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| Blood and Chocolate | 
 enlarge | Author: Annette Curtis Klause
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy Used: $0.68
You Save: $6.31 (90%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  310 reviews
Sales Rank: 26022
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0440226686
EAN: 9780440226680
ASIN: 0440226686
Publication Date: September 7, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Characterizing the adolescent experience as monstrous is not exactly a new idea. M.T. Anderson's woefully confused teen vampire in Thirsty and Jean Thesman's reluctant young witch in The Other Ones serve as excellent examples of this metaphor set to fiction. But no one really captures how our hormones make us howl as well as Annette Curtis Klause. Blood and Chocolate chronicles the longings and passions of one Vivian Gandillon, teenage werewolf. Her pack family, recently burned out of their West Virginia home by suspicious neighbors, has resettled in a sleepy Maryland suburb. At her new school, Viv quickly falls for sensitive heartthrob Aiden, a human--or "meat-boy," as her pack calls him. Soon she is trying to tame her undomesticated desires to match his more civilized sensibilities. "He was gentle. She hadn't expected that. Kisses to her were a tight clutch, teeth, and tongue... His eyes were shy beneath his dark lashes, and his lips curved with delight and desire--desire he wouldn't force on her... he was different." But Vivian's animal ardor cannot be stilled, and she must decide if she should keep Aiden in the dark about her true nature or invite him to take a walk on her wild side. Klause poetically describes the violence and sensuality of the pack lifestyle, creating a hot-blooded heroine who puts the most outrageous riot grrrls to shame. Blood and Chocolate is a masterpiece of adolescent angst wrapped in wolf's clothing, and its lovely, sensuous taste is sure to be sweet on the teenage tongue. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
Product Description
Vivian Gandillon relishes the change, the sweet, fierce ache that carries her from girl to wolf. At sixteen, she is beautiful and strong, and all the young wolves are on her tail. But Vivian still grieves for her dead father; her pack remains leaderless and in disarray, and she feels lost in the suburbs of Maryland. She longs for a normal life. But what is normal for a werewolf?
Then Vivian falls in love with a human, a meat-boy. Aiden is kind and gentle, a welcome relief from the squabbling pack. He's fascinated by magic, and Vivian longs to reveal herself to him. Surely he would understand her and delight in the wonder of her dual nature, not fear her as an ordinary human would.
Vivian's divided loyalties are strained further when a brutal murder threatens to expose the pack. Moving between two worlds, she does not seem to belong in either. What is she really--human or beast? Which tastes sweeter--blood or chocolate?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 305 more reviews...
 What big eyes she has August 19, 2004
79 out of 84 found this review helpful
Tons and tons of books for teens carry this message: Love is the bond that breaks all prejudices and fears. You know the kinds of books I mean. These tend to contains plots in which people of different races learn to love one another after undergoing some sort of a trial. Very few books, as a result, carry this message: Love your own kind. Oddly enough the incredibly popular (and oft banned) "Blood and Chocolate" carries this very lesson at its core. An alternative message might be: You can't deny your true self. Whether or not you agree with what the book says depends greatly on how engaging you find the story. And it is an interesting little bugger, no question.
Vivian's not happy. A tragic fire killed her father a year ago, and now her mother (partly out of grief) has started flirting with men half her age. The Five, a group of adolescent boys her age, are completely immature around her and she doesn't have any friends at school. And then there's that problem with being a werewolf. Normally it doesn't bother Vivian. After all, as a member of the loups-garoux, she and her tribe (including the aforementioned mother, Five, and even her dear departed father) keep mostly to themselves. They mingle with humans to some degree, but soon they'll have to find a place outside of civilization where they can be themselves. There's mutiny stirring amongst the pack, however. Without a strong leader factions are struggling to gain control, and no one knows where it will all end. And then Vivian falls in love with a human boy...
