Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Blood Scion

This was a really difficult book to review and decide a rating on. Considering the topic, it is not a book you ENJOY, it is far too dark for that -but it is masterfully written. This is a no holds barred look into the child soldier issue we face in both our past and present on Earth, through a SFF lense. No details are spared about the brutality of the situations Sloane faces or the decisions she has to make to ensure her own survival. These things do not happen off the page, they are described in detail leaving almost nothing to the imagination of these horrors. I think it is an important book, especially for the young adult population if they are up to reading something so dark at their age. It allows readers to get an idea of the horrors happening in our societey around the globe and develop empathy, understanding, and (hopefully) a sense of reponsibilty to help change the world we live in for the better. The novel may be a work of fantasy, but the horrors are something very real faced by children in many places today. Its imperative that people care about our world and that they start caring at a younger age than the generations before us did. I would reccomend that anyone capable of reading violence take a look at this, and if you are not sure if you are capable, to try digesting this in smaller chunks. It contains lessons on the lasting impact of cultural appropriation, colonialism, and so much more than that, if you can stomach the content of the book to approach it from a learning standpoint.

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hapennybooks's review

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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kirstenf's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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erebus53's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I really wanted to love this but maybe it's just the mood I am in?.. I found it dragged a lot.

Raised as a child with Orisha blood, Sloane has been suppressed all her life. She has the power to make flames with her body and when it first got loose she caused a village fire that killed people, and that was very hard on her as she was only 4. She has been raised personally oppressed, and also culturally has been on a cusp, with her mother both attempting to hide who she is to avoid the colonists' genocide of their people, and also to raise her with pride and self-worth. This should have had me hooked as it is a very real and relatable struggle.

With my personal Neurodiversity perspective, I couldn't help but feel that the medicine that Sloane takes to suppress her àṣẹ (ashe) feels a bit like an analogy for Ritalin/Adderall, especially the way that she describes how it makes the background noise in her head go away. One of my dear friends has described her first experiences of having A.D.D. medicated in almost the exact same terms. My personal opinion on this (at this stage in my understandings of neurological difference) is that people who have difficulty regulating their own power, or mind, in ways that interfere with their ability to function can gain much from having the access to <b>many different tools</B> for externally regulating the problematic influences of their difference. Sloane learns to let her powers loose in ways that she wants to use them rather than just continually trying to repress her urges, along with other methods of tamping herself down with medication and ritual.

I was a little frustrated by the way that the main characters seemed to miss what was going on a lot of the time - there was a lot of misdirection caused by the main players jumping to conclusions. As a reader I could see where the plot was angling, which probably added to my frustration because it took AAAges for the characters to cotton on. The way that love was dealt with was a little stifled by the brutal indignities of the military regimen. Tropes abound, as the children drafted into war are trained in HungerGames-esque Kill or Be Killed style. How many times do you need to traumatise a person to get them to comply with brainwashing? And does it even work? I remain unconvinced.

As a self-confessed sucker for prophesy, I did enjoy the seer glimpses into the future provided by the Orisha early in the story. Only one part of the prophecy was really clear, but a couple of clues that were in it left me unshocked by revelations at the end of the book. There were some fun twists that I didn't really see coming, but I think due to the obvious mortality of the characters introduced and killed off earlier in the story, I had perhaps not invested enough in any of them to feel like it was really resonant? Perhaps that was the main problem for me. When the going is really hard, I just switch off and refuse to empathise with the characters, because they might be dead in a minute.

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samjdoe's review

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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dragonwriter's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This story was powerful but miserable. It’s not something I can casually recommend because what little light and hope there was was always squashed. Though I found Solange sympathetic, acknowledging that she was in a rough situation I could NEVER imagine facing, I can’t say she’s someone I admire or even like. She killed too many of her own people.

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