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abby_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Slavery
Moderate: Racism, Addiction, and Eating disorder
Minor: Gun violence, Transphobia, and Police brutality
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.
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
Graphic: Racism, Death, Grief, Hate crime, and Slavery
Minor: Addiction, Eating disorder, Abandonment, and Drug abuse
eyeleash's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Death, Death of parent, and Addiction
Minor: Police brutality and Eating disorder
jennireadsmaybe's review
adventurous
dark
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
Liselle Sambury bends so many genres in Blood Like Magic. It's witchy, dark, urban fantasy with a little bit futuristic sci-fi thrown in. It's definitely the most unique fantasy book I've picked up in a while! The world-building is top tier and the atmosphere is a character in itself. I was in futuristic Canada right along side Voya.
Speaking of Voya, I love her so much! Liselle Sambury takes the chosen one trope and throws it on its head with Voya. From the start, she doesn't want to do what's asked of her. So much of this story is a love letter to proving people wrong. Voya comes into herself so beautifully in this first book, so I can't wait to see what the consequences are!
The romance between Voya and Luc is the perfect addition to the already high stakes. Was nobody going to tell me Luc is a trans boy love interest!! Safe to say, I was very pleasantly surprised when I found out. Their romance is sickeningly sweet in the best way!
Speaking of Voya, I love her so much! Liselle Sambury takes the chosen one trope and throws it on its head with Voya. From the start, she doesn't want to do what's asked of her. So much of this story is a love letter to proving people wrong. Voya comes into herself so beautifully in this first book, so I can't wait to see what the consequences are!
The romance between Voya and Luc is the perfect addition to the already high stakes. Was nobody going to tell me Luc is a trans boy love interest!! Safe to say, I was very pleasantly surprised when I found out. Their romance is sickeningly sweet in the best way!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Racism, Eating disorder, and Addiction
Minor: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Transphobia
candacealise's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Eating disorder
likeagilmoregirl's review
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.
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
Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Gun violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Eating disorder
There is at least two whipping scenes in this book related to slavery.emzhay's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I really really wanted to love this book. At the mid-point it was looking like 4 stars, then 3.5 but the ending really ruined things for me.
The characters were the highlight of the book for me from the beginning. I cared about literally everyone and wanted to know more about them. I liked how messy their relationships
were too. The plot, however, was way too drawn out. It could have been edited down. There was too much telling and not enough showing. There was so much repetition that could have been excluded, and so many details that were over explained at least 3 times sometimes in the same chapter. It made listening to the book such a chore especially toward the end.
I know this is a duology, but the ending is incredibly unsatisfying.
We’re told (many times) that Voya struggles with choices, but we never see her struggle with a choice that isn’t somehow related to the task which literally anyone would struggle with. Her major character flaw is that she’s never thinking about the right things. She only looks at the surface of a problem. So much of the book could’ve been avoided if she (or anyone in her family) had thought about things beyond like two steps. I know they’re dysfunctional, and I liked that about them, but eventually it made for a difficult reading experience
The characters were the highlight of the book for me from the beginning. I cared about literally everyone and wanted to know more about them. I liked how messy their relationships
were too. The plot, however, was way too drawn out. It could have been edited down. There was too much telling and not enough showing. There was so much repetition that could have been excluded, and so many details that were over explained at least 3 times sometimes in the same chapter. It made listening to the book such a chore especially toward the end.
I know this is a duology, but the ending is incredibly unsatisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Ableism and Grief
Minor: Addiction and Eating disorder
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Slavery, and Torture
Moderate: Racism, Eating disorder, and Addiction
Minor: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Gun violence, and Police brutality
therainbowshelf's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
If you're looking for a dark, witchy sci-fi fantasy centering a strong female protagonist, this might be a pick for you! I enjoyed it but I didn't love it. A few things didn't work for me, especially every characters' insistence that words without set meaning definitely have this one specific random interpretation that doesn't make a ton of sense. That part was just frustrating and was a major plot element.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Gore, Slavery, Racism, Transphobia, Murder, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Blood, Violence, Grief, and Torture
Moderate: Eating disorder
tinysierra's review against another edition
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
-addiction
-poverty
-eating disorder briefly mentioned
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Slavery, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Torture
Moderate: Drug abuse, Mass/school shootings, and Transphobia
Minor: Addiction, Eating disorder, and Vomit