In the aftermath of a bloody prom night, a podcast tries to understand what happened to Maddy Washington, and why she did it.

This was WILD. I thought this book was so well structured - the podcast format and reveals through interviews and research was really great against the 2014 events told through our characters’ perspectives.

As a white woman, I can’t speak to a lot of the struggles and feelings that this book is centered around, but the impact is still powerful for me. The racism that is portrayed through this book is still prevalent, so if you think this book is too “in the past”, you’re missing the point.

The relentless bullying and racism that Maddy goes through is horrifying, and by passing as white for so long, she’s caught between two worlds.

Tiffany D Jackson should be required reading, because every book I pick up from her is incredible. This entire story kept me hooked and I’d highly recommend it. It lends itself perfectly to audio with a changing cast as well, but is equally striking in print.

Tiffany D. Jackson has done it again. I love her books and this is now my favorite book of hers. It's a great retelling of Carrie and I will be recommending this book to everyone. Will definitely be purchasing for our library.

Wow. This book was amazing. And devastating. A brilliant retelling that in many ways exceeded the original, especially in scope.

While this book is a re-imagining of the Stephen King novel Carrie, calling it that and expecting it to be limited to the frame of experience that novel encompasses would miss the point of why it was written at all. I'm a fan of King's work and Carrie is a work that had emotional impact for me as an outsider but this book and it's central figure more than surpass the limited and simplistic levels of nuance King established with his novel. Here issues of race, gender, trauma, abuse, societal neglect, systemic racism, internalized racism, colorism, and bullying all play their part in establishing not only Maddy 's experience but that of the town 's permissive tolerance of these things, national denial of of these experiences, and the part that poor allyship plays in their continuing harm. The Weight of Blood effectively takes the bones of the original.work and constructs a narrative with that structure that can achieve more by its honesty, depth, and nuance. I didn't expect to arrive at its end with some of the intensity of feeling I have, and I'm genuinely grateful for having had the experience.

Wow. . .

The Weight of Blood echos many similarities with the cult classic film Carrie. I enjoy Carrie; however, I think The Weight of Blood is so much more impactful, horrifying, and relevant than Carrie.

The story unfolds through numerous characters from the past and present. In the present a podcast wants to rexamine the mysterious deaths that occured in Springville. The only explanation is Maddy did it. The usage of podcasters highlights the relationship many people have with the true crime genre. The true crime genre often ends of up in the exploitation and capitalization of traumatic events, which the podcasters were trying to do. There is no satisfying ending to the book. I think this is a testment to the unreliable narrators and evidence collected in the book.

Maddy is a wonderful character. Her character subverts what we see typically in the horror genre for female characters aka the lack of authority. Maddy does start off a lack of authority, but she is given the agency she deserves, which is really refreshing in the horror genre. As much as I love the horror genre it is often sexist in the depiction of feminity.

The foundation of the novel is rooted in racism. It deals with a lot of heavy topics that are triggering. Please be careful before reading. I will not be discussing how well these topics are protrayed as I am not a member of the Black community, but I encourage you to seek out reviews from Black reviewers.

This book was so different than I was expecting! And so good!

Jackson uses her version of Carrie to have some really interesting conversations about race and allyship, in a 2014 Southern town that still has segregated proms where our main character is biracial and passing as white.. If you're familiar with the source material, this may not feel like a mystery/thriller (we all pretty much know how Carrie ends), so the young adult coming of age plots were what really stood out to me: coming to consciousness of different aspects of racism, struggling with parental expectations, wanting to be 'normal,' prom drama, etc. As a reader, you know what's coming at the end, so I was very impressed with how Jackson sustained my interest by making me so invested in all of these different characters and the complicated decisions they were making. And I LOVED the audiobook experience! I actually was reminded of The Raven Boys at points, since we have a small Southern town, mysterious powers, and multiple POVs. In terms of horror, The Weight of Blood is definitely more of a slow burn to an explosive finale.

