You can also find my review at my blog, The Bookaholic: http://the-bookaholic.blogspot.com 
 I haven't read a great historical, thrilling mystery since The Da Vinci Code. Sure, I've read some good ones- some I'd recommend- but absolutely brilliant, fantastic, hold-your-breath and put you on the edge of your seat type story that may have even put Mr. Dan Brown to shame? No. Not until I picked up The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman. This was YA, too, and by the time I finished reading, I was smiling like an idiot... As if I had found a lost treasure among a mysterious city that I had magically been transported to. And I'd like to make a small note before I continue, I was in no way trying to put down The Da Vinci Code. I really enjoyed that book when I had first read it, too. But I liked this one much better if you had to make me choose. 
 How often does a reader get to sit down a say, "I've discovered something magical"? I know I don't get to do this very much. I've had the most wonderful reading year, finding some great reads along the way and proudly saying that I haven't had too many disappointments. Now I sit here also proclaiming that I've found one of the best upcoming 2012 compelling masterpieces that you really do not want to miss given the chance. 
 I was instantly hooked from the first page and stayed engaged until the last-- not once wanting to stray from the story, and always wanting to know more about the magnificent characters and amazing history that Robin Wasserman created. I was driven by a number of emotions: sorrow, shock, tenderness, happiness, anger... and the twists and turns kept me constant on my toes, begging me to always keeping the pages turning. The mystery was believable. The horror was awful (not meant in a bad way). And the details were immaculate but not so overdone that you were left with your own imagination, too. I felt an attachment through it all. When the end came, I still wanted more. 
 I must read more of Wasserman's writing now. 
 Treasure hunting, history, foreign locations, romance, mystery, suspense.... This has it all. 
 I don't give this rating too often, but The Book of Blood and Shadow certainly deserves it: 
 5 stars! 
 <3 
 Pixie