Reviews with content warning for War - Bloodmarked

Reviews tagging 'War'

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

73 reviews

viktoriya_sk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional lighthearted

3.75

Cozy YA book with a great plit and good characters except for the main character Briana. I found her to be extremely annoying, whiny, and dramatic. All the other characters acted fine in situations under high pressure, and then you get sentences like "the room is tilting in front of my eyes" in response to being asked to stay home. There were some good and serious themes, and the mc wasn't always that horrible.

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vaguely_pink'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? Yes

5.0

I was pretty meh about Legendborn but HOOOOOOO BOY this was so good I’m foaming at the mouth for book 3

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rberdan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I jumped into this book immediately after the first, almost compulsively. I loved the magic and the relationship development. There were some beats I saw coming and some surprises. Community showed up in some beautiful ways, and how Bree comes into her own is truly lovely to witness, particularly as I think of my own relationship with grief and anger after losing my mom. I am eager to read book 3 as I’m totally invested in these folks.

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meaghancook's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

3.75

Second book syndrome. I had high hopes for this but it fell flat just a few too many times. I won’t pretend to understand the nuance of some of the themes, but it felt like the main characters’ development did a complete 180 by the end.

I’m looking forward to picking up the next book, but I don’t know that I’ll rush out and buy it.

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allichuckran's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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hailstorm3812's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful 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

AHHHHHHHH. There are drugs in these books, one of those books where you look down and have read 100 pages and didn't notice. I think this book did a good job building on the themes and relationships of the first one while expanding into new territory. I really liked the dynamics of the quartet we have for most of the book. Also can I say how much I love Alice. I'm so glad she's in this book more.

Also are we going poly ending?? I may be delusional but I think we could...

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gabriella_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

This book has almost everything. Structures of oppression, intergenerational trauma, grief, romance, war, friendship conflicts, learned bigotry & privilege, and governmental conspiracy. It scratches any itch you have from Harry Potter, Maximum Ride, and The Hunger Games all rolled into one. Shit, it even satisfies the Warriors cat series fans too. It does all this will surpassing all of these series. Wish I had this when I was a younger, more voracious reader.

Tracy Deonn one-ups herself in this sequel book. This book further expands on characterizing her central cast while also giving other (more background) characters a chance in the limelight. She developed a core ensemble cast that feels compelling and stand-alone. This book made me cry, especially when

Bree talks with her mother

- Bloodmarked is raw and real. Bree is one of my favorite series protagonists I’ve ever read. She feels so real. I love reading about a protagonist who is strong, really strong, and in more than just a physical (or even girlboss) way. She has grit and emotional stamina and she’s navigating through systems rigged against her.

More random things I love about this book that didn’t seem to have a place for me to write them in this review:

The rest of the cast - especially Selwyn - tugs at my heartstrings.
Tracy Deonn’s dream sequences are an amazing exploration of themes that are relevant later in the book and offer a refreshing way to engage with old magic.
The descriptive settings!!
The use of LANGUAGE. Ugh. CARIAD!
The men in this book have a “written by a woman” charm. Well, the men that matter do, at least.

I love the way this author lays the groundwork for future plot twists - she has a gift for finding a way to keep the reader on their toes without insulting their intelligence AND while still making the twists believable. Some you can see coming - but that’s a credit to her foreshadowing.

I just want to keep gushing about this book because honestly it left me soooo hungry for the next book in this series!

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pip10's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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jadorereadss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I'm still trying to process everything that happened with this book... so for now all I can do is give it 4.5 stars.

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kenzaett's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

What a wild ride. I finished this at work, with an audiobook. Couldn't not finish it today. Soon as I got off work I hit the five stars, haha. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND PICK IT UP. I would have neveerrrr guessed two of the big plot twist reveals.
This series is absolutely beautiful, and I haven't been quite enthralled in a long time. I first heard about the cycle from "cary can read" on YouTube who hyped it as her favorite, and I just wanna thank her sm. I understand you know, though the book was very different from what I imagined. The world building is INTENSE, especially compared to Book #1, and you can tell Tracy has spent soo much time planning and researching and writing for this. Thank you, if you happen to read this.
I didn't realize how very important and underrated/used POC main characters were, and to not only mention them but to highlight their struggles unapologetically, brief on their trauma and make them human and not a plot device. The diversity didn't feel forced, rather natural, in flow with how the real world is reflected. I'm happy for a generation of young girls who will have many new heroines to look up to and identify with.

I found myself not really caring for their ages btw, as I do believe it all to be a bit unrealistic for 16 to 18 year olds to to through, knowing curring 16 year olds and their maturity, so I just decided to imagine them all aged up by 4 years. But my 14 year old self would have loved it and identified with them, no complaints.

Anyhow, I loved the writing, wording, the integration of Welsh in the many flashback scenes, don't think I've ever looked up so many words in my kindle dictionary, loved the character development, even in minor characters ... Even the Southern charme got to me a a German girl, I now have American suburbs and cowboy ranches on my tiktok algorithm. Top ten favorite reads this year for sure. Cannot wait for the third book. There's still so, so many questions unanswered.

Oh - and I'm definitely Team Nick (although the waterfall and clearing scene gave me huge butterflies). I hate the trope of good guy disappears so he's replaced by the one who stayed. Naaaaahhhh. Give him time to find himself again pls Bree.

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