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The Blood Gift Duology #2
The Blood Gift
In this stunning conclusion to N. E. Davenport’s fast-paced, action-packed sci-fantasy duology, elite warrior Ikenna and her rogue cohort must outrun bounty hunters, their former comrades, and a megalomaniacal demi-god, all in the hopes of saving their friends and enemies from the racist and misogynistic oppression that threatens the continents from all sides.
After discovering the depth of betrayal, treachery, and violence perpetrated against her by Mareen’s Tribunal Council and exposing her illegal blood-gift to save her Praetorian squad, Ikenna becomes a fugitive with a colossal bounty on her head.
Yet, somehow, that’s the least of her worries.
Her grandfather’s longtime allies refuse to offer help, and the Blood Emperor’s Warlord is tracking her. She’s also struggling to control the enormous power she was granted by the Goddess of Blood Rites…and come to terms with the promises she made to get such power.
Amidst all of this, the Blood Emperor wages a full-scale invasion against Mareen and leaves a trail of decimated cities, war crimes, and untold death in his wake. As the horrors increase, Ikenna and her team realize they must assassinate the Blood Emperor and quickly end the war. But the price to do so is steep and has planet-shattering consequences.
The price to do nothing, though, is annihilation.
War has erupted. Alliances are fracturing. And Ikenna is torn between her loyalties, her desires for revenge, and the power threatening to consume her. With the world aflame, only one thing is certain: blood will be spilled.
After discovering the depth of betrayal, treachery, and violence perpetrated against her by Mareen’s Tribunal Council and exposing her illegal blood-gift to save her Praetorian squad, Ikenna becomes a fugitive with a colossal bounty on her head.
Yet, somehow, that’s the least of her worries.
Her grandfather’s longtime allies refuse to offer help, and the Blood Emperor’s Warlord is tracking her. She’s also struggling to control the enormous power she was granted by the Goddess of Blood Rites…and come to terms with the promises she made to get such power.
Amidst all of this, the Blood Emperor wages a full-scale invasion against Mareen and leaves a trail of decimated cities, war crimes, and untold death in his wake. As the horrors increase, Ikenna and her team realize they must assassinate the Blood Emperor and quickly end the war. But the price to do so is steep and has planet-shattering consequences.
The price to do nothing, though, is annihilation.
War has erupted. Alliances are fracturing. And Ikenna is torn between her loyalties, her desires for revenge, and the power threatening to consume her. With the world aflame, only one thing is certain: blood will be spilled.
420 pages, Hardcover
First published April 18, 2023
287 people are currently reading
10169 people want to read
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March 20, 2024
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Rating: 4.5 stars
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I love this epic illustration of Ikenna and her crew! The illustration and red background also nicely hint at the brutal storyline and world.
Writing: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Rich descriptions and a smooth, casual writing style brought this story to life and made it easy to immerse in. The world-building was also skilfully expanded and delivered without any glaring information dump, making it more engaging than the previous book. My only issue was that the extensive details of Ikenna’s emotions and internal conflicts made the narrative somewhat repetitive.
"Aging and wisdom go hand in hand."
Storyline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Like the previous book, an opening burst of action quickly pulled me in and established the upcoming battles. Past events were simply recapped as needed, allowing a fast-paced and action-packed storyline to unfold. Despite some very convenient plot devices, I fully enjoyed the high stakes, themes (genocide, racism and elitism) and character dynamics, which made the storyline well-paced and hard to put down.
Main character(s): 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Somehow Ikenna is even more homicidal and arrogant in this sequel, although her character remains as fierce, sassy and caring as I loved previously. I also liked the slight dark humour in her narrative and her growth as she became more vulnerable and open with her crew. However, I eventually got tired of Ikenna’s impulsive actions and entitlement in this story, especially since she never seemed to have a solid plan for achieving her ambitious goals.
"I refuse to let fear dictate my life or the decisions I make with it. I’ve never lived that way before and I’m not about to start now."
Secondary characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The dynamics and banter between Ikenna’s blood-thirsty crew made them entertaining, but I needed their characters to have more focus and depth in order to be invested in them. Several other characters (old and new) were smoothly used to drive the expanded scope and complexity of the storyline.
Romance: 🌟🌟🌟
The attraction between Ikenna and a certain character grows into strong feelings that are told far more than shown. While this did little to make this aspect of the story more convincing, the characters are given more interactions (beyond long, graphic sex scenes) and cute moments that made me root for them.
"I don’t like being insulted. I think too highly of myself to put up with it. "
Narration & Audio: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Jeannette Illidge gives a flawless narration with natural vocal inflexions for the sassy and emotive narrative. I also loved the different character voices used as these helped enrich the story.
Ultimately, despite my minor complaints, I really enjoyed 'The Blood Gift' and struggled to put down the fast-paced, action-packed story. A similar brutal fantasy to check out if you enjoyed this is Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I love this epic illustration of Ikenna and her crew! The illustration and red background also nicely hint at the brutal storyline and world.
Writing: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Rich descriptions and a smooth, casual writing style brought this story to life and made it easy to immerse in. The world-building was also skilfully expanded and delivered without any glaring information dump, making it more engaging than the previous book. My only issue was that the extensive details of Ikenna’s emotions and internal conflicts made the narrative somewhat repetitive.
"Aging and wisdom go hand in hand."
