Thank you so much to The Write Reads for this opportunity to be a part of a blog tour for The Gilded King by Josie Jaffrey! All of the twitter handles of the tour hosts are on the banner above, so go check out their posts!

In the Blue, the world’s last city, all is not well.

Julia is stuck within its walls. She serves the nobility from a distance until she meets Lucas, a boy who believes in fairytales that Julia’s world can’t accommodate. The Blue is her prison, not her castle, and she’d escape into the trees if she didn’t know that contamination and death awaited humanity outside.

But not everyone in the Blue is human, and not everyone can be contained.

Beyond the city’s boundaries, in the wild forests of the Red, Cameron has precious little humanity left to lose. As he searches for a lost queen, he finds an enemy rising that he thought long dead. An enemy that the humans have forgotten how to fight.

One way or another, the walls of the Blue are coming down. The only question is what side you’ll be on when they do.

I have always written stories, but it wasn’t until I started the first book in the Solis Invicti series in 2014 that I really became obsessed with writing. I love to read, particularly where the escapism of the story is enhanced with an element of fantasy or science fiction. For me, writing is simply an extension of that journey, but I get to decide what happens next (though it’s amazing how often the characters seem to decide for themselves what I’m going to write!).

I love to hear from readers, so please do get in touch through my website or via Twitter.

Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to The Write Reads and Josie Jaffrey for this free copy.

Vampires, Blood

First of all, do you know how much I freaking love vampires? I mean, yeah sure my brand isn’t vampires, but I have loved reading about vampires since Marked and Vampire Academy, and I feel like there aren’t enough YA vampire books that I actually connected with. So, I was very excited when I got the opportunity to read this one, and was impressed with what I read.

Usually we see vampires either in the past or the present, which I feel is a disservice because if they are supposed to be immortal, I want to see how it’s like to be a vampire in a totally different and updated world. Sure, the world today is way updated from what it was in the 1500s or so, but like, give me vampires in the hi-tech world that I could only dream about. I loved that Jaffrey did that in this novel, and I felt like it was really unique and refreshing to have something new to indulge in.

I feel like Jaffrey’s choice to separate the Blue and the Red in such a way was so interesting. When I think about the color blue, I feel almost at peace, but a little sad. It can be a somber color, especially if you look at the shade of blue on the cover. It’s pretty dark, but it still brings my mind at ease. The way that Julia describes being in the Blue is like it’s a prison, and it totally changes my perspective on the color. While I’m not sure if I personally like that since I love blue, it was still cool to see.

On the other hand, the Red gives me vibes of being wild, monstrous… almost more than human. Maybe it makes sense, I mean red is the color of blood after all, and blood gives us all life. But the feeling that I felt was one of urgency, wanting. It was a strange feeling, but I think it matched perfectly. I don’t think I would have thought about these two colors as being two different worlds in a sense, but Jaffrey wrote it perfectly.

If you think that vampires are overrated or you need a break from them, I totally get it. I still think you should definitely give this one a chance though. You won’t regret it, and it’s nice to see Jaffery’s point of view on one of the most famous and sought after creatures of the night. I’m so glad this is a series, because I can’t wait to dive into this world a little bit more!