Lire is such a passive, wet rag that she had can find absolutely no objection to this treatment whatsoever.

Of course Cal is obnoxious towards Lire so she immediately falls for him, and from that point onward, quite literally every other page has an observation from Lire on how muscular he is, how attractive he is, or how good he looks in this outfit or that, or how he couldn't possibly be interested in her. Oh my but how attractive is he? How muscular! How cut and ripped and [insert other destructive adjective perversely intended to indicate perfection] he is! Here's an example: "My heart fluttered, and I immediately wanted to kick myself for it. I wasn't a damsel in distress. I could take care of myself." No, she can't. She's proven this repeatedly by this point, so she's not even honest with herself. Maybe her nickname is really 'Liar'?

This is the asinine love triangle we're presented with, even though there's absolutely no reason whatsoever for Clone-Wolf and Yuk to pal up with her. Of course they do, not because it was going to naturally happen, but because the author insists that it has to happen no matter what.

The bullying in this school is so extreme as to be completely absurd If this had been a parody, it would have been funny, but as it his, quite literally everyone in the school (except for newcomers Clone and Yuk of course) detests Lire. I am not kidding you. She's a complete pariah and she lets us know this routinely, and in first person voice! Frankly, I would have shunned her because she was so nauseatingly whiny, Who cares if she's a clairvoyant? Shes actually more like a bifocal-voyant because she can only whine endlessly about her treatment, or drool endlessly over cal. That's it. That's her entire repertoire.

The Net Galley blurb tells us: "The contents of this book include one surly werewolf, a snarky invisible prankster, and enough indelicate language to make a succubus blush." Really? Indelicate language? No there's none, unless you class "fricking" as indelicate. In short, it's totally unrealistic, No kid in this entire school actually swears, which I took as more evidence that it was aimed at a middle-grade audience.

The writing is often as obnoxious as the characters. There's fat-shaming at merely 2% in: "He'd been three years older and a big fat jerk." Maybe that wasn't meant to be literal, but it was also entirely unnecessary. Lire is supposed to be attending an elite academy and this is the best she can to to express herself? That remedial English level of expression was common. Lire was obnoxious in coming up with an abusive name, on the spot, for anyone she did not like, often in the form of a truly juvenile Mr Mcfartypants (that wasn't one but it's of precisely the same mentality - again, it's middle-grade material). Lire even chortles at one point! No, I am not kidding.

The French! Periodically we got a French lesson with the French phrase followed immediately by the English translation (for example: "Bon, tu m'as compris. Alors, tiens, elles sont à toi." Good, you get me. So, here, they are yours). It was tedious, and especially so for those of us who understand enough French to get the sense of the phrase. Even those who do not, do not need it monotonously and literally spelled out every single time. There are better ways of handling this, and this author seriously needs to find them.

The writing was bad in other ways, such as when I read this: "Total invisibility, including their shadow." Seriously? There are different ways of being invisible, of course, but in a paranormal novel lie this, where it quite literally meant that the character was invisible, of course there's no shadow! How can there be a shadow when there's nothing to block the light? Clearly this concept was sorely lacking some thinking-through.

Another example of poor writing was this: "The car rocked as Dad executed a three-point U-turn. What the...frick (to employ an indelicate word from the book!) is a three-point U-turn? It's either a U-turn or it's a three point turn. It's not both.

Oh, and Lire's two paramours can move at super-speed. This is their secret power. She leaves the cafeteria shortly after they do, all-but sprints to her class, and they still get there before her, and early enough to cause trouble before she arrives. Again, it's not thought through.

This was the problem with this whole book when you get down to it. It could have had the makings of a good story but to get there from here, you'd need to make a 3 point U-turn - the three points being to ditch Lire, Clone, and Yuk. And lose the first person voice. Or give it to a character who would be worth listening to, and who was a whole lot less whiny. Amanda, for example. Now there was an interesting character although the author did a lousy job of giving her any rationale for her behavior.

As it is, this novel is not a worthy read and I cannot recommend it.

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