Blood and Chocolate (2007)

[GothicRavenGoddess (3)]

Blood and Chocolate By Annette Curtis Klause

Sixteen-year-old Vivian has a bit of a wild side, coming from an ancient line of shape-shifting loups garoux. But a fiery expulsion from their more comfortable accommodations in West Virginia has forced Vivian's pack to flee to a small suburb in Maryland. It was a vigilante attack that claimed several members of the pack, including her father, the leader of the pack. Now homeless, fatherless, and friendless, she suffers near constant embarrassment at her mother's own form of mourning and the tumultuous state of an aimless pack reduced to drunkards and gang bangers, all the while evading the pressing advances of an older, overly-confident Gabriel whose goal it is to become the new pack leader with her as his queen bitch.

Then Vivian's ears perk up at a sensually composed poem depicting werewolves and decides to exercise her predatory skills on the author, who turns out to be an aesthetically pleasing young boy named Aiden with a taste for the occult. As hormones start to stir between the young lovers, blood begins to boil among the restless and increasingly out of control pack. A leader must be elected, even if it results in grudges and gore, and Vivian must learn where to place her loyalty. However, this is no Romeo & Juliet soap opera when Vivian experiences dangerous black-outs with bloody aftermath and media coverage that will endanger everyone she loves.

Blood and Chocolate (2007)

In Bucharest, Romania, the orphan Vivian was raised by her aunt after losing her parents ten years ago in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado. His family belongs to a bloodline of werewolves and Vivian is promised to the leader of the pack, Gabriel. When the American cartoonist Aiden, who is researching werewolves for his publisher for the next edition of his magazine, meets Vivian, they immediately fall in love for each other. However, the evil son of Gabriel and Vivian's cousin Rafe poisons Gabriel about the love of Vivian, forcing her to choose between her bounds with her family and her passion for Aiden.

I was a bit disappointed that the movie didn't even follow along the same line as the book. Their names were all the same, and the basics were the same (the girl, the creatures), but that's as far as it went. Yes, she did have to chose between a guy or her family... In the end of the book, some bad things happen, she gets shot, and because she's going into shock, she can't fully from into one or the other... In the end, she ends up with the man she's meant to be with all along: the leader of the pack...

In the movie, it ended just as Hollywood wanted it to. The girl gets the boy of her dreams, and they drive off into the night.

Both make fro a great story. And they really were. I wouldn't say that this was the worst movie adaptation of a book, because well, it was a lose interpretation, and it was a good movie. Had I not read the book first, I wouldn't be so disappointed as I am. i was looking forward to this movie, for many years. And I got so excited when I saw the trailer for the movie (or rather, caught the end of the trailer) The book was written for young adults, about high school KIDS. The movie was written for young adults, about well, young adults. Both were good, but I wanted the scream at the screen because this movie broke my heart. "Never judge a book by its movie" stands strong here, because the movie is so far from the book, that its almost two separate stories. Almost.

*sigh*

I wonder if anyone who was involved with the writing of this movie, even read the book, or understood why the book ended the way that it did.

No matter. I recommended both, though watch the movie first, or your heart will break, like mine did.

You can watch the movie here. <--- Clicky

Edited July 18, 2009 by GothicRavenGoddess

[AstralCrux]

How did you like the writing style? Is this a series or just a single book?

[Eevee]

Yes, Blood and Chocolate is just the single book.

And, yes...the movie was absolutely terrible. The book is amazing and the movie barely even touches the storyline. It's like...there are werewolves, and that's basically the only similarity.

I was also immensely disappointed by the movie.

Boooo.

[GothicRavenGoddess (3)]

How did you like the writing style? Is this a series or just a single book?

The writing style was easy to follow. In all honesty, I think that the book was meant for like 10 and over, because it was such an easy read. I like that it doesn't seem like someone else was writing the book (even in first person, you don't really fall into the story as if it was really written by the character telling the story). With this story, it was easy to fall into Vivian's world, because it did feel like Vivian was actually telling the story.

This is just a single book.

Here's a list of books by her.

(Each one is clickable and leads to the blurb):

Alien Secrets published in 1993

Blood and Chocolate published in 1997

Freaks: Alive on the Inside! published in 2005

The Silver Kiss published in 1990

List of short stories:

"The Hoppins" in Short Circuit by Donald Gallo (editor) published in 1992

"The Bogeyman" in Night Terrors: Stories of Shadows and Substance by Lois Duncan* (editor) published in 1996

"Summer of Love" in Color of Absence: 12 Stories About Loss and Hope by John Howe (editor) published in 2001

*Lois Duncan is one of my favorite lady authors, for young adults. (I love Ann Rice,too, but that's a different genre)

[Eevee]

I've read (and own) Silver Kiss also...it was too bad, but I still didn't like it even half as much as I liked Blood and Chocolate.