Storyline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Like the previous book, an opening burst of action quickly pulled me in and established the upcoming battles. Past events were simply recapped as needed, allowing a fast-paced and action-packed storyline to unfold. Despite some very convenient plot devices, I fully enjoyed the high stakes, themes (genocide, racism and elitism) and character dynamics, which made the storyline well-paced and hard to put down.
Main character(s): 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Somehow Ikenna is even more homicidal and arrogant in this sequel, although her character remains as fierce, sassy and caring as I loved previously. I also liked the slight dark humour in her narrative and her growth as she became more vulnerable and open with her crew. However, I eventually got tired of Ikenna’s impulsive actions and entitlement in this story, especially since she never seemed to have a solid plan for achieving her ambitious goals.
"I refuse to let fear dictate my life or the decisions I make with it. I’ve never lived that way before and I’m not about to start now."
Secondary characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The dynamics and banter between Ikenna’s blood-thirsty crew made them entertaining, but I needed their characters to have more focus and depth in order to be invested in them. Several other characters (old and new) were smoothly used to drive the expanded scope and complexity of the storyline.
Romance: 🌟🌟🌟
The attraction between Ikenna and a certain character grows into strong feelings that are told far more than shown. While this did little to make this aspect of the story more convincing, the characters are given more interactions (beyond long, graphic sex scenes) and cute moments that made me root for them.
"I don’t like being insulted. I think too highly of myself to put up with it. "
Narration & Audio: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Jeannette Illidge gives a flawless narration with natural vocal inflexions for the sassy and emotive narrative. I also loved the different character voices used as these helped enrich the story.
Ultimately, despite my minor complaints, I really enjoyed 'The Blood Gift' and struggled to put down the fast-paced, action-packed story. A similar brutal fantasy to check out if you enjoyed this is Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye.
April 25, 2023
This was disappointing and doesn’t read like a finale at all. My main issue was the writing but once again the pacing was a problem. This should have been a trilogy or these books should have been much longer to successfully accomplish all it set out to do. I considered dnfing several times and I can’t say it was worth pushing through to the finish line.
Read
May 14, 2023In this sequel to The Blood Trials we continue where the story left off with Ikenna and crew trying to create allies in their quest to take down The Blood Emperor.
This was very fast paced. And having recently DNF'd two fantasies that were slow moving and threatening to put me into a reading slump that was much appreciated. There was truly never a dull moment because something was always happening.
Tonally this book had a different feel from book 1 which was more adult and gritty. This one felt more YA than book even though this is an adult fantasy. When I was hoping it would go further into embracing the adult fantasy space. It didn't help Ikenna is very childish in this one and people such as Ajani who is only a few years older than her constantly refer to her as a child. At times it got a little too over the top for me and the dialogue didn't really fit this very heavily structured environment they grew up in where the children were adultified at a young age.
The best moments in this book were when she dialed back on the childish antics and "feral" Ikenna moments and let Ikenna actually sit down and acknowledge her issues. Reed brought out the best in Ikenna because he knew how to calm her down and get her to acknowledge her feelings instead of bottling them up. And they did have some really good conversations. I actually wanted to hear both talk a little more about their relationship with Verne, especially Reed since he had such a close relationship with him since childhood despite not being family.
Some of the world building was cool and I like that it was presented in a way that wasn't info-dumpy. Instead we got reveals when needed. We got to know more about the god's system and see some of the world outside of Mareen. The action scenes were still attention grabbing and every fight sequence felt different.
The ending was too happy and neat for me. It truly didn't fit the story. Obviously change needs to happen and they need to transition into a new kind of republic that wrapped up too quickly and just didn't make sense.
I do understand that she wanted this to be a trilogy, the publisher wanted a duology so she had to combine her ideas for books 2 and 3 into one book. Honestly some of those ideas that were originally for book 3 could've been dropped in favor of fleshing out some other plots. I still had questions that didn't get answered because they were breezed past for other plots. More people needed to die! The deaths we had I feel like we didn't really get to know those characters well/weren't following Ikenna around them long enough for them to have big impact.
But despite some frustrations I had with this book hovering in YA territory more than book 1, Ikenna is still an engaging character and while some parts were a little messy it was entertaining mess.
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot....
This was very fast paced. And having recently DNF'd two fantasies that were slow moving and threatening to put me into a reading slump that was much appreciated. There was truly never a dull moment because something was always happening.
Tonally this book had a different feel from book 1 which was more adult and gritty. This one felt more YA than book even though this is an adult fantasy. When I was hoping it would go further into embracing the adult fantasy space. It didn't help Ikenna is very childish in this one and people such as Ajani who is only a few years older than her constantly refer to her as a child. At times it got a little too over the top for me and the dialogue didn't really fit this very heavily structured environment they grew up in where the children were adultified at a young age.
The best moments in this book were when she dialed back on the childish antics and "feral" Ikenna moments and let Ikenna actually sit down and acknowledge her issues. Reed brought out the best in Ikenna because he knew how to calm her down and get her to acknowledge her feelings instead of bottling them up. And they did have some really good conversations. I actually wanted to hear both talk a little more about their relationship with Verne, especially Reed since he had such a close relationship with him since childhood despite not being family.
Some of the world building was cool and I like that it was presented in a way that wasn't info-dumpy. Instead we got reveals when needed. We got to know more about the god's system and see some of the world outside of Mareen. The action scenes were still attention grabbing and every fight sequence felt different.
The ending was too happy and neat for me. It truly didn't fit the story. Obviously change needs to happen and they need to transition into a new kind of republic that wrapped up too quickly and just didn't make sense.
