Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

16 reviews

eeyores_flowers's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Racism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, War, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Death, Abandonment, Genocide, Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Police brutality, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Blood, Rape, and Sexual assault

flamesocks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Classism, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Gun violence, and Physical abuse

kelly_e's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Title: Blood Scion
Author: Deborah Falaye
MSeries: Blood Scion, #1
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: 3.75
Pub Date: March 8, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Emotionally Charged • Complex • Unforgiving

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Fifteen-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will—she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods.

Under the Lucis’ brutal rule, her identity means her death if her powers are discovered. But when she is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army on her fifteenth birthday, Sloane sees a new opportunity: to overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training, and destroy them from within.

Sloane rises through the ranks and gains strength but, in doing so, risks something greater: losing herself entirely, and becoming the very monster that she abhors.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Blood Scion first came onto my radar when it was longlisted for Canada Read 2023 back in January. Unfortunately, it didn't make it onto the shortlist, but being a completionist, I wanted to continue to pick up the longlist titles throughout the year. Of all of the books on the list, I'd have to say this was the one more outside my comfort zone, yet I was pleasantly surprised enjoying more than I'd originally anticipated.

Inspired by Yoruba-Nigerian mythology, this novel is marketed as YA fantasy, however, for me it read more like the type of YA primarily written for adults. Books based in mythology will never be my cup to tea, but I definitely don't mind getting my toes wet from time to time, and this book took me places I didn't know it could. It is fierce. It is raw. It is brutal. And it's hard to believe it is a debut.

Equal parts compelling and heartbreaking, Blood Scion offers a fictionalized account of the real-life horrors endured by child soldiers. The intensity of the violence is hard to digest, yet showcases the lived experiences of so many of these child soldiers. There is quite a large cast of characters, but the one that truly matters is Sloane. She's one of those unforgettable heroines and everything about her character development was fantastic.

Tackling themes of slavery, oppression injustice, revenge and power tinged with a little bit of magic, Blood Scion took me by surprise. And while this genre will never be something I rush to pick up, I can definitely see myself continuing on with this series. I have no doubts that Deborah Falaye has a bright future ahead.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• mature readers
• fantasy fans
• readers looking for a strong debut

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Treat something like a monster and it will certainly learn to become a monster." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Hate crime, Genocide, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, War, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, Death, Child death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Classism, and Self harm

alyxbeau's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

This was a really difficult book to review and decide a rating on. Considering the topic, it is not a book you ENJOY, it is far too dark for that -but it is masterfully written. This is a no holds barred look into the child soldier issue we face in both our past and present on Earth, through a SFF lense. No details are spared about the brutality of the situations Sloane faces or the decisions she has to make to ensure her own survival.  These things do not happen off the page, they are described in detail leaving almost nothing to the imagination of these horrors. I think it is an important book, especially for the young adult population if they are up to reading something so dark at their age. It allows readers to get an idea of the horrors happening in our societey around the globe and develop empathy, understanding, and (hopefully) a sense of reponsibilty to help change the world we live in for the better. The novel may be a work of fantasy, but the horrors are something very real faced by children in many places today. Its imperative that people care about our world and that they start caring at a younger age than the generations before us did. I would reccomend that anyone capable of reading violence take a look at this, and if you are not sure if you are capable, to try digesting this in smaller chunks. It contains lessons on the lasting impact of cultural appropriation, colonialism, and so much more than that, if you can stomach the content of the book to approach it from a learning standpoint.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cultural appropriation, Child death, Emotional abuse, War, Xenophobia, Torture, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Self harm, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Blood, Child abuse, and Violence

hapennybooks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Colonisation, War, Violence, Torture, Child abuse, Genocide, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Rape, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship

kirstenf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Gun violence, Child death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Confinement, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Chronic illness

aklovekorn's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Blood, Classism, Toxic friendship, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, and War

remaininlullaby's review against another edition

unfortunately, nothing in this made sense to me. the second it got interesting, the protag did smth again that completely contradicted what her inner monologue said before. also, how much trauma do you want your 15yo to have, gdi

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, War, and Torture

Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, and Slavery

Minor: Vomit

kiwi_00's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, Slavery, and War

jenna_reads_'s review against another edition

This book didn’t peak my interest until 25%. I would have dnf’d sooner but am reading this for a buddy read so I pushed on.  For character growth MCs often start as unlikable. However, at 74% in I still can’t deal with the MCs ego and inability to control herself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Gun violence, Child death, and Slavery

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Vomit