Ari Sullivan is alive—for now. She wakes at the bottom of a cistern with only the shadowy recollection of a low-pitched voice and a gloved hand. No one can hear her screams. And the person who put her there is coming back. The killer is planning a gruesome masterpiece, a fairytale tableau of innocence and blood, meticulously designed. Until now, Ari was happy to spend her days pining for handsome, recent-arrival Stroud Bellows. Safe in her small hometown of Dempsey Hollow. But now her community has turned very dangerous—and Ari may not be the only intended victim.
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Blood Will Out
Jo Treggiari
Blood Will Out is the first thriller in a long time that has been truly and extremely dark. I rarely read thrillers but this one caught my eye and the backstory and actions of the captor were gruesome and indefinitely evil. We were lucky enough to get a POV of the killer for their backstory, of which shows that since a young age they’ve enjoyed the action of killing. Unfortunately for us, these backstory scenes were some of the most captivating parts of the book as Ari is completely boring. So boring in fact, she tells her best friend she’s boring at the start of the book.
Overall the story does lack depth of the characters, and I wasn’t really caring for any of them. Any urgency built up as we race to see if we can save a character was lost as I didn’t really know these people well enough. We had Lynn, Ari’s best friend who she was weirdly dependent on. Stroud, a guy Ari liked who definitely didn’t like her back. Plus the weird kid at school, who is just there to be a stereotype. All of these were empty vassals for the author to tell what to do, rather than characters who feel real.
The fact that there’s lack of depth was strange as there’s so much backstory in the book. With both Ari and the captor having flashback POV’s you would think we would have a lot more information. But it often felt like it was dragging and the action only picked up in the last 10% of the book. The story felt like it didn’t have enough urgency sometimes, as it focused so much on little moments that don’t mean much.
The plot twist as to who the captor is though came fast and out of left field. I was trying to guess throughout and was never able to stick to one character and the reveal was a true surprise.
Overall, I enjoyed the ending, but found the book as a whole to drag a bit and could have worked more on ensuring the story was leading towards the reveal a bit better.
POSITIVES
+ Plot twist
+ Extremely dark
NEGATIVES
– Lack of action
– Too much backstory?
– Character depth lacking
I received Blood Will Out by Jo Treggiari from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review
