Update: In October I finished this book a third time. Turns out this is one of those books that gets better with every read. I'm going to go ahead and up the rating to four stars. Blood and Chocolate was a book that I didn't totally like the first time around--I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about it, to be honest. It's well written but much darker than most YA fiction. Overall I felt positive about the story even though I didn't quite care for the protagonist, Vivian--she comes across as slutty and entirely too sure of herself.
Because Blood and Chocolate left me feeling so perplexed, I needed to read it again (which I did, months later). The second time I read it I finally understood why the main character was so sure of herself and overly sexed. She's not entirely human--a fact that I was aware of the first read through but I didn't really think about.
She was raised to be comfortable with her sexuality, but not necessarily in a dirty way, just not in a human way. And I realized she was so sure of herself because she grew up in the Alpha's household. Just being daughter of the Alpha was a position that demanded respect, and Vivian had been treated accordingly--in fact, until her father died the entire pack celebrated her birthday.
The thing is, during my second read, I realized I quite liked that [a:Annette Curtis Klaus] allowed her main character to suffer, struggle. To not get what she wanted when she wanted it. Vivian, so sexual and so sure of herself, didn't understand love any more than your average teenager. If anything she struggled with it, with getting her heart broken, more than your average teen. In fact, she reacts in a downright scary manner.
In the end, I came to the conclusion that I liked Blood and Chocolate because the main character gets over her heartbreak and even moves on. It isn't often a YA novel takes this route, which, if you ask me, is quite unfortunate, though I digress.
Vivian learns there is more to love then physical attraction and/or like-mindedness. And above all she learns to love and accept her(whole)self.