Hello and welcome to my blog for my stop on the tour for With Fire in Their Blood by Kat Delacorte! I am so pleased to welcome you here! I will admit that I don't often read fantasy novels like this but I liked the sound of the blurb so I signed up for the tour and I'm REALLY glad I did as I loved the book. Thank you to The Write Reads and Penguin for having me along and thank you SO MUCH to Penguin for gifting me with a physical copy of the book for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
So! This is the first in a series and it is deliciously so - there's enough explanation to keep the reader interested in the whole thing, but enough intrigue to make me wonder what would happen in the second and third books. I even gussed some stuff that I think may happen, and I'll definitely read the next ones to see if I'm right!
Lilly is sixteen and American, but she and her dad, Jack, are about to move to Castello in rural Italy. Lilly and her dad don't really get along, ever since the suicide of Lilly's mother, Carly, when Lilly was around ten. (I will give a trigger warning for graphic description of the suicide as this is one of my own triggers - I found it quite difficult to read). Jack misses Carly so much that Lilly feels unloved and spends much of her time by herself.
They arrive in Castello where Jack is going to set up wifi internet and modernise the place. On the walls in Lilly's room are a mural of a war scene. At school the next day, she collides with a boy called Christian and feels something pass between them. She meets her new classmates, including Liza, Alex, and Nico. Alex immediately dislikes Lilly, as does Nico. Liza and she become friends, and Liza begins to explain to Lilly about the rules of Castello.
Then the enforcers arrive, looking to test everyone's blood. Lilly passes their test, but is utterly confused. Liza explains to her that Castello is made up of two clans - the rich Paradisos and the poor Marconis. For years the two clans were at a bloody war. Then two Saints, one from each clan, set the church on fire, killing many townspeople inside. From this rose The General, who has managed to generate so much hatred against Saints - people who have magical powers. The townspeople came to a somewhat uneasy truce because they were all focussed on hating Saints and exterminating them. There hasn't been a Saint in Castello in over ten years... but are two more about to rise?
I liked how this was a fantasy book but it flowed really well, I was interested in the mythology and world building rather than bored by it. I liked Liza and how seductive she was; I liked Christian and how confused he was; I liked Alex and how protective of Christian he was; I liked Nico and all his dark history. I liked Veronica Marconi - she was a perfect leader of her clan with everything that entails. I loved some of the twists and turns and treasonous happenings. I am giving this four out of five and am looking forward to the next one!
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