What do you think?
The Blood Gift Duology #2
The Blood Gift: An unforgettable fantasy action adventure novel of heroic proportions
The stunning conclusion to THE BLOOD GIFT duologyWAR HAS ERRUPTED.
ALLIANCES ARE FRACTURING.…
Ikenna is now a fugitive with a colossal bounty on her head. Yet, somehow that’s the least for her worries. Her grandfather’s long time allies refuse to 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 leaves 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. His killing may have planet-shattering consequences. But to do nothing means annihilation.
LOYALTIES. REVENGE, POWER. WITH THE WORLD AFLAME, ONLY ONE THING IS BLOOD WILL BE SPILLED.
ALLIANCES ARE FRACTURING.…
Ikenna is now a fugitive with a colossal bounty on her head. Yet, somehow that’s the least for her worries. Her grandfather’s long time allies refuse to 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 leaves 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. His killing may have planet-shattering consequences. But to do nothing means annihilation.
LOYALTIES. REVENGE, POWER. WITH THE WORLD AFLAME, ONLY ONE THING IS BLOOD WILL BE SPILLED.
424 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 18, 2023
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 742 reviews
March 1, 2024
Blog | Instagram
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
February 8, 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 18, 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.
January 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
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.
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.
March 14, 2026
I liked this book even more than the first! It was nice to see the relationship between Ikenna and Darius develop. It helped her grow and mature and get some kind of control over her temper. All of the characters continued to grow except for Selene. Her motives for betraying her best friend of eleven years are still weak. I love how Davenport left a door open for more books in this world! I hope we get them! I highly recommend this duology.
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.
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
Want to Read
August 31, 2022i need this book like i need oxygen to breathe please
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.
April 8, 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!
May 16, 2023
Follow my blog here for more reviews.
This is not a review it is a rant through and through. I found no aspect of this book enjoyable but the thing I can't forgive it for is the racism of the MC towards black people. This is the most racist text I've ever read and every single thing about it is harmful. If you like this book then you should click away now because I have nothing nice to say about this story.
There will be spoilers for both books because I'm going to need to give examples in order to fully explain why I hate everything about this book.
Synopsis: Mareen is invaded by the empire of Accacia. Ikenna and company are fugitives from Mareen desperately looking for allies to help them fight.
I agree with the majority of people that say this book is bad but my reasons differ from the majority of reviews I saw on Goodreads for this book. Most readers think that it would have been saved if the author was allowed to write the trilogy she had planned to tell this story but I vehemently disagree. I don't think there was any more story to tell and extending it to a trilogy would have been an even bigger waste of everyone's time. Within these two books I can't even tell you anything substantial about the two opposing forces which is the whole reason this book exists.
We never get to learn anything about Mareenians besides them being racist- even though the MC grew up around them. You'd think that some page time would be spent on explaining who they are, what makes them tick and why our group is hell bent on saving them from the invading empire but it was never explained. They claim to be patriots but if you asked them what they love about their country and its people all you would hear is the sound of crickets. So the main driving force for this plot is never explained yet I'm expected to believe that this story deserved to exist. This story doesn't care one iota about what happens to these people and neither do I.
The Accacians- who are the big bad scary empire- also do not have a motive beyond wanting to conquer Mareen for invading them. They don't want their resources, nor to oppress the people because they massacre everyone they come across. I know that's something that's happened multiple times in the real world but I expect a little more than that from an adult sci-fi book. I expect the villain to not just be evil for the sake of being evil.
This alone is enough reason for me to argue that this should have just been a standalone covering the story in the first book but on top of it being a nonsensical plot it had the audacity to be offensive. When I say this book is racist I'm including the MC as one of the people commiting the racist acts.
CW: Xenophobia, racism.
First some context: Ikenna is a mixed race girl, she's half Marenian (white) and half Khanaian ( black), she proudly claims her grandfather's Khanaian heritage to anyone and everyone who will listen. Her grandfather was mixed too. When I talk about the harm she causes against black people I will primarily focus on her Khanaian heritage which she allegedly loves.