I do understand that she wanted this to be a trilogy, the publisher wanted a duology so she had to combine her ideas for books 2 and 3 into one book. Honestly some of those ideas that were originally for book 3 could've been dropped in favor of fleshing out some other plots. I still had questions that didn't get answered because they were breezed past for other plots. More people needed to die! The deaths we had I feel like we didn't really get to know those characters well/weren't following Ikenna around them long enough for them to have big impact.
But despite some frustrations I had with this book hovering in YA territory more than book 1, Ikenna is still an engaging character and while some parts were a little messy it was entertaining mess.
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot....
April 26, 2023
This didn’t hit the same as book 1 for me ,personally.
I had to force myself to finish.
I had to force myself to finish.
July 10, 2023
4.5 stars rounded up
This was an excellent conclusion to the duology and I would love to see more in this world! Such an interesting blend of sci-fi and fantasy, The Blood Gift explores more about the "gods" of this world in ways that are both ominous and fascinating. Ikenna is back and just as badass as ever, though we get a nice quiet start for her before the plot picks up into breakneck action.
The early pacing surprised me, but I actually like it. Ikenna gets some much needed alone time with her love interest and things were surprisingly spicy. But of course, nothing like that lasts and there is plenty of action, politics, and danger throughout the rest of the book. This was a satisfying and well-executed conclusion, though I will say the ending felt a bit rushed and came together rather neatly. I think this easily could have been a trilogy instead, but it's still really great and worth reading as it is.
This was an excellent conclusion to the duology and I would love to see more in this world! Such an interesting blend of sci-fi and fantasy, The Blood Gift explores more about the "gods" of this world in ways that are both ominous and fascinating. Ikenna is back and just as badass as ever, though we get a nice quiet start for her before the plot picks up into breakneck action.
The early pacing surprised me, but I actually like it. Ikenna gets some much needed alone time with her love interest and things were surprisingly spicy. But of course, nothing like that lasts and there is plenty of action, politics, and danger throughout the rest of the book. This was a satisfying and well-executed conclusion, though I will say the ending felt a bit rushed and came together rather neatly. I think this easily could have been a trilogy instead, but it's still really great and worth reading as it is.
March 21, 2024
Unfortunately I have to agree with the consensus that this book lacked a lot of the magic of the first - but it’s also worth being aware of the context re: the publisher forcing the author to convert a planned trilogy into a duology.
I think this would have worked very well as a 4 book series, and allowed the characters, relationships, politics and world-building to evolve organically. It was very clear that the last ~20% of this book tried to cram in the plot of what should have been the third book and I was INCREDIBLY confused that the epilogue then set up for a sequel.
I would love to see another work from this author set in a new world / with new characters as I do think The Blood Trials showed huge potential - particularly in terms of themes explored (race, colonialism etc) as well as the unique science x fantasy genre combination.
3/5 stars
I think this would have worked very well as a 4 book series, and allowed the characters, relationships, politics and world-building to evolve organically. It was very clear that the last ~20% of this book tried to cram in the plot of what should have been the third book and I was INCREDIBLY confused that the epilogue then set up for a sequel.
I would love to see another work from this author set in a new world / with new characters as I do think The Blood Trials showed huge potential - particularly in terms of themes explored (race, colonialism etc) as well as the unique science x fantasy genre combination.
3/5 stars
Read
March 24, 2023This was certainly a book, words written on the page...
Maybe the biggest criticism I have of the book isn't entirely fair, but at this point I don't care. I don't feel like there was enough runway for this to be a duology. Listen, I get that the first book has a trial component, that a lot of the runtime is dedicated to something so that spiting the narrative might make sense when pitching the book and super gluing this book to the previous book might have resulted in the same general feeling, I still wish it were the choice that had been made... Like... is traditional publishing trying to have an 800+ page debut? I mean, clearly not... but I think that the first 30% of this would have been better as the middle of a book in place of the first 30% of a new book. Sure it's a book in a series, so in a way it's still the middle of an over arching story, but it's still the first 30% and here that first third was rough.
I can't even say that it got better for me. I never really felt like the characters had a plan... Like they had a rough sketch, they had an end goal and they knew getting their would require things that they didn't have... but it never really felt like they were working toward that even in scenes that were supposed to be them doing just that. Though it probably didn't help that the characters didn't really have a whole going for them.
Just like the first installment this book too overstayed its welcome. At least in my house. Again, it's a thing where I understand thematically while it was important, and maybe in an alternate universe there exists a third book in the series where that third act could have been explored more, because while as written there isn't enough material to be a whole book the ideas presented could definitely be explored more and then what feels like a let down of a second act finale could be expanded? I'm not sure.
The pieces are there, and individually the art work is nice to think about, but as assembled and presented? It's a miss for me.
Maybe the biggest criticism I have of the book isn't entirely fair, but at this point I don't care. I don't feel like there was enough runway for this to be a duology. Listen, I get that the first book has a trial component, that a lot of the runtime is dedicated to something so that spiting the narrative might make sense when pitching the book and super gluing this book to the previous book might have resulted in the same general feeling, I still wish it were the choice that had been made... Like... is traditional publishing trying to have an 800+ page debut? I mean, clearly not... but I think that the first 30% of this would have been better as the middle of a book in place of the first 30% of a new book. Sure it's a book in a series, so in a way it's still the middle of an over arching story, but it's still the first 30% and here that first third was rough.
