Romantasy• YA

Review: Blood of Silver by Allie Nguyen

November 10, 2026

Synopsis:

Linh’s mother was just buried this morning. At the funeral, Linh is visited by a strange boy who hints at secrets to her mother’s past. Desperate to learn more, Linh is thrust into another world – Ebrirene, a realm governed by ancient magics – where the mysterious boy, Elior, happens to be Crown Prince.

Here, Linh learns that the kingdom is under attack by vicious demons who threaten to break free from a portal her mother sealed years ago, and the Crown believes Linh possesses the power to seal it once more. But not everyone in Ebrirene wishes Linh well. Someone enters Linh in a deadly Tournament against her will, and a mysterious Captain, leader of the mage hunters, is determined to seek her out. Now Linh must fight for her own survival or surrender to the monsters that might be closer to her than she thinks.

Review:

This one starts off with a tragic event as Linh meets a stranger at her mother’s funeral. It quickly turns out that some of the things her mother told her were not just about them being connected in a unique way, but that she is actually from another world. In that world, her mother was a very important person, and Linh’s return marks the beginning of a unique journey.

Linh always felt like she never truly belonged. She kept to herself, felt alone, and when she learned that her mother had been keeping things from her, everything suddenly started to make sense. It finally allowed her to become the person she was always meant to be, and I enjoyed following her journey throughout the book. Watching her learn not only to trust herself but also to let other people in (especially when not everyone gave her a warm welcome) was what I liked most about the story.

Having powers and dealing with other people’s expectations felt overwhelming at times, and her inability to master those powers straight away led to some strange situations, some of them dangerous. That made her character arc even more relatable to me. And having a cute prince by her side, someone she feels drawn to but cannot be with, added exactly the romantic element I wanted to see.

It took me a little while to get into the story, though, as some of the dialogue did not fully resonate with me at first. However, it got better and better as the story progressed, and by the halfway mark, I was completely immersed.

This one gave me everything I was looking for, and I appreciated the author incorporating elements of her Vietnamese culture into the book.

🌙 Recension: Blood of Silver (Gilded Moon #1) by Allie Nguyen
📚 Genre: Romantasy, YA
📅 Release Date: November 10, 2026
📖 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s UK
📱 Read as: Kindle
📗 available in various formats
💸 I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 448
⭐️ 4/5