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fictionalcass's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.5
This was such a great read!! It truly had a little bit of everything, and is filled with interesting characters who make some ~unexpected~ turns. The war training academy and some of the overall plot moments had me thinking that The Blood Trials is the book that another book I shall not name thinks it is.
Ikenna is an enjoyable main character to follow, and I really grew to love her throughout the course of the book. Some of her decision making and ability to ignore clues that are slapping her in the face had me yelling at the book, but it makes her much more believable. I love that she wants to believe in the good in things even when faced with seemingly undeniable proof, and I love her fighting spirit.
This story starts just before graduation and the bulk of it takes place in the very extreme training setting, before taking a sharp turn for the last stretch. This felt a bit discordant at times with the pacing in the big picture, but it feels like the perfect setup for the second book and I’m excited to see how things play out.
Highly, highly recommend this one if you are looking for a vibrant SFF read with a great crew of characters, mystery, and even a little dash of romance. Exceptional 4.5⭐️ read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Death of parent, and Death
avacadosocks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Misogyny, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content and Cannibalism
Minor: Death of parent and Murder
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
💬: "I’m a cadet. I’m nowhere close to his rank. I’m also so much more than that and good ol’ boy Radson decided to fuck with me on the right day. I smile at Radson while motioning him forward. Feeling the severe strain of my cheek muscles, I know I appear a little psycho."
Davenport, N. E.. The Blood Trials (The Blood Gift Duology Book 1) (p. 9). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, adult,
📚Page Count: 453
🎧Audiobook Length: 18h 20min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5
----
The Blood Trials by N. E. Davenport is a sci fi/fantasy ADULT story about a Black woman
who lives in a racist and misogynistic society who finds out her grandfather was murdered when she previously thought he died of natural causes. Ikenna is spending her last night as a cadet with friends when she privately gets the news, she instantly decides that she wants revenge. Joining The Praetorian Trials means that Ikenna can get close to the people who might have had a hand in her grandfathers death, so that's what she decides to do. She's sure that she cans survive the challenges, because she was trained by the best (her grandfather) and she has a secret blood gift to help her. Will Ikenna be able to survive the challenges while also figuring out who killed her grandfather?
There were plenty of things I really liked about this book. I love how the main character made impulsive decisions, now these decisions weren't always the best ones but I felt as if the character's personality really shined through and it was consistent. I liked how Ikenna often remembered her grandfather and how she would think about what advice he might give her. The action scenes were really well described in this book. And although some of the twists in the story were predictable, the story was written well so it was still interesting when revealed.
There was only one thing that I didn't like. I couldn't understand why the challenges were so hard, there were characters dying left and right and it felt like the Praetorians reasoning for the challenges being so hard didn't make sense. If no one survives your challenge then who actually wins? Literally no one, because the Praetorians wouldn't gain any new soldiers. There were so many people dying that it no longer became a shock when someone died, and it was no longer impactful. It ruined the immersion for me. Thankfully the story was written well so I was able to re-immerse myself back into the story a few chapters later.
There was one spicy scene, it was written well but I'm uninterested in spicy scenes between young adults. I'm giving the spicy scene a one chili 🌶️ out of five chilies.
Overall, this book was really good. There was so much I enjoyed and very little I disliked. The theme of this book is "revenge" and it really reminds me of "Iron Widow" by Xiran Jay Zhao and I gave that book a 5. This book definitely deserves a 5 as well. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5 Stars
I listened to this for free on the library app [HooplaDigital.com]
Davenport, N. E.. The Blood Trials (The Blood Gift Duology Book 1) (p. 9). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, adult,
📚Page Count: 453
🎧Audiobook Length: 18h 20min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5
----
The Blood Trials by N. E. Davenport is a sci fi/fantasy ADULT story about a Black woman
who lives in a racist and misogynistic society who finds out her grandfather was murdered when she previously thought he died of natural causes. Ikenna is spending her last night as a cadet with friends when she privately gets the news, she instantly decides that she wants revenge. Joining The Praetorian Trials means that Ikenna can get close to the people who might have had a hand in her grandfathers death, so that's what she decides to do. She's sure that she cans survive the challenges, because she was trained by the best (her grandfather) and she has a secret blood gift to help her. Will Ikenna be able to survive the challenges while also figuring out who killed her grandfather?
There were plenty of things I really liked about this book. I love how the main character made impulsive decisions, now these decisions weren't always the best ones but I felt as if the character's personality really shined through and it was consistent. I liked how Ikenna often remembered her grandfather and how she would think about what advice he might give her. The action scenes were really well described in this book. And although some of the twists in the story were predictable, the story was written well so it was still interesting when revealed.
