A review by soulfullyalex
Bloody Spade by Brittany M. Willows

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Thank you to the offer for a review e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t read a lot of YA anymore, I always seem to struggle to get into it, but this one wasn’t a struggle. I’m almost mad at myself for not reading it sooner, but I know that I was in the right mood to read it when I did. I didn’t know what to expect from it other than magic and queer main characters. I like to go into books with a relatively loose idea of what they are about. I like to be surprised. And boy was I surprised!

I really enjoyed this! It was fast paced and gripping, which was exactly what I needed. For starters I loved Iori’s character. He was funny and witty and a little bit wild, but the more we got to know him the more we saw that there were deep layers that needed to be worked through. I felt so much for Iori. He had such a rough life and it felt like he just couldn’t catch a break, the poor kid.

Ellen was also a really great character. She was really sweet and caring, and I loved that she wanted to see the best in people and could see past the surface level situation. It was a huge contrast to her brother, Alexander. I will be honest, Alexander made me angry for a lot of this book, but I think in a good way. He was just so stubborn and so sure of his own opinions of people and situations that he couldn’t see that his views were based on his personal feelings and his need to blame someone. I had that kind of anger that if he had listened to his friends and the people that loved him he could have avoided a lot of the pain he had to go through later on.

In the end, I loved how things ended and were wrapped up, but also how the little bit of a cliffhanger left things with a eerie sense about what’s to come next. I can’t wait to read the completion of this duology.