In the Blood

by Sara Hantz

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

In the Blood was really, really, very, extremely fascinating. Jed's father has been arrested for four counts of pedophilia and murder, and his trial is fast approaching. Jed is understandably having a really hard time about it all. His mom has totally check outed, leaving him almost completely responsible for his little sister, he's getting bullied at school, the neighbors are gossiping, and he can't help but wonder if he's going to turn out just like his father. I couldn't help but be drawn in as Jed researches pedophiles and obsesses about the similarities he shares with his father. Then his father asks to see him in exchange for sharing the location of a fifth body, a neighborhood boy goes missing and Jed's the last one to have seen him, and a sixth grader from Jed's school accuses him of touching him. While all of these points were interesting, In the Blood was way too short to do them all justice.

I was 100% interested, curious, and creeped out while reading In the Blood. Jed is really trying to understand why his dad did what he did. He tries to figure out the signs in fear that he'll start to have inappropriate feelings towards children. He reads lots of studies on the psychology of it and is convinced that he's next. His friend Summer, who is the ultimate voice of reason, repeatedly tells him that he has a choice and it's not a done deal. However, Jed just can't bring himself to believe that and essentially gives up on trying to do anything with his life. He doesn't do homework, skips school, and drinks. A lot. It was sad watching him self-sabotage like that, but he's all better by the end. It was quite a jump from black out drunk and hopeless to "hey, I have a bright future ahead of me." The same goes for his mother, who goes from "a walking zombie" to finally realizing that she's not the only person affected by this.

The other two main plot threads of In the Blood are also wrapped up quite fast. The first, Jed's young neighbor going missing, could have almost not been included at all for how much page time it received. Jed is completely freaked out because he was the last one to see the little boy, but he had gotten so drunk that he can't remember what he did or where he was that night. Of course, he believes that he may have done something to him and is being a monster like his father. Soon enough though, the boy is found and Jed learns that he wasn't involved in all. Then immediately after, Jed is accused of touching a boy at school inappropriately. Now, this could have been super interesting and intense, since we already know Jed is being bullied quite harshly at school. It isn't hard to imagine him being falsely accused as a prank gone too far. And clearly this kind of thing cannot go overlooked. Unfortunately, I knew immediately who was behind it and it didn't take long for Jed to find out either. It was just disappointing.

In the Blood had a lot of amazing material to work it, but didn't fully explore any of it. I liked that it was a fast read, but I wanted more out of it! Another hundred pages or so could have really let us get into Jed's mind about his fears and really taken the false accusation thread much further. As it is though, I quite enjoyed it. It's definitely a unique subject and I liked reading it, despite how disturbing it was at times.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.