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avacadosocks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Misogyny, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content and Cannibalism
Minor: Death of parent and Murder
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
š¬: "Iām a cadet. Iām nowhere close to his rank. Iām also so much more than that and good olā 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.
šGenres: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, adult,
šPage Count: 453
š§Audiobook Length: 18h 20min
š©š¾āš«My Rating: āļøāļøāļøāļøāļø - 5/5
----
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 š¶ļø 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.
āļøāļøāļøāļøāļø - 5/5 Stars
I listened to this for free on the library app [HooplaDigital.com]
Davenport, N. E.. The Blood Trials (The Blood Gift Duology Book 1) (p. 9). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
šGenres: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, adult,
šPage Count: 453
š§Audiobook Length: 18h 20min
š©š¾āš«My Rating: āļøāļøāļøāļøāļø - 5/5
----
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 š¶ļø 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.
āļøāļøāļøāļøāļø - 5/5 Stars
I listened to this for free on the library app [HooplaDigital.com]
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Violence, and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent
dannie_xx's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Racism
dragonsheart8261920's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cannibalism, War, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs
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
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
blizzardthecoolwizard's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.75
This book was so good! The world building isn't too complicated, but just enough to make the conflicts/war interesting. The main character goes through a lot of personal growth and there are so many fantastic plot twists that make her question everything. I think my only complaint is that sometimes the main character does random out of pocket things that just don't make sense with her character growth or the story...but I'm hoping that I am just missing something. Other than that, it would be 5 stars! I can't wait to read the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent and Torture
Minor: Sexual content
msrae89's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to like this book and I was excited to read it, but, ultimately, this book just wasnāt for me.
Pros: -The book is pretty well written; it is a little repetitive at times but it makes sense within the narrative.
-The themes the book is exploring are really interesting and done in an unobtrusive way. What I mean by that is I never felt as if the book was preaching to me.
-The themes themselves were really interesting and interconnected with one another seamlessly. Racism, colonialism, military and military propaganda, sexism, classism, trauma, all work together to tell a very interesting story.
-The ending was engaging and set up the second book nicely.
However, thatās about where my enjoyment of the book ended.
Cons: The MC, Ikenna, is 19 and very traumatized, and while it makes sense for the narrative, I found it very repetitive and annoying. This might be, in part, bc Iām in my 30ās and I have an harder time relating to younger MCs. Though, really, I didnāt find any of the characters interesting or engaging. I couldnāt even ālove to hateā any of them.
-The book is oddly and aggressively compulsory heterosexual and cisgender. As far as I can tell queer people just donāt exist in the bookās universe, and as a queer person I prefer to read books with queer representation. Even just a passing statement that queer people exist would be more than this book has. Maybe they are in book 2 but after starting it I doubt it based on the little Iāve read so far.
-The āromanceā is just bad. First off, itās unethical. Reed is Ikennaās superior officer, which he acknowledges. Reed was also the mentee of Ikennaās deceased grandfather which creates a weird situation for them. It feels a little freudian. Also, Reed is boring! And all of this awkward tension leads to a sudden sex scene. Iām not here to yuck anyoneās yum, but this just wasnāt for me and I skipped it.
Overall it was a good idea with flat characters and dense story.
Pros: -The book is pretty well written; it is a little repetitive at times but it makes sense within the narrative.
-The themes the book is exploring are really interesting and done in an unobtrusive way. What I mean by that is I never felt as if the book was preaching to me.
-The themes themselves were really interesting and interconnected with one another seamlessly. Racism, colonialism, military and military propaganda, sexism, classism, trauma, all work together to tell a very interesting story.
-The ending was engaging and set up the second book nicely.
However, thatās about where my enjoyment of the book ended.
Cons: The MC, Ikenna, is 19 and very traumatized, and while it makes sense for the narrative, I found it very repetitive and annoying. This might be, in part, bc Iām in my 30ās and I have an harder time relating to younger MCs. Though, really, I didnāt find any of the characters interesting or engaging. I couldnāt even ālove to hateā any of them.
-The book is oddly and aggressively compulsory heterosexual and cisgender. As far as I can tell queer people just donāt exist in the bookās universe, and as a queer person I prefer to read books with queer representation. Even just a passing statement that queer people exist would be more than this book has. Maybe they are in book 2 but after starting it I doubt it based on the little Iāve read so far.
-The āromanceā is just bad. First off, itās unethical. Reed is Ikennaās superior officer, which he acknowledges. Reed was also the mentee of Ikennaās deceased grandfather which creates a weird situation for them. It feels a little freudian. Also, Reed is boring! And all of this awkward tension leads to a sudden sex scene. Iām not here to yuck anyoneās yum, but this just wasnāt for me and I skipped it.
Overall it was a good idea with flat characters and dense story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Classism, Violence, War, Blood, and Colonisation
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
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
cass_ward's review
This book details violence very vividly. I think the storyline is good, and the characters are very well written, but I canāt stomach the descriptions of mangling and death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Cannibalism, Blood, Murder, Body horror, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Racial slurs