The story itself was a bit slow but okay, the voice of the reader was nice and soothing. The only problem I found within the story itself was the amount of times the author described what other characters were wearing - it got a bit repetitive and tedious throughout the book.

Info dumps! If anything bugs me about fantasy, it's when I'm reading, or in this case, listening, and have to sit through info dumps. Some of these were simply recapping what had already happened. I'm pretty sure I could keep up without the story being repetitive. There's also a lot of jumping from one character to another, often in the same scene, and there are several points of view to keep up with. That didn't bother me - as I said, I can keep up, but I didn't feel like every POV was entirely necessary. Another thing that fell short was the romance. These two worked together as partners, but I didn't get the romance. I really liked the premise for Young Blood, and Alex Knox does a good job with the narration, but I feel like this one would've benefitted from a bit more of some things and a bit less of others - definitely less on the info dumps.

Really strange to be reading this in the time of COVID. I didn't love this book, but all together it was okay! I think my main complaint is that it was hard to follow, and a lot ended up going over my head which would leave me a little confused further down the line in the story. Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for a copy of this book for an honest review.

It was a fun book with an interesting story.
I liked the main characters, there where a few people that where being followed and you got to know different sides of the world.
It did had some unnecessary romance that didn't add anything to the story.
Also when the book switched between characters there was no indication (short pause, or something) so it could be a bit confusing.
The narrator was great!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* ngl dont care much for scifi so it took me a few chapters to get into the story but overall turned out to be better than i thought and though it was super creepy, even more so with covid it was worth the read!

CW Lamb takes readers to the future where those who have all the power and money, want something more, they want to live forever:

Girls keep disappearing from the streets and all of these girls were waiting for their results from a special test that will help set up themselves and their families for the rest of their lives. Detectives Ethan Walls and Rachel Edmunds think they have found a link between the missing girls, but the link leads into the territory of the Haves section in their city, which is full of corruption within their police force. They want to make sure that no more girls go missing, but the Haves have a special need for the girls and they will stop at nothing to make sure that their supply never dwindles.

This book started out strong but became a fizzle by the end. To begin with this book had a very Altered Carbon feel to it, which I really liked as I loved the first season of that show (I tried the second season but it wasn't as good as the first). You see the similarities in the have/have not, those who have it all wanting to live forever/endless power and the lack of respect the police department gets. This is where the similarities end, there was very little action or even detective work in the book. It felt like Lamb was trying to do too much with the book at once instead of having a sci-fi detective thriller and/or mystery.

I liked all the different points of view though I do not think that both detectives needed to have one as they didn't really add any new information to the story that the other could not have told to the reader, other than the mutual attraction between them. I think my favourite POV were that of the scavengers who lived on the fringe of society, only taking things from the streets that they need. There is quite a bit of jumping between the POV so if you are not one that likes more than two or three POV you will not like this book as there are around seven by the end of the book. I didn't mind the jumping around so much as it gave different perspectives within the society and did help round out the story.

I wasn't a fan of the the romance that Lamb put in the book. It felt forced, cliche and just put in there to have it in. I mean it did not add anything to the story (other than the detectives constantly stating how tight the others clothes were), did not enhance anything, it was just well they are cop partners so they must have an attraction to each other as they are both good looking so they should then form a romance.

Overall, the book was okay, bordering on boring at times. I thought there would be more action. It felt that the farther I read into the book the more Meh the book became. I was looking for action, spice, grittiness, connection, something, to bring more life into the story. I think Lamb had an interesting concept here, just wasn't executed how I wanted it to be and this is maybe due to the Altered Carbon feel I got right off the bat, that I wanted it to be similar to that.

Cheers!!!

Young Blood by Charles W. Lamb
Narrated by Alex Knox
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers | Sci Fi & Fantasy
Release Date: January 26, 2021

Young Blood by Charles W. Lamb is a futuristic crime novel filled with government corruption and evil corporations. This book brings home the warning of too much power and money at the top.

The book follows the story of two detectives and of a kidnapping victim the detectives are trying to find. Their work brings them into the proverbial rabbit hole and uncovers the truth behind the world class system and what is going on behind the scenes.

I found the story to be a fascinating look into a possible future. The characters were interesting (perhaps a little too trusting though) and for the most part likeable. The story moves quickly and is filled with lots of important details.

The narration by Alex Knox was incredible! He made the story come to life!

I'm so grateful to Charles W. Lamb, Tantor Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

A big thank you to the publishers and netgalley for an audio arc in exchange of an honest review.

The premise seemed really interesting to me:

A girl goes missing and two detectives have to figure out what happened and why. However, while the narrator was engaging and did a great job the book gave me the yucks. Firstly because it’s very similar to altered carbon in concept, and second because the two main characters keep randomly thinking about how tight the others clothes are. Which just seemed unnecessary.

Not only that but there’s a lot of head hopping from sentence to sentence, which is hard to follow and not more than a little bit annoying. Also constant info dumping for things we’ve already been told one chapter before. I don’t need a recap of the last episode this is chapter two!

Honestly I just couldn’t get along with this and it didn’t deliver on what I expected. Which is a shame. The writing itself isn’t bad but read too casually for my liking.

A interesting unusual story line.
Like the characters Ethan and Rachel who are Detectives with a history.
Great intrigue,drama,action.mystery and romance.Enjoyed listening to.
Good Narrator and narration.

It was a book I had a harder time getting into, but once I did I was so eager to hear what came next, and I think I listened to this book so many times I could recite some of the quotes. Once I started feeling the book I found it really fun and overall a really solid book

Thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the advanced readers audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Book didn't grab me. Switches between characters was confusing in the audiobook as it would take me a few sentences to realize the change. Synopsis--rich people are privileged.

The audiobook was difficult to finish due to the loud intakes of breath and the nonstop stream of words. I’ve found that narrators who talk like they’d normally talk are the most effective. But the pace was so fast that it was hard to focus on it while the sentences ran together. This book also had a lot of POVs, and I’m partial to only one or two. I don’t feel I can become too connected with any one partner if it’s switching often this often so soon. The book seemed to have an interesting story base, but it was too hard for me to get past the narrators speech and breath intakes for me to fully finish.

Young blood is a captivating tale that keeps you on the edge of your seat anticipating what is going happen next. I would have liked more dialog among the characters and more description of the characters themselves but the further I got into the story the less I missed that. A story set in a future where society is separated into the haves or have nots. A select few young women are coveted for their blood which can be turned into a serum to stop the aging process., The families of the young women are well compensated if they are selected. Many young women jump at the chance to be tested and help their familes.. Some of these Golden Ticket girls are coming up missing.. The story intertwines several different characters that converge along their journeys and all play a critical role. This story switches from one character to the next giving you the perspective of a Golden Ticket girl, a doctor from a distribution center, a detective and one of the CEOs of the processing plants.. It keeps you on your toes as it shifts from one to another weaving an amazing story.. It has a bit of political corruption, romance, mystery and science fiction. A must read!