Reviews with content warning for Blood - Ninefox Gambit

I adore this book with the bottom of my heart, but it is Exhausting. This book put me through the ringer emotionally, but I loved reading it. Lee’s writing is pretty aggressive, and while I think the worldbuilding is really strong, there’s almost no exposition so you have to figure it out while you’re reading. So if you don’t want to feel like you’re putting together a puzzle while you’re reading, this might not be a great match for you. That said, I found it brilliant, and I fell in love with the characters while staying on the edge of my seat. Also, this books (and series) has good LGBT+ rep, but no (or not a lot of) romance.

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ellisdex's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

Really good, once you get past the unexplained worldbuilding jargon at the very beginning. Ignore what you don't understand and move on. It's worth it.

The calendar- and mathematics-based magic system is incredibly cool once you figure out how it works, particularly as the book is from the viewpoint of someone who gets it more than most. The servitors are fantastic. The characters all feel very real within the parameters set by the world. Everyone is human - everyone has a family, hobbies, tiny details about their lives that the book explicitly says is sad to lose in war. Honestly I wasn't sure what to expect with the theming, but it's about the cost of war, whether the ends justify the means, and how governments keep themselves functioning at the expense of their own. It's incredibly interesting and very poignant. Super excited to read the rest of the series.

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi with dystopian worlds or of books focused on war tactics (especially sci-fi), so most of this book was so-so for me. However, the last fifth of the book was highly captivating. I went from not planning to read book 2 to looking up where I could get ahold of it. Throughout, I loved that the author's background in math became an integral part of how the war tactics worked. Very fun!

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badnymph's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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trazac's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I had a particularly difficult time reading this book. It is outright confusing and meant to be. There is borderline zero exposition, so all details are scrapped from conversation and narration, precious though they be. Also borderline zero descriptions of what anything looks like. Perhaps that won't be an issue with some readers, but I had a hard time picturing anything that was happening which only lead to more confusion. The middle 60% of the book is outrageously boring, with interspersed sections of brand new POVs of characters who are spun up with a lot of detail only to die immediately.

Otherwise well written. Good character dynamic and somewhat compelling theater of war style writing that I just personally cannot find interest in. Character growth somewhat limited and complicated. World is built somewhat well but utterly confusing. For a relatively short book, a ton of information is introduced and never explained. Perhaps that makes the world more true-to-life but it also means many people will walk away with a totally different idea of what happened.

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