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A review by charliauthor
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Sigh, okay...let's go.
I'm aware I'll likely be in the minority for this but I'm past caring at this stage.
When I read Legendborn a few years ago, I liked it well enough but I did struggle with the trauma/slave narrative and so focused more on the Fantasy/Arthurian element of it which I enjoyed a whole lot more. After giving it a re read, this was still the case and I spent most of my time trying to get my head around the lore as I found this more interesting than the other side of the plot which i found rather depressing and not what i usually want in my Fantasy.
Saying that, there was no reason for me to have spent any time getting to terms with the Arthurian parts of this, because in Bloodmarked, none of them matter and the actual knights and Arthur take pretty much a back seat to everything else.
I'm aware I'll likely be in the minority for this but I'm past caring at this stage.
When I read Legendborn a few years ago, I liked it well enough but I did struggle with the trauma/slave narrative and so focused more on the Fantasy/Arthurian element of it which I enjoyed a whole lot more. After giving it a re read, this was still the case and I spent most of my time trying to get my head around the lore as I found this more interesting than the other side of the plot which i found rather depressing and not what i usually want in my Fantasy.
Saying that, there was no reason for me to have spent any time getting to terms with the Arthurian parts of this, because in Bloodmarked, none of them matter and the actual knights and Arthur take pretty much a back seat to everything else.
- Bree's back and forth with Sel.
- Bree's Stockholm/Damsel in Distress syndrome with Nick.
- Bree being overpowered while not knowing how to use that power.
- And so on and so forth.
This book was too long and by the end, straight up boring. It took entirely too long to explain what the 'bloodmarked' stuff meant considering we went into this on an entirely different plot point. What happened to Camlinn? What happened to the demons? What happened to Nick? Everything that got the ball rolling by the end of book 1 was some how just forgotten or set aside for heavy dialogue with over explanation and forced tension. Action scenes seemed to just be thrown in when it was convenient, then we went back to talking then started the whole process again. I spent half the time yelling at Bree and Sel for being really annoying even though their parts were the only parts that interested me by the end.
Bree and Sel's relationship in this was great in the sense that they actually built one. They scenes together were probably the best and i was all here for the yearning and deeper meanings cause i love me some romance. Their relationship was also miles better in comparison to Bree's and Nick's who Bree hasn't spent nearly any time with, but is somehow obsessed with and thinks is God's gift. Where in book 1 there was genuine reason for her feeling conflicted between the two - regardless of my feelings on that set up - by this book, it was infuriating to watch Bree continue to have these deep and meaningful convos with Sel only to either shut him down or act like she doesnt know what hes trying to tell her. This took teen angst way too far for me. No one is that fucking stupid.
On top of that we have Little Miss Bree who thinks she knows everything while knowing absolutely nothing and not even trying to learn. Why did i spend 50% of the book with people not acknowledging her role as the Scion of Arthur, another 40% running around the countryside and the the last 10% finally deciding that she needs to learn things and at the ends oftheir enemy of all people who, spoiler, isnt actually their enemy anymore . It was tedious and ridiculous and just made me want to claw my brain out of my skull (i had the audiobook). Bree has absolutely no agency about anything. she spends the majority of the book being saved by everyone else while telling those same people she doesnt need to be saved.
The side characters (William and Alice) were basically carrying a lot of this on their back and despite wanting more of them when i first started, the new Black characters introduced felt caricaturist to me. The Southern accent, formerly enslaved hoodoo/voodoo/root demon was something straight out of Supernatural and i just didnt like the clicheness of it all. Valc was a better addition than some others but still just a bit too gimicky for me. There were a few scenes were Bree managed to address the nature of her root and the crafters but it was clear once she was with them that she didnt really...belong!? Bree has spent so much time being the only Black girl among her white friends that when she was finally around Black people, she didnt really relate to them either. She had no real connection or understanding of her root and i found this comical, as she she spends so much time demonstrating and performing her Blackness to not reaaaally - in the confines of this book anyway - be Black enough. I found it very odd.
The racial aspects of this book were always going to be a struggle for me because i'll be the first to say that this is not meant for me. As a Black British person, this lived experience of racial tension and residue of enslaved people onto their descendants and institutions etc. just does not hit in the same way as it does for African Americans. I do not take away from that experience and understand that it speaks to a lot of people in this way, but it just didnt to me.
The ending felt weak. Much so like the end of Iron Flame with Xaden turning venin or whatever that was, Sel going into his dark side wasnt even a surprise so it felt lazy. The whole Arthur possession thing we could see from ten miles away so not sure why Bree couldn't and the pacing was just off throughout. I wanted more of the dream/memory walking stuff. I wanted more knights and armour and fighting and called Scions and it was just all...politics!?!
I could really be here forever but I'll leave with this: I am very happy for this author to have had the impact she has with this series. There are series much worse than this who get all the editions and all the marketing and all the praise, so for a book by a Black author to receive the same accolades and legions of fans who think it can do no wrong and go to the mat for it, i'm very happy for it. Carve your lane in this space that is constantly taken over by white authors, i'm here for it as a Black person and as a writer.
As a reader, however, this was not for me. It was too long, too forced and just too...sad. I come to Fantasy to have fun and by the end, I just wanted it to be over.
Bree and Sel's relationship in this was great in the sense that they actually built one. They scenes together were probably the best and i was all here for the yearning and deeper meanings cause i love me some romance. Their relationship was also miles better in comparison to Bree's and Nick's who Bree hasn't spent nearly any time with, but is somehow obsessed with and thinks is God's gift. Where in book 1 there was genuine reason for her feeling conflicted between the two - regardless of my feelings on that set up - by this book, it was infuriating to watch Bree continue to have these deep and meaningful convos with Sel only to either shut him down or act like she doesnt know what hes trying to tell her. This took teen angst way too far for me. No one is that fucking stupid.
On top of that we have Little Miss Bree who thinks she knows everything while knowing absolutely nothing and not even trying to learn. Why did i spend 50% of the book with people not acknowledging her role as the Scion of Arthur, another 40% running around the countryside and the the last 10% finally deciding that she needs to learn things and at the ends of
The side characters (William and Alice) were basically carrying a lot of this on their back and despite wanting more of them when i first started, the new Black characters introduced felt caricaturist to me. The Southern accent, formerly enslaved hoodoo/voodoo/root demon was something straight out of Supernatural and i just didnt like the clicheness of it all. Valc was a better addition than some others but still just a bit too gimicky for me. There were a few scenes were Bree managed to address the nature of her root and the crafters but it was clear once she was with them that she didnt really...belong!? Bree has spent so much time being the only Black girl among her white friends that when she was finally around Black people, she didnt really relate to them either. She had no real connection or understanding of her root and i found this comical, as she she spends so much time demonstrating and performing her Blackness to not reaaaally - in the confines of this book anyway - be Black enough. I found it very odd.
The racial aspects of this book were always going to be a struggle for me because i'll be the first to say that this is not meant for me. As a Black British person, this lived experience of racial tension and residue of enslaved people onto their descendants and institutions etc. just does not hit in the same way as it does for African Americans. I do not take away from that experience and understand that it speaks to a lot of people in this way, but it just didnt to me.
The ending felt weak. Much so like the end of Iron Flame with Xaden turning venin or whatever that was, Sel going into his dark side wasnt even a surprise so it felt lazy. The whole Arthur possession thing we could see from ten miles away so not sure why Bree couldn't and the pacing was just off throughout. I wanted more of the dream/memory walking stuff. I wanted more knights and armour and fighting and called Scions and it was just all...politics!?!
I could really be here forever but I'll leave with this: I am very happy for this author to have had the impact she has with this series. There are series much worse than this who get all the editions and all the marketing and all the praise, so for a book by a Black author to receive the same accolades and legions of fans who think it can do no wrong and go to the mat for it, i'm very happy for it. Carve your lane in this space that is constantly taken over by white authors, i'm here for it as a Black person and as a writer.
As a reader, however, this was not for me. It was too long, too forced and just too...sad. I come to Fantasy to have fun and by the end, I just wanted it to be over.