Blood and Chocolate

this is really messy ya fiction that goes to some fucking intense (and i think, occasionally, irresponsible) places. i know i say this a lot about books like this but it really does feel like a similar energy to the kinds of writing i always really vibed with in fanfic but never really intentionally seek out in profic and i really do need to do something about that because i frequently end up loving it.

also it does that super fanficcy thing where it refers back to characters’ backstories in a way that makes you wonder if you missed a previous book or something even though this is the only book in the series. perfect. exquisite. i’ll take three.

i just fucking adore this kind of heart-on-its-sleeve bullshit. and this one also does show more that thing where it feels like a pretty restrained, conventional narrative for a good long while and the intensity just very abruptly spikes and it’s like “oh! ok. we’re doing this now i guess!” for the rest of the book.

that kind of thing can frankly actually be detrimental if it just doesn’t land for you for whatever reason, and for me at least i find my reactions to this kind of thing to be pretty fickle, and in this particular case i actually found myself completely onboard with the abrupt shift (... heh, shift).

like there is for sure shit in here that i could be obstinate & complain about if i really wanted to, and i wouldn’t even be wrong because i actually do think a lot of it is big-P Problematic, but for whatever reason this particular book just really lulled me into enjoying it anyway, and i like liking things so i’m just gonna go ahead and let myself like this.

if you’ve followed my reviews for a while in one form/venue or another you might be thinking, “wait, robin, it sounds an awful lot like you’re describing a guilty pleasure, you said those aren’t a thing.” but i promise you that is not what’s happening here? nor am i “enjoying it ironically” (something i basically refuse to do, heck something i might be incapable of doing). my enjoyment is genuine. i will certainly allow that this is a “problematic fave,” which i suppose some people consider synonymous with a “guilty pleasure,” but i still think there’s an important distinction to be had there.

enjoying (or not enjoying) art is an inherently dialectical process and the meaning isn’t produced wholly in the media itself or wholly in you yourself, but rather in the relationship between those two things. i do not feel guilty about enjoying blood and chocolate. (wow that sounds like a whole thing out of context lmao.)

i am uncomfortable with some of the messages that can be derived about relationships from gabriel’s 180-degree turn from a guy made of literally nothing but red flags to the embodiment of gruff but tender masculinity, given the patriarchy-shaped patterns of abuse many women are subjected to in their searches for mates, and i think especially for a book marketed largely towards young women this does them a serious disservice.

but i’m an adult and i know better so i can separate my enjoyment of this from its problematic elements as long as i responsibly call them out when discussing the book. and against what i thought were pretty long odds when i realized where this story was going, i do like gabriel & vivian’s romance. i do like the guy he turns into later in the book, no matter how blatantly unearned that turn was. and i’m perfectly willing to just allow myself to enjoy that, in spite of all the fairly obvious reasons why i “shouldn’t.”

hell, his ideas about werewolves having an instinctive need to dominate & protect are fucking hot and i could easily see them being rewardingly incorporated into a power exchange relationship? and also like… even in the context where they came up in this book, they actually aren’t horrible? he’s basically explaining why relationships between werewolves & humans are inherently unsafe, but he’s doing it in a very empathetic, nonjudgmental way. and just… if that really is how things work in this world, i’m actually super behind his take?

but what really helped the most is that it wasn’t until vivian had been through something similar to what gabriel had been through, and he shared his story with her, helping her begin to recover from her trauma, that i was really sold on them. because their relationship really is built on them being kindred spirits.

i’m deliberately ignoring something rather huge here, and that’s the fact that vivian is 16 and gabriel is 24. and, i mean… some of the discourse about age gaps in romantic & sexual relationships can be overly rigid. like, as someone who was simultaneously being emotionally abused & manipulated by someone roughly my own age in a “romantic” relationship while also being in a much healthier fuckbuddies-shaped relationship with someone who was almost twice my age, i just don’t see how so many people can see this as such a one-size fits all kind of thing? but in the case of a 24-year old adult man and a 16-year old high school girl, i feel pretty fucking okay saying that this is one of the clearest-cut cases of “that shit is not okay.” and again this is an aspect of the story where i think the book pretty clearly fails its target audience, because holy shit should you never be drilling into people’s heads that that kind of thing is normal.

for the record, i also will briefly mention that i also don’t really think the way this book treats suicide is responsible at all, again especially in view of its target audience. i don’t super want to get into it in any more depth than that? and i am sorry if anyone feels let down by my bringing it up but not really feeling super comfy getting into it in depth, but i frankly just wouldn’t feel responsible if i didn’t mention it at all.

but, again, that really isn’t what decides whether i like a given story or not, it’s just context that i feel responsible to put out there. because in spite of all of that, i really like this book.

it really helps that vivian is actually super into being a werewolf? she isn’t all angsty & self-hating, she thinks her werewolf self is beautiful (because it fucking is) and she is hurt & confused & angry when aiden can’t see that. and gabriel seeing that & understanding it and talking her through it was a pretty huge breakthrough for me with that character. but really i just love vivian as a narrator, and i actually got pretty fucking miffed when a reviewer i usually like found her annoying because she really is my favorite thing about this book.

