Blood and Moonlight

this book is everything!<br /><br />it has three-dimensional characters, a mysterious serial killer on the loose, exciting moon magic, a sweet romance, impressive old-school investigating, and a really unique setting. the writing has great pacing, flows nicely, and is super easy to binge read. its one of those books where you dont want to put it down and, when you do, you cant wait to pick it back up again.<br /><br />the primary focus of this story is the serial killer and, because of that, there are a few questions left unanswered when it comes to the fantasy/magic elements. i think there are enough that a second book could be warranted to tie up some of those loose ends, so i am interested to see if that happens. <br /><br />but overall, this is quite the adventure into the depths of criminal minds, murder investigations, family facades, and small town secrets. <br /><br /><i>a massive thanks to macmillan childrens publishing for the ARC!!</i><br /><br /><b>↠ <i>4.5 stars</i></b>

5 STARS<br /><b>ARC provided by Macmillan Children's Publishing Group.</b> *Let me also start by acknowledging the gorgeous cover and how perfectly it works for this book.*<br /><br />This murder mystery fantasy novel didn't fail to keep me on my toes. I was making my own theories constantly, flipping back and forth on who I believed to be the killer. This story follows Catrin or 'Cat', an orphaned girl placed into the hands of the Sisters of the Light as a baby, once grown, run away to work with the Architect, Magister Thomas on the building of the beloved Sanctum of the town of Collis. Although we are never told the time period, it is described to be somewhere during the medieval era. Catrin lives with Magister Thomas, along with Mistress la Fontaine and her son Remone 'Remi' la Fontaine. Remi had worked with Magister Thomas as an apprentice for many years and had been gone to train under another to gain even more knowledge and become a Journeyman.<br /><br />The story starts with Catrin heading out that night to inspect a crossbeam of the scaffolds of the sanctum. Magister Thomas notices her and says he will accompany so she isn't alone, however she prefers to be. Fortunately for her, Perrete Charpentier, a young lady who works on Pleasure Road stops by and demands to speak with the Architect. The Magister allows Catrin to go on her own as long as she wears the safety ropes—which she despises. Now under the moonlight within the Sanctum, Catrin inspects the crossbeam near one of the Gargoyles. It's split and will need to be fixed, it jabs her finger drawing blood just as the wind shrieks through the Gargoyle and something supernatural happens to Cat. Once back to sorts she sees a man fleeing, upon returning to the ground, she discovers a dead body and supposes the man fleeing was connected.<br /><br />The main plot is the investigation of the killer, we also follow along as Cat searches for answers about her heritage, the magick, and her building romance with Simon who was assigned the Venatre for the investigation. This also touches on many different mental illnesses as well as graphic detail of the murders, so this is not a light read. With all that, this story never ceased to lose my attention or interest and I was ancy to find out all of what was hidden. This novel's ending is bittersweet in a happy way that leaves the future of the characters to the mind of the reader.

pre-read: why did i add this? pretty cover, that’s why.<br /><br />-<br /><br />read: 3.9 stars. this actually wasn’t bad (which i say with surprise only because pretty covers always seem like bad omens). was it the groundbreaking and revolutionary read that people are saying it was? no. was it enjoyable? yes. and at the end of the day i wasn’t looking for a life-altering read, so all is well.<br /><br />side note: LOVED the first 50-60ish%. but then all of this buildup went into an info-dumping chapter that completely detached me from the lil mystery of the story and is the reason i can’t give this four stars.

This review and others @<a href="https://bookerification.com/blood-and-moonlight-by-erin-beaty/" rel="nofollow noopener">Bookerification</a> <br /><br /><i> <b>Rating: 3 stars </b> </i> <br /><br /><i> <b>Cover: ????.5</b> </i><br />This cover is simply stunning! The beautiful central image of a woman wrapped in vines and flowers grabbed my attention and refused to let go. The additional details of buildings in the background allude to the story's setting, while blood dripping down her fingers makes the design a bit ominous.<br /><br /><i> <b>Writing: ???</b> </i><br />The rich narrative from Catrin's point of view immediately drew me in as vivid descriptions paint a clear picture of each scene and create a fascinating world. Annoyingly, the unique world and magic system are kept simple for most of the book, and I craved more depth and complexity. While this eventually came towards the end of the book, it was given through several information dumps and had little impact.<br /><br /><i>“…our lives are like the Sun: a gift"</i><br /><br /><i> <b>Storyline: ???</b> </i><br />Within a few minutes, Catrin's character is introduced, and the mystery aspect of the story is launched. The pace is then slowed dramatically as the other characters, romance and world are developed. This made the story far more light-hearted than I had expected and caused the mystery to be less gripping. However, as the climax approached, I enjoyed the constant twists and misdirections that made it hard to guess who the killer was - even though the final reveal was disappointing. I also loved how Erin Beaty gradually explores the subject of mental illness and leaves readers with lots to consider.<br /><br /><i> <b>Main character(s): ???</b> </i><br />Despite her intelligence and stubbornness, Catrin was not a particularly interesting character. She is yet another Chosen One protagonist who has every young guy in the story in love with her. On top of this, her character experienced no growth during the story, so had little depth and was hard to connect with.<br /><br /><i>“…we all live in cages. It’s only the lucky ones among us who get to choose which one.”</i><br /><br /><i> <b>Secondary characters: ???</b> </i><br />Even with the distinct personalities and quirks given to the secondary characters, they seemed one-dimensional, with simple roles to fulfil. The only memorable character was Julianne, who faced compelling challenges and stole my heart.<br /><br /><i> <b>Romance: ???</b> </i><br />Initial sparks soon lead to a romance that is too intense, too quickly. While the characters have some sweet moments, it is unclear why they fell for each other, so it was difficult for me to get invested in their relationship.<br /><br /><i> <b>Narration &amp; Audio: ???</b> </i><br />The narration by Kathleen McInerney is pretty good. I liked the different voices done for the various characters but thought the emotions in the story were not well conveyed.<br /><br />Despite the promising combination of mystery, fantasy and romance, <i>'Blood and Moonlight'</i> was painfully average. The story was entertaining, but there was little that gripped me. Certain aspects of the story remind me of <i>Ace of Shades</i> by Amanda Foody, so those who liked this story should check that out.

