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teakaybee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm and Eating disorder
Minor: Gun violence
cosmicwillow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.25
what a delightful and dark sequel! i thoroughly enjoyed this, and only found myself frustrated or rolling my eyes at some of the purely teenage moments from the literally teenagers so that wasnt too bad. i will say, the alternate curse words did start to bug me more in this book, but it didnt take away from the story. on that note, i love how this depicts the complexities of family and community, especially with respect to black folks and their unique experiences in north america, especially as slave descendants. i also loved how dark this was for a ya, it was great and turned the stakes up quite high. and seeing voyas overall growth was really wonderful. i really enjoyed this series!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, and Gun violence
Moderate: Slavery, Eating disorder, and Addiction
Minor: Transphobia, Police brutality, and Racism
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
3.5
3.5 ⭐ CW: (provided by the author) gun violence, reference to police violence, discussion of eating disorders, blood/gore/violence, death, discussion of substance use/addiction, mentions of child neglect, sickness/infection
Blood Like Fate by Liselle Sambury is the final installment in the Blood Like Magic duology. Don't let the rating fool you, I did enjoy reading this book, but it had some pacing issues, and I was able to guess the twist not even half way through the book. It was just so painfully obvious.
We pick up with Voya after the events of the last book, heartbroken and grieving. In the first book we see Voya's struggle to make decisions, any decision, and realizes that even not making a decision is a decision. This time she now has to deal with the consequences of her decisions and the fallout therein. Voya is also struggling with being the new Matriarch. She doesn't believe in herself, and neither does her family. They only see her as a kid making all the wrong choices. Even though Luc is one of the reasons her life is a mess, she still pines for him throughout the book (which honestly was really annoying).
One of the things I love about this series is the family dynamics and importance of history and ancestors. Voya's family is large and complicated, and they don't always agree on everything, but when it comes down to it, they love each other and will fight for one another. There is also a major thread about community as extended family, and how pooling their resources makes everyone stronger. I also really appreciate the examination of grief and other mental health issues such as substance use disorder and eating disorders.
Sambury describes her writing as "messy black girls in fantasy situations", and she delivered. Voya is messy AF, and I found myself grumbling at her throughout the book, but I try to remember, she's only 17. She's a great character, and I wouldn't mind seeing how she grows as matriarch as she gets older. It's also nice to read about Canadian-Trinidadian families and other families from the Caribbean. The speculative science in this is so interesting! It's very much science run amuck. The main message is science without ethics is violence.
Check out my review of book one for the representation in the series.
Blood Like Fate by Liselle Sambury is the final installment in the Blood Like Magic duology. Don't let the rating fool you, I did enjoy reading this book, but it had some pacing issues, and I was able to guess the twist not even half way through the book. It was just so painfully obvious.
We pick up with Voya after the events of the last book, heartbroken and grieving. In the first book we see Voya's struggle to make decisions, any decision, and realizes that even not making a decision is a decision. This time she now has to deal with the consequences of her decisions and the fallout therein. Voya is also struggling with being the new Matriarch. She doesn't believe in herself, and neither does her family. They only see her as a kid making all the wrong choices. Even though Luc is one of the reasons her life is a mess, she still pines for him throughout the book (which honestly was really annoying).
One of the things I love about this series is the family dynamics and importance of history and ancestors. Voya's family is large and complicated, and they don't always agree on everything, but when it comes down to it, they love each other and will fight for one another. There is also a major thread about community as extended family, and how pooling their resources makes everyone stronger. I also really appreciate the examination of grief and other mental health issues such as substance use disorder and eating disorders.
Sambury describes her writing as "messy black girls in fantasy situations", and she delivered. Voya is messy AF, and I found myself grumbling at her throughout the book, but I try to remember, she's only 17. She's a great character, and I wouldn't mind seeing how she grows as matriarch as she gets older. It's also nice to read about Canadian-Trinidadian families and other families from the Caribbean. The speculative science in this is so interesting! It's very much science run amuck. The main message is science without ethics is violence.
Check out my review of book one for the representation in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Gun violence, Eating disorder, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child death and Police brutality
missrosymaplemoth's review against another edition
4.5
A rare sequel that doesn’t disappoint and is on par with its precursor. I love the feeling I got while reading this duology, and it all came back with Blood Like Fate.
Voya, her family and the other witches all stand out as their own individual and unique characters, which can be hard to do with such a large ensemble supporting cast. I love the relationships and Voya’s reflection and introspection. Themes of ancestry and self-doubt were explored and well handled. I liked how LGBT identities and the conversations surrounding them were integrated seamlessly into the book and treated with love and respect. I was not expecting the plot twist. I like how the plot points were all wrapped cleanly and satisfyingly.
My one complaint is that the first half of the book was very slow paced, but the last 25% is un-put-downable! A great conclusion to a fantasy YA duology I will be recommending.
☀️6/20
Voya, her family and the other witches all stand out as their own individual and unique characters, which can be hard to do with such a large ensemble supporting cast. I love the relationships and Voya’s reflection and introspection. Themes of ancestry and self-doubt were explored and well handled. I liked how LGBT identities and the conversations surrounding them were integrated seamlessly into the book and treated with love and respect. I was not expecting the plot twist. I like how the plot points were all wrapped cleanly and satisfyingly.
My one complaint is that the first half of the book was very slow paced, but the last 25% is un-put-downable! A great conclusion to a fantasy YA duology I will be recommending.
☀️6/20
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Murder, Eating disorder, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
bookswhitme's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Cursing, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction and Eating disorder
lemonlord_of_the_south's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a great duology and a great continuation for the first book. I found the characters were more fleshed out in this one and the motivation was a lot clearer.