I did expect more time to be spent in Maddy's head in this book than we actually got (vs. knowing what all the white kids at her school were thinking). I understand the point the book is trying to make, but I wanted Maddy to get the last word, and it didn't totally feel like she did. The characters also at times feel like cut-out stand ins for different perspectives on racial injustice - Jules is blatantly racist and unaware of it, Wendy is a self-serving performative, Kali is a budding activist, Kenny is keeping his head down and trying to 'blend in,' etc.

Overall, this was a super engaging and gripping take on Carrie with added social commentary and a fun multimedia reading experience! Worth picking up if you are at all interested in the premise!

Reading Between the Wines book review #88/135 for 2022:
Rating: 5 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Weight of Blood
Author: Tiffany D. Jackson
Genre: Horror | Mystery & Thrillers | Teens & YA
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: Oh wow-THIS BOOK! You will hear that this is a new-age urban spin on Carrie. But it is MUCH, MUCH more than that. The racial tension, trauma, and implications this book brings is what we are experiencing right now in America and plenty of people do not want to be honest about it. I appreciate Jackson’s method of bringing these issues to the limelight albeit it tongue and cheek and through a fiction book. I think this is a must read, especially this time of year. If you shy away from the horror tag, so do I, but I can tell you that it is not scary at all-just some gore.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @HarperCollinsChildrensBooks for an advanced copy of @TheWeightOfBlood.

#TheWeightOfBlood #TiffanyDJackson #HarperCollinsChildrensBooks #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #TeensAndYA #Horror

One of the most brilliant YA books I have read in 2022. Tiffany Jackson is a master storyteller and this book will hit home with readers.

I love all things Tiffany D. Jackson, and this was no exception. A modern reimagining of Carrie where she is not just coming into her supernatural powers. but there are also racial tensions at play. She has gone her whole life passing as white, and when she gets caught in the rain at school, everyone finds out that she is not. The buildup to the finale of this book is so intense!

Maddy Washington has been hiding a huge secret, her race. After one ill fated rain storm during gym, her secret is bust wide open and the bullying she's experiencing only gets worse. In a town that holds segregated proms, the realization of Maddy's race becomes a turning point for the other high schoolers and for herself. When Maddy begins to experience otherworldly powers as well, she decides to take her life in her hands. But what happens when racist pranks go too far?

Oh man, Oh man. This book ... was powerful and impactful with a helping of glorious Carrie retelling and dealing with social justice and racism. I couldn't put it down, I read it in one sitting. I found the pacing perfect, every slow moment then followed by a sudden uptick in the plot. I adored the chracters, Jules most of all. I love when characters grow and learn (as Maddy and Kendrick and Wendy did throughout the book) but there's something about an antagonist that stays the bad guy through and through that is so satisfying.

I love Tiffany D. Jackson, and this book, a story that pays strong homage to Stephen King's Carrie, was not a disappointment. Jackson takes the concept of a teenager with telekinesis and an overbearing parent and layers it with racism in a small Georgia town, and it works. Alternating chapters with transcripts from a podcast (Maddy Did It) and scenes of the actual story gives a lot of depth to the tale and, in a way, is reminiscent of the novel version of King's work.

Jackson's characters mirror some of the supporting cast as well - Wendy and Kenny remind me of Sue Snell and her boyfriend Tommy, and Jules and Brady clearly represent Chris and her boyfriend Billy. What makes this book so much more than just a Carrie retelling, though, is the theme of black vs. white. Maddy, the main character, has hidden the fact that she is of mixed blood and "passes" as white, until a rainstorm exposes her natural hair to her classmates. There are a handful of black characters in the story and they have an "us" and "them" mentality that only Wendy, a white character dating the Black football star Kenny, crosses. This is a school that has a "White Prom" and a "Black Prom" because it's always been that way.

While racism is a hard subject, it's an important one, and Jackson does a wonderful job in telling this story through multiple viewpoints. It's an unusual style for a YA, but in this case, it works extremely well.

Highly recommend.