I can't even say that it got better for me. I never really felt like the characters had a plan... Like they had a rough sketch, they had an end goal and they knew getting their would require things that they didn't have... but it never really felt like they were working toward that even in scenes that were supposed to be them doing just that. Though it probably didn't help that the characters didn't really have a whole going for them.
Just like the first installment this book too overstayed its welcome. At least in my house. Again, it's a thing where I understand thematically while it was important, and maybe in an alternate universe there exists a third book in the series where that third act could have been explored more, because while as written there isn't enough material to be a whole book the ideas presented could definitely be explored more and then what feels like a let down of a second act finale could be expanded? I'm not sure.
The pieces are there, and individually the art work is nice to think about, but as assembled and presented? It's a miss for me.
October 7, 2023
Bah. I was disappointed after such a strong first book. The first book was a journey; this was just Super Ikenna going from place to place communicating in silent glances with everyone around her.
I can absolutely buy that her and Reed can understand each other with a look. Maybe even some members of her team mid-combat. But, Ikenna is getting reads off sideward glances from enemies that communicate lines, if not paragraphs, of information. "I saw how the light was caught in his swollen, left, half shut eye and I immediately knew with certainty though he initially wanted to do me harm, in this moment and for the next 14 seconds he could be trusted. Also, he needed to remember to file his taxes, pick up more oregano for dinner, did he pull the chicken out of the freezer that morning, and he really should get with Debbie in accounting as he's still waiting on his reimbursement from last month's super secret planning meeting." And it happens repeatedly. And is never wrong.
I like duologies, typically, because it seems to me the author knows they don't have enough for a trilogy, but still want to tell a compelling story. I hate to say it, but this probably should have been a trilogy. Book should have ended about 70-75% in, but it was easy to see we had more. So, oops, the big baddie she just killed... that's not the end. There's more. So lets do that. Oops... there's more. Now this is stupid. Like any number of shows/series where you spend half a season or more leading up to the big finale with ultimate evil only to realize there is someone else behind it and an even bigger evil. Then biggerier and eviler. It's too much.
And it's still not resolved. There will be more. But probably not for me.
I can absolutely buy that her and Reed can understand each other with a look. Maybe even some members of her team mid-combat. But, Ikenna is getting reads off sideward glances from enemies that communicate lines, if not paragraphs, of information. "I saw how the light was caught in his swollen, left, half shut eye and I immediately knew with certainty though he initially wanted to do me harm, in this moment and for the next 14 seconds he could be trusted. Also, he needed to remember to file his taxes, pick up more oregano for dinner, did he pull the chicken out of the freezer that morning, and he really should get with Debbie in accounting as he's still waiting on his reimbursement from last month's super secret planning meeting." And it happens repeatedly. And is never wrong.
I like duologies, typically, because it seems to me the author knows they don't have enough for a trilogy, but still want to tell a compelling story. I hate to say it, but this probably should have been a trilogy. Book should have ended about 70-75% in, but it was easy to see we had more. So, oops, the big baddie she just killed... that's not the end. There's more. So lets do that. Oops... there's more. Now this is stupid. Like any number of shows/series where you spend half a season or more leading up to the big finale with ultimate evil only to realize there is someone else behind it and an even bigger evil. Then biggerier and eviler. It's too much.
And it's still not resolved. There will be more. But probably not for me.
Want to read
September 4, 2022I need this… NOW
March 7, 2024
Unending yappathons with a dash of nazi sympathizing.
All the characters talk the same.
Also the main character bit her love interest’s ass.
All the characters talk the same.
Also the main character bit her love interest’s ass.
Want to read
February 3, 2023i need this book like i need oxygen to breathe please
May 25, 2023
Okay, okay okay. Wait a darn minute- why did it take me so long to finish this book-
LIKE WAS IT ME OR THE BOOK
LIKE WAS IT ME OR THE BOOK
August 15, 2023
DNF at 80%.
When people said to leave The Blood Trials as a stand-alone and not to follow up with this book, I should’ve listened.
When people said to leave The Blood Trials as a stand-alone and not to follow up with this book, I should’ve listened.
June 12, 2023
2023 reads: 108/350
this is the sequel to the blood trials.
ikenna and her rogue cohort are on the search for allies to help take down their oppressive rulers. they have to kill the blood emperor and quickly end the war, but of course, that does not come easily.
after reading book one, i had high hopes for this and was highly anticipating it. this exceeded my expectations and i loved every bit of it! i did forget that this really isn’t YA or even a YA crossover but this book reminded me very quickly, lol.
i loved ikenna even more in this book. i loved seeing her in fighting scenes and it turns out she’s a master negotiator, too! i also loved all the scenes with her and darius🤭
i highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the blood trials!
this is the sequel to the blood trials.
ikenna and her rogue cohort are on the search for allies to help take down their oppressive rulers. they have to kill the blood emperor and quickly end the war, but of course, that does not come easily.
after reading book one, i had high hopes for this and was highly anticipating it. this exceeded my expectations and i loved every bit of it! i did forget that this really isn’t YA or even a YA crossover but this book reminded me very quickly, lol.
i loved ikenna even more in this book. i loved seeing her in fighting scenes and it turns out she’s a master negotiator, too! i also loved all the scenes with her and darius🤭
i highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the blood trials!
April 30, 2023
The only good thing about this book is the cover. Its contents can be whittled down to three words: directionless, soulless and pointless.
What a waste of time. If you've finished The Blood Trials and are planning on reading this, I'm sorry to inform you that all you'll find here is disappointment in corporeal form. I think that the author was in a rush to publish a second book and it really, really shows.
The beginning of the book starts with romance, of all things. It is badly executed, rushed, unconvincing and (above all else) misplaced. I do not understand why it had to happen. If there was gonna be an easy resolution regardless, there was no point in making that kind of conflict in the first book.
The entire book is centred on Ikenna and her perspective (there's barely any dialogue between Kenna and the other characters and where there is dialogue it is incredibly superficial) which simply highlights what a TERRIBLE character she is. She has no redeeming traits, has no character development to speak of and she reads like a caricature of something that could've been great. She is annoying in ways I cannot describe.
All the other characters are flattened beyond belief. You'd think that this would be impossible considering how little characterisation the other characters had in the first book, but it gets worse. At least in the first book people had varying opinions of Kenna (hatred, love, jealousy etc).
In *this* book, everyone either hated her or worshipped her. There was no in between.
I. Want. To. Murder. The. Person. Who. Taught. Authors. To. Write. Sentences. Like. This.
I hated the writing. It did not flow. The author spent paaaages explaining a singular feeling. There was a fight every two seconds. There was so many loose ends, so many pointless plot points, so many love(?) things that came out of left-field, so many cringey one-liners. It was a disaster.
And why does everyone admire everything that Ikenna says (even the ones who hate her btw)?? Even when her plans, ideas and/or actions are stupid or obvious?? Why does everyone always fall perfectly I line with her every whim? Come on!!
More people who I could care less about die. People who should've died didn't die. People(?) who shouldn't be able to die, died. And there was a threat that there would be a third book from what I gathered in the epilogue. Hope I misunderstood that because the world has enough problems already, another one of these would be too much for all of us.
So many things happen without explanation. You can't say that a "law of *magical* nature" (trying not to give any spoilers) can never be broken and then have three people break it without ANY explanation as to HOWWW THEY DID IT! it's like having some person literally defy the laws of gravity and then just brush if off as nothing as if humans beings haven't been unable to avoid fucking GRAVITY since FOREVER!!!!!
The author basically looked at the entire world building and lore of the first book and simply discarded it all. Instead, she amplified EVERYTHING that was terrible about The Blood Trials and added more things to hate.
Bottomline: do not read this
What a waste of time. If you've finished The Blood Trials and are planning on reading this, I'm sorry to inform you that all you'll find here is disappointment in corporeal form. I think that the author was in a rush to publish a second book and it really, really shows.
The beginning of the book starts with romance, of all things. It is badly executed, rushed, unconvincing and (above all else) misplaced. I do not understand why it had to happen. If there was gonna be an easy resolution regardless, there was no point in making that kind of conflict in the first book.
The entire book is centred on Ikenna and her perspective (there's barely any dialogue between Kenna and the other characters and where there is dialogue it is incredibly superficial) which simply highlights what a TERRIBLE character she is. She has no redeeming traits, has no character development to speak of and she reads like a caricature of something that could've been great. She is annoying in ways I cannot describe.
All the other characters are flattened beyond belief. You'd think that this would be impossible considering how little characterisation the other characters had in the first book, but it gets worse. At least in the first book people had varying opinions of Kenna (hatred, love, jealousy etc).
In *this* book, everyone either hated her or worshipped her. There was no in between.
I. Want. To. Murder. The. Person. Who. Taught. Authors. To. Write. Sentences. Like. This.
I hated the writing. It did not flow. The author spent paaaages explaining a singular feeling. There was a fight every two seconds. There was so many loose ends, so many pointless plot points, so many love(?) things that came out of left-field, so many cringey one-liners. It was a disaster.
And why does everyone admire everything that Ikenna says (even the ones who hate her btw)?? Even when her plans, ideas and/or actions are stupid or obvious?? Why does everyone always fall perfectly I line with her every whim? Come on!!
More people who I could care less about die. People who should've died didn't die. People(?) who shouldn't be able to die, died. And there was a threat that there would be a third book from what I gathered in the epilogue. Hope I misunderstood that because the world has enough problems already, another one of these would be too much for all of us.
So many things happen without explanation. You can't say that a "law of *magical* nature" (trying not to give any spoilers) can never be broken and then have three people break it without ANY explanation as to HOWWW THEY DID IT! it's like having some person literally defy the laws of gravity and then just brush if off as nothing as if humans beings haven't been unable to avoid fucking GRAVITY since FOREVER!!!!!
The author basically looked at the entire world building and lore of the first book and simply discarded it all. Instead, she amplified EVERYTHING that was terrible about The Blood Trials and added more things to hate.
Bottomline: do not read this
Read
June 26, 2023DNF at 75%
Haven't listened to this for 2 weeks and no interest in going back to it
Haven't listened to this for 2 weeks and no interest in going back to it
February 26, 2023
Thank you so much to HarperVoyager for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
N.E. Davenport has done it again! The Blood Trials was one of my top reads of 2022, and The Blood Gift was my most anticipated sequel of 2023, and I'm happy to say that this sequel surpassed all my expectations. This novel was action-packed from start to finish, and it was so much fun seeing Ikenna being a badass, fully harnessing her gift, and kicking butt all throughout the novel. She's definitely one of my favorite fantasy characters--it's super refreshing to see a female character be cocky, arrogant, and extremely talented, which is how most male characters in fantasy are.
