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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-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
I WILL SAY, I started reading this book an hour after midnight of New Year’s Day and..LO-AND-BEHOLD, I also got Covid from a friend. THAT SAID! The first couple of chapters for me were a major blur, and I say that with full honesty because I cannot -for the life of me- think straight when I’m sick. Probably why I’m giving this book 3.5 stars bc I had zero idea what was going on earlier. As the days went by and I was slowly-but-surely getting better, I managed to understand the boom more bit by bit.
Writing style was fine; it was fast paced and the plot was good. I wish the author explained a bit further on the nail aspect of the witches. Characters, overall, were great, but I feel like it was kind of…lackluster, on why a certain individual decided to go against said characters on their plans in saving the world. Like, why did they do it? I dunno…just because?
Percy was my absolute favorite character: he was comedic relief and also that wise sage we all didn’t expect. We all have a lil bit o’ Percy in us.
Anyway. Book gets a 3.5 stars out of 5 from me. Was good, but not rock me to my core excitement.
Writing style was fine; it was fast paced and the plot was good. I wish the author explained a bit further on the nail aspect of the witches. Characters, overall, were great, but I feel like it was kind of…lackluster, on why a certain individual decided to go against said characters on their plans in saving the world. Like, why did they do it? I dunno…just because?
Percy was my absolute favorite character: he was comedic relief and also that wise sage we all didn’t expect. We all have a lil bit o’ Percy in us.
Anyway. Book gets a 3.5 stars out of 5 from me. Was good, but not rock me to my core excitement.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, War
I like the Princess the most!!! Halfway through the book I thought it was over but I had 7 hours left!!!
As a Jewish person who has done a lot of research on antisemitic propaganda, I wanted to read this book and comment on the discussions about blood libel in the story. I got this book from my library so as to not support the author. My personal opinion on this book does not cancel out other Jewish people’s concerns. We do not all have the same views and that’s okay.
Blood libel is the COMPLETELY WRONG idea that Jewish people throughout the ages have killed non-Jewish children to use their blood in Satanic rituals, along with putting the blood or bits of the children in their food, particularly for Passover. This was often said to be part of a Jewish agenda to “take over the world,” a sentiment commonly used by Hitler to stir up hatred of Jewish people leading up to WWII.
tl;dr - I don't believe this can be compared to blood libel.
Here's why:
1. In anti-Jewish propaganda, all Jewish people are considered evil. In this book, the blood witches aren't said to be evil. The narrator and protagonist, Ranka, is a blood witch. While there is witch-hating in the story and those that believe witches are evil, it's not specific to blood witches. In general, there's mixed morality on the sides of both humans and witches. One group is not painted as bad while the other good.
2. The magic in this book is about death, not blood. My understanding is that the blood witches in this story are named so because magic runs through their veins. Their desire to kill has to do with death itself, not blood. Blood isn't ever really the focus.
3. The blood witches killing people doesn't have anything to do with spreading a specific agenda. Most of the time, the blood witches can't help it and it's more like a "thirst" that needs to be quenched, or called upon in times of trouble. In antisemitic propaganda, Jewish people were accused of killing children and using their blood in rituals to further their own power. While there are witches in this book that care about power, they're portrayed as the villains, not the heroes.
I would say that the way a story like this could be antisemitic is if there was one group who practiced blood magic and were painted as overwhelmingly power-hungry and evil. That just isn't the case here.
I’ve seen in several different books that any sort of blood magic is compared to blood libel, and I don’t agree. As long as the book isn’t perpetuating harmful stereotypes of a group of people who are coded as Jews, I don’t think that blood magic is inherently antisemitic. These comparisons truthfully bother me, as I don’t understand why any sort of characters who deal in blood and death are immediately called out as a group who could be coded as Jews.
Dahlia Adler tweeted, "In general the amount of 'This is antisemitic!!' I’ve seen going around about stuff that patently is not is uhhh disconcerting? Because I know you mean well but all it tells me is you associate us with even more terrible stuff than the baseline." I completely agree.
As far as concerns about racist dynamics go, I'm white and therefore won't comment. However, I encourage you to read reviews from POC reviewers on both sides that go in-depth and cite evidence using the story.
Blood libel is the COMPLETELY WRONG idea that Jewish people throughout the ages have killed non-Jewish children to use their blood in Satanic rituals, along with putting the blood or bits of the children in their food, particularly for Passover. This was often said to be part of a Jewish agenda to “take over the world,” a sentiment commonly used by Hitler to stir up hatred of Jewish people leading up to WWII.
tl;dr - I don't believe this can be compared to blood libel.
Here's why:
1. In anti-Jewish propaganda, all Jewish people are considered evil. In this book, the blood witches aren't said to be evil. The narrator and protagonist, Ranka, is a blood witch. While there is witch-hating in the story and those that believe witches are evil, it's not specific to blood witches. In general, there's mixed morality on the sides of both humans and witches. One group is not painted as bad while the other good.
