Reviews with content warning for Blood - Sing Me to Sleep

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton

11 reviews

bookishkellyn's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious

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

5.0

Saoirse is the last of the sirens living in disguise within a magically fortified kingdom (Keirdre). Her world is turned upside down when she becomes the target of blackmail and her quest to discover the culprit is complicated by Prince Hayes–who’s taken a keen interest in her. I don’t normally read fantasy but really enjoyed this book. It was fast-paced, easy to follow, kept me guessing, and the banter between the characters was entertaining. I’m looking forward to the sequel.

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itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

If I could give this book a 10/5 I would. I enjoyed every second. The characters, the plot, the twists; all written to perfection. I haven’t felt like this after reading in forever. I’m so grateful my library had this visible on a shelf and that I recognized the cover so I could read it right before the second one came out.

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kirstenf's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.75

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gaynidoking's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The plot and the world are very interesting, but I did struggle in the middle and final act. This is partially on me for not realizing it was YA until the protagonist revealed she was only 17. The synopsis and the way Saoirse conducts her assassinations gave me the impression of a character at least in her twenties. I think this book would have benefitted a lot from the character being even a few years older.
The protag does consistently make decisions that remind me (not in a good way) that she is supposed to be 17. She pulls some real bonehead moves, especially as the story goes on. There is also that unfortunate YA staple where she decides to hate the only other female character around her age for literally no reason as soon as she meets her.
I also think that the character's development in the final act was completely undermined by the actual events of the book, and felt very contrived. A great deal of personal anguish is due to the character's belief that

she is literally unable to resist the urge to kill as a siren. There is a VERY good conversation with her father towards the end where he calls her out for using this as an excuse to avoid responsibility for her actions. And then, randomly, she is told the only reason the urge to kill overwhelms her (and sometimes literally causes her to blackout and kill) is because she is afraid of her power and refuses to embrace it. But it is ALSO revealed that the reason she is afraif of her power is when she was a child (before she even knew that was an option), she did embrace her power, and it made her black out and kill people. It was a very confusing stance to take, because she was literally just told "just embrace your power!" and then she just decides to do that, and suddenly everything is fine and she can control herself perfectly fine.

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thebibutterfly's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Overall, I enjoyed it. Pretty good world-building and pacing. For a debut author, I was impressed with attention to detail given to the different magical groups and their powers. She fell into a common new author trap with a little too much focus on describing minor characters’ physical characteristics and every single outfit they wore, as well as repeatedly mentioning the main characters’ eye and hair color.

My main issue was with the overload of subplots happening at once with very little resolution by the end. Loved the morally gray FMC, but she was a little one dimensional and often seemed to be dragged along by the plot rather than leading it.

I was supremely disappointed by the ending. The romantic subplot is yet one more unresolved thread left hanging. I hate when authors drag out a romance over multiple books. It would be one thing if the romantic connection developed slowly over a series, but by the end of this book, they are obsessed with each other already.

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hal00alex's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

It is definitely reflective of current media trends, but still a unique take on an fae and sirens. Writer relies more on senses when world building.

And it ends in a cliff hanger which my by a metaphor on civil rights?

There are certain aspects of the senses that get repeated a lot which may break immersion, but it adds more to the characters.

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victoriousbookworm's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

5.0

This book exceeded all of my expectations for it. The pacing was perfect, the characters were complex and twisted in a way that felt real, and the story kept me hooked. Saoirse’s love for her sister was so powerful and relatable. From start to finish, this book had me anxiously needing to know what happens next.

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