The book's a well written fantasy that makes the idea of werewolves just a touch less silly than usual. Vivian is an uncommonly self-assured young lady. Often thinking about sex (hence the book's clockwork banning by certain communities) and using her sexuality in a forthright manner, she comes off as someone who knows her own mind. Not to spoil anything, but Vivian never ACTUALLY makes love to anyone in this book. Anyone who wishes to ban it, therefore, wants to do so because "Blood and Chocolate" contains a woman who thinks about sex. An odd crime to condemn a book for.
Vivian's actually not all that sympathetic though. She begins the tale by acting superior to the humans around her, becomes smug when the object of her affections returns her admiration, and ends up whiny and incapable of a logical decision by the tale's climax. Otherwise, she's very interesting. Young adult books rarely contain beautiful self-assured female protagonists. Those that do tend to be fantasies (like "Hollow Kingdom" by Clare Dunkle, for example). So there's a lot to be said for a story in which the heroine isn't constantly fretting over whether or not she's pretty enough or if her boobs are too small. On the other hand, she kinda dislikable.
Good fantasy breaks barriers by speaking beyond the obvious message in the text. In this particular case, the message here is a bit odd. Vivian does the wrong thing, learns from her mistake, and is better for it. I personally found the ending to be a bit perplexing. Should I never fall in love with people different than myself because I'd never understand them and they'd never understand me? If you can overlook this somewhat archaic message, the book's a fun read. It certainly doesn't deserve to be banned. Mildly ignored from time to time, maybe. Banned, never. If you'd like a book that is, in my opinion, the best teen werewolf book ever conceived, this puppy's for you. It's fun and frolicsome and an enjoyable jaunt. Just don't read too closely into it.
 I would give it more stars if I could! November 15, 2004
33 out of 37 found this review helpful
This is one of my favorite books ever! I own it and I have read it at least 7 times. It is about 16-year-old Vivian, a "werewolf" who lives in a city with many other members of her "pack," including her mother and 5 boys who are her age that she used to be friends with but now are too rowdy for her. Her father, who used to be the leader of the pack, died about a year ago when the pack was living in West Virginia, and humans found out about them and set their Inn on fire where they worked. Vivian's father was trying to save everyone left in the building, and in the process he was killed. Now the pack has no leader, and everyone is quarreling about who the new one should be. Meanwhile, at Vivian's new school (I forget where they live now that they have left West Virginia), she has no friends, but she sees a poem in the school magazine about werewolves, written by a boy named Aiden. She falls in love with Aiden, but is it safe to tell him what she really is? Vivian tries to ignore her mother Esme, who says that Vivian should only date members of the pack. Vivian must choose between her human side (chocolate) and her wolf side (blood). Sizzling with mystery and romance, this book is definitely a must-read for every teenage girl, even if you are not into fantasy.
 Disappointed January 19, 2007
18 out of 27 found this review helpful
WARNING: HUGE SPOILERS AND ANGRY RANTING AHEAD
For some reason I've been having bad luck with werewolf novels lately. They all seem to bring out the angry feminist in me. Maybe I should go back to vampires?
First the pluses. I liked Vivian (at least when she wasn't being neurotically jealous and possessive, but hey, everyone has faults). I liked that the author had the courage to write a teenage girl who thought frankly and unsentimentally about sex, who knew who she was and could hold her own. I liked how the author captured the joy and sensuality of becoming another creature, of running wild and free in the night. And I found Aiden to be a quirky, intelligent and endearing character despite being kind of a stereotypical goth...well, until the ending.
Reviewers for this book seem to be sharply divided about the ending. I am one of those that thought the ending completely ruined the novel. Basically (and here's the spoiler) Aiden finds out Viv is a werewolf, is horrified, disgusted, et cetera, Vivian is heartbroken and eventually accepts that she can never have a relationship with a human. I can see how this would appear daring and unusual--it certainly flies in the face of the idea that love conquers all--but beneath the surface, the ending is actually deeply conventional, and all the more disappointing for it. I'd never seen a male human/female werewolf pairing before this point, because so many authors are skittish about writing a relationship where the female is stronger in any way. Heaven forbid we have a female character who is capable of outrunning her boyfriend, and heaven forbid a woman fall in love with a man for reasons other than his overwhelming physical power and alpha-ness. In the literary arena, it's acceptable for a woman to be strong, as long as her mate can still dominate her, physically and otherwise. I thought I was about to see a rare exception to the rule, but I was wrong.