2. The magic in this book is about death, not blood. My understanding is that the blood witches in this story are named so because magic runs through their veins. Their desire to kill has to do with death itself, not blood. Blood isn't ever really the focus.
3. The blood witches killing people doesn't have anything to do with spreading a specific agenda. Most of the time, the blood witches can't help it and it's more like a "thirst" that needs to be quenched, or called upon in times of trouble. In antisemitic propaganda, Jewish people were accused of killing children and using their blood in rituals to further their own power. While there are witches in this book that care about power, they're portrayed as the villains, not the heroes.
I would say that the way a story like this could be antisemitic is if there was one group who practiced blood magic and were painted as overwhelmingly power-hungry and evil. That just isn't the case here.
I’ve seen in several different books that any sort of blood magic is compared to blood libel, and I don’t agree. As long as the book isn’t perpetuating harmful stereotypes of a group of people who are coded as Jews, I don’t think that blood magic is inherently antisemitic. These comparisons truthfully bother me, as I don’t understand why any sort of characters who deal in blood and death are immediately called out as a group who could be coded as Jews.
Dahlia Adler tweeted, "In general the amount of 'This is antisemitic!!' I’ve seen going around about stuff that patently is not is uhhh disconcerting? Because I know you mean well but all it tells me is you associate us with even more terrible stuff than the baseline." I completely agree.
As far as concerns about racist dynamics go, I'm white and therefore won't comment. However, I encourage you to read reviews from POC reviewers on both sides that go in-depth and cite evidence using the story.
Refreshing to read a non-typical hero story. I like Ranka and her journey to finding herself. I loved that she - while definitely overpowered when her blood magic kicks in - is still not the overpowered hero who just slashed her way to victory but fights with her conscience and her own monsters.
It was a bit foreseeable that Fildrey was the bad guy but that was okay. The remaining Story in my opinion was greatly written and not foreseeable fully. Good book, good story, would like to read more from the author.
It was a bit foreseeable that Fildrey was the bad guy but that was okay. The remaining Story in my opinion was greatly written and not foreseeable fully. Good book, good story, would like to read more from the author.
—3 stars—
“My strength is not owed to the wounds you gave me, but my willingness to let them scar.”
————about the book————
Age: YA
Genres: Fantasy, Witches,
Cliffhanger: no
Writing: 6/10
Quotes: 7/10
World building: 6/10
Characters: 6/10 (all for Percy)
Romance: 5/10
My rating: 6/10
⚠️TRIGGER WARNINGS⚠️: abuse (emotional and physical abuse from a parent & sibling), human experimentation, death by burning, child death, etc.
‼️spoilers below‼️
———my thoughts———
When Ranka is named Bloodwinn, the next treaty bride to the kingdom of Isodal, her coven sends her with one order: kill the prince.
Except, Ranka is tired of death, and living at the palace, she grows closer to both the prince—Galen—and his wickedly smart and devastatingly beautiful sister, Aramis.
But when witches begin turning up dead, murdered by a magical plague, Ranka, Galen and Aramis must find a cure, and fast...
When a girl has an entire goodreads shelf dedicated to witches, you can safely assume she likes them.
And I do.
I was excited about this for a few reasons, the witches, the cover, and the quotes on the cover.
I was slightly deceived.
I’m not saying this was a bad book, but it definitely wasn’t my favourite.
The quotes remained the best part of this book (except for the epilogue), powerful, and just simply pretty.
Now, perhaps because this is a debut, the writing felt a little clunky—it went from those beautiful quotes to the characters talking like 21-century teenagers! I don’t mind modern dialogue in some fantasy novels, but it just felt out of place in this world! I can’t quite imagine a courtier in a castle saying “like, ever.” and “congrats!”, but apparently they do...this is just me being picky though, the rest of the writing was quite engaging, and fairly quick and fun to read.
One thing I really liked was how different Ranka is from the witch stereotype, she’s blonde, muscular, and tall—she’s 6’2!
Ranka herself was an interesting character, but I felt like she was very naive and a little too caring? I was expecting her to be ruthless and morally grey, but she’s not at all.
Honestly, all the characters felt too young—they’re seventeen, but they felt even younger than that!
My favourite character was Percy—he was sarcastic and witty, and I loved it!
For the romance, STEP ASIDE MISCOMMUNICATION, here we have, to quote Percy, “the commutation skills of a dead fish.” I mean, why would you need to communicate at all? Why talk to your girlfriend? The girlfriend you kind of betrayed?
While Aramis and Ranka were sweet yes, I just couldn’t connect with them and much preferred Percy and Galen’s cute little flirtation!
All in all, while this book had quite a few flaws, it was an engaging read and I enjoyed it.
———characters ———
Ranka: loyal and brave, she’s sweet and afraid of her own power.
Aramis: smart and caring, I think if we’d had her POV too, I would have liked it more...bcos she’s pretty amazing!
Percy: sarcastic and witty, I LOVE HIM SO MUCHHHHH! The best characterrrrr
Galen: shy and quiet, he’s very sweet and I would GREATLY enjoy a book about his and Percy’s adventures!
