Blog Tour Stop : Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke (Prisoner of Night and Fog #2)
Author : Anne Blankman
Publication Date : April 21st 2015
Publisher : Balzer & Bray
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

The girl known as Gretchen Whitestone has a secret: She used to be part of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle. More than a year after she made an enemy of her old family friend and fled Munich, she lives with a kindly English family, posing as an ordinary German immigrant, and is preparing to graduate from high school. Her love, Daniel Cohen, is a reporter in town. For the first time in her life, Gretchen is content.

But then, Daniel gets a telegram that sends him back to Germany, and Gretchen’s world turns upside-down. And when she receives word that Daniel is wanted for murder, she has to face the danger she thought she’d escaped-and return to her homeland.

Gretchen must do everything she can to avoid capture and recognition, even though saving Daniel will mean consorting with her former friends, the Nazi elite. And as they work to clear Daniel’s name, Gretchen and Daniel discover a deadly conspiracy stretching from the slums of Berlin to the Reichstag itself. Can they dig up the explosive truth and get out in time-or will Hitler discover them first?

Personal Thoughts

This book! My goodness, THIS BOOK! Last year, I read Prisoner of Night and Fog and fell head over heels in love with it. It was rich in history, was written masterfully and had a cast of characters that basically settled in my heart. There was absolutely no doubts that I would be reading Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, but did I think it would live up to all of my expectations? Maybe not, but Anne Blankman just blew me away with this phenomenal sequel that has rocketed her to the top of my favorite authors list.

While the world building and story telling is outstanding in this series, the characters are the heart and soul of Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke. I have grown to care just so much about Gretchen and Daniel and I wanted nothing more than for them to have be happy by the end of the book and Anne Blankman doesn't make their journey a smooth-sailing one. To me, this book, more specifically Gretchen, is the embodiment of character development. Gretchen has always been a fierce girl, but she has also been rather naive at times. In Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, all traces of her innocence had disappeared. She was brave and willing to fight very hard to protect the people that she loved and cared for, the events of Prisoner of Night and Fog having seasoned her character.  Her strength came from deep within her and watching that bloom was a beautiful experience for me as a reader. Gretchen is, without any doubt, one of the best female protagonist I have ever come across. Together with her, was the brilliant and perfectly complementary Daniel. Daniel basically represents every boy I want out of a YA romance. He's the good boy with a heart of cold who is loving, protective and just plain endearing. When you meet Daniel, it's hard not to want him all for yourself because this is a boy who will steal your heart and make you wish every YA book boy was like him.

The relationship between Daniel and Gretchen is a work of art. This is a relationship that is based on mutual respect for each other. One of my absolute favorite things about their romance has always been how they never undermine each other. Instead of putting each other down whenever a difficult situation arises, they support each other and work together to achieve their goals. Do you know how rare it is to see couples working as a team in YA? It's something that consistently bothers me, so I was so pleased with how Anne Blankman handled their relationship so beautifully. The sweet moments between them were like beacons of light in this otherwise dark book. Speaking of dark book, Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke had me sweating profusely because of how nervous I was. I was at the same time excited and terrified to see what would happen next and let me tell you, Anne Blankman put these characters through hell and more, but it was all worth it. Hitler was more of a background character in Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke as opposed to Prisoner of Night and Fog, but the mere mention of his name was enough to have my blood curdling. Once again, I really loved Anne Blankman was able to so tactfully blend together elements of fiction and real life history to craft the book. The amount of research and talent that it takes to blend those two together is not something easy at all. Seriously, this author is terrific and can't wait to see what she has up her sleeves next.

I have so much more to say about Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, but I'm going to refrain from saying more because it truly is a series that you need to experience yourself. I just don't know what else to say other than READ IT and EXPERIENCE the brilliance of one of my all-time favorite series.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 5/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5

Author Biography

Anne Blankman may have been meant to be a writer because her parents named her for Anne of Green Gables. She grew up in an old house with gables (gray, unfortunately) in upstate New York. When she wasn't writing or reading, she was rowing on the crew team, taking ballet lessons, fencing and swimming. She graduated from Union College with degrees in English and history, which comes in handy when she writes historical fiction.

After earning a master's degree in information science, Anne began working as a youth services librarian. Currently, she lives in southeastern Virginia with her family. When she's not writing young adult fiction, she's playing with her daughter, training for races with her husband, working at her amazing library branch, learning to knit (badly), and reading.

Anne Blankman is the author of PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG, the first in a three-book deal slated for publication in spring 2014 from Balzer + Bray | HarperCollins. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary.

AUTHOR LINKS:
Website: http://www.anneblankman.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7012378.Anne_Blankman
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnneBlankman

Giveaway

Details: 3 prizes
GRAND PRIZE: Win a signed ARC of PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG and a signed ARC of CONSPIRACY OF BLOOD AND SMOKE (US Only)
FIRST PRIZE: Win (1) of (2) signed ARCs of CONSPIRACY OF BLOOD AND SMOKE (US Only)

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out the other tour stops here.

Thank you to The Fantastic Flying Book Club for letting me part of the tour and Edelweiss and Harper Teen for the e-ARC of Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke.