Reviews with content warning for Death - Bloodmarked

I love this book, I love this series, and I love everything about it. The characters, the plot, the magic, the world, all of it. I cannot wait until book 3!

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pgmoon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring

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

4.5

4.5 stars!

WOW. This book really upped the ante from the first. I feel every aspect was done with care: the story, the worldbuilding, and the characters.

By far my favorite part of the book was Bree's growth with her magic and her character. The magic system in this is really inventive and interesting. As the main character is a WOC, the struggles she goes through specifically are so impactful and emotional.

The scene when she is confronted by the Regents about their true plan truly brought me to tears. I was rooting for Bree everytime she spoke her mind!

Additionally, the small complaint I had in this book about some characters not getting development got remedied; by focusing on fewer characters, we got to know the select few much more.

I ADORE Alice and am literally waiting on the edge of my seat after her story ended. Nicholas, despite not being in it much, has a little character development, and of course, the relationship between Selwyn and Bree is very interesting and nuanced!

Because the characters got more screentime and we follow Bree's journey with her title and magic,

the ending of this book was so thrilling and beautiful.

If I had any complaints, I will say it was sometimes hard to follow the world building with

Arthur's memories, and the beginning of the story is a little slow-paced. But by the middle of the book I was very invested.

I can't wait until Tracy Deonn drops the next book! I'm waiting ~~patiently.~~

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andelion's review

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adventurous emotional 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? No

4.75

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bookcheshirecat's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

3.0

“But grief isn’t a competition. It’s not an identical pain that we all meet one day when death finds us. It’s a monster, personalized by our love and memories to devour us just so. Grief is suffering, tailored.”

➽ Bloodmarked felt like a filler book and didn't live up to Legendborn at all! This was a big case of 'sequel syndrome' wherein Bloodmarked was mostly set up for the next book. I hope Oathbound is actually the finale, as I don't think I'll finish this series if it'll be longer than 3 books. I loved Legendbnorn when I read it and finally got around to checking out the sequel. Let's start with the positives of Bloodmarked first! The story follows Bree, a now awakened Scion of Arthur who is trying to prove herself as a leader in the upcoming war of demons against Legendborn. Her boyfriend Nick has been kidnapped and after the events of the first book, the Order is in disarray.

➽ I liked the themes of the book and the exploration of Bree's powers. Despite being meant a leader to the Legendborn, Bree immediately clashes with the Order. They aren't thrilled that Nick wasn't Arthur's descendant after all and now they're stuck with an unfamiliar face. Bree being a powerful Black girl just further sets them on edge as the society is very white and conservative. Just like in Legendborn, Bree is confronted by how traditional and backwards the Order can be. They're not planning on letting her take power and make decisions that easily, especially as her abilities are extraordinary for a Legendborn. I liked seeing the lengths the Regents went to in order to save face and control the narrative. They care less about stopping the war and more about their own politics and power struggles. I have to admit that I was a bit lost on the order hierarchy though. I still don't quite understand the function and goals of the Regents and thought they all were interchangeable as characters.

➽ Bree is also trying to control her Rootcraft and Legendborn powers. She still can't summon aether like normal Legendborn and is struggling with her new connection to Arthur. Bree definitely feels different from everyone else, as she's also a Medium and Bloodcrafter and deeply connected to her Root. She can't quite summon her Legendborn powers with intention, which is a problem as she's now hunted by the demons who want to kill her and end the Legenborn Cycle. Traitors are everywhere as even the Order wants to subdue her power. Bree feels more like a tool and an experiment than a person under their gaze. She's still dealing with her grief, anger and frustration that she can't do more to help. Her actions often get others in trouble, but I understood her feelings as she's constantly told what to do by everyone around her. I loved that the focus was more on Alice - Bree's best friend - and William - a healer from the lien of Gawain. I liked both characters in the first book and it was interesting to see Alice enter Bree's world as a Onceborn who can't see aether.

➽ The main issue Bloodmarked has is its slow pacing and plot that went all over the place. The first 30% were especially tough, as Bree's struggles with the Order were accompanied by info dumps and political squabbles. Even later, it felt like the search for Nick took a backseat as the characters walked around in circles. Sel, Bree, Alice and William didn't feel like they truly worked towards their goal of rescuing Nick, it felt like the plot happened to them. They were constantly taking steps back and changing their approach, so it felt like nothing happened except for the setup for Bree's powers. There was so much traveling and the focus of the story was everywhere. This didn't feel like Legendborn, because we left the setting and most characters behind. Even worse, it felt like the war took a backseat in the story, despite supposedly being the most important event that has the power to wipe out the entire world. Apart from Bree, Nick and William, the other Legendborn lines were barely mentioned. Most background characters felt interchangeable at this point, I couldn't tell the other Legendborn apart anymore.

➽ In the end, the audiobook for this was 22 hours long and even on 2x speed it felt neverending. Things only heated up in the very end! Even then, I didn't like some of Bree's choices.

Her rejecting Arthur's bloodline needs to be explained in the next book: How could she do that? Doesn't it go against the entire cycle?? Even worse is her rejecting her Root and entire bloodline. After all the sacrifices her ancestors made so she could have a chance, Bree turns their back on them just so she can have a 'girlboss' moment. There would have been a way to reclaim her power and agency without disrespecting her family!

➽ The romance was already my least favorite part of book 1 and this didn't improve here. You're out of luck if you're a Nick fan, as he's absent for most of the book and only occasionally appears via Bree's medium powers. In general, there were too many dream sequences/memory walks! I still like Sel as a character, but NOT as a love interest. His actions in the last book (almost killing Bree because he suspected she was a demon and generally harassing her) were somewhat addressed, but once again Bree is expected to absolve Sel of his guilt. He still acts like a jerk and his overprotectiveness annoyed me. I know he has his reasons, but I don't think he tried to understand Bree's frustration of being shoved to the back constantly. All Bree and him do is fight, so I don't see any positive connection between them. Sel betrayed Bree's trust -

mesmering her when she's had such a bad experience with it & her entire bloodline has been terrified of Merlins

- and is still often more hostile than he has to be. The love triangle is just exhausting, I honestly don't want Bree to end up with any of them.

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