We have a lot of eARC’s and we want to promote them a little bit more. So we decided to do some more Bookish Beginnings On Friday. Today I wanted to share the start of Mothsblood by Lynn D. Jung. This book will be released in October and I got an eARC through Netgalley. Let’s take a look at the start of the book!
WELCOME TO UNIVERSITÉ MEURDRAC.
HOME TO BRILLIANT ALCHEMISTS.
THE HEART OF AN IMPOSSIBLE CRIME.
Step into the heart of Paris with this lush and thrilling dark academia fantasy that follows a young alchemist running from a dark past – perfect for fans of Babel, Ninth House and Blood Over Bright Haven.
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When Larkspur Lee arrived in Paris, it was with nothing more than the ambition in her veins and the magic under her skin.
As a student of Meurdrac, one of the few remaining alchemical universities, she burns to prove herself; she must fight twice as hard – and be twice as cunning – if she wants to be considered worthy of immortality.
But after the shocking death of the university’s headmistress, the immortal Petronelle Flamel, she instead finds herself at the heart of an impossible crime – one where the only evidence whispers of Lark’s past. Matters are further complicated when the mentor she crossed an ocean to escape re-enters her life, enticing her to his side once again while secretly wielding an agenda of his own.
As the mysterious investigator assigned to the case, Violaine, becomes convinced that more sinister works are responsible for the murder, Lark must wrestle with both the university’s dark secrets and her own as the life she’s meticulously built for herself begins to unravel.
And as everything around her delves into chaos, Lark has no choice but to decide if the power she desires is truly worth the price.
It is all too fitting, perhaps, that on the dawn of Flamel’s first trial, a virulent storm engulfs Paris and soaks it to the bone.
Rain tears through the streets with merry disdain, spoiling designer shoes and transmuting the steeper Métro entrances into urban watersheds. Thunder rattles the teeth of underdressed tourists scuttling for cover while the timider souls hide in their hotel rooms, anxiously awaiting the promised warmth of summer.
If it wasn’t for that first sentence this would be an extremely boring start of a book. I’ve been doing a lot of these and I’m always disappointed with a start like this. It doesn’t really tell us anything about the story and if not for that first sentence I might not even want to continue reading. The first sentences should draw you in and make you want to keep on reading, for me that didn’t happen here at all.
Luckily I also read the synopsis and that did make me interested in this story. I hope to be more engrossed by the book after the first chapter. Especially since I’m in a bit of a slump and doing mostly rereads. Being hooked right away is what I need, so I hope the first chapter will do just that. The setting of this book sounds wonderful and I am curious about the murder mystery. Hopefully the rest of the story will be more my speed! What do you think about this first bit? Did you enjoy it or do you agree with me? I would love to hear from you down below!
