Blood and Honey: the second deadly installment that you will LOVE

Mahurin doesn't dally. The book picks up straight after the first with Lou, Reid and their friends fleeing from Morgane. Mahurin delves deeper into her character's and their complexities and relationships. Despite being darker, the wit and humour is still very much alive. She strikes a great balance between intense horror and suspense with comedy. And yes, Lou is just as outrageous in this book as she was in the first, not only is our heroine fiercer but even more deadly than before.

This book promises more action, romance, and magic with higher stakes as the witch hunt in on for Lou, Reid, Coco, Beau and Ansel. Not only is Morgane after them, so are the Chasseurs and the reward placed on their heads by the King has ordinary people turning into bounty hunters.

Mahurin expands her world more by introducing the blood witches, werewolves and even gods. After such a stellar first book I was unsure on how the second was going to pan out, but I was not disappointed. In fact, I've spent the day reeling from the revelations of the last few chapters but to avoid any spoilers I won't say anything- but it is downright shocking.

The one aspect of this series that I really enjoy and appreciate is the relationship between the main characters, Lou and Reid. Having read a lot of YA fiction, I'm disappointed by the female character's helplessness in her relationships, but Mahurin's representation of her female characters demonstrates a sense of capability and independence. Equally,

masculinity is presented as being nurturing rather than stereotypically flat, stoic characters. They're fully formed and rounded characters and I think that is the strength of this series.

Blood and Honey should definitely be your next read. The final installment of the series, Gods and Monsters, is being released in August so it is the prime time to catch up!