Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Blood Like Magic

Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury

27 reviews

pagesofplatypus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

One of the best YA fantasy books I've read. With a lush, slightly futuristic world and rich magic system, Loselle Sambury crafts a pulse-pounding novel of magic, choice, and sacrifice.

Voya is a compelling protagonist with crippling indecision and immense care for her family. She's faced with an inpossible task and readers greatly sympathise with her conflict between saving her family and destroying her first love.

There are plenty of shocking twists that lead to a pretty satisfying ending, despite this being only book 1 of 2 there's no frustrating cliffhanger and it feels like it could be a standalone.

The famy dynamics are messy and strained but with loce and trust serving as the main conflict points. I really like how all the characters felt fully developed no matter how much page time they were given. Keis and Alex are standouts.

Part of the premise of learning to trust in yourself, what determines your worth, and what you're willing to do to protect your family remind me a bit of Encanto especially with the aspects of a large family, a Matriarch, fading magic/threat of loss of magic for the entire family, and magic being tied to a family house.

I definitely look forward to reading the sequel and highly recommend this as a teen/YA sci-fi/fantasy read.

Content Warnings

candacealise's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

likeagilmoregirl's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

Blood Like Magic is a high-stakes urban fantasy/sci-fi that explores themes of generational trauma, sacrifice, racism, and love.

Based in Canada, the story follows a young witch who is about to perform the task that will solidify her magic. However, her entire family is stunned when their ancestor gives her the seemingly impossible task to destroy her first love. Filled with clever twists, dynamic characters, and a refreshingly unique magic system, Blood Like Magic is a must read for any fan of urban fantasy.

The only downside to this book was the pacing. It did take me two attempts to get into this book as I would find myself interested in the story and characters, but was struggling with how slow or fast the story was progressing. I wish the pacing had a bit more stability. I’m hoping this is something I will see improve with the sequel.

This is a powerful book. The characters are diverse and strong, but the storyline delves into difficult topics around racism and generational trauma. Please review content warnings before reading.

Content Warnings

hecubatohim's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny 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

5.0

Content Warnings

tinysierra's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

“There’s something about lounging in a bath of blood that makes me want to stay until my fingers shrivel enough to show the outlines of my bones.” pg 1

I expected to fall in love with Blood like Magic. The synopsis was interesting and the first sentence hooked me. It’s got black witches and queer representation. Speaking of, I swear I’ve seen this book on asexual rec lists, but asexual and aromantic are two different things. It has an explicit demiromantic (meaning that they’re on the aromantic spectrum) side character. There is another character that does not seem to enjoy physical touch or kissing, but the word asexual is not used. Moving on, another thing that influenced me to read the book was the fact that the plot reminded me of Raybearer, which I really loved.

Maybe I set my expectations too high. I’m not sure. I originally decided to DNF this book because it was a bit repetitive and felt like nothing was really happening. After a few months, I picked it up again to see if it got better. I enjoyed the interactions we got to see between Luc and Voya. The way the plot was executed just didn’t do anything for me. I think the writing style was too… dense and long winded. The book felt too long. The pacing was not fast.

I’m disappointed because I also really loved the cover of this one and the sequel. I won’t be reading the second book.

Themes:

-Broken family

-importance of community

-importance of family ties

-connection to ancestors

-cooking

-sacrifice

-trust
-addiction
-poverty
-eating disorder briefly mentioned

Content Warnings

batmayne_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

The novel follows 16 yr old Voya, as she goes through trials of becoming a witch in a futuristic canada. I loved the family dynamic of everyone living together and being strongly connected with their ancestors. There is queer representation and a bit of romance. The novel mainly focuses on family and magic.

Content Warnings

_blueberry's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

This is a first book from an author and it unfortunately shows. This book was too long and tedious many parts and tell you things you'd rather be shown. If you'd cut out like a hundred pages, it'd still be the same story. The love interest is also quite boring yet I'm going to force myself to read the second one because the ending was pretty epic.

Content Warnings