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.
Review copy via NetGalley.