Jazz was shot and left for dead. Connie played right into Billy's hands. Howie could bleed to death on Jazz's grandmother's living room floor. Somehow these 3 must survive and figure out the truth about The Crows, stop Billy, and save Jazz's mom. When Jazz decides to go rogue, he shows a dark side darker than he even knew was in him. How far will Jazz go to bring down "Dear old Dad"? And once he goes down this dark path, will he ever be able to come back from it? Fighting against Nature AND Nurture, Jazz has to find a way to free the world from Billy's terror.


My Thoughts:
Woah action. This book starts intense and never quits! It is primarily a journey book. There is one thing and one thing only on Jazz's mind: stopping Billy. To be honest, that journey got a little old after a while. I felt like it took way too long for Jazz to get to the main event... and all the things leading up to that felt like throw away moments. I wish there was some other thing going on in the book besides Jazz's one-track mind to get to Billy. Don't get me wrong, the book packs in a ton of action... it's just that all the action was for one purpose, and I wanted to just get to that purpose already. Or at least get some clarity and new information along the way.

As the final installment in this series, I liked it. I thought it could have been stronger, but I still definitely enjoyed tearing through the pages. There is a twist in this book and I quite liked it, even if it is bizarre and kind of gross. It's not the first time I've been grossed out through these 3 books. The only thing is I wanted MORE explanation. It left me with a bunch of questions and holes that I wanted filled in. Like how do serial killers find out about The Crows and vice versa? And a bunch of other spoilery questions that I had.

I think this book definitely had a different overall feel, and that's what surprised me most about it. I was expecting the excitement that [b:Game|15790833|Game (Jasper Dent #2)|Barry Lyga|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366557615s/15790833.jpg|21502367] brought, and what I got was a much darker, more focused book. Jazz didn't feel like the same person at all... although after everything he's been through, I can see why. I liked that the first 2 books had mysteries separate from Billy Dent. They had new killers and we had no idea who they might be. I liked following Jazz on the journey to find those killers. And I was hoping for more of that with this 3rd one. It wraps everything up great, and I am happy for that, but it doesn't bring in anything new. And I could have DEFINITELY lived without that epilogue.... yuck!

OVERALL: An intense wrap-up to one of my favorite series. I loved the idea of boy who was raised by a serial killers. It brought up so much about how we ultimately become the person we are. I loved Jazz, but in this book, not as much. I definitely recommend this amazing series to everyone! It's concept is truly unique.

My Blog:
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CW: Truly twisted relationship - mother wants to have sexual relationship with son. ( )

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! This book was crazy. I won't give away any spoilers, but I did not see the ending of this book coming. I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading this book. I went from gasphing to screaming at Jazz to gasphing again. This book is a rollercoaster and I loved the ride. (4.5) ( )

There were more than enough plot twists and surprises to keep the most jaded reader of the genre interested. This last book in the trilogy flowed smoothly from the second book. It was satisfying to seethe Billy Dent situation resolved and to see Jasper moving toward a more stable frame of mind. The whole "Crow King" thing was not as easily accepted. There was plenty of meat without a less believable, less likely (to me at least) "Crow King" world. Still, all in all, an excellent book well worth reading, particularly as a change of pace from other less original stories.

Blood of My Blood picks up right where Game left off, which means it starts on a nerve-wracking note and just ramps up the tension from there. Howie is bleeding out on the floor of Jazz's home, after potentially accidentally killing Jazz's grandmother. Connie is in Billy's clutches. And Jazz is in a storage unit with a bunch of dead bodies, doomed to die of blood loss, dehydration, or infection if no one finds him.

I read most of this book over the course of two days, because I needed to find out what would happen to the characters and whether they'd be okay. In the previous books, the odds always seemed pretty good that Jazz, Connie, and Howie would survive. But this was the final book in the trilogy. Would Lyga let them live? Was a "good" ending even possible for Jazz? I hoped so, but I definitely didn't know for sure. In fact, I worried about these characters so much that I broke down at one point and read the last page of the book. I don't recommend that, by the way - it spoils a pretty major revelation.

Thinking about it now, the whole "Crow King" aspect was difficult to believe. These were largely not the sort of people who'd let one individual have any sort of power over them or knowledge about them. It was even more difficult to believe that they'd accept that particular Crow King.

However, this book and its characters had such a tight hold on me that it didn't matter whether that stuff was believable or not. I just needed to see how things were going to turn out, even if it was awful and bloody.

Weirdly, I thought this book was actually far less gory than the previous one. Less gory, but still absolutely horrific. I felt so bad for Jazz - major content warnings for child abuse.

The "5 years later" epilogue almost felt like a fairy tale after everything that came before it, or maybe a dream one of the characters was having. That said, I'm glad Lyga included it. It gave some closure and reassurance, of a sort. I'll miss these characters.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )