ALC Book Review: Silence and Shadow (Blood and Moonlight #2) by Erin Beaty

October 4, 2023September 26, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy + Romance
Length: 464 pages
Author: Erin Beaty
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Release Date: October 3rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

After confronting a killer and fleeing her home to be with each other, Cat and Simon arrive in the sprawling city of Londunium pretending to be a newly married couple, but don’t expect to keep up the ruse for long. Cat looks forward to honing her healing magick at the local Selanae university, but instead finds a council of ruthless leaders threatening to erase her non-Selanae “husband’s” memories to protect their secrets.

Terrified to lose him, Cat takes desperate steps to keep him safe. But when a string of mutilated bodies turns up in the woods outside the city, and Simon is recruited to profile the killer, Cat is pulled back into a world of murder, mayhem, and magick—one that threatens to swallow her, and everything she loves, whole.

The sequel to Erin Beaty’s buzzworthy YA medieval fantasy-thriller Blood and Moonlight, Silence and Shadow is full of swoony romance, dangerous magick, and murder—perfect for fans of Kerri Maniscalco and Mary E. Pearson.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

A GREAT MYSTERY.

I just have no complaints. I really enjoyed listening, I thought the story was great, the subtle romance was sweet (with some fade to black steam) and I love these characters. They’re flawed without making you feel like pushing them off a cliff. There’s apologies and strength and I love the way Erin Beaty crafts her characters.

The mystery kept me guessing and I love the change of location from the previous book (which you do have to read before this one!!). Exploring a new area, side characters and a killer on the loose. This has a slight cozy vibe while also being on the darker edge. With some action mixed in and some twists that made the ending feel like you have to keep going.

I’m a big fan girl of Erin Beaty and this continues to ring true. Another brilliant book!

Overall audience notes:

Upper YA Fantasy + Romance
Language: light
Romance: multiple fade to black
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: serial killer, blood/gore depiction

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Blood and Moonlight by Erin Beaty

June 14, 2023July 13, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Mystery
Length: 448 pages
Author: Erin Beaty
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date: June 28th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Rising above the city of Collis is the holy Sanctum. And watching over its spires is Catrin, an orphan girl with unique skills—for she alone can spot the building’s flaws in construction before they turn deadly.

But when Catrin witnesses a murderer escaping the scene of his crime, she’s pulled into the web of a dangerous man who will definitely strike again. Assigned to capture the culprit is the mysterious, brilliant, and enigmatic Simon, whose insights into the mind of a killer are frighteningly accurate.

As the grisly crimes continue, Catrin finds herself caught between murderer and detective while hiding her own secret—a supernatural sight granted by the moon, destined to make her an outcast, and the only thing that might save her and those she loves from becoming the next victims…

In this medieval YA fantasy thriller, an orphan with a secret, magical sight gets caught between a mysterious genius and the serial killer he’s hunting.

MYSTERIOUS.

I really enjoyed this one! It was different than my usual YA fantasy picks and brought a lot to the table. A fantasy and a thriller all in one was a good change of pace.

Catrin was a main character who went up and down for me. I liked her at times and struggled with her occasionally, but overall, I liked who she was and who she became. She was fiercely loyal to those who looked out for her and was compassionate to those in differing situations.

There was a sweet and subtle sub-plot romance that I liked too. As the other major key player, Simon, held a lot of sway in where the story went. He had a mysterious nature, but was soft as fluff on the inside and this is how I adore my love interests.

Mental health was a major theme and I there were many good conversations and approaches to how this subject was discussed. The author’s note at the end had an interesting tidbit of history that connected into the story and I loved learning more about that as well!

The mystery kept me guessing and even though I was pretty sure it was one character, I liked how great the writing was that I felt pulled in multiple directions on who the murderer ultimately was.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy Thriller
Language: a little
Romance: kisses
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: small mentions of sexual assault and rape (not on page), murder (graphic descriptions of bodies found), suicide and suicide ideation, mob aggression resulting in death, differing mental health depictions

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: The Traitor’s Kingdom (The Traitor’s Circle) by Erin Beaty

August 2, 2019July 15, 2019 GoodeyReads4 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Author: Erin Beaty
Publisher: Imprint
Release Date: July 9th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Unlikely alliances are forged and trust is shattered in the stunning conclusion to The Traitor’s Trilogy.

A new queen under threat.
An ambassador with a desperate scheme.
Two kingdoms with everything to lose.

Once a spy and counselor to the throne, Sage Fowler has secured victory for her kingdom at a terrible cost. Now an ambassador representing Demora, Sage is about to face her greatest challenge to avoid a war with a rival kingdom.