This rag-tag group of fugitives trying to save Mareen is comprised of 7 individuals who are all former Praetorians. Why no one else you ask? Because all the other-we'll call them countries- chose to join the empire and be spared. This was after Khanai hosted a war summit on Mareen's behalf to get them and the other black countries to come together and make a plan to fight the empire. Instead of humbling themselves and speaking to the kings and queens like they were people worthy of respect they chose to openly disrespect them to their faces so the other nations decided to leave the war summit without coming to a conclusion.
Their countries weren't currently having bombs thrown at them so they could afford to be smug. This happened at the end of the first book. The Mareenians thought because they'd made a bio weapon that neutralises the magic that the empire's soldiers use to fight that they could win the war by themselves even though their army is at half the size it was when they won the first war, with the help of the other nations. The reason for this is because their whiteness makes them feel superior to all the black people.
These are the people who's demise as a black person I'm suppose to care about? At this point I joined the empire and wanted to see them burn it all to the ground because military leaders were exibiting zero sense.
Let's get back to our group shall we.
Liiam- former Praetorian, shows more sense than the MC at critical moments.
Dane- one of only two people who show a higher reasoning capacity. Former Praetorian.
Haynes- Reed's cute squad mate.
Dannica- the girl wouldn't know a boundry if she walked straight into it. Her unflinching belief in a girl she's only known for 2 minutes had me scratching my head. It was only done to show women standing together but it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Reed- arm candy. For someone who actually thinks things through to not be the leader because the MC can do magic was baffling to me. He's mixed race which will become important later on.
Caiman- he underwent more character development that our MC. A racist white boy had more of a growth arc that out lead black female MC. I wish this was a joke book it would have made more sense.
Ikenna- MC and only POV. The book wanted me to believe that she could come up with good strategies which is why she was the leader but she couldn't think her way into a box of smarties. If we had just cut all her swearing out this book would be 15% shorter. She did an unnecessary amount of swearing which was suppose to make her seem fearless but it just highlighted her immaturity and foolishness.
I lied before, the only complement I can give this book is that it correctly protrays a case of brainwashing. That's not what it was going for but it came through loud and clear. It was the only thing done well sadly the thesis was a lot more harmful.
The dubious consent had me fast forwarding through the sex scenes which I usually enjoy because it made me feel icky.
The receipts:
While with her team in a country where they wanted allies she casually tells us that the locals- who are black- are pompous for demanding that people do business with them in their native tongue. Because they are not allowed to make their own rules like everyone else within their own territories. They should speak the common language within all the countries so that no one should have the inconvenience of learning their language. Can anyone say xenophobia?
Her ally hunt starts with the states in the west because people in the east don't matter. Look at real world geopolitics and prejudices bleeding through.
She proudly proclaims Mareenian whiskey as the best after tasting one other whiskey sold in a black nation and presumably made by the same people.The logic of this statement eludes me beyond just hailing it the best because white people made it. She moves on to rum which she considers 'decent' but still sub-par.
For someone who would loudly cry sexism in the first book the way she thought about her own mother was disgusting. She describes her as weak for not wanting to be a soldier or stay in a country that hates her for existing yet she fully defended Seline when she wanted to be a Praetorian instead of just a glorified baby incubation chamber. If you thought differently to her you would be immediately cast away.
During the trials she hated the Mareenians complete disregard for anything concerning the gods because they hate everything about them but when she failed to gain the allyship of a queen the first thing she does is insult her personhood and beliefs. In her internal monologue because we still want her to seem like she is for black people.
There's a part when a Marenian journalist says he hopes the other countries join them in this fight and stop seating idly doing nothing.I cackled. For a people who have outlawed belief in the gods and the gods themselves who the hell was he praying to? I thought they only believed in themselves and technology, a few bombs and you start shaking in your boots.
For someone who's ability to wield magic wss described as being in its infancy in book 1 the power increase she had prior to communing made no sense whatsoever. Suddenly she could do things that require skill without any training.
Her only weapon and reason for surviving is arrogance and an I-think-I-can I-think-I-can mentality.
She is the embodiment of birds of a feather flock together. She disregards the god Amaka even in her time of need because she thinks asking her for help with her magic would be pointless even though she wants to fight a man who's been honing his skills for centuries.
The word bastard was overused in the worst way. It felt like it was the only way the book could effectively communicate how bad the empire was. I don't like this word in general so everytime I had to read it I felt like banging my head against the wall. It was only used to refer to black characters so that didn't help either.
I don't think Ikenna understands that genocide can't only be done to white people. She kept describing what the Accacians were doing as such but chose to never acknowledge that the iridium serum created by the Marenians- a literal bio weapon- can be used to do the same thing to all the black people in every nation. Why was she so quick to point out crimes against white people but with the black people whom she was proud to be part of she was wilfully blind?
I book clearly doesn’t think readers are smart. Our villain explained everything to her whenever she had a question. Why would you explain anything to your enemy? In place of a villain monologue, because that would have been too obvious, we learn more about the magic in this way of question and answer. From a tactical standpoint it made zero sense. Can someone make negative sense? Because that's what happened here.
For plot reasons we completely lost track of half the team during a pivotal moment and they just drop back in like nothing happened once the danger has passsed.
This is the clearest case of an MC jumping through hoops to gain the love of white people who have no problem reminding her that she's nothing to them at evey point. She is very desperate for white approval.
Her signing the peace treaty is the biggest joke ever told. Who gave her the authority to sign documents on behalf of nations whose rulers she didn't even contact to see if they were fine with everything being agreed to? Why didn't they send their own representatives to ensure that everything was as should be? She has no respect for those rulers. The book tried to pass it off as mirroring what happened with her grandfather but it was plain disrespect. Clearly she thought those rulers were incapable of dictating terms for their own people and would just let some nineteen year old speak for them.
Mareen should be proud she is exactly the person they raised her to be. She doesn't have an ounce of respect for any black person regardless of their station.
This is in my opinion the biggest plot hole. Why didn't the minor continent just band together against the empire instead of joining them? They have both the skill and resources to do so. Khanai is described as "king of air and space" and makes jets that even Mareen buys because they can't match their level of engineering. One would assume that they would gladly supply themselves and their allies with aircraft.
The xzana fighting style immitated by the Mareenians also originates from them so why couldn't they fight?
I can't speak more about the other nations because even the book doesn't know anything about them but from the 2 seconds they were on page they seemed capable plus they weren't described as lacking in funds.
Justice for Khanai
King Mustaph's betrayal is references multiple times by the MC who neglects to mention that it happened while she was trying to assassinate the man on orders from her Marenian leaders. She goes on to refer to him as someone she thought of as an uncle every chance she gets but she spent 3 seconds reviewing the evidence against him before trying to murder a man she's known her whole life.
The only betrayal that occured here was by her towards the entire nation of Khanai.
She kept repeating her family mantra about her being strong as Khanaian steel which made me roll my eyes eveytime.
Enoch Gyidi- the prince and only other person who is capable of higher forms of thinking. She hates him for betraying her but not letting her assassinate his father. She likes to make us think he betrayed her but the only betrayal here was done by her against him and his father.
Reed has tribal ink, Khanaians draw ink on their bodies. which she likes to lick during sexy times to show how much she loves his Khanaian heritage. This was fetishization. Her whole interaction with Khanaian culture is fetishization. The book provided no evidence to the contrary so that's how I'll view it until the end of time.
The only crime here is that Ikenna got to keep her Khanaian daggers. She should return them immediately because they are not meant for outsiders, as stated in the book, and she is definitely one.