this is not only a problematic fave, it’s a problematic fave that has me excited to branch out and discover whole new problematic faves in this genre, because i understand that both a lot of the things that i found uncomfy in this book and a lot of the things i liked about it are basically genre staples. and yeah, i can for sure deal with more of this. show less

Blood and Chocolate is a werewolf book that feels like a cross between Sons of Anarchy and True Blood, but for a YA/New Adult audience, with strong 90s vibes. Absolutely a book that Stephenie Myer would have encountered prior to writing the Twilight series, because I saw some distinct similarities (although the MC isn’t like Bella - it’s the human dude she’s interested in who is the bland Bella type).

The werewolf MC actually undergoes a grotesque change each time she morphs into her werewolf form. It’s not about staying pretty, it’s about transforming into something dangerous and wild! This is presented as a positive thing, and I haven’t seen that in many other books. It was definitely my favorite aspect of the story.

Women show more characters are more hostile to other women than I would’ve liked, but the hostility does technically fit the whole werewolf aggression thing. However, it felt verbally derogatory towards women throughout in a way that made me uncomfortable. I think the author wanted to make the werewolves so unlike humans that their behavior wouldn’t be applicable to the reader. But as a reader, it feels impossible not to apply it, given that the werewolves do appear to be like humans much of the time.

Also, the relationship between the 16 year old MC and a 24 year old werewolf (who the MC’s mom had previously pursued romantically) totally creeped me out.

Blood and Chocolate was an interesting read because it’s a book that influenced the genre and other authors, but too problematic to be an enjoyable read. show less

You know how I feel about werewolf books. I hate the whole submissive female werewolf thing and I hate it even more when it strays into abusive territory as it so often does. (I'm looking at you, Carrie Vaughn.) I also really do not like the idea that werewolves are the same as wolves because, no, there are human bits in there, too. Obviously Klause has read my mind and given me this book to show me how she cares. Or maybe she just wrote it because she's awesome. Whatever.

In this book there was no mistaking that Vivian and the other werewolves (loup garou, as they prefer to be called) are both human and werewolf. They walk a fine line of blending in and staying apart and that's obvious in everything they do. It's especially hard for show more Vivian who's a teenager in love with a human--or a "meat-boy" as her pack calls him. She wants what all the other human girls have, she doesn't want to give in and unquestioningly accept everything her family (pack) tells her, and she's trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs. I hate to be the one who says "anti-Twilight" but it kind of is--it's the desperation of teenaged love and hormones with an otherworldly edge, but when stalking comes up it's shown to be bad and dangerous, not loving and caring.

I feel as if I should also mention that sex is not taboo in this book. Vivian embraces her own sexuality and accepts herself for what she is. I understand this sort of behavior got the book banned in places. I frown at those places.

I have to admit to falling for Gabriel. I'm weak that way, but when someone has the superior power (strength, age, wisdom) and refuses to use it to dominate someone with lesser power I am right there. Gabriel is the new pack leader, Vivian is accidentally supposed to be his mate, she isn't sure, and he doesn't force her. He flirts, he teases, he makes it all very appealing, but he also talks to her like an equal, shares his own story, and does the right thing when it would have been easier to do the wrong one. Vivian learns those lessons, too.

I loved this book. This was just what I needed to make me less averse to werewolves in love. show less

I finally figured out what bugged me about this book, ever since I first read it.

I will emphasize that the world is interesting. The concept of werewolves as a modern insular pack-oriented society is probably not a new one, but it is well-done here. That's not the problem.

The problem is the main love triangle between Vivian, the protagonist, the human Aiden, and the werewolf Gabriel. The author spent so much time developing Vivian's relationship with Aiden, claiming him to be a sensitive, open-minded boy. And then . . . he finds out she's a werewolf and tries to kill her. What, was all that character development for nothing? Is his open-mindedness really just an informed attribute? I don't enjoy it when an author subjects her own show more character to character derailment, especially when it seems to be for no good reason. Yes, she's a werewolf and werewolves are scary, but the context in which she told him, combined with his alleged fascination and appreciation for the occult make his reaction completely illogical. It feels like intentional demonizing of the character, and why would you create a character only to destroy it in such a way?

And Gabriel: first, he's 24. Vivian is 16. A little gross, I think. Second, he spends most of the book harassing her and teasing her, and then at the last minute she decides to date him? Wait, what? I don't find sexual harassment hot. I find it creepy. I think a lot of girls would, and I don't think this sends a particularly positive message to them.

