Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Children of Blood and Bone: Seer Edition by Tomi Adeyemi

137 reviews

ashurah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this book.

The book's main strength (and my favorite part of it) was the worldbuilding. It is BEAUTIFUL and very layered; I could definitely tell that the author put a lot of time into researching aspects of West African cultures and developing it in a way that it fits this fantasy world. Even though the magic system wasn't as well-developed as I would have liked, the incorporation of African mythology and the explanations of the different social classes in Orishan society were two aspects of the novel that I really appreciated.

However, I just couldn't enjoy the novel as much as I could have due to a combination of two factors. The novel is VERY fast-paced. This worked in some cases: the fight scenes, in particular, were beautifully written. I really couldn't put the book down! All of those scenes were intense and exciting - even though they were all pretty similar, I never felt like I wanted to skip over those scenes.

But Adeyemi's focus on the tight plot meant that the relationships and characterization weren't as fleshed out. In particular, I felt that the romantic relationships

(Zelie/Inan and Tzain/Amari)

weren't well developed and kind of ruined the story for me. The author tried to include romantic subplots but it felt very forced. Even though we have an idea of which characters will canonically end up together, it didn't feel like they had any chemistry.

Personally, Zelie/Amari seemed like a much better choice for a romantic relationship just due to how their relationship developed - it's a more realistic and subtle enemies-to-friends relationship than rushed enemies-to-lovers romance we get with Zelie/Inan. Both of them help each other develop throughout the story, rather than one character doing the heavy lifting for another character's development.

I also felt that the mood of the novel switched very quickly and it made it difficult to suspend my belief on some occasions. Like a previous reviewer said, it seemed like all the characters were very intensely angry for a couple of pages only for them to suddenly feel better. It didn't feel realistic at all, and that was a major part of why I couldn't connect to characters as well. The only character I liked was Amari - her development was by far the strongest throughout the book.

This was a really fun read. I enjoyed the action and worldbuilding, but unfortunately the relationships and characterization made it miss the mark for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

emilyheb10's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, and Classism

sophiamoonlight's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Blood

treereadingabook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Classism

Moderate: Violence

tinnuben's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

martereadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death of parent and War

spacecadelliot's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

idogrocker's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

frankietheavidreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

I would say this book is really fantastic! This has to be one of my favorite novels of 2021 and or maybe of all time. Some of the flaws that i would say about this is, that it's not a cliché. There is plenty of plot twists, and very dark moments in this book. Including one scene in the end (I had to take a break from the book cause it was really triggering for me). But overall, very interesting and impressive for a new author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Blood, Police brutality, and Murder