Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

24 reviews

kiwi_00's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

dionnesims's review

adventurous dark sad tense medium-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? No

4.25

If you're into Yoruba Mythology, I think this is the darkest YA within the mythology that I've read yet. I thoroughly enjoyed the massive twists at the end (thank god, because otherwise it would have felt predictable) and can't wait for the second book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Violence, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Slavery, and War

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

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

kaseybereading's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Torture, War, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual assault

2treads's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Torture

gem114's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

Damn. There's a warning at the beginning of this book that while the story itself is fiction the experiences of the characters are based on the real experiences of child soldiers, and Falaye doesn't hold back. This book is dark.  Many of the scenes are hard to read because the content is brutal. Still, Falaye does an amazing job packaging these hard truths in a way that pushes readers to grapple with them and keep reading rather than turning away.

This book reminded me a lot of Children of Blood and Bone since that's the only other book I've read that is based in the same mythology, but Falaye does a better job at developing complex, morally gray characters. Sloane is a great main character. She's a strong young woman with badass ancestral magic taking on an oppressive monarchy while struggling to balance her own humanity with her survival instincts. 

The whole book is a roller coaster, but the last 50 pages or so are absolutely wild. So much happens. Almost too much. Definitely too much given the number of questions I still have and the fact that the next book isn't out yet. This is me impatiently waiting for a sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, War, Death of parent, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Gun violence, and Child abuse

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Terminal illness