Jealousy (Strange Angels) by Lili St Crow

Jealousy (Strange Angels) by Lili St Crow
Buy Jealousy (Strange Angels) by Lili St Crow at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Loralei Haylock
Summary: A fabulous addition to an excellent series with one of the most relatable heroines in the genre. Saintcrow continues to perfectly balance tension and horror with budding teen romance in a book that will have you waiting on tenterhooks for the next instalment.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 304	Date: July 2010
Publisher: Quercus Publishing plc
ISBN: 978-1849161299
Share on:

Dru Anderson has finally arrived at the Schola Prima – the main school for the training of wulfen and djamphir. She's supposed to be safe here. Supposed to be. Dru doesn't find life any easier. There's someone who wants her dead, and Dru has to work out who, and who else is loyal to them. Because loyalty is everything in the Order.

At least she has her friends – wulfen from the reform schola, Broken wulfen, Ash, and the ever dependable Graves, who is just about the only person Dru can trust completely. And finally she's getting some lessons, and some much needed answers. But there's a new threat in Dru's life – Anna, a fellow svetocha who gives off serious mean girl vibes. Dru's ability to sense danger lets her know that Anna can't be trusted, but exactly how far does the treachery within the Order go? And what does Anna have to do with the death of Elizabeth, Dru's mother?

Dru knows her memories hold answers she needs, but if she dredges up the past she risks remembering things she'd rather forget…

One of my favourite things about this series is the main character Dru. Heroines in this sort of novel are rarely as relatable, realistic and likeable as Dru. She's tough and smart, loyal to her friends despite everyone else thinking it's odd or even wrong for a svetocha to hang around with wulfen, but she's also confused and frightened and fallible – and she's all the better for it.

Again, Saintcrow displays her mastery of the awkward teenage romance. Dru's confusion over her feelings for Graves and whether or not he has feelings back, the way they dance round each other as they try to work it out. And I'm not normally one for love triangles – I prefer wondering when the couple are going to get together to wondering who someone is going to get with – but Dru's interest in Christophe is entirely plausible. And I'm very much endeared to the situation by Dru calling Christophe up on the creepiness of the fact that he's so much older than her.

The horror and fear is still ever present as well, centred around creepy new character Anna, briefly introduced in Betrayals but explored more fully here. The horror in these stories remains in the characters and what they do to each other, not the monsters they defend themselves against. Anna's frankly horrific 'butter wouldn't melt, sweet as candy' persona is far more frightening than Sergej, the ever present vampiric threat.

All this builds up to a very well written, interesting and original take on the genre that will have readers struggling to put it down. The third instalment in the Strange Angels series is a fabulous addition to an excellent series. It is going to be a long wait for the next instalment… Thoroughly recommended!

My thanks to the publishers for sending a copy.

Fans of teen paranormal stories should check out Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series, Darkest Powers and The Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith.

Please share on: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

You can read more book reviews or buy Jealousy (Strange Angels) by Lili St Crow at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
Template:Waterstonestext

Comments

Like to comment on this review?

Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.