Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

22 reviews

fictionaladventures's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This was not at all what I expected, and at first that threw me off, but I did get more into it as I read. I was expecting a high fantasy, and instead this was a fantasy set in a world very like our own, with guns and airplanes and stuff, and it was way more military-based than I expected. It’s inspired by real-life horrors endured by child soldiers, so it can be incredibly hard to read. It’s definitely not one you read for enjoyment, but it was powerful and brutal and made me furious that anything like this could possibly happen in our world. The stakes were high and things always got worse than I thought they possibly could. I’d recommend this to fans of Children of Blood and Bone and The Gilded Ones. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Child abuse, War, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual assault

clairew97's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, War, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Child death, Blood, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Death, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, and Genocide

marareading's review

challenging dark sad 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

This book is a ride! Sloane is a fantastic MC. This is a book that I truly had to trust the flow. The stakes felt confusing at first. I had so many questions. All my questions came together and the magic is amazing! I was blown away at this story. It definitely tackles some intense subject matter (which the author addresses in CW/TW at the beginning) in child soldiers among others. The plot started to pick up for me after about halfway through. 

Sloane is a Scion. She was given power as a descent of the ancient Orisha Gods. She is now a child soldier and hiding among the enemy. She wants information, and she is just trying to survive.  The plot thickens as she learns more and more about this enemy from within. She learns more about this world she is fighting to protect, and the lives of those she is fighting with and is pitted against at the same time. 

This book is absolutely brutal, and also amazing. I will be waiting for the sequel. It is an amazing story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and War

sunrae_booknook's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

This book came with the trigger warning but it did not let you take a second away from them. It was a very dark and hard read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Torture, War, Blood, Bullying, Gaslighting, Genocide, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Gore, and Hate crime

bookish_paws's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Child death, Blood, War, Torture, and Racism

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Death of parent

bookwormbullet's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Death, Genocide, Murder, War, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

bookishflower's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

I really wanted to like this, but I think it was just not my thing as I found it quite triggering. (This is my own fault for not knowing reading this book would not be good for me personally). 
However, this book has my total respect and there is no doubt that this is a rich world that will be so meaningful to other readers. You can tell the sheer amount of research that Falaye put into this book, how the topic of child soldiers was handled brutally beautifully. 
However, I was just not mentally prepared enough for the unrelenting and hard-hitting reality built into Blood Scion. I’d strongly advise checking the trigger warnings. I feel this book should be approached with the same discretion as The Poppy War which I have avoided but respected from a distance for this very reason. 
I’m glad I read Blood Scion because of Fairyloot and the read your own adventure read-a-thon, but I don’t think I will read this book again (at least not for a while).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, War, and Xenophobia

ashleyrunswild's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This book was excellently written. The story is really well done as well. However, this is also one of the most painful and gut wrenching books I have ever read, and I don’t mean that as a criticism of the book at all. But definitely read the content warnings, and know what you are going into. This book deals with a lot of triggers, including but not limited to: child soldiers, sexual abuse/rape, death of a parent, death of other friends and loved ones, being forced to kill, genocide, death of children, etc. You have been warned. That said, it was a very well written and engrossing story, and I definitely want to read the next one when it comes out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child abuse, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and War

cait_reads2024's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

This book was incredibly intense and quite dark at time. Take the author's warning note at the beginning seriously. But MAN, this was absolutely incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Gore, and Child death

azrah786's review

dark

4.25

 [This review can also be found on my BLOG]

**I received a proof copy from Harper360YA in exchange for an honest review**

CW: violence, gun violence, blood, gore, injury, death, child death, death of parent, grief, murder, torture, war, genocide, rape/sexual assault, fire, emotional abuse, racism, cultural appropriation
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This book is intense, it is dark and it is one hell of an addictive debut.

Blood Scion is a story inspired by Yoruba-Nigerian mythology following a child soldier, Sloane as she is forcibly conscripted into the army of a colonist regime known as the Lucis. They have occupied the continent Nagea after slaughtering many of its native people and have a particular animosity towards those known as Scions, descendants from the Orisha gods who have been gifted some of their magic.

Sloane, who is a Scion herself, manages to hide her identity and slip under their radar when she is drafted and is determined to uncover records on her mother’s disappearance, which she is sure the Lucis, are behind. It also provides her with the opportunity to bring the Lucis down from within but as she fights to survive, each day comes with the threat of her losing more and more of her humanity.

"When I was a child, Momma always taught me to fight for those too weak to raise their fists. Scream for those too afraid to find their voice. And stand for those too tired to rise on their feet."

Falaye’s writing immediately draws you into to a world and a story that reads like the perfect blend of An Ember in the Ashes and The Hunger Games - both big favourites of mine and if you loved any or both of those series you'll really enjoy this book too - but also brings something totally new to the YA genre. Not only are we introduced to elements of Yoruba-Nigerian culture and lore (which I really hope is further expanded on in the sequel along with the magic) but we are pulled along on a storyline that meticulously explores the brutal realities of war, colonialism and the cost of survival.

Sloane is a fierce and strong-willed protagonist and like pretty much everyone in this book doesn’t make the most moral of decisions throughout the story, but you can’t help but root for her.

My favourite aspect of the book has got to be the relationships and alliances that form between the various characters. Not only were the supporting characters fleshed out really well but by using that air of mistrust and reluctance that floated around Sloane and her fellow recruits, Falaye carefully shaped some really interesting dynamics between them all that really invests you with their stories too.

"Sometimes, you have to walk in the dark before you can see the light."

The only real issue I had with the book was the age of the characters or more so how often we were reminded of Sloane being 15 years old. The themes within this book and just how deeply they were being explored are definitely more characteristic of the adult fantasy genre and I’m not trying to say that they can’t be used in YA. It’s just that the way the characters were written made them feel older that being reminded of the ages on page threw me off at times - it felt as though it was constantly being pointed out as a way to box the book in as YA more than anything else.

All that aside I really enjoyed this one and though I’ll admit I did see some of the reveals coming, the ending was such a gripping set up for book 2 and I can’t wait!

If you like morally grey characters, twisty storylines with intriguing magic and high stakes then this book is for you.
Final Rating – 4.25/5 Stars 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Genocide, Sexual assault, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Rape, Child death, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Cultural appropriation