————quotes————
“To be born a witch is to be born afraid.”
“Letting someone go doesn’t mean you stop loving them. It just means you’re giving yourself permission to keep living.”
”Would you choose me, still?
Would you throw it all away, for a monster of a girl?”
“She was so tired of failing. Of letting the ones she was meant to save burn or die.”
“Out here, she was no one. Out here, she was free.”
———random extra thoughts———
Tbh that epilogue made it a 3...so cute!
Thanks for reading!❤️
“My strength is not owed to the wounds you gave me, but my willingness to let them scar.”
————about the book————
Age: YA
Genres: Fantasy, Witches,
Cliffhanger: no
Writing: 6/10
Quotes: 7/10
World building: 6/10
Characters: 6/10 (all for Percy)
Romance: 5/10
My rating: 6/10
⚠️TRIGGER WARNINGS⚠️: abuse (emotional and physical abuse from a parent & sibling), human experimentation, death by burning, child death, etc.
‼️spoilers below‼️
———my thoughts———
When Ranka is named Bloodwinn, the next treaty bride to the kingdom of Isodal, her coven sends her with one order: kill the prince.
Except, Ranka is tired of death, and living at the palace, she grows closer to both the prince—Galen—and his wickedly smart and devastatingly beautiful sister, Aramis.
But when witches begin turning up dead, murdered by a magical plague, Ranka, Galen and Aramis must find a cure, and fast...
When a girl has an entire goodreads shelf dedicated to witches, you can safely assume she likes them.
And I do.
I was excited about this for a few reasons, the witches, the cover, and the quotes on the cover.
I was slightly deceived.
I’m not saying this was a bad book, but it definitely wasn’t my favourite.
The quotes remained the best part of this book (except for the epilogue), powerful, and just simply pretty.
Now, perhaps because this is a debut, the writing felt a little clunky—it went from those beautiful quotes to the characters talking like 21-century teenagers! I don’t mind modern dialogue in some fantasy novels, but it just felt out of place in this world! I can’t quite imagine a courtier in a castle saying “like, ever.” and “congrats!”, but apparently they do...this is just me being picky though, the rest of the writing was quite engaging, and fairly quick and fun to read.
One thing I really liked was how different Ranka is from the witch stereotype, she’s blonde, muscular, and tall—she’s 6’2!
Ranka herself was an interesting character, but I felt like she was very naive and a little too caring? I was expecting her to be ruthless and morally grey, but she’s not at all.
Honestly, all the characters felt too young—they’re seventeen, but they felt even younger than that!
My favourite character was Percy—he was sarcastic and witty, and I loved it!
For the romance, STEP ASIDE MISCOMMUNICATION, here we have, to quote Percy, “the commutation skills of a dead fish.” I mean, why would you need to communicate at all? Why talk to your girlfriend? The girlfriend you kind of betrayed?
While Aramis and Ranka were sweet yes, I just couldn’t connect with them and much preferred Percy and Galen’s cute little flirtation!
All in all, while this book had quite a few flaws, it was an engaging read and I enjoyed it.
———characters ———
Ranka: loyal and brave, she’s sweet and afraid of her own power.
Aramis: smart and caring, I think if we’d had her POV too, I would have liked it more...bcos she’s pretty amazing!
Percy: sarcastic and witty, I LOVE HIM SO MUCHHHHH! The best characterrrrr
Galen: shy and quiet, he’s very sweet and I would GREATLY enjoy a book about his and Percy’s adventures!
————quotes————
“To be born a witch is to be born afraid.”
“Letting someone go doesn’t mean you stop loving them. It just means you’re giving yourself permission to keep living.”
”Would you choose me, still?
Would you throw it all away, for a monster of a girl?”
“She was so tired of failing. Of letting the ones she was meant to save burn or die.”
“Out here, she was no one. Out here, she was free.”
———random extra thoughts———
Tbh that epilogue made it a 3...so cute!
Thanks for reading!❤️
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
adventurous
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
My full review can be found on the Epilie Aspie Chick blog!
I saw this one in the bookstore and the cover caught my eye. The description of the story only further intrigued me. The length concerned me, but I went for it anyways. Now having read it, I definitely think it was worth it, but I wonder if it would have been better as a duology instead.
I saw this one in the bookstore and the cover caught my eye. The description of the story only further intrigued me. The length concerned me, but I went for it anyways. Now having read it, I definitely think it was worth it, but I wonder if it would have been better as a duology instead.
Hilariously, the Ones we Burn is also a slow burn. We see Rebecca using Ranka's witch powers as a way of explaining/addressing trauma, an arranged marriage turning into falling for the prince's older sister, being caught in politics, and a pretty solid fantasy world. This feels like it'll be able to stand on its own, and as far as I'm aware, it's a one shot, which accounts for how long it is. However: huh, that is absolutely black people leading medical experimentation on and oppression of white people (most of the witches were described as white) and coding the witches as Jewish and using antisemitic tropes were kind of... yeah. Yikes.