Reviews with content warning for Child death - Blood Like Magic

I absolutely adored this book.

Between the wonderful focus on family, the amazing cast of characters, the interesting worldbuilding, and interesting exploration of choice and generational trauma.

I love Voya as a main character and her compassion comes through, although her initial indecision could be somewhat of a problem. I adored her relationship with her complicated relationship with her family. The author did a great job with building empathy for Voya and the stresses and mistreatment she at time faces from her family.

I also really liked Luc as a romantic interest and I adored him as trans Latino rep. I love the asshole who only likes one person kind of person and he hits that mark so well. I love the complicated relationship he has with his identity as a Latino boy and his sponsor.

I also loved how Voya's ancestors played a role in her growth and her involvement with her family.

The blend of sci-fi and fantasy was great and I love how well-integrated Toronto was into the story and worldbuilding. I liked the world as a whole and I thought it was well blended into the story. I like how contemporary issues were addressed in context of the future time period.

I love the full cast of side characters and I think quite a bit of the characters were given depth, especially other

I am intensely excited for the next book and I did ultimately like how the primary conflict was resolved in this book.

Content Warnings

foreverbookwandering's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

amivireads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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nova_quill's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I think that the main character constantly messing up was refreshing, and I love that cover and colors of the book are very bright and even the title is a little hearted and then open the book up to this dark world that only seems sunshine and rainbows on the outside, just the main theme of the book.

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bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

madarauchiha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️

The character voices are wonderful, and I love the sibling interaction. The magic system is so interesting and has variation to it, which makes it more compelling to hear. And oh thank god theres a trans black character. It is slow paced. This is a good story to settle into. You dont want to rush it.

I liked the variety of relationships that is shown in the novel. I think its compassionate to show teen readers there isn't only One True Love fairy tale relationships. especially towards young Black readers.

▪ “I should have never made you make that promise.”
“I’m going to—”
She shakes her head hard, braid whipping across her shoulders. “You’re a child. I’m an adult. Holding two lives in your hands is more responsibility than anyone should be given at sixteen.”
I swallow. My mouth opens to talk back, but I don’t have an argument. It is a lot. Too much.
“I take it back,” Priya says. “You are responsible for you. I am responsible for my daughter.”
“I won’t let Eden die.”

The morality these adult characters have is chefs kiss! Yes the MC is literally a child, yes the MC is being protected by adults because hello, she is a child!! Trope? Overthrown. Please welcome Liselle Sambury to the throne.

▪ The intersection of Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue is marked by the gigantic Dragon City mini mall on the corner made up of green tinted glass and masses of people. I rush out and wait for Granny outside. She steps out of the streetcar as the doors close and mumbles a thank-you.
I force down a laugh. Mom does the same thing when she gets off non-subway public transit. “You know it’s automated now, right? There isn’t any driver to thank.”
Granny shrugs. “Habit.”
It strikes me as being painfully Canadian to say thank you to the computer for dropping you off.

My heart... same. I think theres a decent balance of totally horrifying scenes and heartwarming ones.

The genetic match up thing IS a lil weird to me. But it gets resolved later in the plot if anyone is thinking it's another generic YA dystopia plot line a la a hunger games rip off.
I do like the way they scoot around swearing. It is a lil goofy but it's a ya novel, the characters are teens and it's pretty in universe to say hack instead of fuck.

This book was sickening and badass and stunning. I cannot sing Its praises loud enough.

content warnings:
minor anti black racism, blood, child death, child birth, emetophobia / vomit, medical scenarios, misgendering, murder, suicide, toxic relationships, unsanitary

medium ableism, addiction, alcohol use, blood, child abandonment, child abuse, domestic abuse, eating disorder, eugenics, gentrification, misogyny, slavery, torture, unsanitary, violence

major anti black racism, black slavery, body horror, child abuse, child death, classism, gore, gun violence, injuries, intrusive thoughts?, kidnapping, medical scenarios, menstruation, murder, poison, police brutality, spree killing, torture, unreality, unsanitary, misgendering?, context is genetic markers on government ids.,

major asphyxiation/lynching(?) scene,

context mc sees her sister being asphyxiated via hanging. the love interest is present and might be involved with the action. it doesn't seem racially motivated but she is a Black character so like. implications. it is a psychic vision and may not occur in actuality. The imagery of a Black person being hung to death may be upetting.

Content Warnings

spearly's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the e-ARC for review!

From the start of this, Mama Jova has wanted me to take control of my future and my choices. And this whole time I believed that I would make the wrong choice. Thats how it’s been with everything in my life. Ever decision was another chance to mess up.

I don’t know if this is the right one either. But it doesn’t matter.

It’s my choice, and I have to make it.

So I do.

When Voya Thomas, a young witch, fails her Calling, she begs her talker for another chance. And to her entire family’s surprise, she gets it. But the task seems impossible: to get her gift, Voya must destroy her first love, or else her entire family will lose their magic.

A strong 3.5 stars.

Fantasy and sci-fi are wonderfully blended in Liselle Sambury’s Blood Like Magic. Reading the blurb, I was initially worried this would be too similar to the Bone Grace series, but the novel was one of the most original and impressive fantasies I’ve read in a long time. I wasn’t expecting such an immersive, black mirror-esque component to the world building; Sambury’s sci-fi ideas were mildly uncanny, and I don’t doubt they’ll be part of our reality soon.

There was a diverse familial cast of characters, wherein everyone felt distinct and purposeful. Voya was an imperfect protagonist, riddled with self doubt, and tasked with an impossible calling that kept me guessing. And most excitedly, the book showcased a vast variety of cultures and backgrounds, and Toronto was the perfect setting for it all. I loved learning about Voya’s Trinidadian background, especially through her cooking, as well as the other witch families and their own histories. I also appreciated that, despite being set in the future, Sambury still addressed issues of race and bigotry that, like Voya mentioned, likely will take centuries more to dismantle. Similarly, I loved that social issues we are currently working through were near old news.

There were a few story-telling issues that brought me out of the book. Comprehensive world-building is so important, especially for such a unique story, but the novel was a bit slow to start. I’m also a bit torn on how I feel about Voya’s task, about Justin’s ideology, about the pure vs. impure magic concept. I won’t post any spoilers, but some reasoning felt a bit weak, and I couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough to let it slide.

That said, this is a strong debut and great for young adult fantasy and sci-fi lovers everywhere.

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