Erin Beaty

In Erin Beaty's fantasy mystery-thriller, Blood and Moonlight, an orphan with a secret, magical sight gets caught between a mysterious genius and the serial killer he’s hunting.

Rising above the city of Collis is the holy Sanctum. And watching over its spires is Catrin, an orphan girl with unique skills―for she alone can spot the building’s flaws in construction before they turn deadly.

But when Catrin witnesses a murderer escaping the scene of his crime, she’s pulled into a dangerous chain of events where the only certainty is that the killer will strike again. Assigned to investigate is the mysterious and brilliant Simon, whose insights into the mind of a predator are frighteningly accurate.

As the grisly crimes continue, Catrin finds herself caught between killer and detective while hiding her own secret―a supernatural sight granted by the moon, destined to make her an outcast, and the only thing that might save her and those she loves from becoming the next victims...

Blood and Moonlight

This was a “I really like the cover and it sounds interesting” pickup for me, but I’m really glad that I did. It really kept me on my toes with the suspects & character building. I’m intrigued to see how the 2nd book will play out

samantha lias

I knew I was going to love this one!! A fantasy murder mystery?? There’s literally nothing more I could ask for.. ok, maybe also for it to be an enemies to lovers? Ahaha just kidding. This book has great character building. So much amazing mental health representation that she really took her time to research and also there’s little places mentioned in this book that exist in the real world and I just loved that little fact!

I genuinely didn’t guess the right killer the whole time and the MC also develops this amazing moon based magic, unique right?? It definitely wasn’t talked about enough this Blood and Moonlight (to me), BUT that leaves plenty to discuss in the next book 😉 and boy, I already can’t wait for that one!

Courtney Passio

I knew I was going to love this one!! A fantasy murder mystery?? There’s literally nothing more I could ask for.. ok, maybe also for it to be an enemies to lovers? Ahaha just kidding. This book has great character building. So much amazing mental health representation that she really took her time to research and also there’s little places mentioned in this book that exist in the real world and I just loved that little fact!

I genuinely didn’t guess the right killer the whole time and the MC also develops this amazing moon based magic, unique right?? It definitely wasn’t talked about enough this Blood and Moonlight (to me), BUT that leaves plenty to discuss in the next book 😉 and boy, I already can’t wait for that one!

Christine Bruce

Cat is an assistant to an architect in an alternate medieval Europe. A world where the sun is worshipped, and moon worshipers are feared and othered, confined to a specific quarter in the city despite both religions clearly worshipping the same god but through different means, a clear symbolism of the medieval Jewish population. While inspecting the scaffolding, Cat witnesses a murder, and so begins the hunt for a serial killer reminiscent of Jack the Ripper. 

I loved everything about this book, it so perfectly blended my historical interests its like it was written for me. As Cat helps with the investigation, she becomes closely embroiled with the powerful ducal family that runs the town. Particularly their distant cousin, the Venatre (inspector) Simon who is in charge of finding the murderer. As is par for course for a young adult novel, Cat and Simon quickly develop feelings for each other, and dance around it for the entire novel. This of course leads to amazing angst moments when Simon thinks he almost lost Cat and has to reevaluate if he wants to stay away from her or not. 

The reason Simon debates staying away from Cat is due mostly to his fear he will develop the same mental disorder his father suffered from, and which he daily helps his cousin Julianne manage. The kind hand schizophrenia and mental health was handled with in this novel, with its extensive author's note at the end, was such a necessity in this world which constantly villainies these disorders. But Beaty handles, particularly Julianne, with respect and dignity and reality. It was nice to see in a novel, especially in a YA novel. 

As for the magic system in the book, that was so well done at first, but the more details we got about how they use magic and the abilities they have started to get confusing. It almost would be better with less detail about the magic, and instead leave it with just Cat's ability. The more detailed functionality of the stones and moonlight just convoluted what the magic was capable of. I kept zoning out and rewinding, then realized it wasn't important to really any aspect of the story and just let it go. Though aesthetically I love the idea of the moon worshippers having an entire magic system, I just think it would have been served better left in more mystery.

Huge thanks to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listener copy in return for my honest review.

          Blood and Moonlight by Erin Beaty is a YA-mystery thriller that I would recommend to older audiences who are looking for something with a touch of magic that will keep you turning pages and not quite sure who to trust til the final reveal. 

Adding magic to murder mysteries, especially when there is a serial killer on the loose, can be tricky. You want the magic to tie in to the driving plot, but you don't want to be left with the magic solving all the problems. Blood and Moonlight does an excellent job with this balance, with its unique magic system that can sometimes leave the characters with more questions than answers. I also truly enjoyed the exploration of the world and magic alongside the gruesome mystery. 

Old school - investigating, danger at every turn, and moonlight escapades kept me hooked from page one. This book deals with some dark themes and doesn't shy away from gore so check trigger warnings. 

