Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport

80 reviews

miriam_in_life's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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


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luckykosmos's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

For how highly it's rated, I had a hard time with this one. I loved the blending of science fiction and fantasy, I loved the plot beats, I think this had all the elements of a good story - but I think someone needed to take away Davenport's thesaurus. I have this joke with myself about the word 'truly', and how some authors will sub it in for 'really' and change nothing else about their cadence, and I had that same feeling for a lot of the dialogue. Characters would sound very casual one line, and quite stilted and formal the next. I loved how headstrong Kenna was, watching her think through problems, but I didn't enjoy her talking to people.

There were also some mild pacing issues - thrown into the murder mystery too quickly, a romance that felt rushed, her friendship with Enoch mentioned in passing once and then becoming a major plot point. I think these elements could have been spread out better, but my main issue was the dialogue.

(To be clear - I liked this book! Which is why the dialogue frustrated me so much, because I feel like I would have loved it! It has a lot to say about the toxicity of nationalism that I really am excited to see in book 2. )

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kyuuketsukiniko's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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gabbadabbadoo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

one of my first few books of the year and it set the bar impossibly high!

i went into this not expecting much -- there's no shortage of protagonists trying to avenge dead family members in the fantasy genre -- but I was extremely pleasantly surprised. i personally haven't read a book that was so consistenly action-packed, there is literally never a dull moment. this book is violent and bloody and cruel and i am obsessed with it!! reading some of the characters injuries and deaths made me wince a bit, but i respect Davenport for being able to come up with so many ways for people to hurt. so, if lots of blood and violence and death are your thing look no further. the brutal nature of the trials initially struck me as a little superfluous, but it makes more sense and the country's history and culture develop more as you read.

the mc also sold this book for me. i typically don't like characters that are easily blinded by rage, but i loooooove Ikenna. there were more than several times where she'd do smt and i thought were unneccessary and would come back to bite her in the ass, but i support women's rights and women's wrongs!!! but fr i'd read and wonder if she was trying to get herself killed, but she never beat someone's ass who didn't deserve that or worse. and she'll do it again!
 
i also loved that the romance was extremely minor. like eensy teensy weenie minor. a bigger romantic subplot would definitely ruin a book like this, so i loved that the cehemistry was definitely there and i saw it coming, but it never took over the plot. hg has revenge to get and people to kill, she is on a mission.

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional slow-paced
  • 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

4.0

The Blood Trials was a great story set up, and I enjoyed it. There was the right amount of action and just enough character and background to set everything up for a great book two—honestly, a great debut.

Why four stars instead of five? The Blood Gift Duology should be a trilogy. There were clear signposts for an ending after the Praetorian trials, but the book continued for another 150 pages. The next book comes out next year (and I will be reading it!), and I assume there's a similar point that will feel like a transition should have happened. There was a three-act feel to it, and the last third of the book felt disjointed.

That is honestly my only complaint! Otherwise, I liked the lore and the twists (so many twists!), and I eagerly anticipate the bloody, grimy story the next book is sure to tell.

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krzzykitty92's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book has all the YA angst with adult violence. Heavy, dark themes of racism, misogyny, and politics. The world was vibrant, but you can also feel the tension of societal barriers pitted against the main character. The author held my attention throughout most of the book. I will say the last like 7 chapters seem to drag on a bit, however, the ending is satisfying and I can’t wait to pick up the sequel. Also what keeps this from being a full 4 stars or higher is that sometimes I felt a little lost. The plot was so engaging that it took me a while to realize I honestly had no idea how this world was set up. This aside, it’s still a fantastic read and I’m all for the female rage “Shoot first ask questions later” mentality.

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wren_rainbow's review against another edition

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5.0

I need this book on my bookshelf expeditiously! Thank you black book tok for promoting this book the way y’all did! Will add more to this review soon. 

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kbairbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • 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? Yes

4.5

Wow! Between this and Queen of Nothing I’ve been reading some of the most vicious, blood thirsty, and VIOLENT books I’ve ever read. It makes for a really intense experience. The backstabbing, betrayal, who can be trusted, political agenda absolute beast this book is took me by storm. I couldn’t put it down! I was gripped and at the end I was staring into space experiencing this book. Incredible storytelling, incredible challenges, incredible strength and resilience in times of adversary. Wow.

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shaipanda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • 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? It's complicated

4.5

Ok this book is bat shit insaneeee - I absolutely loved it but definitely did not expect exactly how dark it is so keep that I mind if you read this. However despite that, I really loved Kenna and this was a superrr engaging book. Despite it being  darker than I tend to prefer I’ll almost definitely read the sequel when it comes out cause omg so well doneee :) 
However I will say I personally didn’t give it a 5 star because of how unlikeable pretty much every character is at various parts of the story (including Kenna occasionally lol) and I tend to prefer to at least somewhat like the characters I’m reading about 
Oh also reallyyyy look at the trigger warnings fr cause this book is insanely dark and has no issues killing off characters 

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tahsintries's review against another edition

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4.0


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