SILVER IN THE BLOOD by Jessica Day George is an imaginative historical fantasy novel. The story follows two cousins, Lou and Dacia, who travel from high society in New York City to Romania in 1897 to meet their extended family. Once they arrive, they discover a disturbing family secret.

While the plot of this novel is interesting and unique, I found the pace to be quite slow. The first reveal is not disclosed until 40% of the way through the book, even though the contents are alluded to in the book's summary. Similarly, the details regarding the Florescu family secret are not fully developed. Readers get what feels like a quick overview of the history, without knowing much of the past and family dynamics.

On the other hand, I enjoyed that our protagonists are two cousins who are best friends. Lou and Dacia are so close they can understand each other's facial expressions and thoughts. While their respective romances play a small part in the novel, it is great to see female friendship at the forefront.

What I liked best about this book, however, is how the author cleverly weaves in real history with this urban fantasy setting. I can't think of any other young adult book that takes place in Romania! Plus, there was a cool tie-in with one of my favorite classic books, Dracula.

Thus, while the book could be more developed and a bit quicker paced, I think this is a fun YA novel. I also appreciate that it is a standalone, and I won't have to grab a sequel to finish the story.

The book did not really work for me. I DNF'ed it. I wasn’t able to connect with any of the many characters in the book and I found myself putting down the book a lot because it was never really catching my attention

I unfortunately was not able to read this book. I was excited when ever I had chosen to download or pick this book up on Netgalley. However, time moves by so quickly and I never got to read it.

I wanted to like this book but found it a bit disappointing. The book is fun and creative but the characters lacked interest for me. I liked Lou and Dacia but I found the secondary characters not very developed. I enjoyed the book and the story, but would not recommend it to my 4th graders..

"As spoiled society girls from New York City circa 1890, Dacia and Lou never desired to know more about their lineage, instead preferring to gossip about their mysterious Romanian relatives, the Florescus. But upon turning seventeen, the girls must return to their homeland to meet their family, find proper husbands, and-most terrifyingly-learn the secrets of The Claw, The Wing, and The Smoke. The Florescus, after all, are shape-shifters, bound by a centuries-old tradition to do the bidding of the royal Dracula family and it is time for Dacia and Lou to take their place among the ranks. But when the devilish heir, Mihai Dracula sets his sights on Dacia as part of his plan to secure power over all of Europe, the girls choose to fight against this cruel inheritance with all their might. Only the dashing Lord Johnny Hardcastle and the mysterious Theophilus Arkady- members of a secret society charged with ridding the world of monsters-can help Dacia and Lou, but breaking the shackles of their upbringing will require more courage than the girls ever imagined.

The thrilling start to a richly drawn, romance-filled series, this epic adventure of two girls in a battle for their lives will have readers coming back for more."

Seriously, this sounds just sounds awesome.

I love the premise of this book and was really waiting for some paranormal historical fiction but I can't get into this book and have left it as DNF. It was a slow start and even a slow middle. I didn't really care for the characters and the book or at least what I read did not deliver on what could have been an amazing story.

[no review posted]

I never had a chance to review this before it expired. I'm sorry! I did buy it around Christmas once it was in paperback, though, and hope to read it soon!