Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Bloodmarked

Bloodmarked is book two in the Legendborn cycle by Tracy Deonn, and I would give it 6 stars if I could !

I really loved the commentary on racism and prejudice, it reminded me of (view spoiler) but for young adults.

My mind is racing with so many questions, because of course it ended on a cliff hanger. Which, I'm not mad about, I expected the cliff hanger because there's supposed to be at the least one more book in the cycle.

I'm not sure what else to say other than my friends and I are definitely team Sel, the last part ofthe book had us shook, and we can't wait for the next book in the cycle! It's so nice to buddy read books with a book club.

I give this 5 out of 5 stars!

I listened to this for free on Scribd

Content Warnings

xlipkins's review

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adventurous emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Content Warnings

leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

This book absolutely wrecked me in the best way. After the perfection that is book one in this series, I didn't know if this book would live up to my expectations. I am very glad that I worried for no reason.

Bloodmarked gives us a further look into Bree's exploration of her powers. Being a medium, a Rootcrafter, and the Crown Scion for the line of Arthur, Bree is being pulled in several directions at once. She must make difficult choices in attempt to save herself and the ones she loves, all while deciding who she can trust, which is proving to be much more challenging than she thought it would be. Of course as Bree struggles with this, I do, too. Deonn did a great job of planting little distrustful thoughts in our minds as the twists and turns of characters continued. The constant toying with my emotions made it stressful in the best way; I couldn't stop turning pages.

In addition to the new characters introduced in this book, we continue to see character development of Bree and several of the other characters from Legendborn. I love seeing the way their stories unfold. There is a lot of depth to Deonn's characters and she is masterful at tying up any loose ends that she may construct. Speaking of loose ends, the way she leaves us on a cliffhanger at the end of this book....so cruel, but so good.

As in Legendborn, the themes of feminism, racism/racial discrimination, and death and grief were all very prevalent. The way Deonn writes these, it is clear that these themes are deeply personal to her, which makes the depth of the story so much stronger. There is no doubt in my mind that book 3 will be anything short of brilliant, just as these first two have been. I don't know how I am going to contain myself in the meantime, but I will continue to recommend this series to anyone and everyone.

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naturally's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

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

3.75

unfortunately, bloodmarked was a victim of the sophomore slump! the introduction of valec

Spoiler

the cross roads baby from the memory walk in legendborn

and the evolution of bree/sel were the only redeeming qualities of this book, for me. i still had a fun time reading. but, overall, bloodmarked is significantly weaker than it's predecessor...

the first 20% was very slow and infor-dumpy. plus, a large chunk of the story was spent away from the college setting that i fell in love with in book 1.

bree being disconnected from other black people worked with the themes that deonn wanted to explore in legendborn. however, bloodmarked, mostly exposes how bree's relationships with other black characters are centred around her having something to gain from them (be it therapeutic services, shelter or knowledge etc). the only relationship with a black person that feels non-transactional is the one she has with her father

Spoiler

who wasn't around at all in book 2 :(

. bree's attitude toward rootcraft was frustrating to read, because it was established that the practice was used to connect with the ancestors and that it focuses on reciprocal exchange. bree seemingly only calls on her ancestors when she needs them to teach her something, and the way she spoke to vera (an enslaved Black woman and victim of r*pe) was disgusting, disrespectful, UNGRATEFUL...

Spoiler

whilst i understand that it was overwhelming for bree to deal with intergenerational trauma as well as her own...she displayed astoundingly little empathy and consideration for how vera suffered. vera made a deal with the shadow king and the ancestors so that her descendants (including bree) could LIVE. if not for that deal, her child, the true scion of arthur would have died. for a character who lamented about being unable to trace her lineage, it was strange that bree ended up destroying her own ancestral plane and sole method of conversing with the ancestors she only just discovered???

the series could be redeemed if bree reflects on her behaviour and choices, otherwise i'm failing to see what deonn wants the overall message of this series to be.

furthermore, i can at least appreciate that bree's messiness shines through in this book. her decision making,,,was not the best. as a reader, i was trapped in a weird cycle of witnessing her make the same dumb mistakes over and over and over again. how many times did i watch bree recklessly run into fights, knowing that her friends would put their lives on the line to save her untrained self???

perhaps it's that i read book 1 and 2 back-to-back, but the love triangle has lost it's flair a bit. the toxic side of me enjoyed sel and bree's chemistry - not a delena shipper, but their dynamic mirrors elena and damon in vampire diaries season three. however, it doesn't sit right with me that bree gave significantly more grace to her white love interest than her own ancestor...

nick was kind of a non-factor in this book, despite having a rescue mission triggered by his kidnapping. i'm confusion??? at least two more books are needed to flesh him out as a character and love interest, because bloodmarked exposes how little they know about each other outside of bloodline history and lust.

this review marks me taking a break from the series to get my head together. i'll probably return when the series has concluded.

going forward, i hope to see:

bree having BLACK friends
Spoiler
the ancestors allowing alice, william and sel into volition...doesn't hold much weight because they aren't black. essentially, these are non-black characters entering black safe spaces and it feels a bit invasive rather than being a bonding experience. alice can do black hair??? SO??? i'm not sure what the reasoning was behind her not being black...
bree apologising to vera
return of the unc setting
more valec <3

Content Warnings

laleha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

And now the wait for Book 3 begins…

Content Warnings

houstonwegotaproblem's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

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