The Captain’s Log – silver in the blood (Jessica Day George)

Ahoy there me mateys!  This author came to me attention with her book the princess of the midnight ball which is a twelve dancing princesses retelling.  No, I haven’t read it yet.  I was looking for something light to read as me last several books have been rather heavy.  The dancing princesses book wasn’t available but this one was.  It had also been on me list as it had a cool cover:

So I scooped it up and had a gander.  The book ended up being a silly okayish read that did give me some enjoyment.

The story involves two girls from New York that are sent on a trip to meet their mothers’ family back in Romania.  These cousins get more than they bargained for.  Secrets are being kept and the family is being evasive.  What is the family hiding and what does that have to do with them?

So some cool things in this book:

• It takes place in the 1890s.  I love historical fantasy fiction.
• The format is letters, diary entries, and perspectives from the girls themselves.
• It has shape-shifters.  Which I figured from the cover.
• The two cousins have an awesome relationship.  I love how supportive they are of each other.
• The girls both have very different personalities but due to circumstances in the book their roles are reversed at one point and that was excellent fun.
• The majority of the book takes place in Romania.  I don’t know many books that are.  (One other.  That’s all I could come up with.)
• Lou has an awesome power.  I loved how it was used.
• It was a quick read.

The not as fun:

• The plot is kinda plodding in a lot of places.  It took forever for the girls to find out about the family.  I would have liked that reveal to be way earlier in the book.  And of course when yer reader guessed fairly early on what was going on, it makes the two girl’s lack of intelligence in that regard tedious and annoying.
• The girls’ powers could have been used WAY more in terms of plot.
• while the book is set in Romania, I would have liked the country to feel more integral to the plot.  Yes there are myths and history facts that are used in good ways in the story but not enough.
• The villain was extremely two dimensional and irked me in his rational.  Which basically came down to “because he wanted it.”
• The love interests were too numerous and too boringly shallow.
• I wanted more action and adventure and girls kicking butt.  I wanted the girls to show more initiative.

While this book didn’t thrill me, it was a good way to spend some of the evening.  Me crew still highly recommends her dragon books and I still want to read the fairytale so I will certainly give this author another shot.

Goodreads has this to say about the novel:

Society girls from New York City circa 1890, Dacia and Lou never desired to know more about their lineage, instead preferring to gossip about the mysterious Romanian family that they barely knew. But upon turning seventeen, the girls must return to their homeland to meet their relatives, find proper husbands, and—most terrifyingly—learn the deep family secrets of The Claw, The Wing, and The Smoke. The Florescus, after all, are shape-shifters, and it is time for Dacia and Lou to fulfill the prophecy that demands their acceptance of this fate… or fight against this cruel inheritance with all their might.

To visit the author’s website go to:

Jessica Day George – Author

To buy the book go to:

silver in the blood – Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List