I also loved the found family aspect of this novel as well--seeing how Ikenna's friends always had her back was super heartwarming considering the loss and betrayal she endure in the previous book. Darius, especially, really stole my heart. I'm glad he atoned for his actions in The Blood Trials and I adored the banter and dynamic between him and Ikenna in The Blood Gift. The first handful of chapters of the book had me SWEATING. Their chemistry is off the charts. It's also so clear how obsessed Darius is with Ikenna and how he would immediately lay down his life for her, no questions asked. I do wish the pacing of their reunion was more spread out throughout the novel, rather than the bulk of their romantic scenes taking place in the beginning and the very end of the book.
Overall, I'd rate this sequel 4.5 stars and I know that fans of the The Blood Trials will definitely love The Blood Gift. I can't wait to read N.E. Davenport's upcoming work!
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N.E. Davenport has done it again! The Blood Trials was one of my top reads of 2022, and The Blood Gift was my most anticipated sequel of 2023, and I'm happy to say that this sequel surpassed all my expectations. This novel was action-packed from start to finish, and it was so much fun seeing Ikenna being a badass, fully harnessing her gift, and kicking butt all throughout the novel. She's definitely one of my favorite fantasy characters--it's super refreshing to see a female character be cocky, arrogant, and extremely talented, which is how most male characters in fantasy are.
I also loved the found family aspect of this novel as well--seeing how Ikenna's friends always had her back was super heartwarming considering the loss and betrayal she endure in the previous book. Darius, especially, really stole my heart. I'm glad he atoned for his actions in The Blood Trials and I adored the banter and dynamic between him and Ikenna in The Blood Gift. The first handful of chapters of the book had me SWEATING. Their chemistry is off the charts. It's also so clear how obsessed Darius is with Ikenna and how he would immediately lay down his life for her, no questions asked. I do wish the pacing of their reunion was more spread out throughout the novel, rather than the bulk of their romantic scenes taking place in the beginning and the very end of the book.
Overall, I'd rate this sequel 4.5 stars and I know that fans of the The Blood Trials will definitely love The Blood Gift. I can't wait to read N.E. Davenport's upcoming work!
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December 27, 2024
The smut took me out for a surprise I thought this was ya fantasy 😭
May 15, 2023
Someone please explain how we got here!?!?!? Because you can't tell me that NE Davenport fit all of that into one book. It just aint no way. At first I didn't see what everyone was talking about regarding the pacing because the book was going smoothly. Then all hell broke loose.
The events of this book really could have been broken down into two books but my assumption is that this was a publishing choice. That being said, I think she did a good job of making it all work together. While there was plot, I felt more connected to the characters and their desires. I enjoyed getting to see more of Dannica and Caiman and the playful banter the formerly known "Gamma" squad he with one another. The icing on the cake was the love shared between Reed and Ikenna. I was reminded early on that this is an adult sci-fi book and appreciated the spicy scene we were given! My vengene for revenge was nearly as strong as Ikenna and wanted to paint Illudu red with Selene's blood.
Which makes one part of the story the most unbelievable, even more so then the idea the squad could ever battle multiple gods. (which should probably stay in the drafts). I was irate that Ikenna broke character in one of her final acts... Ain't no way the Ikenna Amari I know would like that slide. On top of the fact, there wasn't enough fails before the win! You mean to tell me that she was able pool all that power and do all that damage without training. Nah, pull the wool over someone else's eyes because I'm no fool.
I'm conflicted and this fall somewhere along the lines of a 3 or 3.5 read! However I will say I thoroughly enjoyed reading it while I was in the midst of it. Very compulsive read!
The events of this book really could have been broken down into two books but my assumption is that this was a publishing choice. That being said, I think she did a good job of making it all work together. While there was plot, I felt more connected to the characters and their desires. I enjoyed getting to see more of Dannica and Caiman and the playful banter the formerly known "Gamma" squad he with one another. The icing on the cake was the love shared between Reed and Ikenna. I was reminded early on that this is an adult sci-fi book and appreciated the spicy scene we were given! My vengene for revenge was nearly as strong as Ikenna and wanted to paint Illudu red with Selene's blood.
Which makes one part of the story the most unbelievable, even more so then the idea the squad could ever battle multiple gods. (which should probably stay in the drafts). I was irate that Ikenna broke character in one of her final acts... Ain't no way the Ikenna Amari I know would like that slide. On top of the fact, there wasn't enough fails before the win! You mean to tell me that she was able pool all that power and do all that damage without training. Nah, pull the wool over someone else's eyes because I'm no fool.
I'm conflicted and this fall somewhere along the lines of a 3 or 3.5 read! However I will say I thoroughly enjoyed reading it while I was in the midst of it. Very compulsive read!
April 28, 2023
First Thank you Net Galley for this Arc
Second, it’s getting 4/5 stars for me because at times it read YA the ending was too rushed for me. I felt like this series needed to be a 3 book instead of 2. I enjoyed the first book more than this one.
This this book is still fast paced, actioned packed and bloody. I love Darius even more and how he made Ikenna communicate and talk about her feelings and we saw Ikenna grow more. I love the whole Found family aspect and Selene needed a better ass whooping for me. Can’t wait to see what else Davenport got in store for us.
Second, it’s getting 4/5 stars for me because at times it read YA the ending was too rushed for me. I felt like this series needed to be a 3 book instead of 2. I enjoyed the first book more than this one.
This this book is still fast paced, actioned packed and bloody. I love Darius even more and how he made Ikenna communicate and talk about her feelings and we saw Ikenna grow more. I love the whole Found family aspect and Selene needed a better ass whooping for me. Can’t wait to see what else Davenport got in store for us.
