Reviews

The Blood Stones by Tori Tecken

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jennthebookwyrm's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

wynwicket's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Gehrin, the son of one of the King’s Counsellors, is kidnapped from his family as a young boy and secretly and along with a group of other boys is brutally trained as an elite warrior/assassin (bruhai) to guard the King (and perhaps further the agenda of some other political forces…?)

Meanwhile, Syndri, the warrior daughter of a tribal chieftain, seeks to protect what remains of her people from the warring tribes that would destroy them, even if that means making some uncomfortable alliances.

The story is told in three parts, each three years later than the part before. This helped the plot move along faster, though covering six years in the lives of two main characters did give me less time getting to know each one. On the other hand, it emphasized just how long was spent training the boys and they were a bit older when most of the action started kicking off.

The secondary characters are also fairly well-developed, particularly Gehrin’s brother Xario, who intrigued me the most. The world-building is well-developed, the foods, religions, values, etc.,, especially when it came to the clash of cultures and differences in world view between the characters. The writing was excellent, the story compelling, and I look forward to seeing where the author goes with this!

Content Warnings

lvh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

yrc's review

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4.0

I was lucky enough to receive an e-arc from the author in exchange for an honest review.

We start this book off with Gerhin, one of the MC's, witnessing a gruseom scene of execution. The dying man is a traitor who did the unthinkable and his name must no longer exist.

While for some readers that kind of opening might be too bloody, I think it was a very well crafted scene which also had an impact on the rest of the story from that point forward. Plus, I like me fantasy on the darker side.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book since they were well grounded in their environment and had to make tough decisions, whether coming from noble blood or rougher backgrounds and having to climb the ladder.

The other aspect I always love in fantasy is the political machinenations. While some of the people involved felt a bit familiar, the tension between factions and the high stakes at risk still had me on the edge of my seat. The world we're presented with is clearly big and just starting to unfold, so I'm definitely intrigued and excited to support a new female author of fantasy (we need more of those please!)

As this was the author's adult fantasy debut, I'll difinitely be following her path and looking forward to the next installment. Highly recommended!

Merged review:

I was lucky enough to receive an e-arc from the author in exchange for an honest review.

We start this book off with Gerhin, one of the MC's, witnessing a gruseom scene of execution. The dying man is a traitor who did the unthinkable and his name must no longer exist.

While for some readers that kind of opening might be too bloody, I think it was a very well crafted scene which also had an impact on the rest of the story from that point forward. Plus, I like me fantasy on the darker side.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book since they were well grounded in their environment and had to make tough decisions, whether coming from noble blood or rougher backgrounds and having to climb the ladder.

The other aspect I always love in fantasy is the political machinenations. While some of the people involved felt a bit familiar, the tension between factions and the high stakes at risk still had me on the edge of my seat. The world we're presented with is clearly big and just starting to unfold, so I'm definitely intrigued and excited to support a new female author of fantasy (we need more of those please!)

As this was the author's adult fantasy debut, I'll difinitely be following her path and looking forward to the next installment. Highly recommended!

leeleet's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

This novel elicited a lot of emotions in me. It was very well written and I ended up finishing it in 2 days. It’s pretty grim dark and there is quite a bit of child death and violence against children. Not my favorite thing. I skimmed several parts.

I hate Lohi with a passion and I really didn’t want his selfish plan to work with the whole Bruhai. I wanted these kids to straight up stage a rebellion. The arrogance of that old man pisses me off so much. Telling the kids don’t hurt your brother and then making them kill each other is straight evil. And poor Hajja, that kid better be able to get revenge. And to see Gehrin succumb to the brainwashing was heart wrenching. How can you have loyalty to anyone who considers you so disposable? I just hope that old fuck gets what’s coming to him. The ending pissed me off and surprised me at the same time. I did not expect Jai to be named Crown Prince. I felt that came out of nowhere a little bit. And also we never get answers on who really killed the old crown prince. Because I’m almost positive it wasn’t the guy who got executed in the beginning. I hope Gehrin wakes up and realizes that the king and Lohi don’t deserve anything but a knife in the throat. I hope Xario finds his brother and snaps him out of it.

Now after that spoiler filled rant, I will say it kept me engaged. I find that the weakest part of the story had to be Syndri but I think she’s gonna make a major comeback in the next book. I want to see more of the magic and I hope to get a Senna pov in the next one.

paperpaladin's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

1.5

This was read for my self-published square for Fantasy Book Bingo and that is the only reason I pushed through. I try to not be too critical of self-published books since it is a different kind of market but reading this at the same time that I was reading The Veiled Throne did not do this book any favors. There is not enough explained about the world building (e.g. where do the until super recently nomadic clans find enough metal to make thousands of swords since they disdain spears) and their is a lack of fulfilling payoff for the things that are set up (e.g. bully character is established and says he has a feud with the main character only to not really be seen again). I think there are some interesting things present but not enough for me to continue the series.

My rating system
1 - Did not enjoy
2 - Not irredeemable but has too many flaws to say I enjoyed
3 - Enjoyed it
4 - Great book but didn't love it
5 - Amazing book