After an assassination attempt destroys the chance for peace, Sage and her fiancé Major Alex Quinn risk a dangerous plot to reveal the culprit. But the stakes are higher than ever, and in the game of traitors, betrayal is the only certainty.

A FANTASTIC HAPPY-ENDING FILLED CONCLUSION.

OH HOW I LOVED THIS SERIES.

I question why it took me so long to get to this. I had heard mixed things, but should have trusted my gut. After I picked it up I never looked back. Perk of waiting so long? I barely had to wait to have all three books in my hands. A top series of 2019.

Sage went on an amazing character journey. I love that she realized her faults and choices had caused harm to her friends. She was able to apologize and actually become a better person for it.

The only tiny issue I had was how much Clare annoyed me. I could not handle her woe is me style and thought she was going to be a downfall to the plot. LUCKILY, things highly improved on this front and I loved how her story came to an end and thought it made sense for her and Sage’s relationship.

ALEX AND SAGE. One of my new OTPs. UGH HOW I LOVE THEM. They infuriated me a lot less in this book, but I distinctly had a moment of being reallllll angry with Alex, WHY DUDE. But, hot dang, did he recover with fireworks. Their quiet moments WERE MY EVERYTHING. Typing this review makes me want to reread this book purely for their interactions. Oh, how I love them so.

A lot more drama and actual plot progression here too. It was easy to flip pages, and slowly read, savoring all of the moments this book had to give. I loved how much more intrigue this book had. There was less battle and more focus on the politics (and this change was done well). It kept me on my toes, when even I was pretty sure I knew who was behind everything there was still so much more to explain! I was interested in this as much as I was making sure Sage & Alex got the happy ending THEY DESERVED DANG IT.

Lots of female power in this too. Sage and her friends, Lani, Clare, and Queen Zoraya are a force to be reckoned with and I like that their subplot allowed a lot more insight into all of their lives. I learned more about them and their journey which had me really invested in them getting happy endings too (OHEMGEE the very end *shrieks with joy at how cute that scene was*).

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy + romance
Language: a little light language
Romance: kisses, a few tasteful little detailed FTB scenes
Violence: arrows, murder, swords, fire
Trigger warnings: PTSD (from an extreme burn), mentions of past drug dependence

Instagram || Goodreads

Book Review: The Traitor’s Ruin (The Traitor’s Circle #2) by Erin Beaty

May 23, 2019May 8, 2019 GoodeyReads5 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Erin Beaty
Publisher: Imprint
Release Date: July 10th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

After proving her worth in book one as a deft spy and strategic matchmaker, Sage Fowler is now comfortably positioned in high society as the royal tutor. When she’s called upon to teach his majesty’s soldiers how to read and write, she jumps at the chance to serve her kingdom of Demora—and to be reunited with her fiancé, Captain Alex Quinn.

During a skirmish, Sage and Alex are separated. She watches him die before he can deliver important military intel—or so she thinks. She escapes from the enemy and makes an unlikely alliance with a mysterious soldier from a third nation. As Sage tries to rally their support against a common foe, the important political alliance is plagued by secrets and betrayal.

Can Sage complete Alex’s mission and save her kingdom once more?

The Traitor’s Kiss Review – ☆☆☆☆☆

Y’ALL I AM SMITTEN BY THIS SERIES.

Some books hit you at the right time, causing you to love them on an even grander scale than you thought you originally thought you might. This has been that case and I can NOT stop gushing about it.

Alex & Sage ARE LIFE. THEY ARE SO PRECIOUS AND I LOVE THEM. And I can’t stop using capitals. Bear with me. They’re so many emotions to express.

Oh how miscommunication wears on me in books. I didn’t hate the way this was done though. Alex was struggling through some PTSD-like emotions that were causing him to have a hard time coping. This lead to some issues with Sage that sent her into dangerous situations. While I am all over cheering Sage on, I was also like GIRL. STOP RUNNING TOWARDS DANGER. But she can handle herself, this is a favorite fact of mine. But really, once they started working together, magic happened. WHOOP.

The bad guy was kinda silly in this because he didn’t have the most villain-y reasons for battle and attempted kidnappings. The other political aspects were much more flourished and I loved getting to travel all of the map. It was amazing world-building full of getting to know other kingdoms, lands, and people.

One of my favorite tiny tidbits is that Alex actually shows emotion. He CRIES, and I want to cry with him. I always hate when guys think they’re too good to shed a few tears at truly awful situations. He cares so much and I feel that on every level.

Overall audience notes: