Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
First off this is a GORGEOUS cover! I was super stoked to see a new release from Erin Beaty and this cover sold me even more. It's absolutely stunning and kudos to the cover artist for such an eye catching cover!
Blood and Moonlight is a stand-alone mystery fantasy novel about Catrin, a seventeen year old orphan who is in charge of keeping workers safe as they build the Sanctum in their town. The book doesn't necessarily tell you what time period or where this might be based on until the Author Note at the end. I kept picturing a fantasy town that looks like Belle's village from Beauty and the Beast. Catrin is not afraid of heights or danger as she helps newcomer Simon solve a case involving women being murdered in the most gruesome ways. Simon is also an orphan but is living with the equivalent to a mayor of the town and his family.
I really loved the mystery aspect as it reminded me of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson but in a "medieval" time period when paper was still being created. The murders are described in gruesome and horrific terms that might turn readers away or flinch but I'm glad the author did not shy away from the details. Catrin and Simon and his family worked together to figure out the killer's motive and how to find him.
Erin Beaty is known for her Traitor's Kiss trilogy and the way she sways you in one direction and to another is used perfectly here. You are constantly questioning who it might be, the twists are fantastic and I definitely wasn't sure who the killer was. Beaty did a fabulous job pushing and pulling the reader in different directions and writing gasping plot twists. I applaud Erin Beaty's story telling and the way she wrote this murder mystery.
I wish we had more development in Simon, he was kind of flat for me. I did like his character overall but the development could have been better. I love Catrin and the moon magick. I do however wish there was more to the moon Quarter. We are told it's a bad place and Sun people never wander there. We are told more than shown of the moon magick and I kind of wish Catrin had spent a little more time there so we could learn more as the reader. Or if she used the powers more, too.
The romance was sweet but not a main focus. The focus was for the murder mystery, the building of the Sanctum, and Catrin's parentage. The moments between Catrin and Simon were tender and shy at times.
Blood and Moonlight is a very good book and of course I look forward to more from Erin Beaty in the future.
4.5 stars
First off this is a GORGEOUS cover! I was super stoked to see a new release from Erin Beaty and this cover sold me even more. It's absolutely stunning and kudos to the cover artist for such an eye catching cover!
Blood and Moonlight is a stand-alone mystery fantasy novel about Catrin, a seventeen year old orphan who is in charge of keeping workers safe as they build the Sanctum in their town. The book doesn't necessarily tell you what time period or where this might be based on until the Author Note at the end. I kept picturing a fantasy town that looks like Belle's village from Beauty and the Beast. Catrin is not afraid of heights or danger as she helps newcomer Simon solve a case involving women being murdered in the most gruesome ways. Simon is also an orphan but is living with the equivalent to a mayor of the town and his family.
I really loved the mystery aspect as it reminded me of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson but in a "medieval" time period when paper was still being created. The murders are described in gruesome and horrific terms that might turn readers away or flinch but I'm glad the author did not shy away from the details. Catrin and Simon and his family worked together to figure out the killer's motive and how to find him.
Erin Beaty is known for her Traitor's Kiss trilogy and the way she sways you in one direction and to another is used perfectly here. You are constantly questioning who it might be, the twists are fantastic and I definitely wasn't sure who the killer was. Beaty did a fabulous job pushing and pulling the reader in different directions and writing gasping plot twists. I applaud Erin Beaty's story telling and the way she wrote this murder mystery.
I wish we had more development in Simon, he was kind of flat for me. I did like his character overall but the development could have been better. I love Catrin and the moon magick. I do however wish there was more to the moon Quarter. We are told it's a bad place and Sun people never wander there. We are told more than shown of the moon magick and I kind of wish Catrin had spent a little more time there so we could learn more as the reader. Or if she used the powers more, too.
The romance was sweet but not a main focus. The focus was for the murder mystery, the building of the Sanctum, and Catrin's parentage. The moments between Catrin and Simon were tender and shy at times.
Blood and Moonlight is a very good book and of course I look forward to more from Erin Beaty in the future.
4.5 stars