REVIEW | Things You Will Find in Silver in the Blood

Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George 
July 7, 2015
Bloomsbury USA Childrens
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* ARC from ALA

Society girls from New York City circa 1890, Dacia and Lou never desired to know more about their lineage, instead preferring to gossip about the mysterious Romanian family that they barely knew. But upon turning seventeen, the girls must return to their homeland to meet their relatives, find proper husbands, and—most terrifyingly—learn the deep family secrets of The Claw, The Wing, and The Smoke. The Florescus, after all, are shape-shifters, and it is time for Dacia and Lou to fulfill the prophecy that demands their acceptance of this fate . . . or fight against this cruel inheritance with all their might.

With a gorgeous Romanian setting, stunning Parisian gowns, and dark brooding young men, readers will be swept up by this epic adventure of two girls in a battle for their lives.

First sentence: “Dacia picked up her book and put it down again.”

Remember when I wrote a letter expressing my glee of Silver in the Blood? Oh how I want to slap past-Cee in the face.

Silver in the Blood has everything I’m interested in—society girls, family secrets, a wicked secret society (of sorts), and shape shifters—but somewhere along the way, it took a wrong turn in the road. Set in the late 1800s, the book follows two cousins from affluent families, Dacia and Lou, as they are forced to visit their mother’s home country, where they get to know their Romanian roots and discover a shocking family secret of The Claw, The Wing, and The Smoke that changes their entire world. The two girls try to navigate the new world they’re thrust into, even if it kills them.

THINGS YOU WILL FIND IN SILVER IN THE BLOOD

• Dacia and Lou have a strong bond even though they are total opposites.

You have Dacia, who’s outgoing and reckless—she’s the one causing the headaches for her family, and you have Lou, who’s more shy and obedient—she gets anxious of the unknown.

These two cousins are close like sisters. No matter what they do, they always have the other’s back. When they’re alone, they always wish for the other to be with them—almost like being together gives them strength. It’s really adorable seeing them always think about the other.

• The Wing, the Claw, and the Smoke consist of shape shifters.

Awesome, right?

Dacia and Lou learn what it means to be The Wing, the Claw, and the Smoke. I’ll spare you spoilers, but oh boy, it’s very fascinating and not very complex. Yes, it has to do with shape shifters, but what exactly are they, what they can and cannot do, and their mission in life? You have to find out yourself.

• You have your pick of love interests.

There’s Will Carver, part of an affluent New York family who doesn’t add anything to the story; Lord Johnny Hardcastle, an English gentleman who got caught up in an almost-scandal with Dacia; Theopilus Arkady, son of a prominent Turkish family, who seems to be stalking Lou; and Prince Mihai, a man whose family has a long history with the Florescus family and has his eye on Dacia.

None of them are truly remarkable because they were essentially the same characters who brood a lot but with slightly different backgrounds. They were just boring. At least, the good things are 1. Dacia and Lou never liked the same guy and 2. even though there were love interests, romance wasn’t a heavy focus in this book.

• These characters have very over-the-top reactions.

They do a lot of gasping, sobbing, and blushing. It gets annoying after the fifth time because it’s so dramatic and over-the-top. I rolled my eyes sooo many times. It’s almost like a soap opera with badly casted actors who don’t do the correct amount of emoting. It’s just not believable. Not only that, but the characterizations of the cousins and the other characters were all over the place. It got to the point that when their family secrets were revealed, the cousins were just a shell of themselves; they were unrecognizable, and it was just weird. For the other characters, there wasn’t a thing about them—personality-wise—that made them interesting aside from their extremely creepy actions like stalking and their motives (but that’s more like what the hell). Just a lot of cringeworthy moments.

• The Florescus family has an interesting history that dates back to Vlad the Impaler.

I love when history is woven into the story even if it’s just a bit, and it’s even more exciting when Dracula is woven into the story. That’s right. Dracula. Vlad the Impaler is the most well-known member of the Dracula family, and just you wait to see what role he plays in this story. (Don’t worry, no vampires at all.) To see how this family prides itself on their background is very fascinating.

You’ll be devouring their history like it’s cake.

• There are letters and diary entries spliced throughout the book.

The letters and diary entries are somewhat distracting. They’re an outlet for the characters to express what they’re thinking, even though we already know. They don’t really add anything to the overall story; it’s like the letters and diary entries are there to state the obvious, which is disappointing because I wanted more from them.

• It’s set in late 1900s Romania!

I haven’t read a lot of books set in Romania, so I loved reading the descriptions of the different places they visit. However, I wanted more about Romanian culture and customs. I just felt like it was barely touched on.

Silver in the Blood had so much potential for greatness—society girls + shape shifters, what can go wrong with that?  There were a lot of things in this book I found interesting, but the overall execution didn’t work well at all. It became ridiculous and cringe-worthy. From over-the-top reactions like soap opera gasping to inconsistent characterization, I felt like this book needed better development and better characterizations. It doesn’t help that I was initially interested in Aunt Kate’s back story (because what a way to introduce her past with a make-out scene!). It’s very hard to talk about what exactly is wrong without talking spoilers.

Although I had issues with the book, Silver in the Blood was an addicting read. You should just read it for the family secrets. It is very juicy.