There was only one thing that I didn't like. I couldn't understand why the challenges were so hard, there were characters dying left and right and it felt like the Praetorians reasoning for the challenges being so hard didn't make sense. If no one survives your challenge then who actually wins? Literally no one, because the Praetorians wouldn't gain any new soldiers. There were so many people dying that it no longer became a shock when someone died, and it was no longer impactful. It ruined the immersion for me. Thankfully the story was written well so I was able to re-immerse myself back into the story a few chapters later.
There was one spicy scene, it was written well but I'm uninterested in spicy scenes between young adults. I'm giving the spicy scene a one chili 🌶️ out of five chilies.
Overall, this book was really good. There was so much I enjoyed and very little I disliked. The theme of this book is "revenge" and it really reminds me of "Iron Widow" by Xiran Jay Zhao and I gave that book a 5. This book definitely deserves a 5 as well. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5 Stars
I listened to this for free on the library app [HooplaDigital.com]
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Drug use, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, War, Child death, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racism, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
thenextbookdilemma's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Violence, and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent
dannie_xx's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Racism
dragonsheart8261920's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cannibalism, War, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs
emerentina's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Bullying, Murder, Torture, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexism, Body horror, Blood, Miscarriage, Death, Violence, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
blizzardthecoolwizard's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book was so good! The world building isn't too complicated, but just enough to make the conflicts/war interesting. The main character goes through a lot of personal growth and there are so many fantastic plot twists that make her question everything. I think my only complaint is that sometimes the main character does random out of pocket things that just don't make sense with her character growth or the story...but I'm hoping that I am just missing something. Other than that, it would be 5 stars! I can't wait to read the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent and Torture
Minor: Sexual content
msrae89's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
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
I really wanted to like this book and I was excited to read it, but, ultimately, this book just wasn’t for me.
Pros: -The book is pretty well written; it is a little repetitive at times but it makes sense within the narrative.
-The themes the book is exploring are really interesting and done in an unobtrusive way. What I mean by that is I never felt as if the book was preaching to me.
-The themes themselves were really interesting and interconnected with one another seamlessly. Racism, colonialism, military and military propaganda, sexism, classism, trauma, all work together to tell a very interesting story.
-The ending was engaging and set up the second book nicely.
However, that’s about where my enjoyment of the book ended.
Cons: The MC, Ikenna, is 19 and very traumatized, and while it makes sense for the narrative, I found it very repetitive and annoying. This might be, in part, bc I’m in my 30’s and I have an harder time relating to younger MCs. Though, really, I didn’t find any of the characters interesting or engaging. I couldn’t even “love to hate” any of them.
-The book is oddly and aggressively compulsory heterosexual and cisgender. As far as I can tell queer people just don’t exist in the book’s universe, and as a queer person I prefer to read books with queer representation. Even just a passing statement that queer people exist would be more than this book has. Maybe they are in book 2 but after starting it I doubt it based on the little I’ve read so far.
-The “romance” is just bad. First off, it’s unethical. Reed is Ikenna’s superior officer, which he acknowledges. Reed was also the mentee of Ikenna’s deceased grandfather which creates a weird situation for them. It feels a little freudian. Also, Reed is boring! And all of this awkward tension leads to a sudden sex scene. I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum, but this just wasn’t for me and I skipped it.
Overall it was a good idea with flat characters and dense story.
Pros: -The book is pretty well written; it is a little repetitive at times but it makes sense within the narrative.
-The themes the book is exploring are really interesting and done in an unobtrusive way. What I mean by that is I never felt as if the book was preaching to me.
-The themes themselves were really interesting and interconnected with one another seamlessly. Racism, colonialism, military and military propaganda, sexism, classism, trauma, all work together to tell a very interesting story.
-The ending was engaging and set up the second book nicely.
However, that’s about where my enjoyment of the book ended.
Cons: The MC, Ikenna, is 19 and very traumatized, and while it makes sense for the narrative, I found it very repetitive and annoying. This might be, in part, bc I’m in my 30’s and I have an harder time relating to younger MCs. Though, really, I didn’t find any of the characters interesting or engaging. I couldn’t even “love to hate” any of them.
-The book is oddly and aggressively compulsory heterosexual and cisgender. As far as I can tell queer people just don’t exist in the book’s universe, and as a queer person I prefer to read books with queer representation. Even just a passing statement that queer people exist would be more than this book has. Maybe they are in book 2 but after starting it I doubt it based on the little I’ve read so far.
-The “romance” is just bad. First off, it’s unethical. Reed is Ikenna’s superior officer, which he acknowledges. Reed was also the mentee of Ikenna’s deceased grandfather which creates a weird situation for them. It feels a little freudian. Also, Reed is boring! And all of this awkward tension leads to a sudden sex scene. I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum, but this just wasn’t for me and I skipped it.
Overall it was a good idea with flat characters and dense story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Classism, Violence, War, Blood, and Colonisation
lesliehirgelt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexism, Racial slurs, Violence, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, and Cannibalism
Minor: Toxic friendship