Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport

65 reviews

citymouse's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, Death, Blood, Sexism, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Racial slurs and War

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

💬: "I’m a cadet. I’m nowhere close to his rank. I’m also so much more than that and good ol’ boy Radson decided to fuck with me on the right day. I smile at Radson while motioning him forward. Feeling the severe strain of my cheek muscles, I know I appear a little psycho."

Davenport, N. E.. The Blood Trials (The Blood Gift Duology Book 1) (p. 9). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, adult, 

📚Page Count: 453

🎧Audiobook Length: 18h 20min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5 
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The Blood Trials by N. E. Davenport is a sci fi/fantasy ADULT story about a Black woman 
who lives in a racist and misogynistic society who finds out her grandfather was murdered when she previously thought he died of natural causes. Ikenna is spending her last night as a cadet with friends when she privately gets the news, she instantly decides that she wants revenge. Joining The Praetorian Trials means that Ikenna can get close to the people who might have had a hand in her grandfathers death, so that's what she decides to do. She's sure that she cans survive the challenges, because she was trained by the best (her grandfather) and she has a secret blood gift to help her. Will Ikenna be able to survive the challenges while also figuring out who killed her grandfather? 

There were plenty of things I really liked about this book. I love how the main character made impulsive decisions, now these decisions weren't always the best ones but I felt as if the character's personality really shined through and it was consistent. I liked how Ikenna often remembered her grandfather and how she would think about what advice he might give her. The action scenes were really well described in this book. And although some of the twists in the story were predictable, the story was written well so it was still interesting when revealed. 

There was only one thing that I didn't like. I couldn't understand why the challenges were so hard, there were characters dying left and right and it felt like the Praetorians reasoning for the challenges being so hard didn't make sense. If no one survives your challenge then who actually wins? Literally no one, because the Praetorians wouldn't gain any new soldiers. There were so many people dying that it no longer became a shock when someone died, and it was no longer impactful. It ruined the immersion for me. Thankfully the story was written well so I was able to re-immerse myself back into the story a few chapters later.

There was one spicy scene, it was written well but I'm uninterested in spicy scenes between young adults. I'm giving the spicy scene a one chili 🌶️ out of five chilies.

Overall, this book was really good. There was so much I enjoyed and very little I disliked. The theme of this book is "revenge" and it really reminds me of "Iron Widow" by Xiran Jay Zhao and I gave that book a 5. This book definitely deserves a 5 as well. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on the library app [HooplaDigital.com]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Drug use, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, War, Child death, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racism, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

rae_bookmarkchronicles's review

adventurous challenging dark sad fast-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? Yes

4.5

This was surprisingly brutal in a good way. Very interesting, I was never bored even though the main character kept making assumptions about things that seemed obvious and I was able to predict some of the twists. Still had a good time though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Sexism

Moderate: Murder and Death

thenextbookdilemma's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Death of parent

kjanet's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

 

I think the main character flaw I can see with the main character was that she let her anger and frustration get the better of her. She was extremely head strong (which I loved), but there were some points in time where that anger, hurt, and frustration lead her toward a mistake. Regardless, I am extremely happy I finally read this book. I heard nothing but amazing things, yet it still took me so long to read it. The main saving grace is that both books are already out so I can dive head first into the next one!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racism, War, Sexism, Racial slurs, and Misogyny

yessicookie's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

A great fantasy scifi book with interesting characters and a relatable main character.
(some parts were a little bit predictable to me, however i did not mind bc there were some plot twists that even i couldn't predict)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Grief, Torture, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Slavery and Vomit

marinaaurelia's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, War, Confinement, Murder, and Cannibalism

amyalwaysbooked's review against another edition

dnf at about 50%

I wanted to love this book! It's gotten such high praise! Unfortunately, I just didn't like the main character. I have no problem with an angry protagonist, but they've got to be written well. Ikenna wasn't fleshed out enough and the supporting cast even less so. 

When I got about halfway through and wasn't enjoying myself I knew it was time to throw the towel in. Especially when

Ikenna and Reed suddenly develop the hots for each other just because she's naked. There is ZERO build-up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Racism, Murder, Death, and Sexism

emerentina's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Bullying, Murder, Torture, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexism, Body horror, Blood, Miscarriage, Death, Violence, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

lesliehirgelt's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexism, Racial slurs, Violence, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, and Cannibalism

Minor: Toxic friendship