This is not a review it is a rant through and through. I found no aspect of this book enjoyable but the thing I can't forgive it for is the racism of the MC towards black people. This is the most racist text I've ever read and every single thing about it is harmful. If you like this book then you should click away now because I have nothing nice to say about this story.
There will be spoilers for both books because I'm going to need to give examples in order to fully explain why I hate everything about this book.
Synopsis: Mareen is invaded by the empire of Accacia. Ikenna and company are fugitives from Mareen desperately looking for allies to help them fight.
I agree with the majority of people that say this book is bad but my reasons differ from the majority of reviews I saw on Goodreads for this book. Most readers think that it would have been saved if the author was allowed to write the trilogy she had planned to tell this story but I vehemently disagree. I don't think there was any more story to tell and extending it to a trilogy would have been an even bigger waste of everyone's time. Within these two books I can't even tell you anything substantial about the two opposing forces which is the whole reason this book exists.
We never get to learn anything about Mareenians besides them being racist- even though the MC grew up around them. You'd think that some page time would be spent on explaining who they are, what makes them tick and why our group is hell bent on saving them from the invading empire but it was never explained. They claim to be patriots but if you asked them what they love about their country and its people all you would hear is the sound of crickets. So the main driving force for this plot is never explained yet I'm expected to believe that this story deserved to exist. This story doesn't care one iota about what happens to these people and neither do I.
The Accacians- who are the big bad scary empire- also do not have a motive beyond wanting to conquer Mareen for invading them. They don't want their resources, nor to oppress the people because they massacre everyone they come across. I know that's something that's happened multiple times in the real world but I expect a little more than that from an adult sci-fi book. I expect the villain to not just be evil for the sake of being evil.
This alone is enough reason for me to argue that this should have just been a standalone covering the story in the first book but on top of it being a nonsensical plot it had the audacity to be offensive. When I say this book is racist I'm including the MC as one of the people commiting the racist acts.
CW: Xenophobia, racism.
First some context: Ikenna is a mixed race girl, she's half Marenian (white) and half Khanaian ( black), she proudly claims her grandfather's Khanaian heritage to anyone and everyone who will listen. Her grandfather was mixed too. When I talk about the harm she causes against black people I will primarily focus on her Khanaian heritage which she allegedly loves.
This rag-tag group of fugitives trying to save Mareen is comprised of 7 individuals who are all former Praetorians. Why no one else you ask? Because all the other-we'll call them countries- chose to join the empire and be spared. This was after Khanai hosted a war summit on Mareen's behalf to get them and the other black countries to come together and make a plan to fight the empire. Instead of humbling themselves and speaking to the kings and queens like they were people worthy of respect they chose to openly disrespect them to their faces so the other nations decided to leave the war summit without coming to a conclusion.
Their countries weren't currently having bombs thrown at them so they could afford to be smug. This happened at the end of the first book. The Mareenians thought because they'd made a bio weapon that neutralises the magic that the empire's soldiers use to fight that they could win the war by themselves even though their army is at half the size it was when they won the first war, with the help of the other nations. The reason for this is because their whiteness makes them feel superior to all the black people.
These are the people who's demise as a black person I'm suppose to care about? At this point I joined the empire and wanted to see them burn it all to the ground because military leaders were exibiting zero sense.
Let's get back to our group shall we.
Liiam- former Praetorian, shows more sense than the MC at critical moments.
Dane- one of only two people who show a higher reasoning capacity. Former Praetorian.
Haynes- Reed's cute squad mate.
Dannica- the girl wouldn't know a boundry if she walked straight into it. Her unflinching belief in a girl she's only known for 2 minutes had me scratching my head. It was only done to show women standing together but it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Reed- arm candy. For someone who actually thinks things through to not be the leader because the MC can do magic was baffling to me. He's mixed race which will become important later on.
Caiman- he underwent more character development that our MC. A racist white boy had more of a growth arc that out lead black female MC. I wish this was a joke book it would have made more sense.
