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
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