Reviews with content warning for Blood - Blood of Elves

Okay.. I’m going to start with what I didn’t care for. I struggle to read books written by men, especially if they’ve got a strong female presence. The hyper-sexualization of women, especially in fantasy stories, is just unnecessary. Female characters should not exist solely to be at the whim of men. The constant reminder of Yennefer’s beauty and body, and even her scent, can be a little much to me. I understand that her perfume is such a triggering memory for Geralt, but still.

All that being said, I love the fact that the female characters of the book are important. Important to Geralt, yes, but more importantly important to each other and important to Ciri. I loved seeing Triss go up to bat for her at Kaer Morhen and being her advocate. I loved seeing Nenneke take Ciri’s protection so seriously, even so far as confronting Yennifer about her jabs against Ciri (y’all, when she told her Ciri wasn’t her competition I about lost my shit). I also loved seeing Yennifer come around to being a true mentor and protector of Ciri.

I also loved seeing paternal Geralt. It was nice seeing him step into his role and see a softer side of him. I can’t speak on what’s to come because I don’t know, but it was, for a lack of better word, heartwarming to see him finally have somebody he can love and protect. He may not acknowledge his love for Ciri, but it’s definitely there. On the flip side of that, it’s comforting to also see Ciri love Geralt. They need each other and it’s precious to see them find what they need in one another.

This was incredibly wordy book, I have to say. Sapkowski is nothing if not thorough in his writings. I still loved the story though. This book is definitely building up the story to it’s truly epic potential. I’m excited to keep reading the series (even though I still need to track parts of it down) and I am excited to see how it’s translated to the screen.

Content Warnings

tilo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Der erste Teil der Hauptreihe enttäuscht nicht! Mehrmals war ich emotional etwas aufgewühlt und einige Stellen haben mir das Herz erwärmt. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass Leser:innen, die sich mit der Welt noch nicht so gut auskennen, besonders am Anfang sehr überrumpelt von all den Namen und geschichtlichen Ereignissen fühlen könnten. Ansonsten bietet das Buch alles, was man von der Welt erwartet: Mysteriöse Geschehnisse, Abenteuer und einzigartige Charaktere mit komplexen und faszinierenden Hintergrundgeschichten.
Randnotiz: Positiv aber sehr überraschend fand ich die Art und Weise wie mit

Ciris

Menstruationsbeschwerden und später erste Fragen zum Sexualleben umgegangen wurde. Fand ich gute Aufklärung in einem Buch, von dem man es nicht zwingend erwartet.

Content Warnings

yunathealien's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This book could be perfect, if it wasn't so obvious, that the author has absolutely no clue about woman. But if you can look at all the misogyny and laugh at its stupidity and not get too infuriated by it, its a good book. Behind the misogyny hides a good story 😂

Content Warnings