Wicked as She Wants - Book Review

Wicked as She Wants (Blud #2)
by Delilah S. Dawson

What is it about:
The second book in the darkly tempting Blud series, featuring a vampire princess who embarks upon a dangerous journey to claim what is rightfully hers.

When Blud princess Ahnastasia wakes up, drained and starving in a suitcase, she’s not sure which calls to her more: the sound of music or the scent of blood. The source of both sensations is a handsome and mysterious man named Casper Sterling. Once the most celebrated musician in London, Sangland, he’s fallen on hard times. Now, much to Ahna’s frustration, the debauched and reckless human is her only ticket back home to the snow-rimmed and magical land of Freesia.

Together with Casper’s prickly charge, a scrappy orphan named Keen, they seek passage to Ahna’s homeland, where a power-hungry sorceress named Ravenna holds the royal family in thrall. Traveling from the back alleys of London to the sparkling minarets of Muscovy, Ahna discovers that Freesia holds new perils and dangerous foes. Back in her country, she is forced to choose between the heart she never knew she had and the land that she was born to rule. But with Casper’s help, Ahna may find a way to have it all...

What did I think of it:
I will confess: It took me almost three years to pick this book up. This has nothing to do with the writing or the story, but everything with my dislike of Casper in the first book. I also read a short story where he plays a part, and I didn't like him in that one either.

But as I love all the other books and short stories I've read by Delilah S. Dawson I decided to pick this book up as my April TBR Orphan. (Good thing I already had it in my TBR pile, because the current paperback price is pretty high.)

And I'm still not a fan of Casper. He's not very likeable in my opinion. Neither is Ahna, so they do make a good pair.

But the story!

I love Dawson's writing style and her world building. In this story she uses the historical events of the downfall of the last Tsar of Russia and makes them her own. The setting is just as in the first book really cool. It starts out in a dark, steampunky London and then they start on the journey to Muscovy.

Let me tell you (and I'm saying this as someone who's a bit tired of all the Steampunk cliches): Dawson makes airships fun!

Because I didn't connect with Casper and Ahna I didn't love this book as much as I did the first, but all in all this is a great steampunk read, with lots of adventure, pirates, evil magic, and vampires. I'm looking forward to reading the third book.

Why should you read it:
It's a cool Steampunk adventure/romance.




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