I felt the ending wrapped up the story in a very satisfying way and made up for a lot of the frustration I felt in the first book.
Some of the miscommunication didn't make sens but only small parts for me at least.
I felt the ending wrapped up the story in a very satisfying way and made up for a lot of the frustration I felt in the first book.
Some of the miscommunication didn't make sens but only small parts for me at least.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Blood, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Addiction, Slavery, and Police brutality
madamenovelist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Eating disorder, Death, Colonisation, Classism, Racism, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Medical content, and Grief
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Well, I did screw myself a little bit with this one, folks. After listening to the audio for the first book, I told myself that for the sequel I would for sure read it rather than listen to it... and guess who didn't follow through on that? This girl. Oops.
Okay, in my defense, I did a little of both--physical reading and listening. But I knew it was a chonky book and I would get through it quicker if I listened to it rather than tried to focus all my energy into reading it with my eyes. The only issue is that this is so full of fantastical depth and magic-building, that I lost a lot of it along the way (the same problem I had with the first book).
However, I also just don't think that this particular series is my jam. While there are parts of it that I really enjoyed (namely the diversity, dealing with the tougher topics like eating disorders and substance abuse, and grief), for the most part, I felt like it was a bit overwhelming. Sometimes it seemed like the author just wanted to cram as much of everything as possible into one plot and it seemed a little clunky.
I think that there are some really interesting things about these books but they just didn't wow me. They're good but not something I would reach for again.
Okay, in my defense, I did a little of both--physical reading and listening. But I knew it was a chonky book and I would get through it quicker if I listened to it rather than tried to focus all my energy into reading it with my eyes. The only issue is that this is so full of fantastical depth and magic-building, that I lost a lot of it along the way (the same problem I had with the first book).
However, I also just don't think that this particular series is my jam. While there are parts of it that I really enjoyed (namely the diversity, dealing with the tougher topics like eating disorders and substance abuse, and grief), for the most part, I felt like it was a bit overwhelming. Sometimes it seemed like the author just wanted to cram as much of everything as possible into one plot and it seemed a little clunky.
I think that there are some really interesting things about these books but they just didn't wow me. They're good but not something I would reach for again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Murder
cakt1991's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.0
Blood Like Magic was a stunning debut, so I had high expectations going into Blood Like Fate. And while I don’t think this book is as strong as its predecessor, it’s nonetheless compelling, and adds to the whole story the duology is telling impeccably well.
The world continues to be well-realized and expansive, and I’ve grown to love the mingling of sci-fi technology and fantastical witchy magic. It felt very grounded in the first one, and continues in a similar vein here.
I continue to love Voya’s growth this time around. She remains flawed, making sometimes fatal mistakes and struggling with tough choices. But she’s always trying to be better, and I love the care she has for her family and coven. And the stakes are higher for her here, as she’s stepping into the role of the family’s Matriarch, and I love seeing her reckoning with all her new responsibilities.
There’s a pretty large cast of characters, and I love how diverse and colorful they are. Each of them feels distinct and is easy to distinguish from the others.
Plot and pacing wise, I feel a tad mixed. It absolutely merits the length it is, although I do feel that initially it is a little slow to start. However, it soon gains momentum, especially when the mystery subplot comes into play to amp up the suspense.
This is a solid conclusion to the duology, and will leave readers who enjoyed book one satisfied. If you enjoy stories that blend sci-fi and fantasy elements, with a generous dose of Black Girl Magic, I recommend checking this duology out!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Gun violence, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Police brutality, Addiction, Eating disorder, and Drug abuse
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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
Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for an arc of this book!
In this sequel to Blood Like Magic, Voya is the new matriarch of her family and no one seems to believe she can do it--especially not herself. On top of that, Keis is angry at her for her decisions in the previous book, Luc is no longer talking to her, and she can't figure out how her grandmother made the skin care products that were their families livelihood. But when Voya has a vision of the future that could be catastrophic for all witches, she attempts to get together the other matriarchs to try and keep that grim future from happening.
I loved this so much! The perfect end to this duology, and I'm so very happy I was able to read it. I was so so sad for most of the book because Luc was one of my favorite parts of Blood Like Magic and he and Voya are estranged for most of this book. He does play a role in it though, so never fear!
The best part of this book is definitely Voya's character arch. She grows so much over the course of the book and I love the different people involved in helping her do that. She goes on quite the emotional journey and I love that for her! I loved getting to know more about other members of her family, but I especially loved getting to know about the other witch families and their histories!
This is such a great duology and I recommend it with my whole heart!
In this sequel to Blood Like Magic, Voya is the new matriarch of her family and no one seems to believe she can do it--especially not herself. On top of that, Keis is angry at her for her decisions in the previous book, Luc is no longer talking to her, and she can't figure out how her grandmother made the skin care products that were their families livelihood. But when Voya has a vision of the future that could be catastrophic for all witches, she attempts to get together the other matriarchs to try and keep that grim future from happening.
I loved this so much! The perfect end to this duology, and I'm so very happy I was able to read it. I was so so sad for most of the book because Luc was one of my favorite parts of Blood Like Magic and he and Voya are estranged for most of this book. He does play a role in it though, so never fear!
The best part of this book is definitely Voya's character arch. She grows so much over the course of the book and I love the different people involved in helping her do that. She goes on quite the emotional journey and I love that for her! I loved getting to know more about other members of her family, but I especially loved getting to know about the other witch families and their histories!
This is such a great duology and I recommend it with my whole heart!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Racism and Transphobia