“Youngblood” by Sasha Laurens

The new YA “Youngblood” has generated a lot of controversy. Of course we had to see what the fuss was about...

Spooky season continues here at The Lakshmi and Asha Show with a discussion of a new young adult novel about sapphic vampires at an elite boarding school.

Doesn't that sound fun? There are many reasons we were intrigued by the plot of Sasha Laurens' novel "Youngblood," but we have to admit that we became wary when we began seeing rumblings on YA Twitter (a very intense corner of social media that breaks down teen novels) that the book's portrayal of race, class, and colonialism often left much to be desired. But, as you all know, we've never shied away at looking critically at the media we review each week, so we wanted to see if the social media hullabaloo was warranted.