Review: Blood and Moonlight

Blood and Moonlight by Erin Beaty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

“Go home, little Cat.”

This YA medieval fantasy thriller is set in the city of Collis where the People of the Sun and the People of the Moon live together and separately. The moon worshipers are feared, as they live more in the night and seem to have magick along with their superior physician skills. The story is told in first person narrative from seventeen year old Catrin, an orphan from the Solis Abbey who since twelve years old has worked for the architect Thomas. We meet Cat as she sort of feels and sort of witnesses a murder. As Cat a witness, the Montcuir family comes into the picture, with siblings Oudin, Lambert, Juliane, and cousin Simon. The provost names nineteen year old Simon the Venatre, lead investigator, to solve the brutal murder because his son Oudin is looking like a suspect. As Cat works to help Simon, she gets pulled into a mystery that only gets bigger and bigger with each murder and may have more to do with her than she could ever imagine. 

It was the moon. The moon had done something to me. 

Blood and Moonlight captured me with it's hint of magic, Cat's struggle to find out who she is, and the hunt to stop and capture the serial killer. The beginning half spent a lot of time with Simon and his crew of cousins and Cat working to profile the killer. This is YA, so even though some of the murders are described in gruesome detail (there is also brief mention of rape and childhood sexual abuse), the story was a little lighter on the procedural aspects. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the pointing out of the puzzle pieces and how they all worked together to fit them into place, but I did pretty much know who the killer was at around 30%. 

“And what if I drag you Beyond the Moon and to the Gates of Hell itself?” 

“Then we'll find our way back.” 

The second half shifts for a bit from the serial killer profiling to Cat. We learn about who her family is and why she was given to the Abbey when she was a baby. It's tied into the magic, fantasy elements and brings in some plot threads that could help support turning this into a series. The fantasy side of the story was compelling and I found myself caught up in it all. I did struggle with the time period setting and not really feeling it as medieval. Some clothing was described, the religious sects, and obviously, technology wise, fit with what I was expecting but their vernacular and lack of flushing out the physical world had me a little disappointed in what felt like it's lack of solid setting. The characters shone much brighter than the setting and added to the story, each in their own way. There's credible red-herrings to keep the reader guessing as to who the murderer is and, while a little rushed, I liked the relationship developing between Cat and Simon. The thriller/mystery and fantasy aspects are the focus but the romance element had a good showing and delivered a happy for now. 

The night welcomes you. 

The beginning half kept me intrigued with mystery and putting the puzzle pieces together profiling of the serial killer, while at around 70% the fantasy plot came more into play with delving into Cat's character capturing my attention. All the guys that wanted Cat was a bit much and the ending leaned a little too chaotic with the quick back and forth of “This is the killer!” “No, THIS is the killer!”. However, the overall story absorbed my attention with it's smooth writing, thriller vibe, and fantasy elements. The ending leaves itself open to continuing the series and I would definitely sign up to follow along with Cat and Simon as Cat explores her magick more and her and Simon hunt and solve murders.

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