Anomaly (The Blood Race #0.5)

Anomaly is the prequel novella for the Blood Race series by K.A. Emmons. Released 7th April 2020, it's 150 pages and available in ebook format. Worth noting that the ebook has a handy interactive table of contents. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. Anomaly is currently free to download and read. 

This is a YA paranormal fantasy. Although released chronologically after the other books which make up the trilogy, this one is a prequel and backstory for one of the main characters, Ion. It works very well as a standalone, and was the first work I'd read by the author. 

I will start by saying I am emphatically not the target audience (tween/teens). Some of the angst and fighting and *unfairness-of-it-all* got to me after a while. It's relentlessly dark with physical and psychological abuse, themes of suicide and self harm, and failure of *every* adult in the book. From the blurbs and reviews of the other books in the series, I gather it all works out in the end, but this prequel is pretty grim. The father figure in the book is an alcoholic, abusive, bullying horror. I shudder to *think* what the child services is like in their city, because I can't imagine this family passing even the most cursory home visit. 

I would recommend this one to current fans of the series who want some backstory for Ion. Three stars (again, I'm not the target audience - I can certainly see this being optioned as a movie with a tragic heartthrob actor making a generation of tween moviegoers swoon. I suspect I'm in the definite minority with the *meh* rating). The author's style is capable and direct, just not to my taste. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.