Reviews with content warning for Blood - Una magia más oscura

I'm putting the TL;DR up at the top, because I tend to ramble. TL;DR: Would probably be an excellent book for other people, unfortunately only a fairly good book for me.

I'm gonna be honest: I picked this one up mostly because I dabble frequently in Fallen London, and the premise of more Weird Londons seemed very in line with my taste. Unfortunately, this was not nearly as Londony as I had hoped, despite the high rate of Londons per London, and I had forgotten I kinda hate high fantasy.

Okay, hate is a strong word. To the book's credit: the prose is strong, there's a few really beautiful lines, and the worldbuilding is very solid and interesting, and conveyed in a way that isn't overwhelming but doesn't leave you in the dark. However, to me it seemed that the focus given to the (very rich and engaging!) world meant that the characters were sort of left to the wayside.

That's not to say there weren't some fun characters. Lila, the top hat wearing wannabe-pirate, was very fun, and arguably had a little character arc. I also liked the rakish Prince Rhy, when we saw him, and there were a couple very classically Londony side characters. (The weird (Danish?) regents of White London were good villains but deeply unpleasant characters– they gave me Game of Thrones vibes, which is a part of the British literary canon I could do without. Also, vaguely weird that they're Fantasy Danish and their magical attack dog is named Holland?? Were there Implications there I wasn't getting?)

Kell, though, was kind of a blank slate, which was a bit disappointing. He did spend a good portion of the book

being possessed by a One Ring-esque chunk of rock

, and like 90% of it bleeding (really remarkable that the poor guy had any blood left by the end), and I guess that if I can't find any actual character in a main character, him being fucked up and covered in blood is a decent substitute. (I'm not kidding about this. I have rather weird tastes.)

My final note is that I was initially a bit concerned to see that this was a trilogy, but in the end was quite satisfied with how all the plot threads wrapped up. This book was a fun step outside my comfort zone, but it didn't force me to keep reading if I wasn't feeling it, which I really appreciated. I was a little disappointed to

never get to see Black London, and that they killed off Holland like that (or did they?? unclear, but his treatment both in-universe and narratively still left a bad taste in my mouth)

, but I'll live.

Lila's pirate adventures seem fun to read about, and

I'm glad those who enjoyed this book will have more to read in this world, but I'm happy to leave it here.

(...Actually, I just realized they do leave one mystery hanging— something about Kell's special knife having K. L. on it, and the mystery of his origins, is mentioned at the beginning and then kinda dropped throughout and never explained or even brought up, which is probably why I didn't recall it until literally just now. Ah well.)

Content Warnings

blueberry0531's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

neverlandingonabook's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

anna_harpist's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

theabee's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Didn’t pull me in until halfway. Very bloody

Content Warnings

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Fun, but dear god the voice acting, please stop making him sound like a 50 year old man and her sound like a 12 year old orphan boy from victorian london

Content Warnings

tecovb's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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? No

4.0

Content Warnings

More...