Reviews with content warning for Blood - Better the Blood

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Better the Blood by Michael Bennett

15 reviews

michaelanormand's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

detective media is cool until you remember its part of copaganda.

it could have been a 5 star book to me but i feel like at the mid point it kept tripping over itself and never fully recovered. to hide behind it spoiler warnings -

Poata Raki‘s decent and ultimate demise feels inevitable but not fully fleshed out. the “twist” of jay and addison being related to the colonizer was predictable. and while hana is finally able to start mending her relationship w herself and other māori people, the ending as a whole just felt kind of half baked. like obviously after being targeted like that and your child being nearly slaughtered youd want to retire

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aj_mooney's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This was both a page-turning crime novel and a compelling exploration of the trauma caused by colonization. While I learned a lot about the Māori peoples, I also saw a lot of parallels to the injustices that persist here in America.

Hana is a complicated character who I enjoyed cheering for. The multiple povs added depth to all characters and prevented this from just being a good guy vs bad guy story. I also loved the character of Addison. I'm excited to continue following these characters with the next book.

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

My only real complaint is that the rape case and the rapist seemed completely unnecessary to the story. While he was certainly a deplorable character, he added zero value to the plot. Otherwise, a very engaging narrative that tries too bring some small measure of justice to the Māori people. However, the villain’s deranged methods of fulfilling his duty seemed too sad and effectively further saddened me to the futility of the damage done and the damage that still reverberates from the colonization and genocide by the British. Even more sadly, this is true the world over, wherever colonization and imperialism’s footprints can still be seen.

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