With Fire In Their Blood

Product Information

Firstly I’d like to thank Kat, Puffin and NetGalley for the arcs!! You all amazing and wonderful!! 😍😘 I loved the character development. Lily's peers were antagonistic towards her at the beginning but a friendship of sorts developed between them as the story progressed. The twists and turns in their relationships added a sense of heart and camaraderie and it pulled at my heartstrings when they were presented with conflicting and unbearable choices. A secluded town in the Italian mountains is not where she saw her last years of high school playing out. This is a book with magic. It's forbidden magic, with its practitioners hunted down mercilessly. It's hard to control, even overwhelming. It's described as power, and it's this power that so many of the characters are seeking. The tone is great – dark and eerie with an air of mystery. The story includes an isolated city shrouded in secrets, eerie mists and decaying structures, enigmatic characters, disturbing nightmares, and more, which really highlight the Gothic vibes. The author’s writing style and the way they use personification and sensory language also add to the Gothic tone. The dystopian elements are also strong, especially the excessive control and corruptive power of those in charge, the rigid rules which keep the citizens uninformed, isolated, and without a voice, and a protagonist who defies all obstacles and fights for freedom.

Read this if you like: A unique contemporary supernatural romance about mafia clans and dark magic! The protagonist, Lilly Deluca, is a girl whose father drags her off to live in a crumbling walled city in Italy. He has a job working for “the General” who rules Castello. This book was dark delicious and depressing but gosh did I love it so so much. The world alone is so unique, new and refreshing and for someone who doesn’t like magic in modern times it was so rich and wonderful I couldn’t put it down. The intensity of the opening chapters is never relaxed for a moment. Delacorte’s narrative energy – impressive in a debut novel – is as effective in large-scale scenes, such as a public burning, as in a dialogue between Lilly and one of her classmates. There’s magic, violence, corruption, betrayal and jealousy; sudden, urgent sexual attraction is sometimes implicit, sometimes overt. Frequently, Lilly feels alone – there’s no-one she can trust, for even her father seems to be playing a secret game. To her astonishment, she discovers that her mother, before she left for the States, had been at the core of Castello’s explosive history. For Lilly, Castello sometimes becomes a menacing presence, a character in itself.Going into it I was really excited to read a book set in Italy in a remote village with a weird cultish setting upon first look. In fact I did like the town of Castello and it’s mysterious secrets. I really enjoyed finding out more about the town, the saints and this centuries long war. The more you read the more secrets you uncovered and yet the more mysteries appeared though some of these did feel a little too predictable. The lore of the city is marred with a long history of two warring gangs united by a secret threat, who still to this day aren’t allowed to cross into each others territory. This whole town is kept together by someone called ‘the general’ a dictator who keeps a firm fist on what goes in and out and around the ancient town. There are many dystopian and gothic elements in this story that I truly enjoyed. It helped set the mood of Castello and create an eerie and dangerous atmosphere, making it easy to understand why all the characters are always on edge. They are trapped, controlled in every aspect of their routine, cut off from the world; under what is essentially a dictatorship. I think the author did a very good job at joining all these elements and creating a layered and complex political system, mixed with a unique and different magic system. While the origin of Saints and their power is still mostly a mystery and confusing at times, I really enjoyed learning their history along with Lilly and seeing them in action was amazing! I hope to learn more about them in the next book!

Lilly falls in with the rebellious Liza, brooding Nico and sensitive Christian, and sparks begin to fly. But in a city where love can lead to ruin, Lilly isn't sure she can trust anyone -- not even herself. Startlingly original . . . Readers will be lured in to this tumultuous world of warring families, forbidden power, and heart-searing romance." RECOMMEND IT FOR: If you want to dive into a new and interesting fantasy with gothic/dystopian elements, this book is perfect! The magic system, world-building, and dystopian elements are on point in this book. Everything is layered and developed, and the imagery and personification used really bring the setting and characters to life. The magic system is layered, complex, and intriguing, but I did find it a bit dense and confusing at times. That being said, I feel like the next book will offer some clarity for those few instances. It's got vibes of The Darkest Minds mixed with the Blood for Blood trilogy and a touch of These Violent Delights and I am so here for it. With warring mafia families, secrets unravelled, unveiled powers and countless twists and turns (that were predictable in a way that felt strangely nostalgic but nonetheless enthralling), there was never a dull moment.I do with the characters and relationships had been a little more developed, however, that may simply be because my adoration for Nico overpowered all. I'm so excited to see how the romance develops (there are so many directions it could turn?!) and where its almost dystopian-esque ending goes in book two. What more can I say than Kat has created something that burns as long as the eternal flames of hell, and her writing has bloomed like a fresh bloody rose in a Spring night. I cannot wait to read the sequel and every book she writes thereafter. I know that I will be there for every dark and deadly step cheering her on and always reminding her how amazing and talented she truly is. Wait, is there a 2nd book?! Because that ending has me shook. 😱 (After losing my mind, I did hear from the author that there is another book!) I’ve seen a couple of reviewers mention the bi representation in this book, and while it is always a good thing to see more representation in books, I cannot really comment on how good the bisexual representation is simply because I don’t have any experience or knowledge about what constitutes as “good” bi representation. That being said, I did mention that a lot of other book reviewers have spoken highly of the representation in this book, so I would be inclined to believe that it must be praise-worthy.

Startlingly original … Readers will be lured in to this tumultuous world of warring families, forbidden power, and heart-searing romance.” A simmering supernatural romance set in the crumbling Italian city of Castello, where mafia clans make the rules, dark magic pulses the streets and the sins of the past threaten to consume the present… There’s something decidedly peculiar about Castello. The city had an odd aura of suppressed energy, and its power seems to invade the blood of certain of its inhabitants. Lilly finds herself soaking up that power with electrifying results.The magic system was slightly confusing for me but hopefully these issues will be cleared up in book 2. i was very excited to read with fire in their blood. i had a friend who absolutely loved it. unfortunately, it wasn’t something i enjoyed. This book… this book!? I haven’t read a YA Fantasy in a while and I read the whole of this in one sitting. It was so different and completely refreshing from anything I’ve read in a while, I loved it! not only was she angry over the slightest thing, she seemed to fall in love with every character she met. we get it: every single character in this town is beautiful. stop fawning over them already.

The eerie and isolated town of Castello in Italy is a great location for this story. It is atmospheric and creepy. There's a general sense of doom and oppression right from the moment Lily enters the town. The fact that the town is divided between two warring factions and heavily policed by armed guards felt very real and reminded me of Northern Ireland during the Troubles. I could really feel the animosity and underlying current of hostility and mistrust the residents of Castello had for each other. Full Book Review: The One About A Gothic, Love Triangle Romance: With Fire in Their Blood by Kat Delacorte | Blog Tour Book Review Lilly falls in with the rebellious Liza, brooding Nico and sensitive Christian, and sparks begin to fly. But in a city where love can lead to ruin, Lilly isn’t sure she can trust anyone — not even herself.Castello is ruled by the so called saviour known as The General. Years ago there was a war between the Marconis and Paridisos, but there was something else roaming the town that’s worse, they are known as the Saints. People with unmeasurable, evil magic. It wasn’t until the General caught and burned them that the town lives in peace with one another. Lilly find it hard to believe but slowly, the town’s and her own history merge together to reveal something far more powerful. This book was filled with twist and turns, some predictable, some that took me completely by surprise (which is always the perfect balance). The world building was well done although in some instances it got slightly confusing (but I think this will be neatened up and polished as we go along in the series as this is only the first book).