Scan barcode
bookish_hollyx's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
Minor: Sexual assault
pernrider's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: War, Physical abuse, Death, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault, Child death, and Pregnancy
thereadingmarshmallow's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Gore, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Colonisation, Infidelity, Medical content, Sexual harassment, War, Grief, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Slavery, Vomit, Violence, and Genocide
metaphorsandmisc's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Death, Torture, Racism, Confinement, and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, War, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Rape
makoto_briar's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Classism and Slavery
Minor: Physical abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Confinement, and Trafficking
rhi_'s review
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Moderate: Slavery and Racial slurs
Minor: Confinement, Rape, and Sexual violence
roseleebooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I loved how strong a person Dèmi is in this story. She is powerful and holds to her identity and ideals. A really wonderful MC to follow and I'm looking forward to seeing how she grows in the next book.
The pace of this book is very fast, and I found myself wishing for some more internal dialogue or reflection to help me frame the information. There is one particular chapter in which there are several reveals about multiple characters and I had to reread it and review a previous chapter to understand what was going on. There was a little more explanation/review of that information later in the book which I appreciated, but it would have been helpful closer to the events as well. I also felt the relationship/love interest subplot could have been developed more, but suspect this will be explored in the next book.
Although there were some things I thought could have been developed more, the world building, main character, and setup for the next book were all well done and I'll be looking forward to reading the rest of the story.
Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Death, Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Rape
honeycupreads's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Colonisation, and Violence
Moderate: Slavery, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault
bettysbookishworld's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Forged by Blood is a fantasy debut novel isnpired by Nigerian mythology. The mythology is what intrigued me about reading it and it delivered on this front. I enjoyed all the folklore and how it got effortlessly woven into the magic system and the worldbuilding. The story even takes part in a Spirit Realm, which was my favourite part of the book and the most interesting one, too. If this is the reason why you got interested in the book, too, the author does a great job with that and definitely try reading it.
However, I could tell this is a debut novel. The story was missing some sort of nuance. I feel like everything was happening at once without any room for a reader to actually get connected to the story and characters. Events were rushed, plot points got resolved too quickly and characters didn't have much time to actually develop further. It's also supposed to be an adult fantasy, however, the characters and their reactions felt very juvenile. There was also a romance aspect to the book, which consisted of tropes I don't enjoy. I think the love "triangle" was unnecessary when having fated mates/souls, because of its predictability.
I really wanted to enjoy this story, but it just didn't work for me at all. On more positive note, I definitely want to read more fantasy inspired by African mythology and folklore, as I loved it in this book.
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Slavery, Genocide, Colonisation, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: War and Suicide
Minor: Pregnancy and Rape
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Thank you to Ehigbor for a free physical proof! (Sorry I didn't get around to this for so long 😭)
I absolutely adored this world! It's so rich and well described, it really does feel alive.
I'll try not to go too deep into this synopsis as it's best to kinda just go into it. Its pretty fast to get into the main story beats and it doesn't dawdle. Essentially Dèmi and her mother live alone, her father is dead and they live in a world ruled by colonisers who kill or enslave any magic user (rightful owners of the land) that's found. Unfortunately, both Dèmi and her mother have magic. When tragedy strikes and her life is splintered even further, she takes up the task of attempting to change the fate of the lands and her people.
I loved Dèmi as a character a lot. She strong, but fallible - though it does fall kinda into the trope of the female MC needing to lean a lot on the male love interests (alongside a love right-angle). I did get a tad confused at the cast for a bit, there's so many background characters that's given a decent chunk of info each that for my brain wasn't sticking too well in my memory.
The world building is "book 1" world building, there's a ton of questions but a very good base has been made. It's creative, vibrant and full of life. I can't wait for the next book to learn more about the world, the magic system and how it'll all come together!!
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Genocide, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Slavery
Moderate: Death and Confinement
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape