Blood Before Sunrise by Amanda Bonilla

Shaede Assassin, Book 2

Synopsis: “She needed a bargaining chip and this was it. Raif’s daughter’s life for hers. And he knew damn good and well I was right. Just like he’d assured me the night I’d killed Azriel, this was far from over. His daughter was alive, I knew it. And I was going to find her.”

For months Darian and her Shaede guardian Raif have searched for the Oracle who attempted to overthrow the Shaede Nation—and kill Darian in the bargain. But now that they’ve finally found the half-crazed Oracle, for their efforts they are granted a possibility too painful for Raif to imagine, and too enticing for Darian to ignore.

Darian is determined to reunite Raif and the daughter he thought was dead, but her mission quickly proves dangerous when her lover Tyler is almost killed. And when a brooding and mysterious Fae warrior offers his guidance—at an extraordinary price—Darian finds herself willing to risk everything. As her single-minded hunt turns into an obsession, and she and Tyler grow further apart, Darian finds herself caught between the man she loves like a brother, and the man whose love she can’t live without…

Review: I really loved the first volume and I was more than curious to have the possibility to get into this new book. I confess I was a little anxious to be disappointed as it’s always a little complicated to surpass a book we really enjoyed. But WOW, I loved this one as well, it’s just amazing. When I think that I doubted about it, what nonsense!
This second volume perfectly follows the first one. Indeed, we find Darian who investigates about the Oracle, Delilah, as she left after the big battle in book 1. But everything is more complicated and when they finally find her, she claims to everyone that she knows where Brakae, the Raif’s daughter, is. Of course Darian is immediately intrigued by these words, despite Raif tells her to not care about that. But you know how is Darian, she is so stubborn, and it’s not Raif who will change her mind about this new quest, nor anyone else. However, everything is turned upside down when many persons try to prevent her about a new real danger and when Tyler is weakened and very moody all the time.
It was so pleasant to see Darian with our little Jinn, as she always was alone before. We understand that this relation will also be complicated between an overprotective Tyler and a shaede a little too independent for her own good. It was really surprising to see the efforts that they both try to do to make their relationship work, but it’s also a difficult situation. I confess I asked myself a lot of questions all along the book about Tyler because I didn’t understand what was going on. It’s heartbreaking to see him so possessive and jealous, but he will also do everything to help and protect Darian.
Amanda Bonilla was able to beautifully recreate the feelings of the characters throughout the book, love as sorrow. It’s difficult for Darian to know what she really wants to do and in the same time it’s impossible for her to be totally opened to Tyler as she is afraid about the follow events, for protecting him as well. But she doesn’t realize that the consequences of her acts are terrible. The reactions of Tyler and Darian broke my heart all along the story. It was so sad to see what it generates on their relationship. But our heroin needs all these events to really understand how it is to have someone in her life, a thing she is not used to have. It’s difficult for her to learn but we know she couldn’t leave her Djinn as he is now a real part of her life. But when she knows she could help Raif, another person she cares about, she is ready to put everything in peril. We totally understand the choices of each character but it’s difficult to assist to all these events without saying anything.
Many things happen in this novel and Darian will end up with more responsibilities than she would have thought at first, or even us. I confess that everything was a real surprise; I didn’t expect that at all. The author succeeded in this challenge to make of this story a wonderful book, really! I was hooked by the book from the start, and it was quite complicated to not read the whole volume at once. The writing style is very fluid and perfectly rhythmic with no dead time. The fights are one more time perfectly described and we’re each time in the center of the action.
It’s always really easy to relate ourselves to Darian from the start as always. We perfectly feel the complexity of her feelings. She has evolved a lot since the first volume and she is now more vulnerable. It’s the reason why we can easily understand her acts. 
It’s been a while since I hadn’t read a book with a lump in my throat, a book that broke my heart like that. What a wonderful story! This novel is just awesome and if you enjoyed the first one I’m sure you’ll love this one. If you haven’t started the series yet, what are you waiting for? It’s so pleasant to have a book like that, a book so different from others.
To conclude, as I said, this book was really beautiful and now I really want to accelerate the time to read book 3.

18 thoughts on “Blood Before Sunrise by Amanda Bonilla

  1. I think my favourite UF series always have a stronger second book than first one – and this sounds great! I have the first book in my UF pile somewhere – MUST read it soon! 🙂

  2. Lump in the throat? Oh noes! I hate to cry, but love the intense emotions a book can give. Yes, I know… I’m never satisfied. 😉 This sounds so good. I need to get into this series ASAP! I must at least get that first one further up on my wishlist!

  3. I totally agree with everything you said. I love how Darian grew from book one to now and I love how many emotions you go through while reading this book. Great review! 🙂

  4. Oh sweet goodness, as soon as you start gushing about a book, I’m lost! How could I not be intrigued by this book with the way you described it?? Amazing sequels are by far the books that make me happiest in the world, but the unpredictability is a close runner up! Reading as many books as we do always makes it so much easier to expect what’s going to happen, so this sounds like a breath of fresh air! 🙂

    Amazing review, Mel! Your love for this series is noted 😉 <3

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