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ayoung720's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.5
Another amazing entry in the series, I love how the world has opened up to the diverse forms of magic and comparing how they all view power and heritage. Sel has become a much more well-rounded character with a storyline beyond "brooding bodyguard who hates the protagonist" and Bree and her friends have really developed too. Bree does make some absolutely infuriating decisions throughout the book which made me want to reach through the page and shake sense into her, but that's the beauty of having a teenage protagonist trying to navigate their way through this new world - she will make mistakes and not know what to do, while we get to see her grow on that journey. I do wish the book hadn't ended on yet ANOTHER one of her dubious choices, especially because her status within the Legendborn society was already so in doubt before the final scene, but I'm very much excited for the following entry!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Toxic friendship, Racism, and Forced institutionalization
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Bloodmarked is book two in the Legendborn cycle by Tracy Deonn, and I would give it 6 stars if I could !
I really loved the commentary on racism and prejudice, it reminded me of (view spoiler) but for young adults.
My mind is racing with so many questions, because of course it ended on a cliff hanger. Which, I'm not mad about, I expected the cliff hanger because there's supposed to be at the least one more book in the cycle.
I'm not sure what else to say other than my friends and I are definitely team Sel, the last part ofthe book had us shook, and we can't wait for the next book in the cycle! It's so nice to buddy read books with a book club.
I give this 5 out of 5 stars!
I listened to this for free on Scribd
I really loved the commentary on racism and prejudice, it reminded me of (view spoiler) but for young adults.
My mind is racing with so many questions, because of course it ended on a cliff hanger. Which, I'm not mad about, I expected the cliff hanger because there's supposed to be at the least one more book in the cycle.
I'm not sure what else to say other than my friends and I are definitely team Sel, the last part ofthe book had us shook, and we can't wait for the next book in the cycle! It's so nice to buddy read books with a book club.
I give this 5 out of 5 stars!
I listened to this for free on Scribd
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Slavery, Murder, Racial slurs, Death, Body horror, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Racism, and Rape
unfxckwhittable's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Characters: 4.5
Plot: 3.0
Theme: 4.0
Cover: 5.0
For as long as this book was, I just knew this would be a duology. I liked the first book better, although I enjoyed this story, it really didnt capture my interest until the last 1/3 of the book. I felt there was sooo much detail in the beginning where we are world building that it kept losing my attention. But after The Crossroads encounter when we are introduced to Mawlek, who I found very entertaining, I became invested.
I loved the concept of Volition, a former site of grief, pain, and loss at the hands of colonizers reclaimed as a safe haven for those deemed worthy. Deonn masterfully describes racism within the institution of The Order along with unpacking the impacts of generational trauma. She captured the emotions tied to these topics perfectly.
I am absolutely team Selwyn. Despite his fuck up in the beginning which has stained my image of him, I’m still rooting for him in book three, because his ending left me heartbroken. Bree consistently frustrated me with her selfishness and immaturity. She put her friends in danger or was too stubborn to see that she wasn’t always right. To include the deal she made in the end to develop her root powers. Hopefully in next book she grows up and gets it together. I’m excited for the next book and really hope it’s the last one in this series or at least isn’t as bulky in content, if it’s not the last.
I am absolutely team Selwyn. Despite his fuck up in the beginning which has stained my image of him, I’m still rooting for him in book three, because his ending left me heartbroken. Bree consistently frustrated me with her selfishness and immaturity. She put her friends in danger or was too stubborn to see that she wasn’t always right. To include the deal she made in the end to develop her root powers. Hopefully in next book she grows up and gets it together. I’m excited for the next book and really hope it’s the last one in this series or at least isn’t as bulky in content, if it’s not the last.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Racism, Rape, and Slavery
chloerachelle's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, War, Violence, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Death
Minor: Confinement, Murder, Car accident, Colonisation, Slavery, and Rape
hann_smc's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Man I was so disappointed in this book after reading Legendborn. I was so excited to see where Bree's story / character arc was going to go.
The plot went nowhere, and any character development that happened was backtracked.
