Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun

9 reviews

mmoran22's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

2.5

I really wanted to love this book, but it felt like every three pages there was a plot twist or a scene change or a new character who you’ll never see again etc etc. The characters are fine, but I think if you’re going to make young/immature main characters then there should be more focus on their growth and development than what happened in this book. The world building was awesome, I liked seeing a magical world through this lens, but the plot and the characters didn’t do it for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Violence and War

dmrains's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

There were a lot of terms introduced that were spelled similarly that I had a hard time remembering what they meant, but thankfully they didn't impact my understanding. She included a "dramatis personae" at the end which was helpful because there were a TON of characters, so I could look them up at the back to help me remember who's who. The last 'act' seemed to escalate really quickly compared to everything else in the plot. Very well written

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

manaledi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.25

A West African YA fantasy with heavy doses of not so subtle analysis of colorism and colonization and a FMC with a strong hero mentality. The setting was great and the characters were solid but I wanted more backstory. A lot of major historical events were plot twists which left us a little lost on the bigger picture who's who. The non-elemental magic also needed a little more explanation. I'll add book two to my list to see where this goes.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

xo_babs_ox's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

I loved being exposed to a different type of mythology. You were able to learn about it as you read with well placed reminders of important concepts as needed.  While love triangles are not my favourite trope, this one was executed well as it wasn’t necessarily the whole plot of the book, I wanted the saving of the world more than I cared about who Dèmi ultimately chose

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookish_hollyx's review against another edition

adventurous sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault

pernrider's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Police brutality, Trafficking, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

thereadingmarshmallow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hobbithopeful's review against another edition

adventurous fast-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? No

2.0

Incredibly disappointing, the only reason I pushed myself to finish this is because I kept hoping the writing of the beginning would come back. I was wrong.
The beginning sucked me in and I was absolutely in love with the story. Sadly it went downhill immediately. The plot was completely lost after the timeskip. The story changed numerous times, and at no point made any coherent sense or followed any sort of structure. I had absolutely no idea what any of the point was.
By the end Dèmi has become so ridiculously overpowered, and so many twists and reveals happen firmly establishing her a mary sue type character. So many plot events happen to the end that just make no sense and felt more and more outlandish as they occurred. Dèmi gets everything a main character could possibly want:

adopted by forest spirits, fights the King, somehow avoids instant death because she's special, can use all the magic LIKE WHAT IS GOING ON HERE! Of course the reveal about her Father was just another moment in the long line of ridiculousness.

The plot armor was plot armoring.
Seperate but a huge ick of mine, this happens towards the end by the time I had given up on liking the book.We need to discuss why BIPOC authors love writing love triangles that have the BIPOC fmc ending up with the

white guy.

Why does this always happen! Especially because they always have to be the

son or nephew of some super racist guy. It's just, UGH.

The chemistry Dèmi has with Collin and Jonas was fine? I rarely see a book do love triangles well, and this is no different. It's difficult to keep a serious tone when the fmc is waffling between two guys who really aren't that different or special.
All in all it felt like the book had no idea what it was supposed to  be about. I liked the setting, the magic, and the different creatures, but everything in terms of plot made little to no sense. I did also enjoy the parallels with colonialism, and all of the food depictions. I did get quite hungry reading this. 
I am not going to read the next book, and I don't know if I would read anything by Ehigbor Okosun anytime soon. Maybe further down the line with her next series.
I would personally NOT recommend this book. 
Love the cover, the cover is so amazing. The book will likely do pretty well because it is a gorgeous piece of art, the perfect blend between composition and design. People will definitely pick this book up because of it, and truly it is likely the books saving grace.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and War

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I received a copy of this book as part of my subscription to FairyLoot.
"Forged by Blood" is the first in a new duology about magic, survival, and fighting for what is yours. Dèmi has spent her whole life hiding her magical abilities so that she can remain safe. This becomes especially important after Dèmi places her trust in the wrong person and her mother is brutally murdered. Years later, Dèmi and her childhood friend, Colin, team up to kidnap the Aje prince, Jonas, under the advisement of Lord Ekwensi. Now, Dèmi plans to return Jonas to the king, help get Lord Ekwensi on the council, and help give a voice to the Oluso people. Unfortunately, there is more betrayal Dèmi will have to face and more she must uncover about her magic.
I was really excited to give this story a read because I have not read much from Nigerian mythology. I do think this book does a great job at delving into the mythology and presenting it in a factual and entertaining way.
Unfortunately, this book simply did not work for me. The writing was a little dense for me to get into personally, and I was not in love with the characters. Although I think Dèmi is a strong main character and her plotline was semi-interesting for the most part, there were moments I did not enjoy her perspective. For me, I felt like the inevitable love triangle was highly unnecessary and so out of left field. I do not think Dèmi's interest in either Jonas or Colin helps to move the story along. Additionally, this book reads way too Young Adult for me.
Although this series is not for me, I would still recommend it to people who are looking for a fresh fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship