I'm pretty torn on this one. On one hand, we have Wilde's signature humour, good technical writing, and some nice diversity; on the other hand, we have an absolutely TERRIBLE plot and somewhat unenthusiastic romance.

Also, you know what? This felt WAY too much like reading Wilde's other series, the Unlikeable Demon Hunter, to the extent that I was getting deja vu.

Quick Summary

Ashira Cohen is a PI who's always thought she was Mundane, aka without magic. She discovers a tattoo on the back of her head which was suppressing all her magic - turns out she has blood magic, a heretofore unknown branch. Kids are disappearing and she teams up with her childhood enemy Levi Montefiore to find them. Also, there's a weird 'smudge' thing going around Vancouver killing people and only she can see it to stop it.

The Good

✔️ Like I said, Ash is hella funny.

✔️ I like the concept of Levi... just not so much his execution.

✔️ Diversity - Ash and Levi are Jewish, Ash's best friend Priya is Indian, and the whole worldbuilding is rooted in Jewish mythology.

The Good

❌ I swear to God, sometimes it felt like I was reading a bad fanfiction of The Unlikeable Demon Hunter. The humour is the same (they literally make some of the same jokes) and there was even one character with the same name!!!!! Plus there's the same set-up of main characters. Ash/Nava (from TUDH) are both black-haired heroines with Levi/Rohan the black-haired heroes. Levi/Rohan has a blond best friend (Miles/Drio) who has a crush on Ash/Nava's best friend, Leonie/Priya. You see????

❌ The world was vaguely the same, but very confusing and not at all well explained (like, there was no discussion of the various types of magic). All in all, I spent most of my time feeling bemused. This is partially because the pace is breakneck. Wilde throws a lot of things at the reader without bothering to explain them properly, and (as I noted in previous reviews) she packs her plots with WAY too many events and occurrences, to the point of reader overload. I stopped trying to understand anything at about 40% in and just went along for the ride.

❌ The romance was pretty lacklustre. Levi and Ash have known each other for decades, like since they were kids, so I found it weird and implausible that they chose now of all times for their romance to kick off. Like, what was the catalyst?? It was like they existed in stasis before the book began, which is never a good thing for a reader to think about a character. Also, Levi went on a date with an OW (admittedly arranged weeks in advance) after he and Ash kissed, and I didn't feel any sparks from their relationship at all.

Overall

This is looking like it'll have all the flaws of the UDH series, with not as many of its positives.

Magic and mayhem seem to find Ashira Cohen, who is a private investigator and a snarky one at that. Ash is successful in her career, even though she has family issues, which still affect her. Got to luv Ash's personality and she is stubborn to boot. When a case lands her with Levi, head of House Pacifica, who has strong magic, and long-time enemy of Ash and sexy to boot, everything changes. No longer is Ash a mundane, as she believed, but now has this magical ability that according to Levi should not exist. But who locked away her magic? Many questions, with few answers, including this "smudge" that is causing deaths. But how did it come about and does it relate to the missing people around the city? Ash is on the case, with Levi's help , but each have their own way of doing things, being rather similar and cannot trust each other. Ash will have to find assistance from unlikely sources to find those missing kids and learn to harness her own abilities before it is too late. Looking forward to the next novel in the series!

I first found Deborah Wilde through her Unlikeable Demon Hunter series and was incredibly excited to find out about her new series when TUDH wrapped up. Let’s just say that Blood and Ash did not disappoint. Not even remotely. Wilde has a true gift for creating strong female leads who combine vulnerability, strength, and snark into an unstoppable force.

Blood and Ash was a fantastic introduction into a new series with fabulous character development . One of my absolutely favorite part about Wilde’s books is that her characters span several different ethnic backgrounds and there is always a strong cultural theme that adds incredible depth to the story. If you like strong females, snark, culture, non-stop action, and amazing relationship dynamics with friends, enemies, look no further, Blood and Ash has it all,