'Betrayals' Strange Angels #2 by Lili St CROW

From the BLURB:

She's no angel . . .

Poor Dru Anderson. Her parents are long gone, her best friend is a werewolf, and she's just learned that the blood flowing through her veins isn't entirely human. (So what else is new?)

Now Dru is stuck at a secret New England Schola for other teens like her, and there's a big problem - she's the only girl in the place. A school full of cute boys wouldn't be so bad, but Dru's killer instinct says that one of them wants her dead. And with all eyes on her, discovering a traitor within the Order could mean a lot more than social suicide. . .

Can Dru survive long enough to find out who has betrayed her trust - and maybe even her heart?

This is the second book in Lili St. Crow’s YA series, ‘Strange Angels’.

Lillith Saintcrow writes the dark Urban Fantasy series’ ‘Dante Valentine’ and ‘Jill Kismet’. And I’m happy that the murky undertones that make those successful serials so addictive have translated into her YA books.

Dru is still reeling from the events of ‘Strange Angels’ in which she fought her Zombie father, discovered she’s half-vampire and a rare ‘Svetocha’ whom a vampire named Sergej Gogol is hell-bent on killing. Now she and her wulfen friend, Graves, are at the Schola to learn their training. The Schola is full of delinquent djamphir and unstable wulfen – all teenage boys, with Dru the only girl. Heaven?... more like Hell!
Adding to her troubles is Christophe, the mysterious vampire who saved her and Graves at the end of ‘Strange Angels’ but is now sneaking into her window at night and dropping hints about her mother’s past.
And on top of all this, Dru is waiting to ‘bloom’ – for her vampiric powers to kick-in and her real training to begin.

Dru is not your regular teenage heroine. She’s rough around the edges; a jeans and T-shirt kinda gal who fights dirty, packs a punch and speaks her mind. She is brilliant! I think she’s a protagonist for teenagers to admire because she’s so imperfect. Dru is impulsive, mulish and wonderful to read.

A lot of the story is Dru just trying to cope. Trying to cope with her parent’s death, her impending ‘blooming’ of supernatural powers and the weight of responsibility that comes with being Svetocha. Dru isn’t your typical heroine for just those reasons – she was in the wrong place, at the wrong time and is trying to limit the fall-out. It makes her very relatable, despite her extreme circumstances; she’s still ultimately a teenager just trying to get through the day. I like that she’s more concerned with her right-hook than her looks, and that she doesn’t take crap from anybody – she’s willing to go toe-to-toe with the unstable boys at Schola and prove herself capable. She’s a YA heroine to admire and inspire, and I love her!

I also love the boys that hover on the periphery of Dru’s life; Christophe and Graves. Both are a little mysterious in this book, for different reasons. Graves is letting his wulfen emotions run rampant where Dru is concerned, and growling at anyone who looks at her funny. Christophe is tall, dark and heavy on mysterious – sneaking into Dru’s window at night and talking endlessly about her ‘potential’. Some big hints are dropped about Christophe in this book, whetting my appetite for future books.

“Hello, Dru.” His mouth curled up in a grin. I had forgotten how the planes and angles of his face all worked together, making him not handsome but just... right. How his eyebrows slanted up a little, and how his shaggy haircut looked expensive and relaxed all at once.
“Have you been a good girl? Your guardian angels wants to know.”

Also introduced in this book is a new, interesting character called Lady Anna - the only other Svetocha Dru has ever met. Anna is everything Dru doesn’t think she can be – beautiful, confident and she has all the Schola men wrapped around her little finger. This is one mysterious lady, and I have a feeling she’s going to play a big part in upcoming books.

This is a great YA Urban Fantasy series – it’s dark and hard-edged, a more sinister read for a younger audience who aren’t impressed by the genre’s cookie-cutter counterparts. If you like Richelle Mead’s ‘Vampire Academy’ then this series is for you.

5/5