Review: Blood Before Sunrise by Amanda Bonilla (Shaede Assassin #2)

Blood Before Sunrise (Shaede Assassin #2)
Amanda Bonilla
Released: July 3, 2012 (NAL/Signet)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon

Review by: Chelsea

Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars

Note: This review is spoiler-free, but assumes you’ve read the first Shaede Assassin novel. If you haven’t, I suggest starting with the VBC review of Shaedes of Gray.

If you love an angst-y read, Blood Before Sunrise is for you.

Get wrapped up in yelling at the heroine making infuriating and dangerous decisions? You’ll love Blood Before Sunrise.

Enjoy seeing a heroine handing big tough men their asses in fights? Oh, you need Blood Before Sunrise.

In the Shaedes of Gray, heroine Darian discovered she wasn’t the only one of her kind. She started to learn not only who she is but also what she is. Just as she began to understand her new role as a Shaede — she can fade into shadow, nothingness in the dark — an ancient prophecy changed things.

Now Darian is something else, more. She can disappear in the light and the dark, feel the passage of time. And she’s powerful. She still trains with Raif, but he can’t keep up with her. She’s powerful and gets accustomed to the idea she’s the biggest, baddest thing on the block.

She isn’t.

Not only does her ego put her in danger when trying to find Raif’s daughter and while she tries to determine what her new-found obsession with the passage of time means, but it wreaks havoc on her relationship with Tyler. He isn’t just her boyfriend, remember. Tyler is a jinn, and his job is to protect Darian. The only hitch is he has to obey her wishes. She’s worried about protecting him, and though she doesn’t recognize it, she behaves in a way that illustrates she doesn’t need his protection or want it. Expect big relationship drama on this front.

I love books that are an emotional challenge. Ones where by the end of the book the main character has truly grown. There’s no question we get that with Blood Before Sunrise. There are moments when you’ll grip your book and pretend to be shaking some sense into Darian. Don’t expect easy answers in this novel, but I can promise one hell of a journey with lush descriptions. Even when Darian is making poor decisions, I want to be her friend.

Sexual content: Sex