The Blood Key

The Blood Key, Vaun Murphrey
Fun but flawed;

• The dialogue is playful.
• Fast start, pretty steady pacing.
• The characters have spunk.
• Some sentences seemed stilted or confused, with multiple cases of missing articles, confused subjects, incorrect grammar or weak metaphors.  When I re-read sentences in this book, it wasn't because I was relishing them, it was because I went, "What?!"
• Things are pretty predictable.
• There is nothing subtle or careful about the love interest situ.  The male is kind and protective (rather than a jerk spouting jerkiness our heroine can't get enough of -- thank goodness -- too many of those out there!).
• There's moderate swearing and teenagers lusting after each other and making out.  There's also allusions to sexual abuse but no explicit recounts of this.
• The narrative is far-fetched...but it works, because The Blood Key establishes itself as entertaining SF.  It develops a goofiness, as the story progresses...much like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, only less overt from the outset.  More than once I also thought of Infinity, Spark and Dangerous.

Overall:  It was an easy, fun read, but I wouldn't purchase a paper copy.  A book I could only recommend if someone said, "I feel like a goofy YA sci fi novel." 

Review copy via NetGalley.