May 21, 2023
This has to be one the wort written books I’ve ever read in my entire life
June 29, 2025
A great conclusion to the duet, though the ending clearly set the ground for future books.
February 18, 2023
First, Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!!
Second, I finished this book two days after I was given it but I have been holding back my review due to the HarperCollins Publishing Strike. But now that an agreement has been met and they are back to work on Tuesday, I feel it appropriate to share my review.
I re-read The Blood Trials before I jumped into this just to be refreshed and immersed in this world and ready for one of my most anticipated reads of 2023. And I have to say it was not a 5-star read and at the conclusion, I have unresolved feelings. This does not mean I did not enjoy the book, I did, immensely! But I was a tad disappointed because I had hyped myself up so high for this as Blood Trials was one of my top 5 reads of 2022.
N.E. Davenport's writing was beautiful and a joy to read. That had nothing to do with how I felt in the end. From what I have read, I know she wanted this to be a trilogy and her publisher wanted a duology so many of the minor plot holes and unexplained explanations/backstories may be blamed on that. A lot had to be dropped. from the story to fit it all into this book. For example, many things regarding Ikenna and her gift and who she is being half god were never truly fleshed out in the end.
In the first half of this book, I found Ikenna also seemed to devolve into extremely childish behavior and personality traits, which were very unlike what she was like in book one. Her maturity level seemed to reverse. It just made me feel like I was reading a YA fantasy and not an Adult Fantasy. I had to say thank goodness for Reed to pull her back into herself and bring her back to the Ikenna I love, adored, and cheered for in book one. It also brought the book back to an adult level. Davenport also knows how to pull the heartstrings in book two with the romance that she only hinted at in book one.
Overall the story was well-paced and I did not want to put it down. I was engaged throughout my entire reading experience and I will definitely be buying a physical copy of the sequel. And I will probably get any special editions too! I can't wait to see what Ms. Davenport sends us next.
Second, I finished this book two days after I was given it but I have been holding back my review due to the HarperCollins Publishing Strike. But now that an agreement has been met and they are back to work on Tuesday, I feel it appropriate to share my review.
I re-read The Blood Trials before I jumped into this just to be refreshed and immersed in this world and ready for one of my most anticipated reads of 2023. And I have to say it was not a 5-star read and at the conclusion, I have unresolved feelings. This does not mean I did not enjoy the book, I did, immensely! But I was a tad disappointed because I had hyped myself up so high for this as Blood Trials was one of my top 5 reads of 2022.
N.E. Davenport's writing was beautiful and a joy to read. That had nothing to do with how I felt in the end. From what I have read, I know she wanted this to be a trilogy and her publisher wanted a duology so many of the minor plot holes and unexplained explanations/backstories may be blamed on that. A lot had to be dropped. from the story to fit it all into this book. For example, many things regarding Ikenna and her gift and who she is being half god were never truly fleshed out in the end.
In the first half of this book, I found Ikenna also seemed to devolve into extremely childish behavior and personality traits, which were very unlike what she was like in book one. Her maturity level seemed to reverse. It just made me feel like I was reading a YA fantasy and not an Adult Fantasy. I had to say thank goodness for Reed to pull her back into herself and bring her back to the Ikenna I love, adored, and cheered for in book one. It also brought the book back to an adult level. Davenport also knows how to pull the heartstrings in book two with the romance that she only hinted at in book one.
Overall the story was well-paced and I did not want to put it down. I was engaged throughout my entire reading experience and I will definitely be buying a physical copy of the sequel. And I will probably get any special editions too! I can't wait to see what Ms. Davenport sends us next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2022
I am still biased on this one, but that does t change the fact that it is incredible!
If you like sexy and brutal fantasy with lots of revenge and murder and awesomeness, preorder it. It is SO GOOD.
If you like sexy and brutal fantasy with lots of revenge and murder and awesomeness, preorder it. It is SO GOOD.
March 21, 2023
((3.75))
Unfortunately, I did not love this book. I did like it. I felt like a lot of the essence from the first one was missing. We were introduced to many people & it felt rushed with lots of politics thrown on top of it. I would still recommend the duology.
Unfortunately, I did not love this book. I did like it. I felt like a lot of the essence from the first one was missing. We were introduced to many people & it felt rushed with lots of politics thrown on top of it. I would still recommend the duology.
April 28, 2023
It was awesome as I expected.
May 31, 2023
Something about Davenport’s storytelling has me devouring her books so quickly! An epic end to this duology. First time I’ve read a book with an arrogant (as she should be PERIOD) Black FMC. Super powerful and confident in her own right, Ikenna is really special. TRBG hosted an author chat and Davenport gave us her inspiration + journey to authorship. Can’t wait to see what she does next!
May 25, 2023
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
CWs:
So, the good news is, compared to the first book, Ikenna frustrated me a lot less. The bad news is, this left space in my head to start noticing a lot of things about the writing, and none of it made me very happy.
Plot-wise, this is a complete departure from book one, which makes sense considering where we left off. There's no mystery left. Ikenna and her team are hellbent on getting rid of the corruption within Mareen. Before they can do that, they need to take care of the Blood Emperor, who is once more terrorizing the planet. It's a very straightforward plot of "how are we going to defeat the bad guys", but it's fairly fast-paced and overall entertaining enough. And I mostly liked the characters. But a lot of this doesn't feel like it's the end of a series. This is reinforced by the end of the book, which basically implies there's a whole new story waiting to happen. Things are set up by the author that never get any payoff. For example, the book starts off with Ikenna trying to broker an alliance with someone on the wrong side of the law. She demands soldiers and weapons, only she doesn't really do much with either of them afterwards, or with the alliance in general. There's maybe one or two off-hand mentions, and that's it, which makes me wonder why the author bothered to include it at all. It also leans a lot more fantasy than science fiction compared to The Blood Trials.