I could accept Aiden's shock at Vivian's transformation--I mean, who wouldn't freak out? But of course the author had to go the extra mile and make him thoroughly unlikeable, so he then proceeds to spread lies about Vivian and even tries to kill her, despite having never shown any violent or malicious tendencies up to that point. Bad enough that the author completely mutilates his character and turns him into a hateful little twit, but having Vivian shack up with Gabriel was just salt in the wound. I didn't even care about the age difference thing, I just hated him. For most of the novel his behavior toward her is incredibly creepy, and would have probably warranted a restraining order if Vivian had the option of getting one. He stalks her, makes unwanted sexual advances toward her, breaks into her house to menace her and make more unwanted advances, and then all of a sudden...confesses his undying love? Give me a break. If he cared about her all along, why did he treat her so badly? Their relationship, and Gabriel's magical, instantaneous transition from arrogant cad to caring lover, felt completely unreal and did nothing to erase the bitter taste of Aiden's betrayal. What is the theme supposed to be, anyway? Don't open up to people because you'll only get hurt? Don't hang out with people who are different from you? Do whatever your family expects of you, because following your heart will get you in trouble? Maybe that's not what the author intended to convey, but that seems to be what the consequences of Vivian's actions demonstrate. What awful messages to send to impressionable teenagers!
As for the rest of Vivian's pack, they're incredibly dysfunctional. The Five are callous, obnoxious brats who kill things for fun, Astrid is almost cartoonishly evil, Gabriel's a jerk, Vivian's mom is an infantile flirt who sleeps with everyone. Why Vivian would want to hang around with such unpleasant people is beyond me. If she couldn't have a relationship with Aiden, I wanted to see her just run off on her own in search of a better life.
I don't feel good giving it less than three stars because the writing itself was good, and it certainly kept me turning pages--I finished it in two days--but overall I was left with a sour taste in my mouth.
Next time, I'll buy a vampire book.
 Meh April 26, 2007
15 out of 28 found this review helpful
Blood and Chocolate, in my opinion, was a book not to waste your time with. The whole "love" situation with Aiden and Vivian is not real love. It's lust and sexuality, and is telling teens that it's perfectly fine to go and have sex with someone that you don't give a crap about. All the teens in this book did drugs, smoked, and had sex. That's it. There wasn't one, what they would call, "goody two-shoes". What, is it cool to go out and get drunk and doped up now? I thought drugs were illegal.
I'm 15 years old, and I hated this book. It makes teens look bad, and gives them the okay to be doing stupid crap that they shouldn't be doing.
Not to mention the overall writing was just horrid. I didn't like the way she wrote, and you can tell Anette is one of those women who misses her teenage hood so bad, that she writes about being a teen so she can re live those days.
I don't know. The book was horrid. I definitely reccomend "Twilight" and "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer if you're looking for Vampire/Werewolf fantasy. This book had nothing but sex and swearing and drugs in it. Whoo hoo. Cause we don't get enough of that on a daily basis.
"Blood and Chocolate?" More like Werewolf slut July 30, 2004
14 out of 29 found this review helpful
This book has no plot whatsoever. The entire novel is about who the girl should have sex with, a werewolf like her or a human. This book is awful! Half the time she licking and slobbering all over some guy or some werewolf, the vice-a-versa applies too. The book is little more than the repeated scenes and questions of who can I mate with and when? I would not advise this book to anyone. The main character is little more than an attractive whore and the book is nothing but scenes about sex and slobber. AWFUL! Don't read this book! It's ridiculous!
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