A Sadness Within

Great book with an exciting twist!

The short review is that I love this book and everyone should give it a read.

The long version is that I love when authors take a known quantity- in this case the idea of vampirism and flip it on its head. When you start the boom you have an idea in your head about what's about to happen. Vampire boy meets mortal girl and the fall in love. Danger ensues and then it's happily ever after.... But here, the authors takes that story and adds so much more. In fact, without giving too much away, even just assuming that we are dealing with vampires here is assuming too much. Not only do you a new twist, but you also get a whole new reason that those who need blood to survive exist. Personally I found it all kind of fascinating.

Beyond that twist of storytelling, the author has created some wonderful characters. They've experienced some heavy losses in their lives and have hit a place where they are just kind of stuck. Which happens amidst tragedy, you simply stop moving forward, you get stuck in your sadness and sometimes you need an outside force to get you moving forward again. In that way A Sadness Within is more then just a love story. When Will and Julia meet, it's more about finding that spark, that jolt of something new and surprising that rattles your world just enough to break you out of your stupor. It's not simple, it can be messy and dangerous, but in this story both Will and Julia need to go through it in order realize that having a life that difficult can be worth it in he end.

The other character that I love is Will's sister Celia- she's kind of the voice of reason throughout and provides some much needed honesty to everyone involved. Fiorenzo hints at Celia's past and her hopes for the future, and in giving Celia the last word in the book she left me really wanting more of Celia's story. So here's hoping that we get more of this series in the future!