Minnie Mazuera

          Blood and Moonlight by Erin Beaty is a YA-mystery thriller that I would recommend to older audiences who are looking for something with a touch of magic that will keep you turning pages and not quite sure who to trust til the final reveal. 

Adding magic to murder mysteries, especially when there is a serial killer on the loose, can be tricky. You want the magic to tie in to the driving plot, but you don't want to be left with the magic solving all the problems. Blood and Moonlight does an excellent job with this balance, with its unique magic system that can sometimes leave the characters with more questions than answers. I also truly enjoyed the exploration of the world and magic alongside the gruesome mystery. 

Old school - investigating, danger at every turn, and moonlight escapades kept me hooked from page one. This book deals with some dark themes and doesn't shy away from gore so check trigger warnings. 

        

Abigail Joyann

5 STARS
ARC provided by Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. *Let me also start by acknowledging the gorgeous cover and how perfectly it works for this book.*

This murder mystery fantasy novel didn't fail to keep me on my toes. I was making my own theories constantly, flipping back and forth on who I believed to be the killer. This story follows Catrin or 'Cat', an orphaned girl placed into the hands of the Sisters of the Light as a baby, once grown, run away to work with the Architect, Magister Thomas on the building of the beloved Sanctum of the town of Collis. Although we are never told the time period, it is described to be somewhere during the medieval era. Catrin lives with Magister Thomas, along with Mistress la Fontaine and her son Remone 'Remi' la Fontaine. Remi had worked with Magister Thomas as an apprentice for many years and had been gone to train under another to gain even more knowledge and become a Journeyman.

The story starts with Catrin heading out that night to inspect a crossbeam of the scaffolds of the sanctum. Magister Thomas notices her and says he will accompany so she isn't alone, however she prefers to be. Fortunately for her, Perrete Charpentier, a young lady who works on Pleasure Road stops by and demands to speak with the Architect. The Magister allows Catrin to go on her own as long as she wears the safety ropes—which she despises. Now under the moonlight within the Sanctum, Catrin inspects the crossbeam near one of the Gargoyles. It's split and will need to be fixed, it jabs her finger drawing blood just as the wind shrieks through the Gargoyle and something supernatural happens to Cat. Once back to sorts she sees a man fleeing, upon returning to the ground, she discovers a dead body and supposes the man fleeing was connected.

The main plot is the investigation of the killer, we also follow along as Cat searches for answers about her heritage, the magick, and her building romance with Simon who was assigned the Venatre for the investigation. This also touches on many different mental illnesses as well as graphic detail of the murders, so this is not a light read. With all that, this story never ceased to lose my attention or interest and I was ancy to find out all of what was hidden. This novel's ending is bittersweet in a happy way that leaves the future of the characters to the mind of the reader.

caly

this book was so beautiful i’m currently still sobbing

Milana Dronova

This is probably the first fantasy & mystery and a subplot romance novel all in one that I’ve read so I didn’t know what to expect! Those three being my favourite genre’s I really enjoyed this book!

Izzy Judy

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

“Our lives are as short and fleeting as phases of the moon.”

I love Erin Beaty’s ‘The Traitor’s Circle’ trilogy, and so when she first announced she was writing a new fantasy story, I immediately added it to my Most Anticipated list. And I wasn’t disappointed. 

One of the things I really love about Beaty’s fantasy stories are how realistic they feel.
Blood and Moonlight is set in the fictional world of Collis, but it feels a lot like Paris, France. The Gothic architectural designs mentioned mirror that of Notre Dame or Rouen Cathedral or Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes. A familiarity with the kind of architecture she was writing about really helped set the scene. 

Beaty tackles the concept of serial killers in this YA Fantasy, and does so with such incredible accuracy that there were moments I forgot I was reading fiction. Her knowledge of criminal investigations and psychological profiling into serial criminals was astonishingly accurate, with all of her detective’s anecdotes about how these killers think being based in true crime fact. Every time the detective added another piece to the mental puzzle, I wanted to cheer. 

One of the characters has schizophrenia, so there was a lot of talk about mental illness and stigmas around it. There was also an author’s note about how she specifically addresses mental illness in this book, but I loved being able to read about all the various ways those who struggle with mental illness are treated by those around them. It was a different, but accurate, depiction of how mental illness can impact someone and their loved ones. 
The magic and religion systems in this book were simple and easy to follow. The two deities are the Sun and the Moon (one is good, one is bad). There is a group of people, the Selenae, who get magick from the Moon and are able to use it to heal, to enhance their senses as night, and hear thoughts/connect to minds through blood and moonlight. This is Beaty’s first book in which magic is part of the world, but it fits seamlessly with the rest of the story. 
Overall, I really loved this book! It was a fun, quick read with an engaging plot and fun characters. 

Blood and Moonlight

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