[GothicRavenGoddess (3)]

I've read (and own) Silver Kiss also...it was too bad, but I still didn't like it even half as much as I liked Blood and Chocolate.

I have yet to read any of the others she has written.

There's another book, I've read, about werewolves.

The Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt.

Here's the blurb from Wikipedia:

"I was born of darkness. My father's eyes closed before mine opened. I am not of this world or the other, and I have the right to be what I am... "

Regeane is a half-Saxon and half-Frankish woman whose father, Wolfstan, died because of her mother, Gisela. Wolfstan was a werewolf, a man who could change from human to a very large wolf while her mother, Gisela, was frightened at the abnormality that her husband displayed. Due to Gundabald's urgings and pressure, Gisela grew to believe that Wolfstan was an offspring of the Devil Himself and eventually lured him to his death. When Gisela birthed Regeane, she was relieved to find no abnormalities...leastwise, not yet.

When Regeane experiences her first sign of adulthood, she changes into this beautiful silver wolf. Gisela panics and forces poor Regeane to drink filthy concoctions, to pray for hours, to go to church, to promise never again to change as long as she lived...etc. In return for that promise, Gundabald would take care of Regeane for a long time.

But when Gisela dies, the whole family falls into poverty and corruption, ending up with tattered cloths, temporary lodging in Rome and Regeane chained by the neck in the basement. Gundabald treats her worse and worse while Hugo, his son, is a more drunken wastrel than ever. Together, the expert wastrel (Gundabald) and the apprentice wastrel (Hugo) use up the money while Regeane is locked up in the house. But Regeane fights back and she finally escapes from the imprisonment when Gundabald's mood turns when he finds her a wealthy mountain lord by the name of Maeniel to marry her. Regeane escapes to Lucilla's villa, where Lucilla, Hadrian (the Pope), Antonius and many others befriend her and her smaller friend Elfgifa.

Antonius, who is a leper, is Regeane's friend and she ventures forth into the World of the Dead to find a cure for him before it is too late. On one of those many trips, she meets three wolves - one black, one gray and one red. Unknown to her, the gray wolf whom she desires is Maeniel, her future husband and lord.

On first sight, they both fall in love.

A few days later, Maeniel pays an unannounced visit to Lucilla's villa, where he drowns his future bride with more than a king's ransom of wealth.

After the wedding feast, a dispute is begun when an assassin tries to kill Maeniel while he is occupied with Regeane. Regeane stops him by breaking his wrist bone with one hand over Maeniel's shoulder, grabbing him by the broken wrist. Due to the excessive bruising a normal woman could not have caused, he finds out that Regeane is, in fact, the silver wolf whom he desires.

What follows next is a desperate battle between Maeniel and Scapthar as the champions fight to see whether or not Regeane is to burn at the stake. Maeniel wins and Scapthar is left for dead.

Finally, Gundabald is the last to be killed and Regeane finally learns that Maeniel, her love, is the gray wolf.

And its one of my favorites. Its one of three,in a series, but I've never read the others.

Night of the Wolf and then The Wolf King are the other two, in case you want to look for them, to read. I may do it, so that I can complete the series. I'm probably going to re-read the first one, in case I missed something the first go round.

Its stories like that, I'd love to see made into a movie, but at the same time I don't, because I don't want them to ruin the story, or miss the point of certain things. Kinda like the way the missed the point of the ending in Blood and Chocolate, and changed it to suit Hollywood.

Edited July 19, 2009 by GothicRavenGoddess

[Eevee]

Oops!

I meant to say that The Silver Kiss wasn't too bad...whoops.

[GothicRavenGoddess (3)]

Oops!

I meant to say that The Silver Kiss wasn't too bad...whoops.

I thought that's what you had said, until I read this, and then re read what you had said earlier LMAO

but just cuz I understood, doesn't mean everyone else will. I'm glad you clarified lol

[Eevee]

[AstralCrux]

I wouldn't use the Wiki, it gives too much away. I resented reading the first Wiki part for Blood and Chocolate.

[GothicRavenGoddess (3)]

Well, that's all I could find.