A review by dollscanreadtoo
Blood Solace by Vela Roth

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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? No

3.25

This is the second book in the Blood Grace series. I liked the first book much better, when the stakes felt high and I was legitimately worried about what would end up happening. In this novel,
Cassia is much less a struggling, relatable human with flaws (which was one of my favorite parts of the first book!) and much more a Mary Sue political mastermind. While I'm happy for her as a person to have escaped her father's grasp, it really feels like this book pulled his teeth and he is no longer the terrifying antagonist he seemed to be in the first book. In fact, every "antagonist" in this novel, from the king to the nobility to the magicians, all come across as bumbling idiots. It feels like nothing can happen to Cassia and Lio - they are untouchable in the north with the power of the Hesperines protecting them.
The pace of this book is so slow that maybe all the danger and stress come back in the next book, but if I wasn't already invested in this story I would give this a pass. I finished this book, but I am not motivated to keep reading.
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