I am over the moon to be bringing you my review on the Ultimate Blog Tour for With Fire In Their Blood by Kat Delacorte, on behalf of The Write Reads. Thank you for my beautiful physical copy of the book.
From the word-of-mouth fantasy sensation Kat Delacorte – the standout debut star of 2022 YA Lit Con (YALC) – comes the first instalment in a new YA fantasy duology.
Packed to the brim with bisexual and queer representation, With Fire in Their Blood is 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. . .
When sixteen-year-old Lilly arrives in Castello, she isn’t impressed. A secluded town in the Italian mountains is not where she saw her last years of high school playing out.
Divided for generations by a brutal clan-family war, the two halves of Castello are kept from destroying each other by the mysterious General, a leader determined to maintain order and
‘purity’. . . whatever the cost.
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.
And then she accidentally breaks Castello’s most important rule: when the General’s men come to test your blood, you’d better not be anything more than human…
Perfect for lovers of Chloe Gong, Renée Ahdieh and V.E. Schwab, With Fire in Their Blood is quality YA storytelling at its best by an exciting new voice in YA fantasy.
With Fire in Their Blood is a book that I freaking loved! A Young Adult dark fantasy romance with plenty of supernatural on the side, it fascinated from the word go!
The cover is enough for me to write a review on itself. Just gorgeous, I picked the book up hoping it would hold at least 20% of what the cover promised within the pages. Believe me, this book held 100%, if not more.
I always love it when a book transports you to another place, wherever that may be. This time I was in Castello, Italy, with Lilly, 17 who has been taken away from everything she knows by her dad’s new job. She finds herself in a secluded town in the Italian mountains, and she ain’t happy at all.
Not only is it secluded, but it’s old and to top it of it is ruled by the General. He is the only thing keeping the two clans who live there from spilling blood whenever possible. He has created peace by bringing them together to search out the ‘saints’. These are the true enemy of all the town. Lilly begins to learn more about Castello and its residents as she does she discovers her life is not what it seemed and she is out to find the truth…no matter what.
A twisty plot that did keep me thinking as the story unfolded. I couldn’t help but turn the next page everytime I thought, I will go and do something else! The characters were so three dimensional and well fleshed out that I got to know them very well, so well I felt like they were almost friends by the end of the book. I liked how none of them were perfect. They all had their flaws, even though one twist had me so enraged…but I say no more about that. To find out you will have to read the book!
The LGBT+ representation was great to see and Kat Delacorte has done it so well. It just flowed with the story and didn’t feel like it was out of place. I could write about this book for so long but I won’t. Just know if you love young adult dark fantasy with an original plot and interesting multi layered characters, this may be one for you!
Author Bio
Kat Delacorte was eleven years old when her family moved from the United States to a small town in central Italy. She soon began writing stories about her new friends developing superpowers, and she hasn’t looked back since. She graduated with a BA in History from Columbia University, and lives in Venice, Italy.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 
Great review!! xx
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