Reviews with content warning for War - The Blood Gift

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book very much. Instead of letting the action drive the story, everything was wordily explained, usually through the repetitive and annoying thoughts of the main character. One of my biggest complaints about the first book was that the main character felt very one-dimensional, only really experiencing anger and not much else. That changed a little in this book, but only barely.

I still feel as though the secondary characters weren't developed as well as they could have and should have been, which means I'm not particularly attached to any of them.

Many things, to me, didn't make sense. Sabine betraying Ikenna wasn't believable after over a decade of friendship. If it were only two or three years, maybe. But over a decade? There's no way someone can pretend a sister-like bond for that long without giving anything away. It felt like it was just a decision to add to the plot and move Sabine out of the way while Ikenna goes through a found-family moment with her new team.

I also think it would have been infinitely more interesting to have Ikenna be the daughter of the blood emperor. I thought that's where the story was going when someone pointed out that no one should have her powers because they belong to the emperor, not to his general population who are blood-gifted. Instead, her father ended up being some random guy working for the emperor. If the emperor were her father instead, Ijani would have been her brother, and I would have loved that. It would have given Ikenna an opportunity to gain a family member after losing so many. Literally, all of them. I also wouldn't have minded Ijani ending up as the second and final love interest of Ikenna, but I know not every relationship needs to turn romantic. Honestly, I got more of a brotherly vibe from their relationship anyway, which is why I'm disappointed Ikenna really wasn't the blood emperor's daughter.

I'm still giving 3 stars to this book due to the fact that I LOVE the overall ideas and world-building for this series. I obviously have some critiques, but there was still a lot to enjoy as well. I hope the author continues to write interesting sci-fi and fantasy stories because I would love to read more from her.

I apologize if I mispelled names. I'm an audio listener and can't find a list of characters online to correct my spelling.

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evemason's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-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

4.5

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gaden35's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-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

4.0

I strongly detest unnecessary romances. It added nothing to the plot in my opinion and actually detracted from it.
I also believe the dialogue and plot felt less polished and a little hokey compared to the first book. And the pacing sometimes felt odd - as though she didn’t want to explain some things. Which is fine. It was still a fun read and hard to put down.

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maresuju's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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fleur____'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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lettuce_read's review against another edition

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5.0

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sahramahtab's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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 am so that sad that this series was limited to a duology. This was a stellar example of black excellence. I loved every second and the beautiful characters. Especially Ikenna and Darius. And I look forward to any of Davenports future projects.

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tattooedbibliophile's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? No

5.0

👏👏👏 This book gets an extra star, the plot is so damn good. I will admit that it may should have been 2 books instead of one, rounding out the series into a trilogy instead of a duology, but that’s really an editing complaint and not a plot point pain. There was one specific part where I started literally clapping and yelling “FINALLY, FINALLY!!!” I will say also that this plot didn’t go how I thought it would. It twisted and turned in a completely unexpected way. If you like books like Fourth Wing you’ll love this. It’s a very NA book with some serious violence, with a few added spicy scenes that were an unexpected bonus. To me it left an opening for another book series (similar to a “years later” deal like the second Red Rising series) that I would immediately preorder if announced.

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