A Dream of Blood and Magic

Having always been very little interested in fantasy books I started very biased but oh my God I couldn’t put the book down. If you are looking for a book with a well-written plot, well-developed and characterized characters and twists put in the right place that will leave you speechless then "A dream of blood and magic" is for you.(I want to specify that in this book you will NOT find spicy scenes between main charachters.) The characters are all written so well that I couldn’t even identify my favorite. Avery ,despite the problems and her past, has never fallen into the banal nor has it never been a complaint but rather, her determination and bad ass attitude have pushed me more and more to empathize with her and feel her adrenaline. Shadow is the person we would all like to have in our lives, and his apprehension and authority is balanced to perfection. Azrael is the kind of man I’d chase around in books, but in real life, he’d make me shit myself with even a glance. Luther actually I still have to frame him but I can understand his wanting to deviate from the complete stoicity of his father. The thing I’m sure of is that I would never set foot in his business. And then there’s Kane. Oh Kane. He’s the perfect example of "the less you want me the more I want you". Despite his composure, the last chapter had me dropping my jaw and kicking my feet. He's just chef kiss. I can't wait to read the next book of this serie.

Avery's life has never been easy. Orphaned very young, she spends all her teenage and early adult years dealing with visions and loneliness having only one person whi she considers as friend and family, until one day a crow busts into her living room and breaks her window. This meeting is the starting point of Avery's journey. A Dream of Blood and Magic is the first book in the Spirited Marked series, which I believe is to be a trilogy. As this is the first book, the main focus is on the world-building and character introduction. In my opinion, one thing the author does flawlessly is the characterization. The book is written in the first person as we read about the inner thoughts and opinions of different characters. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific character, thus giving us multiple voices. Each character felt distinct. I found the world building to be confusing at times, though I believe this is deliberate. There is little to no romance, however one specific couple is hinted towards the end of the book. My biggest qualm was specifically with the pace. Everything happens very quickly, it is a tight chain of events leading to the creation of multiple friendships and relationships in general that feel unnatural. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I recommend to give it a try, even if the first few chapters can be confusing, everything is then explained. Personally, I will definitely continue this series.