I guess by the cover this was going to be a Carrie retelling. I was right. This is a Carrie retelling but focuses on racism in the south.
In this town, their is still a sprinkle of segregation. Maddy is the lonely girl who lives with her overly religious father. She’s bullied and humiliated. When things go over board another student tries to make things better for Maddy and town.
Carrie is a hard book to retell as Stephan King is already an amazing story teller. I wasn’t a fan of this retelling. It does shed some good light racism that needs to be seen.

I also felt the ending was a little off.
❓Does Kenny reunite with Maddy?
❓Does Maddy find her mom?
❓Did her mom explain her powers to her?
I wanted to see the reunion chapter of Maddy living her life in the Carolinas. I just needed more.

This was a true homage to Stephen King all while making it its own story. The full cast audiobook was one of the best I’ve listened to all year. Highly recommend for a great YA horror!

This was my second read from Tiffany D Jackson and wow. She is now a must read author!

I've never read Carrie, but I feel like this book would top it. A little mystery, magic and teen drama = one amazing YA Horror! This is not a genre I usually read but not one I will avoid in the future.

Must read!

It's very much a revamped, updated Carrie that tackles racism and privilege. I listened to this and thought that format worked really well given the podcast element. I enjoyed it! I think I was waiting for some sort of twist, and I do think Tiffany Jackson doesn't always nail the landings, but when I think of this as Jackson looking at Carrie and being like, I could do that better, it's solid.

I am confused on what this book wanted/is supposed to be. I understand the Carrie aspect, but mostly because the book makes that almost overwhelmingly obvious. It was honestly hard to push past and read long enough to fully discover what actually set this apart from Carrie other than the racial aspects. The writing didn't help. It felt as dated as Carrie would if published unchanged in this modern landscape and the teenagers didn't feel genuine at all, a common issue I'm finding in recent YA horrors/thrillers.

As someone who has enjoyed Tiffany D. Jackson since her debut, this feels like the perfect encompassment of all the writing talent that she has. I can not wait to see where she goes from here because it can only be up.

This fast-paced thriller is a re-take on Stephen King's classic, "Carrie", but with a plot twist. The main character, Maddy, is a high-school student in a southern town and she lives in fear of her classmates discovering that she is biracial. As the story begins, the school is preparing for their traditional segregated school proms but end up, through a series of tense racial events, hosting their first integrated prom. ( I was shocked to read that some U.S. towns still hold segregated proms!?!)

Although the story is horror and suspense, Jackson does an outstanding job of tackling racism, white complacency, child abuse, violence, and bullying (TW on all of these topics as they are explored in depth). An explosive read from start to finish and one that is sure to spark conversations around racism, micro-aggressions, bullying, and abuse.

Thanks to Tiffany D. Jackson, NetGalley, and HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to @hccfrenzy for introducing me to Tiffany D Jackson through her 2021 title White Smoke, and for further promoting her newest title The Weight of Blood. I had a digital advance copy of this book, but needed a finished copy to join its friends (Jackson's other works) on my shelf.

Springville residents are often asked what exactly happened on Prom Night, and the only thing that is certain is that Maddy did it. But how could a teenager kill the majority of the senior class and a huge number of town residents? No one is exactly sure about that...

White Smoke was my introduction to the genre of YA horror, I was incredibly creeped out throughout the majority of the novel. The Weight of Blood takes on a different aspect of horror, and I am here for it. I've heard this is a Carrie retelling, but I haven't read Carrie so I don't have a comparison there.

I love Maddy and the way we saw her come into herself as the story progressed.

I am also incredible impressed with the way Jackson tackles huge issues, racism, child neglect/abuse, bullying in a way that is easy to understand and pinpoint.

If I wasn't sure before, Jackson is now 100% an auto buy author of mine.

Tiffany D. Jackson just gave us another thrilling horror book for teens, and it slaps! While this book is inspired by Stephen King's Carrie, Jackson takes the story in a completely different direction. It's an amazing book that is sure to have readers on the edge of their seats.