Youngblood is a YA (young adult) novel through and through, with queer vampires and strong emotional threads, spiced up by the author with some detective work.
The story follows the vampire Katherine Finn, raised by a single mother after her father fell victim to the CFaD virus that decimated the vampire community. The virus is carried by humans, often asymptomatically, but any vampire who drinks infected blood dies in agony. To ensure the survival of the vampire population, a research team of immortals has developed Hema, an artificial blood that is safe to consume by them. However, Hema is expensive, so Kat and her mother are often forced to buy the expired or near-to-expiration substance on credit. Kat is fed up with poverty and does not want to spend her immortal life in destitution.
All she desires is to get into Harcote, a famous, elite high school where the children of vampire tycoons and billionaires study and form lifelong relationships, and where only the optimis optimus, aka the best of the best, is admitted. Thanks to an anonymous donor, Kat’s dream comes true: she is accepted into the elite boarding school [and enrolls], despite it causing the deterioration of her relationship with her mother.
Due to a room swap, Kat’s roommate is her former best friend, openly lesbian Taylor Sanger. The girl she has not spoken to in three years, who was once her bestie, and who she spent all her time with. The girl who betrayed her. After a teacher dies under suspicious circumstances, Taylor and Kat are compelled to overcome their grievances.
The story revolves mainly around the relationship between the two and focuses on Kat’s struggle to fit in and to make the world more open. As a result, the investigative thread becomes somewhat flat, overshadowed, and predictable. However, this is counterbalanced by the intense relationship between the main characters.
Translated by Zsuzsa Petrás
