Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George
Series: Silver in the Blood #1
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA on July 7th 2015
Genres: Historical Fantasy
Pages: 240
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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A New York Times bestselling author brings dark secrets to life in a lush new YA perfect for fans of Libba Bray or Cassandra Clare.

Society girls from New York City circa 1890, Dacia and Lou never desired to know more about their lineage, instead preferring to gossip about the mysterious Romanian family that they barely knew. But upon turning seventeen, the girls must return to their homeland to meet their relatives, find proper husbands, and—most terrifyingly—learn the deep family secrets of The Claw, The Wing, and The Smoke. The Florescus, after all, are shape-shifters, and it is time for Dacia and Lou to fulfill the prophecy that demands their acceptance of this fate . . . or fight against this cruel inheritance with all their might.

With a gorgeous Romanian setting, stunning Parisian gowns, and dark brooding young men, readers will be swept up by this epic adventure of two girls in a battle for their lives.

I don’t know about you guys but, to me, historical fiction just doesn’t seem to get enough love.  Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres.  Historical fantasy makes it even better!  Jessica Day George does a fantastic job with the first book in this new series!

I have never read anything by Jessica Day George so it definitely took a little getting used to when it comes to her voice and style.  The characters are 17 years old but their voices and attitudes seemed a but younger than that.  They were not immature exactly but they seemed to overreact to some things that went on.  And while the beginning of the book did drag a little bit, I had no trouble getting into the story.  I personally liked the attitudes of the girls and really came to like them both quickly.

I’ve never been a huge fan of shapeshifter stories (don’t ask why, I don’t know) but there was something about this one that appealed to me more than the others that I’ve read.  Possibly the setting and the characters but I’ll come back to that later.  The two girls find out that their family are shapeshifters and they are coming into their powers.  The girls each turn into different things and each things comes with different powers and history.  The backstory surrounding their family was definitely interesting.

The romance was something I was expecting from the start.  There is an incident involving Dacia and Lord Johnny that is brought up early and Lord Johnny comes back into play later in the book.  It turns out he is not exactly who everyone thinks he is.  Then there are Lou and Theo.  Their relationship is more my style.  They don’t like each other at first but their feelings start to change throughout the story.  All four characters bring something new to the table and they work well together, with different attitudes and styles of handling things.

Overall, Silver in the Blood starts off Jessica Day George’s new series with a few flaws but not enough to stop me from recommending it.  Don’t let the slow beginning stop you from giving this one a full chance!

What others are saying about Silver in the Blood:

The Social Potato’s review: “It’s not a bad book by any means, it’s very creative and fun but it is also a little slow and needed a little work in the character department.”

Nick’s Book Blog’s review: “While the book may have a bit of a slow start, I recommend sticking with it because the relationship between Lou and Dacia more than makes up for it.”

The White Unicorn’s review: “If you like sweeping adventures, blood soaked evenings and strong female friendships, this is the book for you.”

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