A Jot of Blood

I could not put this book down. At first I did cringe a bit at the language and sayings that Lire has. To me, some of it seems outdated and something that I wouldn't have said when I was a junior. (my anime phase seemed to stop around the end of 8th grade, rather than continue onto high school.) Regardless, I soon fell into a pattern with Lire's outdated sayings and found her quite relatable to myself during those high school years. Minus the magical powers, of course.

The chapters flew by and I was actually disappointed when I came to the ending. Regardless of Lire being a goody-two shoes and a bit of a scaredy cat, she has a certain charm to her and I think she balances Zach and Cal's behavior well. The characters are well developed but at some points I did feel a little lost because of a lack of explanation. Like if Zach would do something, the reader wouldn't be able to tell because the story was through Lire's eyes. This is only a minor inconvenience though.

I will definitely be on the lookout for the next installation of this series since I found it to be quite enjoyable.

Fun YA paranormal. I haven't read the original series, so this was my introduction to Lire and her world. I really enjoyed it. I loved the world, with werewolves, vampires and other magical beings. The tension between Lire and the boys was great. I will definitely have to read the original series.

I loved this book. Hope the author is already writing the next one. Great characters and world building.

This book has everything possible going against it: young innocent naive protagonist, a couple of triangle-worthy swooners with secret angst, a private boarding school for "special" magic kids, and a nasty antagonist with a longstanding grudge. Despite that, Bayless manages to breathe fresh air into the genre and deliver an original take in a setting that's landmined with tropes.

The heroine "Lire" (yes, she has a special nickname), is clairvoyant. In Bayless's world, this places her as a social outcast. Who wants to be around anyone who can discover your misdeeds and bad will with a touch? Carefully neutralized psy-free products (think "gluten free for psychics") are now a thing, allowing Lire to eat and drink without experiencing the death throes of chickens and cows and the personal secrets of cafeteria workers. It's a neat twist that thinks about how touch transmission of life (and death) experiences would actually work.

The school too is cleverly drawn. The students study normal subjects like math, science, English, and foreign languages instead of hexes and charms. It's set up more as a tuberculosis isolation ward than Hogwarts, which gives it a necessary grounding despite the magical add-ons. The world feels more realistic as a result, which lets the story focus on character instead of wish fulfillment.

Yes, the girls are all beautiful and the boys are all handsome. There's still a lot of 90210 and Vampire Diaries in the book's DNA, but when you move past that, the underlying mystery that drives the story depends enough on its magical setting that you feel the mix works.

I want to give the author special credit for using the "gifts" so cleverly, both in introducing new ones (like woven spells) and in using a pedestrian "I feel your pain by touching your discarded watercup" known craft in increasingly meaningful and flexible ways. Apparently Lire and her gift have been around for several previous books. I intend to track those down but this volume stands on its own.

My only complaint was the point of resolution: <spoiler>I dislike the vampire solution where she essentially becomes his slave for the rest of her life.</spoiler>

Other than that, the writing is solid. There may have been ticks or quirks but none of them caught my eye or distracted me from the story.

I gave this a 4-star Goodreads "I really liked it", which I did. I'm off to find the earlier books. I received a review copy of the manuscript from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

From the beginning, I knew I would love this. I have a guilty obsession with a school full of people with magical powers or talents and this was right up that alley. What I didn't know was how much I would love it. This was much different because it had such an incredible writing style and I couldn't put this down for a second. It was instantly connected to all of the characters and they were so well developed, which is fairly different in a book like this and I loved it!

Recommend 100%!!

When I saw A Jot of Blood, I almost passed it over. For some reason, I scrolled back up the email and clicked on the link to its NetGalley page. I am glad I scrolled back up because the blurb caught my attention. I am glad I scrolled back up on my email because I would have missed a great book.

This was a book that grabs you from the beginning. Lire being a clairvoyant was different from other books in the YA paranormal genre. I haven’t read a book yet where the main character was clairvoyant and where she was feared for it. Speaking of fear, I thought that it was great that the author played up people being afraid of Lire and her power. Afraid to the point where she was segregated from the other students to protect her and them. It made the book dark.

I liked Lire. I also felt bad for her at the same time. Not only did she have to deal with the fallout of her gift but she was singled out at school. She was forced to live in a room where a warning hung on the door. She had to deal with teachers who singled her out by making her sit at the back of the class at orange desks. She also had to deal with bullies who made her life miserable. She dealt with it because she didn’t want to rock the boat. That was until she met Cal and Zach and they showed her that there was so much more to school and life.

The romance between Cal and Lire was very cute but it took a while for me to even figure out that he liked her. I knew that Lire like him but I saw almost no hints from him. But, there was a slight hint of Zach liking Lire and Lire liking Zach. They had so much chemistry together that I was almost hoping that the author would go there.

The variety of paranormal beings that went to the school was amazing. You had everything from Glindarian witches to Occultom. In the paranormal books that I have read, the story has the stock paranormal people. Which are witches, werewolves, vampires, and elves. In this book, you have them and they included over paranormal beings too. Which added more depth to the story.

The storylines in the book were great also. The main storyline was Lire, Cal, and Zach doing some dangerous stuff. They were also battling bullies which was neat. But the secondary storyline with the missing werewolves made the book. I didn’t see what was coming because the author made the attention on Lire, Cal, and Zach for the first half of the book. So I was surprised when everything happened towards the end of the book. I was very surprised when the bad guy ended up being the last person I thought.

The end of the book was good and I was pretty happy with everything that happened. What I liked was the epilogue and the hint of book 2. I am hoping that book 2 is coming out soon because I need to know what is going on with Lire.

My Summary of A Jot of Blood: 4 stars

A Jot of Blood is a past paced paranormal young adult book that engrossed me while I was reading it. I will warn you though, there is crude language in this book. So if you are offended by swearing….I wouldn’t read it. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 16 and to anyone who can appreciate the snarky humor in the book.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Older Teen

Why: Language, mild violence. No sex scenes but Cal and Lire do kiss at one point in the book.

I would like to thank Scry Media, Katherine Bayless and NetGalley for allowing to read and review A Jot of Blood.

All opinions stated in this review of A Jot of Blood are mine and mine alone

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

"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!