Synopsis

With Fire In Their Blood is a seductive, simmering supernatural YA romance debut set in mainland Italy. Perfect for lovers of the urban fantasy of Renée Ahdieh’s The Beautiful, the forbidden romance of Tracy Wolff’s Crave and those still mourning the end of The Twilight Saga and supernatural world building of Stephanie Meyers.
From the moment sixteen-year-old Lilly Deluca arrives in the ancient Italian town of Castello, she knows it is deadly. The town is divided by an invisible line, keeping the warring families of Marconi and Paradiso from destroying each other.
Lilly quickly falls in with the seductive, rebellious Liza, brooding Nico and sensitive Christian – who are all keeping their own secrets – and sparks begin to fly.
Then Lilly accidentally breaks Castello’s most important rule: when the General’s men come to test your blood, you’d better not be anything more than human . . .
Review
4,25 stars
What a ride!
I won the book at YALC and read it as soon as I could. That book was very atmospheric and a little bit spooky.
I don’t know how to categorize that story honestly.
It’s been labelled under “Renée Ahdieh’s The Beautiful, the forbidden romance of Tracy Wolff’s Crave and those still mourning the end of The Twilight Saga and supernatural world building of Stephanie Meyers.” But having read all these books I wouldn’t compare it to these reads.
Sure you have a mystery like you have in The Beautiful and supernatural but it’s so far from what I experienced reading these stories!
I’d rather compare with Silvia Moreno_Garcia with the very gothic atmosphere of the book.
From Lilly’s mom who gave me the heebie jeebie for the few times she was mentioned in the story to Castello itself, medieval Italian town shrouded in mists, isolated from civilization and with a very “dark sleeping beauty” vibe going through Lilly’s classmates like Liza with her cruel smile and eerie eyes…you get the gist of it.
Add to it that from her arrival at Castello Lilly had weird dreams looking more like nightmares than anything else and I think Kat Delacorte really did great setting the scene and the tone.
Lilly had to follow her dad to Castello as he had been hired to “modernize” the town. She and her dad are estranged from each other since the death of Lilly’s mom. Her dad was devastated and has never really talked with or looked at his daughter since. Basically, both parents left Lilly.
Castello is divided into two sides: the Marconis (the poor side where houses are in deep need of repair) and the Paradisios (the wealthy side). For centuries, both “clans” were at war until the General took control and imposed a truce.
From the start, Lilly will feel different from her old self. The town seems alive and malevolent somehow.
And her classmates, all more strange one than another won’t help.
Pretty soon, Lilly will feel attracted to some of them. That part was a little bit disturbing to me as it seemed one instant that Lilly was attracted to a girl all while needing a boy and also looking at a third one. I was a little bit lost and wondered what was at play there.
I won’t tell more about the plot but let’s just say that you have secrets, power, past mistakes, redemption, betrayal, supernatural beings and a kind of quest for Lilly and her friends.
It’s spooky, often confusing but also weirdly enthralling and I loved it very much! Now I want the sequel.
Thanks for reading.
Sophie

Sounds like a fun and spooky story! So cool that you won it at the YALC event, Sophie! 😀
I was so happy Lashaan!
Love that cover! I can believe that it was spooky and atmospheric just based on the cover alone. 🙂 I’m a little wary that it seemed confusing at times, but it still sounds like a compelling read!
It truly was one! And I need the sequel!
This book sounds so fascinating and I just love seeing gothic themes in books, they just aren’t super common and it just adds a certain atmospheric feeling to the story more. Some books can be super challenging to categorize though, but I am glad that this one was such a solid work for you.
Lovely review darling!
Thank you so much Renee!
I’ve never heard of this, but that cover is so eye catching. I’m glad this was such a good read for you!
It’s not released yet Tammy! I was lucky to get an ARC at YALC!
Glad you liked this, love that cover!
It’s drop dead gorgeous isn’t it?