Blood and Chocolate

By: Annette Klause

Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Vivian Gandalon is a teen-aged werewolf with problems. Her father, the pack leader, was killed in a fire, and so the pack is in disarray. The young male members of the squabbling pack howl for her, but still she feels alienated and alone. To be more than human is a lonely thing. Vivian longs to have friends and fit in at school. She yearns to escape her legacy of violence and forbidden appetites, but the beast within her longs for something elementally deep and rich. She glories in her ability to change from woman to wolf. How can she choose between being human or beast? She fiercely hopes that her relationship with a kind and sensitive meat-boy, a human, will help her find some answers. Talented narrator Alyssa Bresnahan casts a spell over listeners as she becomes the beautiful and sensuous young werewolf princess. This suspenseful, haunting, and magical tale is best read by the light of the full moon.

©1997 Annette Curtis Klause (P)1997 Recorded Books, LLC

can't say enough about this book

I fell in love with this book when I was in middle school and throughout the years have read it over and over again. I love the turmoil that Vivian's life becomes. Teenage hormones, the loss of her father- the pack alpha, and her pack having to deal with the fall out of loosing so many and moving.
I sometimes wish there was more added to the ending of the book- what happens next with the pack and Vivian's love life. (Need an adult version and YA friendly version 🤣)
The narration for me fell a little short. Narrator did a good job- but sometimes she made Vivian sound like a complete brat- and others Gabriel sounded like a preteen boy. Other than that I enjoyed her work.

Blood and chocolate

I really love blood and chocolate. This has been one of my favorite stories forever. I do not however like the narrator. Horrible performance. Seriously dreadful.

Relive teen werewolf romance with weird narration

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I read this book the first time as a teenager probably ten or so years ago and at the time it was a favorite. I don't know if the story's held up well enough for me to still say that as an adult. It's admittedly a little silly. Some of the dialogue especially made me cringe/laugh. It definitely has that feel of how middle aged women think teenagers think and speak. That aside, I still greatly enjoyed this book. I got through it in 2 days and it was still a thrilling, enthralling, slightly sexy read. Maybe it's not great literature but if you're someone - as my teenage self was - who has a thing for the fantasy, vampire, werewolf, romantic ya fiction genre - you could do worse. It's probably a little better than twilight, although values and message-wise, they're probably on the same level. There's some nice stuff about loyalty to family and being yourself in there but upon reading this as an adult, Gabriel is kind of creepy. Without giving too much away, I see now why they changed so much for the movie.

What other book might you compare Blood and Chocolate to and why?

Twilight, Hawksong, Vampire Diaries, The Silver Kiss

How could the performance have been better?

My larger complaint is the quality of the narration. Firstly, I don't think I like choice to use an older actress. I understand that the book is in the third person and the author probably is older but I just think a younger narrator would have made some of the dialogue feel more natural. That's a stylistic choice I guess - more annoying than that was the background noise in some sections. I don't know where or when this was recorded but I swear when I wore headphone or listened in a quiet room towards the end I could hear distant voices in the background talking about something indistinct - very distracting! I've never experienced that with anything else on audible, they should re-record and it'd be even better!

Any additional comments?

weird narrator, decent story.

The story is okay, predictable story line. The narrator makes the story seem off, not a good match for the book.

My favorite book of all time

I have read this book at least 300 times and love it still so much. Annette Curtis klause is an amazing author. with other books like the silver kiss that I just adore as well.

delightful

Characters are enjoyable and the story arc is easy to follow. Easily one of my favorite YA books.

first love

I've owned 5 copies of blood and chocolate. my sixth copy I've been a little easier on the binding. Annette klause is a talented writer and blood and chocolate was the book that made me fall in love with reading.

Still one of my favorite books

I can remember first reading this book from my school library. I was so obsessed with it as a teenager. The story never gets old. It’s fun, quick and entertaining. I wish there was more.

Please read this!

The movie is nothing like this book. This was a 10/10 read for me. ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. I laughed, cried, got angry! Such a wonderful story

Good book

Its a great book but kinda sad that it wasn't like the movie. Still awesome 🌟 🌟