Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Bloodmarked

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

40 reviews

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

'Bloodmarked' by Tracy Deonn is the second book in the Legendborn Cycle. It builds upon what was established in the first book as Bree begins to understand her powers and their cost. Without spoiling book one, this book picks up almost immediately after book one and deals directly with the fallout from what was discovered at the end of the previous book.
Where pacing was one of my favorite things in Legendborn, the pacing in Bloodmarked felt a little off. The beginning half was quite slow and it was only about halfway through that I felt the story picked up and began to move along quickly. There are lots of interesting revelations about Bree, her backstory, and the Order. We get to learn a lot more about the ruling powers behind the Order and where their true motives lie.
For some reason, I was under the impression that this was a duology so I was very confused why things didn't feel like they were wrapping up once we got to the 75% point. Knowing now that there is at least one more book, it does make more sense.
This book definitely ends with another cliffhanger and I am very interested to see where the story goes next. As with the first book, the characters are my favorite part of this series, followed closely by the world. We get introduced to some really interesting characters in this book and we also get to learn more about those that we already know and care about. I'll be fascinated to see what happens next.

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crownoflaurel's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring tense medium-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

4.0

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hmstaab's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.75

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keya_caivalur's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

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scrubsandbooks's review

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adventurous challenging 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? Yes

5.0

Do I think my powers are worth the cost? The wound of grief from losing my mother sits open in my chest. It feels like it will never truly heal, no matter how much I acknowledge its presence. Then there are wounds my ancestors carried from one generation to the next. All the loss, multiplied and compounded and cumulative. All that running.
Don't be scared. Fight.

This was absolutely phenomenal. There's always this thing with second books in series where things don't live up to the hype of book one and it ends up being a filler between beginning and conclusion. It definitely was not the case here at. All. The stakes were high, much higher than they were at the end of Legendborn and this book surpassed all my expectations. Books where things are happening one right after another tend to be overwhelming for me and leaving me wondering if half of it was necessary and this was an exception. Every event, you learned something new, you met a new person who ended up being pivotal to the main character's story. Tracy Deonn has done an amazing job of bringing the pieces of the puzzle together. There is so much to love about this and nothing to hate (except for the obvious bigots and bad guys, of course). Tracy had even making me feel bad for

Jonas and his betrayal because of what he went through and what he thought would be brought on by doing what he did to Bree

.

The world-building in this book with the Order and the Rootcraft seems to only expand even further, and I absolutely loved that we got to see more characters involved in Rootcraft and learned more about the magic itself. And a former plantation become a safe haven for Rootcrafters called Volition? Chef's kiss, all of it, ESPECIALLY the title. I loved the inclusion of Alice and William in this journey, as well as seeing more of Selwyn outside of the Order, and how his friendship with Bree continued to grow and evolve. And Bree. Bree is the most beloved of all, faced with so much betrayal and pushback, but holds her head up and keeps fighting. I want nothing but the best for her and I cried so much for her in this book because of everything she went through at the hands of the Reagents. Oh, how I wanted to reach into the book so bad to give her a big hug. Or punch some racists. OR BOTH.

"You don't believe history is true. You won't even admit it's possible. That I am Arthur's heir not by choice or honor, but by violence." [...] "You won't say it out loud, but I will," [...] "I am the Scion of Arthur by rape. I am your proof."

This book, this series, is too important to not at least give it a chance. Eagerly awaiting book three!

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anastasia_raf's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Sorry, I cannot form words right now...let alone a whole review. I'll write one soon. Right now I just want to curl up with the book in my chest and never let it go.

Content Warnings