The characters made a decision and started down a path, then they changed there minds, started on a new path, and so on and then the book ends.
The tension between Bree and Sel felt so manufactured and nonsensical, just to keep the "who will she choose" alive.
I loved Legendborn enough that I powered through, and will pick up book 3 when it comes out, but I'm nervous about it.
The plot went nowhere, and any character development that happened was backtracked.
The characters made a decision and started down a path, then they changed there minds, started on a new path, and so on and then the book ends.
The tension between Bree and Sel felt so manufactured and nonsensical, just to keep the "who will she choose" alive.
I loved Legendborn enough that I powered through, and will pick up book 3 when it comes out, but I'm nervous about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Confinement
Minor: Abandonment, Slavery, and Death of parent
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
---Contains spoilers for the first book---
BLOODMARKED is about grief and reconciliation, building some thing new out of the ashes of what was. It's a tale of power and legacy, how people choose whether to continue in the paths that are handed to them or to try and make something better and new. It’s also a story of intimacy and trust, particularly between Bree and her loved ones.
One of my favorite worldbuilding aspects is the way Bree gets an opportunity to delve more into Rootcraft as a community practice, expressed in a particular way through her, but also continuing to emphasize that she's not alone. LEGENDBORN is in many ways about her entering an almost entirely white space and figuring out how to exist under their rules, while in BLOODMARKED she is gradually figuring out where she fits into a larger Black community of Rootcrafters. The Legendborn Council members seek to confine and control her, seeing her blackness as an impediment or something they have to deal with in pursuit of their own aims. For most of the book she’s on the run, constantly on the news with her friends and hours, never quite feeling safe and desperately needing somewhere to land. She's trying to stay ahead of the racist institution which wants to use her while pretending that they and their ancestors didn't do anything wrong.
Alice really gets to shine, or at least have much more of a role now that she knows what’s going on with Bree and can be part of the main action. I’m also very happy with how much William is around. I love books with a beleaguered medic who knows that almost none of his instructions will be followed by the heroes who keep getting injured and only barely making it out alive. I particularly love the arc of Bree’s dynamic with Sel. Their relationship has always been complicated, but by having Nick be elsewhere for most of the book there is room for the two of them to work out a lot of stuff even while his presence is still felt.
As a sequel, BLOODMARKED directly addresses the revelation from LEGENDBORN that Bree is a scion of Arthur. There’s a mostly new storyline related to machinations by the council, trying to exploit Bree while simultaneously ignoring or at least downplaying the implications of her existence. I’m not sure whether anything is fully introduced and resolved, but the way that most of the book takes place away from campus means that this has an entirely different (though complementary) feeling from LEGENDBORN. There are frank discussions of the fact that many of Bree's ancestors were enslaved, that a particular one of them was raped by a descendent of Arthur, leading to his power in Bree's veins. As a series, The Legendborn Cycle is about how racism in the past has impacts on the present, how the path to get here matters for what we do in the present. When people and institutions continue to benefit from racism in the past, they have incentives in the present to perpetuate inequalities, as well as to be overtly racist when their power allows them to get away with it. Bree's very existence forces the Legendborn to deal with their racist past, and then some of them choose to deal with it by helping her, breaking that cycle, while others do everything in their power to bury her and pretend that nothing bad ever happened.
This isn’t the last book in the series, and there’s a development towards the end which specifically sets up a new paradigm in the next book. Except for a very short section towards the end, Bree is the narrator and her voice is consistent with her style in LEGENDBORN. The story is self contained enough that it would mostly make sense, even if someone hasn’t read the first book. It does a pretty good job of explaining backstory as it becomes relevant and generally avoid potentially confusing infodumps while getting the reader up to speed.
The ending is excellent! The final section upsets the status quo in a variety of ways, some of which are terrible for various characters and their plans, but all of which were narratively interesting and unexpected to me. I definitely didn’t expect some of the decisions made right at the end, and I look forward to how those will be handled in the next book.
