The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton

For Mab Prowd, blood magic is as natural as breathing. She spends her days on a secluded Kansas farm with other blood witches, practicing spells for healing and trying to avoid boring lessons like algebra and history. Wild and confident, Mab uses magic to understand her entire world. But when one of Mab's spells mistakenly taps into a powerful, long-dormant curse, she finds her magic spinning out of control - and crashing right into Will Sanger, a boy from town. Will has always relied on the logical, tangible things in his life, like his dogs, his soccer team, and even his complicated family. So he tries to dismiss all he sees and feels around Mab. Still, the strangeness and beauty of her magic draw him in. 

As Will and Mab grow closer, the unbound curse grows stronger. Hiding in the shadows of the forest, it seeks to manipulate Will and gain Mab's power - even if that means destroying everything they love.

These are not the same characters as book 1!!! Clearly I didn't know this going into it because I spent the first 20 pages confused and annoyed. When I finally looked up the summary of book 1 (to be sure I wasn't completely crazy) I figured it out and that's when I put this book down...never to be picked up again.

It's no secret that I liked the first book, wasn't thrilled with it, but it was solid. I genuinely liked the characters and the story they had to share. So when the next installment totally threw all that to the curb and made me start fresh, that was enough for me to be like, 'ok I'm officially done with this'; another series* crossed off my list. 

*In my eyes a series is not a series if we don't get to check in with the same characters over and over again. It's just a cop out for authors who like the world they've been writing in.

So long story short, if you're into essentially starting a sequel without any information, direction or expectations then this book is for you. But if you're like me and this will only frustrate you, then take this as a heads up and move on to the next book on your TBR shelf.