Youngblood follows teen vampire Kat who transfers into Harcote, an elite vampire boarding school after living undetected among humans for most of her life. When she arrives at the school, she’s unexpectedly paired to be roommates with none other than her childhood best friend Taylor, the only out student at the prestigious elite school. As the two try to reconnect and resolve the different versions of past events that drove them apart, they soon find themselves drawn into a dark conspiracy at the heart of Vampirdom that threatens to uncover lies surrounding powerful figures in Vampirdom and the synthetic blood they all rely on and might just change the world of vampires and humans forever.
Sapphic vampires at an elite vampire school? Sign me UP. Sasha Laurens really said “I’m going to give you childhood friends to estranged to lovers but make it queer vampires” and I ate it up all too happily.
There’s so much to love about this story. For one, we have incredibly lively and fleshed-out characters that are at opposite ends of spectrums in so many ways. On the one hand, we have Kat who grew up in relative poverty and for most of her life, has struggled with procuring Hema, the blood substitute that prevents vampires from biting humans and being accidentally infected with an immortality-threatening disease. Kat’s more than unhappy with her situation and when she gets a full ride to Harcote, she’s all too happy to leave her struggles behind and finally be among her own peers—only to learn that the privileged vampires make a sport of biting humans and harbour darker secrets surrounding classism, power and Vampirdom. Then we have Taylor, who’s been surrounded by these vampires for many years and couldn’t care less about their opinions. As the only out lesbian at the school, she’s been painted as the outsider and is all too happy to keep away from everyone and their elitist ideals. Watching Kat and Taylor collide again after a pretty tough break in their friendship that left them with differing memories of what happened and toeing the line of enemies and friends was so intriguing— while Kat wants nothing more than to be like everyone else, Taylor doesn’t understand why she would want to assimilate when she shines brighter than anyone else at the school. All of their interactions were captivating and their chemistry was palpable—I kept groaning out loud because I just wanted them to finally hash everything out and when they finally do, it makes all the struggle worth it. I also loved the juxtaposition of Kat struggling with her identity—she’s always thought she’s straight—with Taylor who is secure in her identity as a lesbian. Watching them go from estranged friends to lovers is such an amazing ride.
Beyond that, there’s a huge conspiracy that slowly unravels as Kat learns more about Harcote, the blood substitute Hema and tries to move into the higher ranks of the elite. Together with an unlikely alliance, she and Taylor try to get to the bottom of the conventions that rule Vampirdom and keep them dependent on everyone’s darling at the top of the food chain. There’s also a diverse cast of secondary characters that makes for drama, intrigue and relationships you love to hate and hate to love.
All the elements work surprisingly well with each other and I especially loved how the story kept the mystery aspect going—even if you could guess at the pretty obvious plot twist, there were a few things I was totally wrong about which was super refreshing. The only small gripe I have with Youngblood is its pacing. At times, the story moved at an absolutely glacial pace that felt unnecessary, especially with all the conspiracy and Kat questioning her identity that was going on. A few chapters dragged because they felt like we were just recapping important information that was already explained in detail so that was a bit of a downer—but that’s just me being nitpicky because this book was absolutely amazing otherwise!
Perfect for fans of dark academia vibes, sapphic childhood-friends-to-lovers romance and conspiracies that keep you guessing till the final chapter, Youngblood is the queer revival (pun intended) of the vampire genre we all need—highly recommend to fans of Vampire Diaries and Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series!
Youngblood is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 19th 2022.
Will you be picking up Youngblood? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
For fans of Vampire Diaries and dark academia, two queer teen bloodsuckers at an elite vampire-only boarding school must go up against all of Vampirdom when they uncover a frightening conspiracy on campus.
Kat Finn and her mother can barely make ends meet living among humans. Like all vampires, they must drink Hema, an expensive synthetic blood substitute, to survive, as nearly all of humanity has been infected by a virus that’s fatal to vampires. Kat isn’t looking forward to an immortal life of barely scraping by, but when she learns she’s been accepted to the Harcote School, a prestigious prep school that’s secretly vampires-only, she knows her fortune is about to change.
Taylor Sanger has grown up in the wealthy vampire world, but she’s tired of its backward, conservative values—especially when it comes to sexuality, since she’s an out-and-proud lesbian. She only has to suffer through a two more years of Harcote before she’s free. But when she discovers her new roommate is Kat Finn, she’s horrified. Because she and Kat used to be best friends, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well.
When Taylor stumbles upon the dead body of a vampire, and Kat makes a shocking discovery in the school’s archives, the two realize that there are deep secrets at Harcote—secrets that link them to the most powerful figures in Vampirdom and to the synthetic blood they all rely on.