BLOODMARKED is about grief and reconciliation, building some thing new out of the ashes of what was. It's a tale of power and legacy, how people choose whether to continue in the paths that are handed to them or to try and make something better and new. It’s also a story of intimacy and trust, particularly between Bree and her loved ones.
One of my favorite worldbuilding aspects is the way Bree gets an opportunity to delve more into Rootcraft as a community practice, expressed in a particular way through her, but also continuing to emphasize that she's not alone. LEGENDBORN is in many ways about her entering an almost entirely white space and figuring out how to exist under their rules, while in BLOODMARKED she is gradually figuring out where she fits into a larger Black community of Rootcrafters. The Legendborn Council members seek to confine and control her, seeing her blackness as an impediment or something they have to deal with in pursuit of their own aims. For most of the book she’s on the run, constantly on the news with her friends and hours, never quite feeling safe and desperately needing somewhere to land. She's trying to stay ahead of the racist institution which wants to use her while pretending that they and their ancestors didn't do anything wrong.
Alice really gets to shine, or at least have much more of a role now that she knows what’s going on with Bree and can be part of the main action. I’m also very happy with how much William is around. I love books with a beleaguered medic who knows that almost none of his instructions will be followed by the heroes who keep getting injured and only barely making it out alive. I particularly love the arc of Bree’s dynamic with Sel. Their relationship has always been complicated, but by having Nick be elsewhere for most of the book there is room for the two of them to work out a lot of stuff even while his presence is still felt.
As a sequel, BLOODMARKED directly addresses the revelation from LEGENDBORN that Bree is a scion of Arthur. There’s a mostly new storyline related to machinations by the council, trying to exploit Bree while simultaneously ignoring or at least downplaying the implications of her existence. I’m not sure whether anything is fully introduced and resolved, but the way that most of the book takes place away from campus means that this has an entirely different (though complementary) feeling from LEGENDBORN. There are frank discussions of the fact that many of Bree's ancestors were enslaved, that a particular one of them was raped by a descendent of Arthur, leading to his power in Bree's veins. As a series, The Legendborn Cycle is about how racism in the past has impacts on the present, how the path to get here matters for what we do in the present. When people and institutions continue to benefit from racism in the past, they have incentives in the present to perpetuate inequalities, as well as to be overtly racist when their power allows them to get away with it. Bree's very existence forces the Legendborn to deal with their racist past, and then some of them choose to deal with it by helping her, breaking that cycle, while others do everything in their power to bury her and pretend that nothing bad ever happened.
This isn’t the last book in the series, and there’s a development towards the end which specifically sets up a new paradigm in the next book. Except for a very short section towards the end, Bree is the narrator and her voice is consistent with her style in LEGENDBORN. The story is self contained enough that it would mostly make sense, even if someone hasn’t read the first book. It does a pretty good job of explaining backstory as it becomes relevant and generally avoid potentially confusing infodumps while getting the reader up to speed.
The ending is excellent! The final section upsets the status quo in a variety of ways, some of which are terrible for various characters and their plans, but all of which were narratively interesting and unexpected to me. I definitely didn’t expect some of the decisions made right at the end, and I look forward to how those will be handled in the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Vomit, Medical content, Slavery, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Gore, Death of parent, Confinement, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol, Self harm, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
talkwithtilly's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, and Racism
cady_sass's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.75
This is SO CLOSE to perfect - I love everything about it but the plot gets really muddy and confusing in the last couple of chapters with all the dream sequences and big reveals. I don’t often say this, so you know I’m serious when I do say it, if you need to add another 100 or so pages to make it make more sense then PLEASE do it and don’t rush through crucial plot points! All that said…… team selwyn forever ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ u can fight me idc
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Sexism, Abandonment, Medical content, Slavery, Classism, Bullying, Kidnapping, Misogyny, War, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Murder
gsnorks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Racism, and Abandonment
keya_caivalur's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Classism, Torture, Colonisation, Murder, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
Minor: Classism, Rape, Religious bigotry, War, Addiction, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Blood, and Abandonment