3.75 ?<br /><br />Avis à suivre sur TikTok !

this book was so beautiful i’m currently still sobbing

4'25✨<br /><br />¿Alguna vez habéis leído un thriller ambientado en un mundo fantástico? ¡Yo no (antes de esta novela)! Fue un auténtico descubrimiento, el misterio del asesino mezclado con el secreto de la magia me tuvo cautivada durante sus casi 500 páginas.<br /><br />Hablemos primero de la parte del thriller: aunque tiene escenas duras y difíciles (⚠️ descripción de los cuerpos asesinados detalladamente) es un misterio que me tuvo bastante enganchada: ¿quién es el asesino? ¿Qué motivos tiene? ¿Por qué parece que "protege" a Catrin? Para mí, un buen libro de misterio debe dar las pistas para que el lector pueda descubrirlo a la par que los personajes: ¡y este libro es así! Nada de reservarse datos o de descubrir que al final todo fue obra de la magia o un sinsentido.<br /><br />La fantasía: este mundo me ha gustado mucho y, aunque no es el género principal, está muy bien desarrollado. Me gustaría leer más novelas basadas aquí, y descubrir más del poder de la Luna y sus fieles.<br /><br />Los personajes me parecieron muy completos: tienen su introspección y sus motivos. No hay ningún personaje puesto exclusivamente para conveniente de la trama y/o de la protagonista: no, todos se ven reales y con un deje de que tienen más vida y experiencias a parte de las descritas en el libro. Catrin es una protagonista muy humana con la que no me ha costado empatizar. Sin embargo, me ha costado más hacerlo con Simon y por otro lado con el romance.<br /><br />El final me ha sorprendido bastante, no me lo esperaba nada. Me gustó mucho que estuviera todo explicado y se viera las relaciones con todo (que, repito, el lector es capaz de anticiparse, yo no, porque se dan todas las pistas a lo largo del libro).<br /><br />Los mensajes de este libro me parecieron muy importantes y creo que siempre es un buen método difundirlos a través de las novelas que leemos. Me encanta este transfondo del libro.<br /><br />Por si no os ha quedado claro, es una historia que os recomiendo mucho: tanto a los lectores de fantasía como a los de thriller o, simplemente, a aquellos que quieran disfrutar de una buena novela.

The second I saw this cover I knew it was a book I had to read. From the very beginning I was drawn into the story and I think a large part of that is how much I really liked the main character Catrin or Cat. She is fun, adventurous, passionate, and hard working. I love that her role is to climb high in the scaffolding to check for safety and she has to be reminded to wear a harness. The mystery was very good and I loved the attempt at profiling and the more primitive forensics mixed with a little bit of magic. Cat hears a woman scream and runs to the site to watch a cloaked man leave and a murdered woman. She is drawn into the investigation because of her initial observations. I don’t totally love the way books like this always have love triangles and it was a little over the top in this one, but I ultimately did love the romance between Cat and Simon. I haven’t read anything by Erin Beaty before this book, but I definitely will be looking into more books by her in the future.

I'M GETTING ENCANTO VIBES

<b>"Death makes a man wax poetic, apparently."</b><br /><br />Read 65% and skimmed the rest. <br /><br />When I first spotted the cover, I didn't need to know anything else about this. It's a hauntingly beautiful cover that captivated me. The blood dripping down the fingers was the real seller for me. The sad thing is that beautiful covers always sucker me in and let me down. That is what happened here. <br /><br />The moon having mystical benefits was amazing. I loved how certain characters had heightened senses after coming into direct moonlight. It was unique and I wish the story was more about that than murder but we can't always get what we want.<br /><br />Figuring out the killer was easy. After this certain character was introduced, I knew immediately. Where's the fun in that? No cat and mouse game? No, thanks. The murders were cool and reminded me of Jack the Ripper. We can never have enough of those. <br /><br />This book sounded like something I would love but I didn’t like the writing style or the main character. Cat was super cringey and her infatuation with another character kind of creeped me out. And don’t get me started on the releasing of a breath she didn’t know she was holding. *sigh* It’s a hard pass.<br /><br />Blood and Moonlight is going to be a no from me. This just wasn't written for someone like me because I guessed things before they even happened. I was bored through most of it and Simon was the only decent character. That's saying a lot because he even bothered me some. I just didn't like this and that breaks my heart.