Blood of Stars and Gods by Melissa A. Petreshock

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read this story. It came out on October 4, and I literally had no chance to read it because I was bogged down in papers, exams, and then final papers and final exams, not to mention needing to pack up my dorm room to get it stored for my transfer in January. Anyway, I love this book just as much as I did when I first beta’d it a while back (sometime around 2014, when I was Melissa’s PA & she was actively drafting Book 2—which meant I read each chapter as it came out with bated breath).

Let me just say this: everything I loved about the first book returns here, multiplied 10x over so that it has so many good things about it in spades that I could spend hours talking about it. For the sake of this review, I’ll cut it down to just a few things.

1. The world is expanded, introducing new characters, rules, and customs that I felt as I had fallen through a portal into this world. Some people have complained the first book had too much worldbuilding, but I totally disagree—you need to know the details of such a well-fleshed out world to make it feel real. And, luckily, readers have Cait as our entry point to ask for (ahem, demand) answers from dragons and demigods alike.
2. Plot twists… one after another. I can’t say too much about these without giving away the book (obviously), but when I first read them, I gasped. As someone who prides themself on guessing twists… these were not ones I saw coming (kind of the last one, but only as a lucky guess). And they don’t come out of left field either, but emerge from the strong mythos of the world, which is fantastic.
3. Let’s talk new characters: Falcon, the “big scary dragon” if there ever was one, asshole, and the first dragon to appear from one of the Catalyst houses (read the book for a fuller explanation). I kind of love this jerk, despite his prickly nature. The way the other dragons treat him is kind of funny, especially when compared to how Cait treats him.
4. Agtos… a pain in everyone’s ass, but differently than Falcon. He annoyed me when I read the draft, and more so in the published version, but not because he’s badly written—on the contrary, he’s supposed to make you want to shake him (despite him being bigger than both Theo and Oliver… aka huge).
5. Let’s return to the old favorites: Corrin, the would-be legendary vampire king. He was such an ass in the first book, and definitely reminded me of some not-so-great people from middle school, but by the end of that book, he had wormed his way into a special part of my heart, and continues to be an interesting (albeit mostly minor) character in this story.
   
6. Dante, demigod and only son of the Goddess Dana. I’m so glad I got to spend more time with this dreamy, moral, great guy. Melissa has him dream cast as James McAvoy, and that right there is a point for him. His struggle in this story is so complex and made my heart go out to him.
7. Theo, I love this dragon-shifter. Who wouldn’t? He’s handsome, sexy, a dragon, and a True Alpha male (can’t say more or I’ll spoil important story points). And… let’s just say there are some GREAT sexy times that rival those in the first book (and those were fiery—get it?).
8. Cait, the heart of our story, the North Star of the Dracopraesi, the evil elves’ target, and the love of 3 men’s lives (refresher: Theo, Dante, and Corrin). Sassy as ever, and growing more powerful, she is one fierce heroine & I can’t wait to see how her story continues.

Okay, so, that’s it (for now). If you can’t already tell, I love this book, and can’t wait for the next book in the series. I know the author has had some changes in her life recently that have placed writing on the back burner, so I don’t know when Book 3 will come, but when it does, I will devour it as fast as Claaron can an elf.