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bookishbeth96's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Gore, Child abuse, and Self harm
vickymcckey's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Torture, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
Minor: Vomit
hollyk's review
- 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
This book is dark, like, really dark. But it's about child soldiers conscripted into an army, so that tracks. I feel like a lot of fantasy series have a similar aspect of teenagers in military, but Sloane actively pushes back against that, where a lot of other protagonists are relatively complacent. I also see some similarities to The Blood Trials in this one, but Blood Scion focuses more on the ancestry and oppression of Yorubas and Scions, whereas The Blood Trials is more sci-fi and political. Sloane is young, and it shows at times, but that's understandable--she's a child forced into conscription. She's not going to be the most successful recruit, and that makes her easy to root for. She's tough, smart, and keeps ahold of her humanity when the military leaders try to break her. There are so many twists and turns, and I didn't see the ending coming. The only questionable thing is (MASSIVE SPOILER)
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, War, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Murder, Sexual violence, Gore, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Vomit, and Animal death
erebus53's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Colonisation, Grief, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Classism
aklovekorn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Blood, Classism, Toxic friendship, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, and War
bookhookedheather's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Child abuse, Grief, Death, Gore, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Murder, and Rape
All these are in the context of colonizationbookishmikay's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Classism
Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
daja's review
Graphic: Grief, Blood, Child abuse, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Child death, Gore, Murder, Bullying, Colonisation, and Death
kiwi_00's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, Slavery, and War
librarybookscene's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Violence, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Self harm, Colonisation, Blood, and Classism