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A review by ajlatrobe
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
3.0
I'm pretty upset about how disappointed I am in this book. I loved Legendborn so much, but this just went in totally the wrong direction for me. All of the plot and setting and worldbuilding aspects that I absolutely loved in Legendborn were missing and they were replaced by so many of my pet peeves in books. The entire time I was reading it thinking: Oh wow, I didn't realize how much I hated that trope until just now. Oh wow, this is reminding me so much of that other book that I absolutely hated. Oh wow, I really am liking this book less and less with each new random plot point. I feel like I just don't care about Bree anymore, or any of the characters really. I wish I could say it's because it's been over a year since reading the first book and that I remember it being better than it was, or that my taste has changed since...but I literally just reread Legendborn last week and loved it even more than I had remembered. So no excuse there.
Here's some spoilers for more details on what I disliked:
Second, and maybe it should have been first, but I hate this almost "chosen one"-esque trope where Bree is now suddenly the most important person in the universe and everyone must protect and guard her at all costs. I was rooting for underdog Bree before, not this annoying self-centered Bree who has zero regard for anyone else.
Third, the plot was so confusing. It jumped around from one location to the next for seemingly no reason. We're held prisoner. Then suddenly escaping. There's a random ass plane with tons of new characters that you may or may not need to remember. Then a random house. Maybe another random house. Crazy drama at the bar. Suddenly drama at the bar appears to be nothing and we are working together. All in like 200 pages or something? Just too much is happening too quickly. And how much time was passing? Is this weeks? Months? No idea. The only exciting part of the plot for me was Arthur taking over Bree's body and her role as narrator. But that then got confusing too by switching back and forth between perspective unannounced.
Last, I love the trio of Bree/Sel/Nick a lot, but the side characters all suck. I wanted Lark to be more important but he became irrelevant too quickly. And I don't care about the romance. I thought Nick was cute before, kinda sad he wasn't included enough, I loved his scenes. I enjoyed some of the previous angsty moments with Sel, but in this book he was too nice and obsessed with Bree and it made no sense when you remember how many times he tried to kill her previously. Like I would understand them building a strong friendship and he could protect her, but the romance between them? I don't want it anymore.
Truly last would be the ending, but I kinda read it too quickly to make sense of it. It just all seemed wrong. Bree was just making bad decision after bad decision after bad decision. Ditches her connection to Arthur, ok how does that work? Ditches her connection to her entire family ancestry, ok that was literally the entire point of this book why the fuck would Briana “I’m Only Doing This For My Mom” Matthews do that? Joins the Shadow King?? Ok honestly, kinda unexpected and could maybe work out for the next book, but it made zero sense and is just proving that Bree is becoming a worse and worse character with each chapter.
I don't want to be harsh, because I don't think it's a bad book. I know I just went into this with too high of expectations, but I just wasn't into it. I don't know if I will continue the series but I definitely know I won't ever want to reread this.
Here's some spoilers for more details on what I disliked:
Spoiler
First off, Alice was my least favorite character from the first book, and I could not stand a) how much she was in this book and b) the role she played in the group dynamic. Like why was she invited? And why is everyone ok with her being here? Every time she showed up or talked I was annoyed. It reminded me so much of Max from the Inheritance Games series. Hated her from the start and hated even more when she shows up and is just now a part of the group and everyone accepts her, even though they previously didn't accept any outsiders at all.Second, and maybe it should have been first, but I hate this almost "chosen one"-esque trope where Bree is now suddenly the most important person in the universe and everyone must protect and guard her at all costs. I was rooting for underdog Bree before, not this annoying self-centered Bree who has zero regard for anyone else.
Third, the plot was so confusing. It jumped around from one location to the next for seemingly no reason. We're held prisoner. Then suddenly escaping. There's a random ass plane with tons of new characters that you may or may not need to remember. Then a random house. Maybe another random house. Crazy drama at the bar. Suddenly drama at the bar appears to be nothing and we are working together. All in like 200 pages or something? Just too much is happening too quickly. And how much time was passing? Is this weeks? Months? No idea. The only exciting part of the plot for me was Arthur taking over Bree's body and her role as narrator. But that then got confusing too by switching back and forth between perspective unannounced.
Last, I love the trio of Bree/Sel/Nick a lot, but the side characters all suck. I wanted Lark to be more important but he became irrelevant too quickly. And I don't care about the romance. I thought Nick was cute before, kinda sad he wasn't included enough, I loved his scenes. I enjoyed some of the previous angsty moments with Sel, but in this book he was too nice and obsessed with Bree and it made no sense when you remember how many times he tried to kill her previously. Like I would understand them building a strong friendship and he could protect her, but the romance between them? I don't want it anymore.
Truly last would be the ending, but I kinda read it too quickly to make sense of it. It just all seemed wrong. Bree was just making bad decision after bad decision after bad decision. Ditches her connection to Arthur, ok how does that work? Ditches her connection to her entire family ancestry, ok that was literally the entire point of this book why the fuck would Briana “I’m Only Doing This For My Mom” Matthews do that? Joins the Shadow King?? Ok honestly, kinda unexpected and could maybe work out for the next book, but it made zero sense and is just proving that Bree is becoming a worse and worse character with each chapter.
I don't want to be harsh, because I don't think it's a bad book. I know I just went into this with too high of expectations, but I just wasn't into it. I don't know if I will continue the series but I definitely know I won't ever want to reread this.