Ikenna- MC and only POV. The book wanted me to believe that she could come up with good strategies which is why she was the leader but she couldn't think her way into a box of smarties. If we had just cut all her swearing out this book would be 15% shorter. She did an unnecessary amount of swearing which was suppose to make her seem fearless but it just highlighted her immaturity and foolishness.
I lied before, the only complement I can give this book is that it correctly protrays a case of brainwashing. That's not what it was going for but it came through loud and clear. It was the only thing done well sadly the thesis was a lot more harmful.
The dubious consent had me fast forwarding through the sex scenes which I usually enjoy because it made me feel icky.
The receipts:
While with her team in a country where they wanted allies she casually tells us that the locals- who are black- are pompous for demanding that people do business with them in their native tongue. Because they are not allowed to make their own rules like everyone else within their own territories. They should speak the common language within all the countries so that no one should have the inconvenience of learning their language. Can anyone say xenophobia?
Her ally hunt starts with the states in the west because people in the east don't matter. Look at real world geopolitics and prejudices bleeding through.
She proudly proclaims Mareenian whiskey as the best after tasting one other whiskey sold in a black nation and presumably made by the same people.The logic of this statement eludes me beyond just hailing it the best because white people made it. She moves on to rum which she considers 'decent' but still sub-par.
For someone who would loudly cry sexism in the first book the way she thought about her own mother was disgusting. She describes her as weak for not wanting to be a soldier or stay in a country that hates her for existing yet she fully defended Seline when she wanted to be a Praetorian instead of just a glorified baby incubation chamber. If you thought differently to her you would be immediately cast away.
During the trials she hated the Mareenians complete disregard for anything concerning the gods because they hate everything about them but when she failed to gain the allyship of a queen the first thing she does is insult her personhood and beliefs. In her internal monologue because we still want her to seem like she is for black people.
There's a part when a Marenian journalist says he hopes the other countries join them in this fight and stop seating idly doing nothing.I cackled. For a people who have outlawed belief in the gods and the gods themselves who the hell was he praying to? I thought they only believed in themselves and technology, a few bombs and you start shaking in your boots.
For someone who's ability to wield magic wss described as being in its infancy in book 1 the power increase she had prior to communing made no sense whatsoever. Suddenly she could do things that require skill without any training.
Her only weapon and reason for surviving is arrogance and an I-think-I-can I-think-I-can mentality.
She is the embodiment of birds of a feather flock together. She disregards the god Amaka even in her time of need because she thinks asking her for help with her magic would be pointless even though she wants to fight a man who's been honing his skills for centuries.
The word bastard was overused in the worst way. It felt like it was the only way the book could effectively communicate how bad the empire was. I don't like this word in general so everytime I had to read it I felt like banging my head against the wall. It was only used to refer to black characters so that didn't help either.
I don't think Ikenna understands that genocide can't only be done to white people. She kept describing what the Accacians were doing as such but chose to never acknowledge that the iridium serum created by the Marenians- a literal bio weapon- can be used to do the same thing to all the black people in every nation. Why was she so quick to point out crimes against white people but with the black people whom she was proud to be part of she was wilfully blind?
I book clearly doesn’t think readers are smart. Our villain explained everything to her whenever she had a question. Why would you explain anything to your enemy? In place of a villain monologue, because that would have been too obvious, we learn more about the magic in this way of question and answer. From a tactical standpoint it made zero sense. Can someone make negative sense? Because that's what happened here.
For plot reasons we completely lost track of half the team during a pivotal moment and they just drop back in like nothing happened once the danger has passsed.
This is the clearest case of an MC jumping through hoops to gain the love of white people who have no problem reminding her that she's nothing to them at evey point. She is very desperate for white approval.
