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A review by scrubsandbooks
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

5.0

Do I think my powers are worth the cost? The wound of grief from losing my mother sits open in my chest. It feels like it will never truly heal, no matter how much I acknowledge its presence. Then there are wounds my ancestors carried from one generation to the next. All the loss, multiplied and compounded and cumulative. All that running.
Don't be scared. Fight.

This was absolutely phenomenal. There's always this thing with second books in series where things don't live up to the hype of book one and it ends up being a filler between beginning and conclusion. It definitely was not the case here at. All. The stakes were high, much higher than they were at the end of Legendborn and this book surpassed all my expectations. Books where things are happening one right after another tend to be overwhelming for me and leaving me wondering if half of it was necessary and this was an exception. Every event, you learned something new, you met a new person who ended up being pivotal to the main character's story. Tracy Deonn has done an amazing job of bringing the pieces of the puzzle together. There is so much to love about this and nothing to hate (except for the obvious bigots and bad guys, of course). Tracy had even making me feel bad for
Jonas and his betrayal because of what he went through and what he thought would be brought on by doing what he did to Bree
.

The world-building in this book with the Order and the Rootcraft seems to only expand even further, and I absolutely loved that we got to see more characters involved in Rootcraft and learned more about the magic itself. And a former plantation become a safe haven for Rootcrafters called Volition? Chef's kiss, all of it, ESPECIALLY the title. I loved the inclusion of Alice and William in this journey, as well as seeing more of Selwyn outside of the Order, and how his friendship with Bree continued to grow and evolve. And Bree. Bree is the most beloved of all, faced with so much betrayal and pushback, but holds her head up and keeps fighting. I want nothing but the best for her and I cried so much for her in this book because of everything she went through at the hands of the Reagents. Oh, how I wanted to reach into the book so bad to give her a big hug. Or punch some racists. OR BOTH.

"You don't believe history is true. You won't even admit it's possible. That I am Arthur's heir not by choice or honor, but by violence." [...] "You won't say it out loud, but I will," [...] "I am the Scion of Arthur by rape. I am your proof."

This book, this series, is too important to not at least give it a chance. Eagerly awaiting book three!
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