While things may have ended well for Brianna in SILVER, the first of the Bandia novels, they certainly aren't looking up now as she heads off to Ireland, away from the dangerous group she had just allied herself with before. Blake should be there helping her, but now, he is after her head just as much as his family is. If that wasn't enough to worry herself with, there's a new god in town...and he's out for destruction.

When I first read SILVER, I was completely blown away. Now with GOLD, I have added the Bandia novels to my favorite series list. I fell in love with the bandia legend/history in the first book, and I love how the author, Talia Vance, elaborates on it and gives it more mysteries in this sequel. In addition to the original mythological elements, Brianna is one of the most unique and real main characters I have read about. Though she is scared of what she is, a seductive, monstrous bandia, she still maintains a level of self-respect for herself that is astonishing. She doesn't let Blake or Austin, who is now another favorite character of mine, control her. At the end of the day, she knows who she needs to take care of.

What had my heart breaking and mending at all hours of the night was not, though superb, the mystery or the action. The relationship between Blake and Brianna and especially the potential one with Brianna and Austin is both soul crushing and heartwarming. Though it may be a love triangle, it never feels like a clichéd one. The way it is portrayed induces all the feels and none of the eye rolling at another textbook triangle of love. Though written in very different voices and about very different things, it gives the emotional feel of one of Richelle Mead's novels in my experience. It pulls you through an emotional hell, but gives you chocolate in the end.

If you are looking for something unique, something quick, and/or something to renew your love of reading, I would recommend this fun and exciting YA.

Book Summary

The Sons of Killian have hunted my ancestors for centuries. The same way they hunt me now.

Descended from an Irish demigod, Brianna has fled to Ireland to escape destruction at the hands of her sworn enemies, the Sons of Killian. Taking refuge at the estate of her former nemesis, Austin Montgomery, Brianna discovers a rift in time that opens to an era before the feud began.

Wrestling with her newfound feelings for the younger Austin—who she meets a thousand years back in time—Brianna begins to wonder if altering the past could change her future. But when Brianna and the present-day Austin learn that the Sons are raising an army of mythical beasts, the pair will need to combine their magical strength to avoid a tragic destiny.