Reviews with content warning for Rape - Blood Scion

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

43 reviews

lolajh's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Oh my LORD what a book. No way in hell would I ever classify this as young adult; this was so harrowing to read and if I read it as a kid I’d be even more distraught than I am right now.

Sloane is one of the best female characters I have read in such a long time. She is so perfectly accurate to her age and experience and trauma; a spirited, angry, hurt girl that I understand each and every decision made by her.

I initially hated the addition of the romance between her and Omari (don’t get me wrong I still hate them together) because of the crazy power imbalance, the fast switch up from enemies to lovers, and all this happening like a month after Teo died; but I am so glad it didn’t end well and that it was never going to (even if Omari didn’t betray her I really don’t believe it would work). Sloane realised she was manipulated by him and Theodus and fucking every person ever because of how young and vulnerable and powerful and eager for vengeance she is.

The pacing of the book is phenomenal and you can tell how thought-out it was from start to finish and that the author really knew exactly how it was going to end from the beginning 😫 Sloane so perfectly builds herself up (and down) throughout the book at a pace that is just so convincing god I love it.

And the relationships with the side characters 😫 Izara

(Amiyah)

, Nazanin and Jericho were further examples of perfectly written kids taken advantage of in a war and having to grow up far quicker than they should and be exposed to things no one ever should have to.

Amiyah and Sloane’s relationship especially was my favourite out of all of them by far. Her backstory and the way they met and Amiyah looking after Sloane after she got whipped just had me so emotional I loved them so much, Amiyah’s death was absolutely heartbreaking. Her just giving in and stopping fighting while Sloane lost control 😭😭😭 stop hurting me

I have genuinely no clue how this series will progress but I am absolutely going to continue reading it.

All I ask is that Sloane and Omari please don’t get back together I hate that man he could never be redeemed and also that Sloane finds peace goddamn 😫😫 If she isn’t able to just grow old in Ilè-Orisha with a bunch of other women with no war I don’t want it

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sistaharlem's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

If vengeance was a young adult woman, the FMC would be it. Whew, girlfriend took everybody out. She was not playing, especially once she was betrayed. I pity the fools who mess with her in the 2nd book.

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eeyores_flowers's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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

5.0

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thenovelmaura's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

I really wanted to love this book! The premise and influence of Yoruba-Nigerian mythology made this a highly-anticipated read for me. The magic system was intriguing and I do enjoy a YA novel that doesn't shy away from brutal themes (check the content warnings before picking this one up). However, there's a fine line between using brutality to get your point across and using it for shock value, and Falaye sometimes veers into the latter. I also expected more from the world-building than we ended up getting. While I don't regret reading this one, I don't have a strong urge to pick up the sequel.

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serinas'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

4.25

I considered to DNF the first 100 pages, but I got hooked when I neared page 100, so the start was kind of slow.

Blood Scion also tackles some heavy topics, like SA during war and child soldiers, so beware of that.

The pacing was odd at times - some natural "endings" in chapters were dragged out, and made it harder to continue reading. The timeline was good, it's just that some parts, mostly the endings in the chapters, felt dragged out.

Sloane's black and white view on everything annoyed me soooo much as well - but she is 15, and I was very similar at that age. Therefor, I feel like I can forgive that.

I enjoyed it a lot, and I plan on reading the sequel. I got really emotional towards the end, and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel!

Content Warnings