Book Tour| Of Wicked Blood by Olivia Wildenstein and Katie Hayoz

Title: Of Wicked Blood ( The Quatrefoil Chronicles #1 ) // Author: Olivia Wildenstein and Katie Hayoz

Publication date: February 2, 2021 // Print length: Hardcover, 425 pages

You can buy this book from Amazon

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No rest for the wicked… or the cursed.

SLATE
I didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt.
Scratch that, I did mean to steal it.
Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.
If any of us fail, I’m dead.
I’ve never been a glass half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now.
The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.

CADENCE
I was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft.
Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right?
Wrong.
The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster.
But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me.
Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without.
Something I will fight for, no matter the cost.

Diversity Tags: N/A

Trigger Warning: profuse cursing (and not just the magical kind), mention of death, mention of abuse

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⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Writing Quality 3/5, Character Development 5/5, ‘Couldn’t put it down’ – ness 3/5, Intellectual Depth 2/5, Originality 2/5, Overall 3/5

Of Wicked Blood has been something; not at all awful, but definitely not astounding. I ended up finishing it in just one night, of course, not because I forgot about the book; I would never do that! It was easy to read, and there were some things I enjoyed, but there were also things I disliked. 

First things first, I appreciated the wit of the authors and all the scattered references to known pieces of literature. For example, we have mentions of Anna Karenina, the Grimm brothers, Merlin, Harry Potter and many others. I feel like they made the read a bit more impressive, and I also more entertaining. The jokes and the funny moments were also well made, but sometimes they went a bit too far for my own taste. For example, this one joke didn’t sit right with me for the very start: Cadence’s curly-headed friend from last night lets out a squeal and rubs the little pearl on her pinky finger. “Slate! Do you have any more tricks? Can you make something else disappear?”/ “Your virginity.” I’m not exaggerating when I tell you the book had over four mentions for virginity, which is a lot. Perhaps, if there wasn’t so much accent on virginity, I would have liked this book a bit more.

I also enjoyed the whole dark academia with French vibes setting. The universe was grabbing and mysterious, just like a book about magic should be. At the same time, there was a fine line between telling and showing, which I feel the authors have crossed a few times. There is a lot of information dumped on how the characters look and how Brume (the town in which the action takes place) looks, which sometimes gets a bit overwhelming. 

The characters weren’t the best, but this is how many straight romances are represented in books; so I don’t have an explicit problem with that. It may be just me, but I am sick and tired of the bad boy that is saved by the “angelic” virgin. There were a lot of references to purity culture, which again, I did not enjoy. Slate, the main male protagonist, was annoying most of the time, but also a tad intelligent, which I liked. Cadence, the main female protagonist was a lot better than Slate, but she was the exact embodiment of the perfect teenage girl, which is always the same. 

It wasn’t my cup of tea, I admit, but I can also see many people enjoying this book. Alexandra, the person I used to work on this blog with, would simply love this book. Plus, Of Wicked Blood has a lot of good reviews on Goodreads, so many people enjoyed it, and if you are an avid reader of straight romances with sparkles of drama and magic, this is the read for you!

Try it and tell me what you think 🙂

Meet the authors

USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Wildenstein grew up in New York City, the daughter of a French father with a great sense of humor, and a Swedish mother whom she speaks to at least three times a day. She chose Brown University to complete her undergraduate studies and earned a bachelor’s in comparative literature. After designing jewelry for a few years, Wildenstein traded in her tools for a laptop computer and a very comfortable chair. This line of work made more sense, considering her college degree.

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Katie Hayoz grew up in Racine, Wisconsin where she acquired an irreversible nasal twang and an addiction for books with a slightly dark edge. She now lives in Geneva, Switzerland with her husband, two daughters, and a very fuzzy cat. She has been an avid reader of YA fiction for years. While she has a penchant for the paranormal, she devours a range of books – along with popcorn and black licorice. She consumes all three in large quantities. Luckily, the books don’t stay on her hips.

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