Enchanting Review: Night Road

NIGHT ROAD

A.M. JENKINS

Contemporary YA

HarperTeen

ISBN# 978-0-06-054605-2

362 pages

$16.99

Hardcover – Available now

Rating: 4.5 Enchantments

Cole leads a lonely existence. It’s not enough that he’s unlike other humans, or omnivores; he’s a hemovore, someone who feeds exclusively on blood. Sunlight is to be avoided at all costs, but Cole even goes so far as to avoid other humans unless he needs to feed. He’s a traveler, so he never stays in one place for long, and he prefers to be alone, away even from other hemovores like him.

However, when an old friend Johnny, the leader of the Colony of hemovores, requests Cole’s presence in Manhattan, Cole obliges. He doesn’t know why he’s being summoned yet he goes all the same. It turns out that there’s a newly created heme who needs to be trained and protected, and Johnny things Cole it the best man for the job. But training Gordon is more difficult than Cole expects even with the help of a fellow heme traveler Sandor. Gordon doesn’t seem to want to accept that he’s not a normal human anymore, making him a potential threat to the secrecy and safety of the Colony. Cole understands that should Gordon commit too large of a mistake he’ll have to dispose of the new heme, but he also refuses to think he could let that happen. This is a journey that will change both of them—for better or worse.

I must first begin by saying I loved the idea of hemovores. It is a huge twist on the myth of vampires which actually makes it seem more realistic. NIGHT ROAD is both a physical and emotional journey, and one I felt was very well-written. Cole’s character is relatively easy to understand and yet at the same time he retains an air of mystery and dark secrets that haunt him but are gradually revealed. The switches between Cole’s present journey and past memories were coordinated well and easily flowed together. Gordon’s and Sandor’s characters were also well developed although not to the extent of Cole’s. I did think that Cole’s background could’ve been more clarified and its effect on his life written to be more evidently significant, as I felt it should’ve been. The action part of the plot is never too exciting and the most promising part of that was left off at the end. However, I felt the most important part of the story was Cole’s and Gordon’s emotional growth, which were really what defined NIGHT ROAD as such a beautiful story.

A.M. Jenkins has authored several other young adult novels including the award-winning REPOSSESSED.

Rachael Stein

Enchanting Reviews

October 2008