The Secrets of Blood and Bone ~ Rebecca Alexander

This is a sequel to The Secrets of Life and Death.  I said in my review of that book that I didn't know if it was one book or a series because the last one had enough closure but there was an opportunity for the story to continue.  I enjoyed this continuation.  I give it a solid four stars.  You can tell the story is more comfortable and detailed in this one.  There are more answers given but for each answer there are 10 new questions which keeps you reading, wanting to know what is happening to our favorite revenants.  Again you have to adjust between the two timelines.  We are following the present day with Jack, Sadie, Maggie & Felix along with the past but only Edward Kelley this time with some new acquaintances, Dee is mentioned but not with him. 


This starts off not long after the first one ends.  Jack is still running high on the blood Felix gave her and Sadie is still weak.  They are in a different town where Maggie's sister died under suspicious circumstances.  Jack is different but still Jack for the most part.  Things have changed quite a bit in a short period of time.  We are introduced to a new set of baddies.  Bathory is gone in the present but the Dannicks are there and they are frightening.  They are part of an ancient line of "hunters".  There is a wolf on the cover so I am not really giving anything away saying, holy moley there are Weres in this book and not the ones we think of care of movies.    These are 100% more disturbing.

I think if you enjoyed the first book, this one will be a welcomed continuation.  If you didn't read the first book, no worries, both can stand alone as they give enough backstory for you to follow.  But I think you should read the first one just so you can understand more of the internal battle Jack is having related to Felix and blood.  I would recommend it.  It is packed with supernatural happenings along with bits of historical fiction to grab your attention and keep it. 

**SPOILERS**

Something is off with Jack.  You realize this from the get go. Clearly she cares about Felix or she wouldn't have pushed him away.  She knows it is unfair for her to steal his love when she's only a borrowed timer and she doesn't want to be selfish.  She is still strong willed and efficient.  She cares deeply for Sadie and would do anything to help Maggie...including clearing out her sisters destroyed house after an untimely death.  She is conflicted.  Because of the blood she has these new sensations.  It is terrifying because we love her and she could be becoming a monster like Bathory.  She is so unstable she does stupid things like run off Felix and throw herself at one of the crazy Dannicks only to almost get raped.  She is losing a battle between who she is, who she was and who she wants to be.  It's all becoming blurred, leading up to one heck of a revelation.

Felix is ANNOYING.  He clearly cares for Jack but he still leaves her to do his "research".  This research that landed him in my hometown, NOLA.  It also led him to the bed of another woman.  I hated that.  I hated that he turned the first pretty face that literally threw herself at him.  Ugh, men!  He realizes in the end he still wants Jack no matter what but my level of frustration with him was off the charts.  Granted he does find out quite a bit of information.  Like that the stories of vampires are based on truths.  It is a type of living dead but not like the legends.  Its revenants that drink blood and "ascend" to another level.  There is hinting at demons again but nothing concrete. 

Sadie is still sick but shes a witch!  That's exciting.  She has power she just has to learn how to use it.  She is completely dependent on Jack, Maggie and Felix.  She died again but they got her back.  I hate that she is so weak because I've really grown to like her.  Her ability to protect herself from the hunt by using the forest is wonderful.  She just needs something (blood...?) so she won't be so vulnerable. 

Flashing back to Kelley.  He is in Venice, researching something for his "boss" who happens to be a Dannick.  He needs a cure for a degenerative disease that is killing his bloodline.  Kelley of course bites off more than he can chew and realizes this "cure" is actually a curse, the curse of the Were.  But they don't literally transform, they still look human but they become obsessed with "The Hunt"...with murder.  They are crazed and savage, barely human when the full moon is out but with that "curse" comes extended life, youth and good health.  He almost dies, only to be saved by Bathory who wants him to "fix" her.  He hates her, knowing she drinks blood of children to remain animated.  But she saves him so he tries to help only to find out she isn't really herself anymore.  She is mostly Saraquel, the "Angel" he spoke to in book one.  It's a frightening revelation, basically she is possessed.

How does this tie in to the present?  Well he clearly gets the "cure" back to the Dannicks as they are the Weres of the present day.    Jack knows too much but is a survivor.  Sadie almost dies AGAIN but whew she doesn't.  And they all save a young boy form becoming a monster like the rest of his crazed family.  Felix professes his feelings for Jack (yay) and Jack does the same (double yay) but she is acting more and more strange.  She seems to be blacking out.  Then she talks to one of Felix's research contacts and learns there is ALWAYS a price for immortality.  A revenant that drinks blood doesn't "ascend" they are acquired by a demon.  Jack is now Saraquel and it's awful.  Felix knows and tries to help and Jack tries to commit suicide to protect those she loves.  I freaked when it ended...she jumped off a bridge into the Thames!!! 

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books to give my honest review.