Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined—this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice.

An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love.

Genius.  Absolute.  Pure.  Genius.  

I picked this up and started right in without reading the back or knowing anything about it other than that it was supposedly an anthology.  The first story held me deeply captive and at the end I found myself laughing with glee.  It isn't humorous at all.  I just love when the unexpected happens.  Neat little bowties are not for me.  Give me an idea what's going to happen and then pull the rug out from under me and pepper my hair with surprise.  Love it!  It is truly impossible to figure out what on earth is going to happen next...rather what has happened.  We start in the future and work our way chronologically backwards only to arrive in the future again.  Genius!  If you don't like flashbacks, you might wanna take some anti-nausea medication because this is the trip of a century.  As you're traveling to the present and past and back to the future, all these wonderful little connections just start randomly firing in your brain.  You're reading one section and you suddenly find yourself in another section with your brain holding a huge waving flag and screaming, 'Oh!  Now I get it!'  Genius!  Though you don't have to really think while reading, you can just sit back and enjoy, you'll want to!  You'll want to sit there and puzzle all the pieces together in a race against the author.  I guarantee you won't win though.  

This is one of the most surprisingly delightful books I've ever read.  Honestly, if you like the neat little package where everything ends up hunky dory, you'll find it here but you may want to bypass a bit of the gruesome entries.  However,if you're more like me and you love messiness and loose ends and shock and awe, you'll find it here in spades.  

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  Shawn