We Are Blood And Thunder by Kesia Lupo
| We Are Blood And Thunder by Kesia Lupo | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Jill Murphy
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| Summary: Thoroughly superior YA fantasy with lots of magic and interesting characters. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 448 | Date: April 2019 |
| Publisher: Bloomsbury | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1408898055 | |
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In a sealed-off city, a young woman, Lena, is running for her life. She has been sentenced to death and her only way to survive is to trust those she has been brought up to fear - those with magic.
On the other side of the locked gates is a masked lady, Constance, determined to find a way back in. Years ago she escaped before her own powers were discovered. But now she won't hide who she is any longer.
So, Lena is a cryptling - a low caste individual living in the city of Duke's Forest. The city has been under an enforced quarantine since a storm cloud arrived over it some years before, bringing disease with it. The storm is also a spell and so magic is hated and distrusted in Duke's Forest. And, when Lena is accused of being a mage, her only choice is to run for her life. This flight brings her to Constance, who isn't trying to escape Duke's Forest at all: she's trying to get back in, sure that this is the only way to change things.
The two are linked together in ways they do not yet understand. But can they save the city and themselves?
We are Blood and Thunder is a thoroughly superior fantasy. The worldbuilding is fabulous and will bear several re-reads to get the most out of it. There is a theme of duality - dark and light, magic and mechanisation - and Lupo has worked hard to weave this seamlessly into a complicated plot. Chapters are told alternately from the points of view of both Lena and Constance and the mini-cliffhangers scattered throughout the book make it into a real page-turner. Descriptive passages are wonderfully vivid - dark, lyrical, and evocative, with a wonderful writing style sometimes approaching the poetic.
And if all that weren't enough, there's a plot twist and a half! It sneaked up behind me and leapt up before I was even close to see it coming.
We are Blood and Thunder is one for all fans of fantasy - particularly those who enjoy intricate worldbuilding and clever plotting. I heartily recommend it.
If We are Blood and Thunder appeals, you might also enjoy Caraval by Stephanie Garber or Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye by Alison Goodman.
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