Other than all the major plot conveniences that riddle this story, I have two major criticisms.
The first has to do with Ikenna. Look, I get that she was always going to be special as our main character. She has the Blood Gift and all of that. But her level of special receives like three upgrades over the course of this book, and I guess it's not something I expect to see if we're talking about an adult fantasy. This much Chosen One-ness is something I see more often within YA, and it irked me. I also had trouble buying into her supposed development. One of my biggest issues with the first book was how little she thought things through, and how she kept deciding that people were murderers based on very flimsy "evidence". Only now I'm supposed to believe that she has become some sort of strategic mastermind.
But I could've ignored that, because I didn't have very high expectations for her anyway. However, I couldn't ignore all the issues I had with the writing.
The author relies very, very heavily on similes/comparisons, whether they're necessary or not. Ikenna can never just be angry, she has to be angry like a thousand raging suns. Something can't just hurt, it hurts like fifty daggers stabbing into her stomach one after the other, the last one dragging her intestines out of her, so a final blade can twist into them until twenty gallons of blood come pouring out. Here are a few examples so you can get a sense of what to expect:
I can't confirm this, but I wouldn't be surprised if every page had at least one sentence similar to these.
The author also really likes to use sentences with extra full stops/periods:
Seriously, nobody talks like that.
Then there are sentences that are weird/nonsensical:
This may sound like nitpicking, but I wouldn't have noticed all of this if it wasn't all over the book. I just don't think the writing is very good in general, and if you're someone who tends to see patterns and stylistic choices within the writing, you might be bothered.
(All quotes are from an ARC of the book and may not match with the published version. They are only included as an indication of the writing style.)
CWs:
So, the good news is, compared to the first book, Ikenna frustrated me a lot less. The bad news is, this left space in my head to start noticing a lot of things about the writing, and none of it made me very happy.
Plot-wise, this is a complete departure from book one, which makes sense considering where we left off. There's no mystery left. Ikenna and her team are hellbent on getting rid of the corruption within Mareen. Before they can do that, they need to take care of the Blood Emperor, who is once more terrorizing the planet. It's a very straightforward plot of "how are we going to defeat the bad guys", but it's fairly fast-paced and overall entertaining enough. And I mostly liked the characters. But a lot of this doesn't feel like it's the end of a series. This is reinforced by the end of the book, which basically implies there's a whole new story waiting to happen. Things are set up by the author that never get any payoff. For example, the book starts off with Ikenna trying to broker an alliance with someone on the wrong side of the law. She demands soldiers and weapons, only she doesn't really do much with either of them afterwards, or with the alliance in general. There's maybe one or two off-hand mentions, and that's it, which makes me wonder why the author bothered to include it at all. It also leans a lot more fantasy than science fiction compared to The Blood Trials.
Other than all the major plot conveniences that riddle this story, I have two major criticisms.
The first has to do with Ikenna. Look, I get that she was always going to be special as our main character. She has the Blood Gift and all of that. But her level of special receives like three upgrades over the course of this book, and I guess it's not something I expect to see if we're talking about an adult fantasy. This much Chosen One-ness is something I see more often within YA, and it irked me. I also had trouble buying into her supposed development. One of my biggest issues with the first book was how little she thought things through, and how she kept deciding that people were murderers based on very flimsy "evidence". Only now I'm supposed to believe that she has become some sort of strategic mastermind.
But I could've ignored that, because I didn't have very high expectations for her anyway. However, I couldn't ignore all the issues I had with the writing.
The author relies very, very heavily on similes/comparisons, whether they're necessary or not. Ikenna can never just be angry, she has to be angry like a thousand raging suns. Something can't just hurt, it hurts like fifty daggers stabbing into her stomach one after the other, the last one dragging her intestines out of her, so a final blade can twist into them until twenty gallons of blood come pouring out. Here are a few examples so you can get a sense of what to expect:
Conversely, the Blood Emperor allows his savagery, the utter barbarism that comprises him, to ooze from his skin like an open sore he doesn’t bother to bandage. It washes over him and coats him like an exoskeleton he clings to and dons as an additional weapon to spread fear and terrorize all who have the misfortune of stumbling into his orbit.
His cheekbones and jawline are pronounced, sharp as the Khanaian blade pressed against my hip and concealed beneath the black tactical pants and shirt Ajani first captured me in.
It’s so glacial it feels like icicles punch through my insides while my heart and blood and muscle and tissue and sinew freeze over.
I can't confirm this, but I wouldn't be surprised if every page had at least one sentence similar to these.
The author also really likes to use sentences with extra full stops/periods:
I grip the edge of the seat. “Be. More. Succinct. Immediately.”
Seriously, nobody talks like that.
Then there are sentences that are weird/nonsensical:
“What do you have for us?” Reed asks, his low, steady tone exuding all I could want from a voice.
This may sound like nitpicking, but I wouldn't have noticed all of this if it wasn't all over the book. I just don't think the writing is very good in general, and if you're someone who tends to see patterns and stylistic choices within the writing, you might be bothered.
(All quotes are from an ARC of the book and may not match with the published version. They are only included as an indication of the writing style.)
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