Overall, the ending feels entirely pointless. It felt like it was building up to be this great inspiring tribute for the power of love to transcend social and cultural boundaries . . . and then it completely denies it. Disappointing. show less

Klause expertly draws a portrait of a teenage werewolf and her pack. Many small details are used to create the sense that Vivian and her extended family are not human, even when they have human appearance. The sensuality and violence that are a natural part of Vivian's world can be a bit shocking at times, but they do work well to create the otherworldly atmosphere. I appreciated the fact that the werewolf was not depicted as two independent halves, but rather, a single creature with two forms. Too often, the werewolf is depicted as a human who is the victim of a strange disease and has no control in wolf-form. This book was a refreshing departure from the monster-movie style of werewolf.

The story itself is a coming-of-age tale with a show more twist. The outcome is pleasantly surprising, and Vivian is a compelling, though not always likeable, character who learns to accept herself. Fans of the vampire genre, including Klause's own "The Silver Kiss", will probably enjoy Blood and Chocolate. show less

I read this in middle school and was so ecstatic that they made a movie out of it. My ecstatic joy quickly turned to rage as the film butchered the beauty of the book.

Way before urban fantasy was even a thing, it existed through Annette Curtis Klause's writing.

Vivian is a 16 year old werewolf. Her closest group of friends "The Five" consisting of the only other members of her pack that are her age. One of the five, Axel, loses control and kills a human girl landing him in prison. The Five kill another human so that he will be released from prison making it look like the real killer was still out there. Axel is not free from punishment as he is killed for endangering the pack and almost exposing their kind. Some neighbors set fire to show more the packs home resulting in the death of Vivians father leaving the pack without an Alpha.
The pack relocated. Vivian starts a new school and is immediately drawn to boy named Aiden who wears a pentagram necklace and writes eerily accurate werewolf poetry. She falls in love with the "meatboy" which is not acceptable to her mother or the pack to date a human as it might reveal the secret of the pack.
Gabriel is a 24 year old werewolf wanting to be the new Alpha. All the other females fawn over him but he only has eyes for Vivian despite her rejection, pushing her closer to Aiden.
Since no one can agree on who the Alpha should be, they have a ceremony called "The Ordeal" where the wolves of age fight. Any blood drawn is disqualified until only 2 remain. The final 2 fight to the death or until one submits making the winner Alpha. After Alpha is appointed the females do a "Bitches Dance" a fight determining the Alpha's mate.
Vivian tried to save her mothers life and before she knows it all the females are submitting to her, great. After realizing these events have spiraled her into a situation that she never wanted and won't be able to get out of she runs to her house. Gabriel tells her he will wait but she does belong to him now and he will not give up, double great.
Thinking that he has won Gabriel relentlessly tries to win her but she is still in love with Aiden. As their romance blossoms she gets up the courage to reveal herself to him, only to find that he absolutely cannot handle it and hides behind his friends and lies.
Absolutely devastated, Vivian tries to flee and Gabriel shows up to take her home and comfort her, and shared his story of falling in love with a human.
Jealousy and grudges spark over female and male status, attempted suicide, plotting of framing for murders, trials, betrayal, honesty, grief, love. I could go on to explain the rest of the book but I think you should just read it already!

Ultimately I think this story is more real than a lot of the "monster loves human" novels. I think insecure teenage girls need this kind of support. Don't ever be with or settle for someone that can't handle you. Don't turn away someone that loves you and would do anything for you for someone that you constantly have to prove something to. Sometimes when it seems like you are never going to find someone to love you for you, they've been right under your nose the whole time but your mind is so erratic you don't even realize you've looked over them. show less

I remember being mildly obsessed with this book but not loving it as much as Silver Kiss (same author) (which is still a favorite) when I was a preteen. I have no idea why I would have liked it so much as I have mostly memories of all the characters being somewhat insufferable or problematic and having mixed feelings on the FMC being different from the shy, unconfident, mostly reluctant, and downright annoyingly passive protagonists of the day by being so confident in her own beauty and abilities as to be entirely vain and unrelatable. The solution to the "not like other girls I'm shy and I read books" trope is not "not like other girls because I'm just too hot and powerful". I remember not liking the ending or any of the trash men or show more even really the concept of werewolves as the central focus, so why do I also remember loving it?
It has now been 2 decades since I last read this book and I only just remembered it last week when I was drinking at a pub quiz and renamed my main group chat "the Amoeba" (my partner didn't like the previous name which was implemented as part of their birthday/becoming old celebrations) and the entire description of that group came back to my mind with perfect clarity as if I were a sleeper agent finally awakened by the power of nostalgia and weird girl vibes.
Anyway, I have ordered a used copy of the paperback (It's been 20 years- I lost my original copy) and plan on doing a reread to see if my memory has served me right or if it is merely that I look back on anything from those early years with equal measures of cringe and fondness and, unfortunately, with total recall. Stay tuned for that review.

I do remember there also being a truly terrible film adaptation that was so different from the book as to basically be a completely different story with coincidentally the same title, but I'm not invested enough (yet) to have a desire to seek that out

Update from 2026: This is exactly as recalled. And is that some additional segregationism??? I'm minorly impressed with my own memory but slightly less minorly annoyed that this sh*t is what my brain has decided is worth preserving (trash derogatory, not trash affectionate) show less