Bloodhound

Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book 2 in the Beka Cooper series picks up a few months after book 1 leaves off. This time, Beka is no longer a trainee "puppy" but a real "Dog" (i.e. police officer) in the middle of unraveling where all the counterfeit money is coming from and halting the spread of it. It's a pretty good read, as with all of Pierce's books.

If you're recommending it to teenagers, be aware that there is some sexual content (more than the first book). Nothing graphic, but definitely some hormones happening, and Beka does actually have sex a couple of times. (Frankly, I wasn't all that impressed with the guy she chose, but for a teenager, she handled it maturely.)

According to the Find a Book website, Bloodhound is categorized as "High/Low," meaning that it's high interest but low reading level (for vocabulary). I don't think I agree with that because so much of the story is told in what Pierce--via Beka--calls "street cant." Think: fictionalized fantasy version of Cockney. It's fun to read, and Pierce does include a glossary at the end of the book, but someone who struggles with reading in general may have trouble with the made-up words and phonetic spelling.

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