Her signing the peace treaty is the biggest joke ever told. Who gave her the authority to sign documents on behalf of nations whose rulers she didn't even contact to see if they were fine with everything being agreed to? Why didn't they send their own representatives to ensure that everything was as should be? She has no respect for those rulers. The book tried to pass it off as mirroring what happened with her grandfather but it was plain disrespect. Clearly she thought those rulers were incapable of dictating terms for their own people and would just let some nineteen year old speak for them.
Mareen should be proud she is exactly the person they raised her to be. She doesn't have an ounce of respect for any black person regardless of their station.
This is in my opinion the biggest plot hole. Why didn't the minor continent just band together against the empire instead of joining them? They have both the skill and resources to do so. Khanai is described as "king of air and space" and makes jets that even Mareen buys because they can't match their level of engineering. One would assume that they would gladly supply themselves and their allies with aircraft.
The xzana fighting style immitated by the Mareenians also originates from them so why couldn't they fight?
I can't speak more about the other nations because even the book doesn't know anything about them but from the 2 seconds they were on page they seemed capable plus they weren't described as lacking in funds.
Justice for Khanai
King Mustaph's betrayal is references multiple times by the MC who neglects to mention that it happened while she was trying to assassinate the man on orders from her Marenian leaders. She goes on to refer to him as someone she thought of as an uncle every chance she gets but she spent 3 seconds reviewing the evidence against him before trying to murder a man she's known her whole life.
The only betrayal that occured here was by her towards the entire nation of Khanai.
She kept repeating her family mantra about her being strong as Khanaian steel which made me roll my eyes eveytime.
Enoch Gyidi- the prince and only other person who is capable of higher forms of thinking. She hates him for betraying her but not letting her assassinate his father. She likes to make us think he betrayed her but the only betrayal here was done by her against him and his father.
Reed has tribal ink, Khanaians draw ink on their bodies. which she likes to lick during sexy times to show how much she loves his Khanaian heritage. This was fetishization. Her whole interaction with Khanaian culture is fetishization. The book provided no evidence to the contrary so that's how I'll view it until the end of time.
The only crime here is that Ikenna got to keep her Khanaian daggers. She should return them immediately because they are not meant for outsiders, as stated in the book, and she is definitely one.
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
December 22, 2024
The smut took me out for a surprise I thought this was ya fantasy 😭
February 5, 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!
Follow me on TikTok | Instagram | Twitter for more book reviews & recommendations!
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!
Follow me on TikTok | Instagram | Twitter for more book reviews & recommendations!
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!
March 31, 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
February 15, 2026
I’m giving this grace because I know the author intended for this to be longer but had been made to turn this into a duology. I can imagine it’s hard to figure out pacing and development when you thought you had so much more time and it’s a difficult feat to adjust your world and planning so quickly- so even though I do think there were slight issues, I’m not going to hold it against the author.
I loved book once for so many reasons. the political intrigue and lengthy history of the world, the relatability of the main character, the bonds formed through friends that turn to family, the sheer determination and fight to change the world. most of that was present in the same way here. I loved the development of the relationship, I think the discovery of abilities and powers flowed with the world and I think the found family were stunning.
like I said above there were some issues with timing and this book fell somewhat into the “high risk and danger but magically survived it through with a magic fix.” I wish the risk and danger was accurately portrayed and felt more real, sometimes I felt flat because I knew realistically it would probably all work out.
overall though a great fantasy duology I’m glad I read <3
I loved book once for so many reasons. the political intrigue and lengthy history of the world, the relatability of the main character, the bonds formed through friends that turn to family, the sheer determination and fight to change the world. most of that was present in the same way here. I loved the development of the relationship, I think the discovery of abilities and powers flowed with the world and I think the found family were stunning.
like I said above there were some issues with timing and this book fell somewhat into the “high risk and danger but magically survived it through with a magic fix.” I wish the risk and danger was accurately portrayed and felt more real, sometimes I felt flat because I knew realistically it would probably all work out.
overall though a great fantasy duology I’m glad I read <3
June 28, 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.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 742 reviews